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‘Beware when this White House is handing you a suicide pistol’
Second term Obama is emerging as an undeniable force, a winning force — seemingly out of nowhere (if you’re a Republican who doesn’t pay attention).
Regular Fox News panelist Nina Easton observed in a column for Fortune that Obama is the “biggest warrior”, besting the Republican Party, which has prided itself on being the “reigning champs” of exploiting opponents’ weaknesses. She points out that the harm to the GOP was self-inflicted, “Beware when this White House is handing you a suicide pistol.”
Explaining how Obama is the better warrior (though Easton seems to see Obama through a Fox lens regarding policy), Easton reminded Republicans of how Obama handed them a pistol to aim at themselves in the 2012 election, and aim it they did:
In crafting a way forward, Republicans should study another Obama guerrilla tactic — this one from the 2012 campaign. The Obama campaign handed Republicans a pistol to aim at themselves in the form of its rule forcing Catholic organizations to offer birth control in their health plans. At the time, the rule seemed politically dumb: Why pick an election-year fight with the Catholic Church — and its powerful voting block?
In retrospect, the tactic was brilliant, slipping the words “birth control” into the Republican primary water table when none of the GOP candidates wanted to talk about it. Unlike abortion (Gallup shows a slim majority of Americans describe themselves as “pro-life”), birth control is a nearly universally-accepted fixture in American lives.
Second term Obama is Obama unleashed; an Obama much smarter than his opposition, unfettered by an election and empowered by winning a two elections with 51% or more of the popular vote (something last done by Eisenhower). This Obama, first glimpsed by Republicans after they lost the 2012 election (slow going, boys), knows how to use the extremism of the Republican Party against it.
After four years of obstruction so ridiculous that it found Republicans voting no on their own ideas just to get Obama, the President gave up expecting Republicans to meet him in reality land for the good of the country. First he kicked their bums with the fiscal cliff deal and next up are the debt ceiling and sequester.
Republicans didn’t see Obama coming the first time, and it looks as if they’re going to make the same mistake again — claiming they have the upper hand and proceeding as if they do, when everyone knows they don’t. Most importantly, they don’t have public opinion behind them or their policy positions. But they continue to deny reality, and skew their own polls while ignoring the data screaming at them that they are not on the winning side of said issue.
John Boehner thinks he has the upper hand in the upcoming sequester. He thinks Obama’s liberal base will force Obama to cave to Boehner’s demands. Rather than seeing that the problems are his own tea divided House and indeed his own party’s extremism, Boehner thinks he can split the left with threats to earned benefits. But his own party is clearly terrified of the defense cuts.
Please proceed, Speaker. (No alarm bells yet?)
When will Republicans ever learn: “Beware when this White House is handing you a suicide pistol.”
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9 Responses to ‘Beware when this White House is handing you a suicide pistol’
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djchefron
Jan. 11th, 2013 at 8:46 am
The reason is so simple,staring them in the face that it borders on journalistic malpractice not to state it.
Today’s republican party is controlled by its southern wing.These are the bastard children of the confederacy.All they have been taught is white christian male supremacy.They cant fathom that a “blah” or even women is just as smart or heaven forbid even smarter than them.Even in Ms.Easton’s article she use the term “guerrilla”.
So when going into battle they commit the cardinal sin.If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.
Sun Tzu
So as we say in the hood
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Kathleen Whitehead
Jan. 11th, 2013 at 9:32 am
This column and the one comment so far certainly BRIGHTENED my day, thanks.
Sharon
Jan. 11th, 2013 at 11:10 am
Two words, Hastert Rule, drive these Republicans to look stupid and afraid to negotiate. When you have to have 50% of the GOP Caucus to get a bill to the floor or committee, you have a real problem as you have shut out Democrats. It is going to come back and bite. The hard right House is more concerned in being primaried by the Koch Brothers organizations like the Tea Party, Freedom Works, Americans for Prosperity and others, Club for Growth and more of the conservative PACs then they are in doing what is best for the Country.
Today the House Republicans have sold out for reelection putting ideology, party, and fright over what is best for the Country. I am a Republican and I want them voted out of power in 2014. GOP cannot handle being in charge of the House as they are not working for all the American people today only the hard right and wealthy donors like the Kochs and Adelson!
Sugapea
Jan. 11th, 2013 at 2:30 pm
Absolutely Sharon!
America’s strength has always been our two political parties
*working-together* like wings of an airplane operating in tandem…with give and take.
Forcing out these obstructionist ‘Citizen United’ big-money-controlled Tea Party crazies will bring more honorable republicans to the Republican Party.
We can only hope there are more perceptive Republican Voter’s out there like you.
john
Jan. 11th, 2013 at 11:32 am
When you have gone SO off the rails, that your opposition can control your reactions, you’ve lost the game. That’s what is driving them bonkers, they can’t stop themselves because their rulers, as the author rightly said, the southern uneducated big money bloc, think they can force their reality on the rest of us. They expect us to ignore history like they do. They expect us to ignore economics like they do. They expect us to ignore science like they do. When you have the likes of a Gov. Brewer in charge of a state like Arizona speaking all types of crazy, how do you muzzle that?
The Right is still being hammered by their apparent ignorance of social media and the intertubes in general. They don’t seem to understand video and microphones. They don’t understand PR. They are children playing in the adult world.
And Obama is going to clean their clocks.
Kevin Shinn
Jan. 11th, 2013 at 12:01 pm
Best phrase of the 2012 debates, “Please proceed.” But then, I am a sucker for alliteration!
kimbutgar
Jan. 11th, 2013 at 12:22 pm
The Hagel nomination will twist them further into pretzels. Hagel, a republican, Vietnam vet, distinguished Senator from Nebraska, a red state and they are going against them. Even the angry white males might be confused why the republicans are against his nomination because some of those angry white males are Vietnam vets themselves. It will be fun and I’ll be sitting back eating my popcorn while they self destruct from their right wing rhetoric.
robyn ryan
Jan. 11th, 2013 at 12:58 pm
Suicide gun is right. Along with poison pills, a rope, knives and wet bathroom floor.
Assisted suicide.
Ken
Jan. 15th, 2013 at 10:25 am
I began espousing the following theory early in the Pres’ first term. The Rep House is playing checkers with a president who is playing three dimensional chess. Crying ‘King me’ while surrounded on all sides, top and bottom included, is just not been nor will be successful.
I keep asking myself, where did the Republicans go?