Obama negotiatesI’m having a bit of trouble  deciding which part of President Pissypant’s final Jeopardy answer was more appalling today. On the one hand, there was the part where he proudly described the half-a-loaf health care bill he birthed, made all the easier when he paved the road by aborting the public option before negotiations even began (to say nothing of that sweet sweet deal the White House secretly finagled with big pharma).  On the other hand he let it be known that he is very very angry with the people who are very very disappointed in him just because these people were expecting him to apply himself and bring home an “A” and instead he brought home a very solid C+ and THAT IS NOT A FAILING GRADE, YOU GUYS.

To his credit he didn’t call himself  “the decider” or, even worse, point out that by giving 25% of the tax benefits to the top 1% he saved us from a mass Galt going.

But if you want to get to what was really wrong with what Obama has both done and said, I’ve read nothing tonight better than this from the wonderful aimai over in  the No More Mister Nice Blog comments, which deserves attention:

Look, the fault here lies with the Obama administration. If you are going to broker a deal with your party’s worst enemies and engage in negotations with extortionists and hostage takers you damned well better be sure you have all your supporters lined up behind you–Obama didn’t.  He clearly didn’t have a real agreement with Pelosi, the Senators or his own left/progressive base.  He could have, and he should have.  He tried to be the middle man, literally, and he has essentially written a check he can’t cash.

I’m really sorry about that. I supported Obama in the past–raised money for him, door knocked for him and I will do so in the future. I’m am totally opposed to a primary of a sitting Democratic President. And I personally think Obama’s a pretty good guy and pretty smart and well intentioned. But this was an absolute tragedy of mamoth proportions–a total failure of leadership and logic.  You just don’t fuck with your core supporters and their principles and then lecture them on TV and call them losers and jerks. You do that privately. You do that with love. You do that with key opinion leaders on your side–and I don’t mean David Broder.

If you want to broker a deal with the Republicans you should have had the SEIU, Kos, and every single person you had any expectation had any kind of following on your side first. Even if you had to bribe them or flatter them or whatever the fuck. That’s only logical. I’m not saying that because I believe in feelings first, politics second but because Obama needs people on his side. He clearly needs the Senate and the House to support him in this bargain.

This is about to blow up in his face and when it does it also blows up in the party’s face and in his supporters faces. That seems to be something that Obama and his supporters just don’t get.  His public humiliations are our public humiliations. And when he has a triumph (as he sees it) he either undersells it by failing to attack the Republicans and the wealthy and with a follow up karate chop to the neck or he spoils the whole fucking thing by going off on his own supporters for being too idealistic or too I don’t know what.

There are legitimate differences about this compromise. We’re all really happy about the unemployment money but the fact of the matter is that Obama and the dems have lost the first round of tax issues and lots of us agree with Digby that the payroll tax holiday is very likely to be a time bomb that we can’t defuse later.  Obama and his administration keep hoping that things will magically get better economically and they will finally be able to govern logically and technologically.  I doubt that things will get better economically and even if they do Obama has himself helped sow the seeds of future trouble by playing up the deficit, trying to find common ground with the republicans, and generally undercutting progressives and progressive values as “idealistic” and foolish and unrealistic and negative.

And its all so absurd. Just don’t insult your own voters. Just don’t do it. Whatever your personal feelings.  It can never be a good idea.

Yeah. That. What she said.