Who does Obama think he is kidding? The Repubs will never support anything that would actually help people. And they have no interest in seeing Obama succeed. They want the country to get worse. They don't care that millions of Americans are suffering. They never deal in good faith.

I think everybody is giving too much credit to these people - the republicans.

Some saw this coming, and while it may not have been a disqualifier, those were shouted down by cult mentality that told us that anything we said negative or of concern was only borne out of our bigotry and hatred and unwillingness to get along with everybody.

I'll wait and see how it works out as well.  So far Obama's done what he said, which is to encourage bi-partisan consensus, but he hasn't been a push-over either.  Some of the items removed from the bill so far are pretty extraneous when it comes to providing economic stimulus.

E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.

Got it?

Arabs and Israelis?  They will dig their heels in and commit new outrages.  Because they don't see you as strong enough to enforce your will for peace on them.

Financial industry thievery?  They spit on you.  They knew your kind at college - the golden boy with a heart of marshmallow.

Military?  Ha!

Fellow Democrats?  How do you think Bushie kept the Republicans in line - to abandon civilization?  They feared him.

No one fears you.  Not now.

Hell - you can't even get an attorney general confirmed.  If you had had a set, you would have done what I told you on this site and elsewhere, when it became apparent Haggis was going to dredge up old Clinton-era crap about Holder:  draft a temporary appointment for him (and others) in advance of your swearing-in and hand them out, then have them take office and start issuing grand jury subpoenas for all the little peccadillos all those Rethugs have hanging around them.  And put the fear of God in them.  Instead of cowering and asking them pretty please.  

The John Boehners and Mitch McConnells have done nothing for us - and Obama needs to get a clue about that and stop rolling over for them - they aren't going to help him, they are reeling him in and when they land him, he will be stuffed and mounted on a wall.

Where are the Democrats?  Why do I have to keep seeing Boehner mouthing the same old lies, that the media never challenge?

Don't get me wrong, I swear by contraception and am childless to prove it...but I was always quite capable of seeing to it myself with my partners, even when I was nearly flat broke.  It ain't rocket science to where we need bueracrats to hold our hands or put the damn thing on for us, right?  

The Senate, however, according to what I heard, had been primed by members like John McCain to oppose the bill like a stone wall, regardless what was said or done in Obama's visit to the Republican Senate caucus.

I have to say that I was beginning to see some wisdom in all of this.  I was just starting to think that maybe my gut reaction to all of it is entirely wrong.  I figured that eventually, by treating the Republicans this way, Obama intends to undermine their leadership.  I was sensing the brilliance of it and seeing the opening he was giving to those on the other side of the aisle, appealing to the best in them, giving them an opportunity to be a part of the renaissance as participants instead of outsiders, to step into the light :) and such.  

However....

Then I thought about Mitch McConnell's statement on the Senate floor last week, about how grateful he was to Pres. Obama for listening to them and making compromises, etc. etc.  And then he went on to say how they would not be able to support him.

I just caught a little bit of Rep. Obey's statements on the House floor a few minutes ago.  He looked tired and crestfallen and was talking about how apparently the House members had been told by their leadership to oppose the stimulus legislation.

Which is exactly what I expected would happen before I waffled on it this afternoon.  I just don't know what to think.  Maybe he'll pick off a few votes.  Maybe if he continued to cater to them, he'd succeed in undermining the leadership.  But what kind of a success would that be in the end?  We'd end up watering down every piece of important legislation.  Some portion of their caucus would always obstruct.  If this were a different time, when it wasn't so important to pass things quickly, I might agree with the kumbaya strategy.  With lots of patience and lots of compromise, it might really work.  But the situation right now doesn't allow for a lot of time and patience.  

At this point, it looks like the Republicans' strategy of forcing the Dems to bow to them and compromise, causing the Dems to change the legislation from what they originally crafted to be a successful program, then voting against the legislation anyway, is a more successful strategy than Obama's, in the short term anyway.  They don't end up looking very good though, except to the most vengeful and ideological of their base.

In any case, there is a lot of weirdness going on.  You had to see those House Repubs. coming out of that meeting to believe it.  Part of me still thinks that while it may not work with this bill, something good may come out of this approach, and the other part of me says I'm a naive fool for even going there, knowing what I know from experience these past 8+ years.

To my mind, this approach is indicative of a lack of commitment to core principles - which was what I always saw as Obama's central failing, the thing that is going to doom each and every major issue before him.  Can I say now that I am not at all optimistic about health care?

It's all well and good to rescind this executive order and issue that executive order, but when it comes to something that really is the sum of its parts, one has to know what it is one is building, or trying to build, if there is any hope of ending up with anything even close to what one envisioned.

There is no magic wand for making this happen.  This is where the hard work comes into play, something that many of us did not believe particularly interested Obama.  It's more than just having a plan - every plan needs a sales strategy that answers all the opposition, and makes people believe.  Whatever plan Obama may have had is being lost because he seems to see giving in as a better path than digging in.

It may now be up to the Congressional Democratic leadership to take Obama by the shoulders and shake some sense into him - except that we have leaders in Congress who aren't known for their intransigence, but for their conciliation.