âI donât know where the fuck bama is on this or anything else. Theyâre AWOL.â
Great news: Bill Clinton apparently now president again
POSTED AT 5:49 PM ON DECEMBER 10, 2010 BY ALLAHPUNDIT
The depressing truth: Given the alternative, it really would be great news.
I canât do justice to what youâre about to see. The spectacle of the president bugging out of his own press conference to go to a Christmas party is weird enough, but having Clinton back at the White House podium fielding questions on the hottest domestic issue of the day shoots past deja vu and lands firmly in âam I hallucinating?â territory. (The good news: It turned Twitter into an hour-long snark free-for-all, with Michael Goldfarb taking first prize.) I get that The Oneâs trying to leverage BJâs popularity to pressure Democratic fencesitters on the tax deal. What I donât get is why heâd leave him alone to address reporters, suggesting either (a) that Obama doesnât respect a former president â whoâs doing him a favor â enough to change his schedule to accommodate him or (b) Obamaâs confidence in his own ability to influence the caucus is now so low that he figures the tax deal will stand a better chance if he just gets out of the spotlight entirely. The second option seems implausible given what we know of The Oneâs ego, but after yesterdayâs revolt in the House and after a full year of epic fail in selling ObamaCare to the public, who knows what heâs thinking anymore? As a presidential scholar said to McClatchy, putting it mildly, âHe is not a great persuader.â
Adding to the exquisite oddness of the scene: Thanks to his op-ed this morning insisting that Obama totally rolled the GOP on the tax cuts deal, Charles Krauthammer is now âa brilliant manâ in Clintonâs eyes. Exit question: The White House is very keen to reassure liberals that Obama is not, repeat not, trying to âtriangulateâ ahead of 2012. Er, is a big showy meeting at the White House with Bill Clinton really the best way to communicate that message? Whatâs next, a joint press conference with Dick Morris?
Great news: Bill Clinton apparently now president again
POSTED AT 5:49 PM ON DECEMBER 10, 2010 BY ALLAHPUNDIT
The depressing truth: Given the alternative, it really would be great news.
I canât do justice to what youâre about to see. The spectacle of the president bugging out of his own press conference to go to a Christmas party is weird enough, but having Clinton back at the White House podium fielding questions on the hottest domestic issue of the day shoots past deja vu and lands firmly in âam I hallucinating?â territory. (The good news: It turned Twitter into an hour-long snark free-for-all, with Michael Goldfarb taking first prize.) I get that The Oneâs trying to leverage BJâs popularity to pressure Democratic fencesitters on the tax deal. What I donât get is why heâd leave him alone to address reporters, suggesting either (a) that Obama doesnât respect a former president â whoâs doing him a favor â enough to change his schedule to accommodate him or (b) Obamaâs confidence in his own ability to influence the caucus is now so low that he figures the tax deal will stand a better chance if he just gets out of the spotlight entirely. The second option seems implausible given what we know of The Oneâs ego, but after yesterdayâs revolt in the House and after a full year of epic fail in selling ObamaCare to the public, who knows what heâs thinking anymore? As a presidential scholar said to McClatchy, putting it mildly, âHe is not a great persuader.â
Adding to the exquisite oddness of the scene: Thanks to his op-ed this morning insisting that Obama totally rolled the GOP on the tax cuts deal, Charles Krauthammer is now âa brilliant manâ in Clintonâs eyes. Exit question: The White House is very keen to reassure liberals that Obama is not, repeat not, trying to âtriangulateâ ahead of 2012. Er, is a big showy meeting at the White House with Bill Clinton really the best way to communicate that message? Whatâs next, a joint press conference with Dick Morris?