I think & hope President Obama's little scrap with the Left may be part of a well thought out plan

[mtnsnake]

by him to bait the media into portraying him as the only mature person in Washington. He knows he's been losing the war of soundbites from Day One of his presidency. Up until recently, he's been portrayed as weak and as politically ineffective by the press. He needs to change this perception, and he is also smart enough to know that if he blasts BOTH sides of the aisle, he'll have a much better chance at gaining the respect of all parties involved.

Let's say he ONLY blasts the Right. Sure, he needs to do that, and we've been frustrated because he hasn't done enough of that. Trouble is, the corporate media won't side with him JUST for that because that's just the way they are. However, the media is more than impressed with him bashing his own people. By bashing his own side a bit, it gives him more of a sense of legitimacy for bashing the Right in the future. By bashing both sides, the media and the pundits will automatically start portraying him as the one and only leader in Washington, not a bad thing. Then, when he starts taking on the Right, his battle with them will be taken much more seriously, because he'll be thought of as a "fair" man.

Now I'm not trying to stick up for him by justifying any of his actions, nor am I happy with the tax issue lately, but I'm just saying that I think his scrap with the Left just MIGHT be his way of setting up the Right for a future knockout blow. I can't understand any other reason for why he's taken on his own base, so I hope this is what he's up to. I think Obama feels he'll be taken much more seriously at blaming the Right if he also blames the Left once in a while, hopefully to a much lesser degree, though.

Regardless of whether this turns out to be the case, the media has taken his bait...hook line and sinker...swallowed it whole, and has gone on a run with that bait of epic proportions, all to Obama's delight. Let's hope his little scrum with the Left is just a smoke screen to set up a future knockout blow of the Right. Time will tell.

[On the Road]

1. I Agree That This Might be His Plan

Whether it will work or not remains to be seen. So far it's seemed like a losing proposition.

[dkf]

2. He cares more about poor people than the left and we hate him for it.

[Kali]

4. say what?

:wtf:

[Laelth]

12. You forgot the sarcasm tag. n/t

-Laelth

[CTyankee]

3. We keep waiting for his 3D chess playing to pay off.

So far, it isn't working...

But maybe one day our ship will come in!

[doc03]

5. Oh here we go with the inevitable it's all a part of

some brilliant chess move crap.

[mtnsnake]

6. Your pessimistic outlook is duly noted

Calm down, I'm just trying to make sense of it and am only speculating.

[zulchzulu]

7. Spot on

It's funny how even morons like Scarborough are taking the bait and admiring Obama for punching back on all sides.

That said, I would imagine Obama is going to have to start turning the Independent voters back from their slide to the Right by indeed showing he's the "adult in the room" when the Republican Circus goes on display in January.

Hopefully Obama's basketball skills going on a full court press where the Republicans keep throwing the ball away will be evident.

[mtnsnake]

9. Glad you brought his name up

Scarborough was actually the first person to come to my mind as one of those taking the bait.

I would imagine Obama is going to have to start turning the Independent voters back from their slide to the Right by indeed showing he's the "adult in the room" when the Republican Circus goes on display in January.

Yup, good point. Let's hope this plays out just like that. Independents, by sheer virtue of their party affiliation, will probably be more easily influenced by Obama's apparent show of neutrality than any other voters. And who could be more important than them when it comes to swing votes.

[Skittles]

8. he doesn't look mature

he looks WEAK

[Clio the Leo]

10. He sounded legitimately p*ssed.....

.... but anything's possible right?

[Laelth]

11. It's insane to attack your base, and I don't care what he personally gains from that. n/t

-Laelth

[mtnsnake]

14. Perhaps, but is he singling out his base as much as the Press says he is?

[Laelth]

15. Judging from our reactions, yes.

And it doesn't matter whether or not he is "singling us out." Attacking his base at all is a dumb move, politically. The Republicans don't do that.

-Laelth

[NV Whino]

13. And sometimes...

a cigar is just a cigar.

[frylock]

16. there was nothing mature about obama's tantrum yesterday..

lets just put this talking point to bed.

[Union Scribe]

17. "blames the Left once in a while"

We apparently have differing notions of "once in awhile".