Obama on GOP "I'm sure at some point they'll start acting like adults."

[Clio the Leo]

(paraphrased) Setting them up to knock themselves down.

Obama: GOP leaders will eventually get serious about cooperating with me Obama, returning to D.C. on Air Force One, brushed off the GOP's plans to repeal health reform with a surprisingly optimistic prediction of what's to come, per the pool report:

"They are going to play to their base for a certain period of time. But I'm pretty confident that they're going to recognize that our job is to govern and make sure that we are delivering jobs for the American people and that we are creating a competitive economy for the 21st Century. Not just for this generation but for the next one. And so my expectation, my hope is that John Boehner and Mitch McConnell will realize that there will be plenty of time to campaign for 2012 in 2012."

This is of a piece with the emerging Dem line on the GOP's repeal push and other non-economy related maneuvers: Accuse Republicans of engaging in frivolous political antics to please the base that don't do a thing to create jobs and get the economy moving again.

The question is whether Dems will couple this with an effective and proactive case for all the popular provisions in the Affordable Care Act itself. Joan McCarter urges Dems to ditch civility and bipartisanship and use procedural maneuvers to try to force actual votes on the Act's provisions. As Eugene Robinson aptly puts it today, Dems should respond to the repeal push by saying: "Make my day."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2011/01/the_morning_plum_159.html

Now, it's important for everyone to not start wigging out. ;) He doesn't ACTUALLY think the GOP is going to start helping out. But he's trying to draw attention to the fact that they aren't when they don't.

[jaxx]

1. I think he's got their number.

;-)

[rhett o rick]

4. His confidence in the GOP is frightening. They are terrorists and not rational.

He keeps pretending they are rational.

[jaxx]

6. He's poking them in the eye.

[Igel]

20. Yes.

At least that's how it's taken. Sometimes it's much more overt.

But then somebody will say "working together," which all too often in practice actually means "them working with me to get what I want," actually was intended to have always meant "I'll do everything that they want" when Obama gets less than 100% not of what he wants but what that "somebody" wanted him to want.

It makes for funny kinds of discourse.

[roguevalley]

11. oh please god. if he truly believes that what is wrong with him.

I'm frickin' old and I'm STILL waiting for them to act like adults.

[mkultra]

15. if you truly believe that he believes that then whats wrong with you?

[roguevalley]

29. ah yeah, blame me. an obama bot. I guess you haven't got

enough pain in your life from what he's done or gone along with yet. Don't worry. It's coming. And I am intitled to my opinion. Truly. Look it up.

[mkultra]

41. I looked it up and decided that i had yet to have enough pain in my life

I have decided that i should try to include more so i have altered my outlook. I will now simply grouse about everything in order to simulate personal pain. The hope is that by acting like im in pain that perhaps real pain will come my way. Something like living in a shack, being deported to a third world country, or getting a real bad back ache. Its kind of a negative positive outlook. I'm not worried, ill watch out for IT. Obama will surely bring down the walls of this once great country. I'm just waiting for the "Giant flush"

[Arkana]

13. Psst...read between the lines. This is a not-so-subtle way of saying

"Eventually their temper tantrums will stop."

They won't, of course, but Obama's trying to draw attention to the fact that the GOP is a bunch of children.

[whosinpower]

16. Because he is willing to implement their policies

And has already done so...repeatedly.

They will rant and scream and obstruct...and he will bend over. There is no indication that his behavior will somehow magically change in 2011 or 2012.

He may stop their screams, but it will not help America if the policies are wrongheaded. When it comes to corporatism, Democrats and republicans are on the same side of the coin. You'll see....they agree every time.

Oh, you'll have the teapartiers who may fight back...and you may have some democrats who will fight back.....they are already labelled a fringe group. A recent poll stated that 61 percent polled want the wealthy taxed more to offset the deficit....I guess they are all part of the fringe now, given the tax cut cave in.

[midnight]

5. I disagree.

[Cheap_Trick]

18. 666? nt

[donheld]

28. +1

[emulatorloo]

2. Good frame: GOP are children

There will be a DU meltdown over this though.

[babylonsister]

3. Love this! More from all Dems, pls. nt

[BladesOfAiur]

7. GOBAMA!!

More like this please.

[grahamhgreen]

8. This from the guy who extended the Bush tax cuts. Adults,

More like high schoolers seeing who can suck up to the rich kid...

[lumberjack_jeff]

9. "He doesn't ACTUALLY"?

What evidence do you have of this?

He's obviously incapable of believing that Repubs are saying what they mean. We appear to be have a similar problem.

[JustAnotherGen]

10. Cool

And it seems like we finally have our 'message for 2012' - when we add this to former Speaker of The House Pelosi's statement re: If you are about the economy and job creation we'll work with you. If not? go hang!

[Arkana]

12. Heh...backhanded compliment if I ever heard one.

[Ganja Ninja]

14. Proving the old adage "You can fool some of the people all of the time."

[old mark]

17. K&R - I hope he really enjoyed his vacation. He will need all he has

over the next 2 years.

Mr. Obama has my support.

mark

[PurityOfEssence]

19. There's no stupidity like the stupidity of the really smart

He quite simply JUST DOESN'T GET IT.

They are going to destroy him with every waking breath, and like cockroaches, Republicans never sleep.

The very idea that he can discern some morality or decency from the right is incomprehensible. It's equally silly to attribute any long-term SENSE to them; they will advocate policies that are literally destructive to our economy and society to benefit the few entrenched elites that are their core constituency.

The brief few successes he just had may be a disaster in the long run if he thinks he can get their cooperation on serious FINANCIAL issues. START had some financial impact on the Military Industrial Complex, but they'll still do fine. DADT had no real financial impact, so they're willing to have him spend massive amounts of personal capital to get that passed; DOMA will be a far different issue, though, because that DOES have a big financial impact.

They are about money and power, and he will get his ass kicked if he thinks they'll play nice about that. If the U.S. defaults, it will be made to look like his act, and if the past is any predictor, he'll blink.

Good thing I'm going to have a very busy work schedule for the next few months; I dread what's coming, and there's nothing I can do about it.

[AtomicKitten]

23. He chooses to act like the adult in the room and leverages the high road skillfully.

He knows exactly what the Republicans are all about.

[TheKentuckian]

25. There isn't much to leverage. They've been acting a straight up monkey for 15 years

with minimal and brief consequences of the greatest levels of criminality and mismanagement.

I don't know what you folks think this does other than maybe driving up Obama's personal positives with a rather undefined segment of the electorate.

[AtomicKitten]

27. Yes they have been acting like straight up monkeys.

That's for damn sure. Unfortunately Pres Obama has to deal with them.

We'll see what stuff Pres Obama is made of over the next two years. I am optimistic. We shall see.

[PurityOfEssence]

31. You guys keep selling the future; I keep pointing out the present and the past

The continued hearkening to expectations that he'll change his ways and do us right is always based on little more than feeling, and the dizzying joyousness continues to remind me of dealing with religious zealots. It's quite fitting, too: Obama himself seems to have great faith in things that haven't the merest grounding in past performance or reality, even when confronting rather clearly expressed objectives from his enemies.

It's not like the old Warner Brothers cartoons with Sam Sheepdog and Ralph Wolf fighting all day, then leaving as chums when the whistle blows.

We accept their right to exist and the inevitability that they will, whereas they have the god-given right to destroy us and are sure that they can. In this, they are more delusional than our President and his most star-struck fans, but they're also more vigorous, vindictive and financially supported.

[AtomicKitten]

35. Consider the support he gets as a counterbalance to the incessant ankle-biting.

[Lord Magus]

30. He can't just pretend they don't exist.

As nice as it would be if they didn't, the Rethugs not only exist but control the House. Obama is presenting a sharp contrast between the rational Democrats and the insane Republicans. This is politically beneficial.

[Doctor_J]

33. Yes, so skillfully that we lost 50 House seats

:eyes:

[AtomicKitten]

34. The party in power losing seats in the midterms is an historical trend.

The fact that Democrats kept the Senate is huge.

From Josh Marshall at TPM:

@joshtpm How can the Dems stop the Republican agenda when they only control the Senate and White House?

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

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[girl gone mad]

21. Someone call a doctor.

He's delusional.

[Blue Owl]

22. One would think so -- but don't count on it

The M$M gives the GOP a free pass to do whatever the fuck they want, so why would they change?

[namahage]

24. My hope is that people can discern that when someone says they hope something happens,

that does not necessarily mean that they believe it will happen.

[Hatchling]

26. How GOP members can start acting like adults.

Children become adults because boundaries are set for them and the parents adhere to them. You only have so much allowance, you are not allowed to have temper tantrums, you must share with those less fortunate that you.

They only become adults when they accept responsibility and realize that actions have consequences.
The parents have to assign responsibility and assign penance for punishment for bad behavior.

The GOP is like a 3 year old whose parents never say no. They ruin it for every one, because they never have to pay the consequences.

It sickens me that Obama would say that. He's the one that won't take a firm line with them.

[Doctor_J]

32. I was thinking he's complicit. Maybe he really IS clueless

I'm with McCarter and Robinson.

[bvar22]

38. You don't get children to act like adults.....

...by giving them everything they want.
QED

[Arkansas Granny]

39. He's gone from playing super-duper, high-level 3-D chess to daydreaming.

Great!

[mstinamotorcity]

40. Let's all hold

our breath for them. :P