While there are some surface similarities, it seems like Rahm Emanuel and Jake Lew could hardly be more different in their personalities. I have never been a fan of Rahm, but I never thought he was the devil, either. As a general matter, I am more comfortable with Lew as the president’s chief of staff because I think he and I are closer politically than I ever was to Emanuel. And, while I appreciate Emanuel’s salty style and willingness to pound his desk, I prefer the “no drama” style of the president and Mr. Lew.
There is one part of this article that really irritated me. Here it is:
An agreement by year’s end could lead to a long-term deficit reduction plan, helping Mr. Obama live up to his promise to bring both parties together and sealing Mr. Lew’s reputation as the master of the Washington budget deal. But if the talks fail, Mr. Obama might be remembered as the president who could not break partisan gridlock in Washington, and Mr. Lew could wind up with a blot on his nearly impeccable record.
Barack Obama is not going to be remembered as the president who brought both parties together. He is going to be remembered as the president who took the Republicans’ best shots and then kicked their asses up and down Pennsylvania Avenue. This isn’t because he didn’t try to change the tone in Washington. It’s because his efforts to reach out were met with calls for his birth certificate and because his Heritage Foundation-inspired health care plan was called socialism and demonized. The president moved into the White House and discovered that the Republican Party had gone stark-raving mad. It took him a while to come to terms with that, but he now treats the GOP the same way any sane person treats a rabid dog.
“But if the talks fail, Mr. Obama might be remembered as the president who could not break partisan gridlock in Washington, and Mr. Lew could wind up with a blot on his nearly impeccable record.”
Good lord, who writes this shit?
right?
I can’t believe I still see and hear that sort of crap. Amongst pundits who have an agenda, I can accept it, but reporters? How does tripe like that slide past an editor?
I don’t recall hearing Mr. Reagan, or Mr. Kennedy, or Mr. Carter. And Mr. Bush was attacked as disrespectful. I heard them called Ronald Reagan, JFK, Jimmy Carter, George Bush (not often), so I have no problem with the press using Barack Obama. That just omits the title and so is informal. But to use a lesser title denies the greater title. You never hear Queen Elizabeth addressed as Mrs. Windsor.
I can almost understand articles like this that completely ignore reality, because that reality — that one of the two major parties, one that controls that House, has gone stark raving mad — is scary and hard for many to face.
<rant> OMGWTFBBQ!!! MR. Obama??? How about MR.PRESIDENT or President Obama, wtf is it with these disrespectful assholes?
</rant>
When I see this kind of shit it makes my blood boil, and no respect to the writer, they’ve lost me.
Exactly right, Booman. In fact, odds are Barack Obama will be remembered the way he said he wanted to be remembered when he first ran for president five years ago: as the president who did for liberalism what Ronald Reagan did for conservatism—made it the dominant political, economic, social and cultural force in this country for an entire generation.
Great post.
I think I might read Digby too much. I will be soooo happy to be wrong about these negotiations.
I need to learn something from Obama. He never seems to have radical ‘ups and downs’. He seems a pretty steady guy. IMHO that is what he will be remembered as. He’s a little too complicated for the media to pigeon hole him, and that will be reflected in what is written about him in the near future.
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A good chief of staff should be neither seen nor heard, nor the subject of press coverage. And the Executive Office of the President should be aligned with the President’s direction; that’s the chief of staff’s job–and keeping the trash cans empty and the office supplies stocked.
If Rahm isn’t the devil why does he have horns? And why does City Hall reek of brimstone?