Obama's bogus bipartisanship is laid bare
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Barack Obama floated into the Oval Office on the billowing rhetoric of bipartisan cooperation despite a voting record that pointed to the opposite extreme. A war-weary public preferred rhetoric to reality, his cool promises to his cold practice.
Fourteen months post-inauguration, voters are getting exactly the reality that Mr. Obama's prior public service had foretold. And the rhetoric that so many found hopeful and uplifting has sunk to a snarkier partisanship than that of any president in history.
Unlike some of the Democrats who defied party leadership on the health care bill, Mr. Obama revealed himself once again to be no statesman. That's one lesson from the past historical week.
Lesson Two is that Americans espouse bipartisanship right up until one party stops even pretending to try; then the voters' indignation becomes highly partisan indeed.
And last week's third lesson is that Democrats don't care very much about the fallout from Lessons One and Two -- not enough to stop their war of attrition against the free markets and fair play that are absolutely central to the American Way.
As for statesmanship: On Saturday, when the president went to Capitol Hill to rally House Democrats across the finish line on the health care bill, he demonized his opposition in a way unbecoming to the stature of the presidency.
Early on Mr. Obama mocked Republicans Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and Karl Rove for their "friendly advice" -- warning of "the horrendous impact [on Democrats' re-election prospects] if you support this legislation." Later he backhanded the GOP with: "Something inspired you to be a Democrat instead of running as a Republican. Because somewhere deep in your heart you ... believe in an America in which we don't just look out for ourselves, that we don't just tell people you're on your own..."
First Published March 22, 2010 12:23 am
