Gerald Seib of The Wall Street Journal gives us the official media line on the State Of The Union:
It’s becoming increasingly clear that one of the results of the economic meltdown has been a parallel meltdown in the public’s confidence that their bickering, partisan leaders in Washington can come together to deal with it, or with much of anything. [Emphasis added]
You predictable pundits! Always with the “bickering”!
The earnestness continues:
In finest Washington fashion, it’s possible to spend a lot of time dwelling on who is to blame for this failure — Mr. Obama for not trying hard enough, or House Democrats for pushing policies too far to the left, or Republicans for being the party of no.
Yawn. Same old, same old.
But finally — unwittingly — Mr. Seib tells us how Barack Obama can break the logjam:
The two best routes for getting something done in Washington are power and persuasion: Accumulate enough power to push solutions into place, or be persuasive enough to win over wavering lawmakers and the American public. [Emphasis added]
There’s the answer!
I trust that Obama has given up trying to coax “wavering lawmakers” (i.e. Republicans) into doing the right thing. If he hasn’t, we’re all in big trouble, and the President needs to find a new line of work.
I hope that last night, for the benefit of the American people, Obama was attempting to divide politicians into two distinct classes: Legislators and Obstructionists. Good Guys and Bad Guys. Ultimately – necessarily – Democrats and Republicans.
This is unfortunate, but it’s also the best way for a president to effect big change in post-Reagan America: He must go directly to the people, using whatever tools are at his disposal.
If it takes two to tango, and one won’t dance — get him off the dance floor. He’s dead weight.
