Yesterday President Obama denounced Paul Ryan’s plan to reduce the deficit as one that would end America as a “generous and compassionate” nation, and suggested, as the Wall Street Journal notes, that it would pit “children with autism or Down’s syndrome” against “every millionaire and billionaire in our society.” (The president’s busy schedule continues today with three DNC fundraisers in Chicago; the good news is that he can reuse yesterday’s speech at today’s partisan events.)
Some are expressing surprise that Obama demonized the Ryan plan so ferociously after inviting Paul Ryan to attend and with the congressman sitting in front of him. This morning, Joe Scarborough said it was “just not what you want to do when dealing with a crisis of this magnitude,” and Mark Halperin called the decision “weird.”
But this is nothing new for Obama. Recall his demagogic attack on the Supreme Court’s Citizens United case with six justices in front of him, prompting Justice Alito to shake his head in frustration and mouth, “not true.” There was intense argument over whether Obama breached decorum by attacking the justices in front of him, or whether Alito broke decorum by visibly showing his irritation.
Perhaps one of the reasons Obama loves the setting of the grandiose national address is that there is rarely a rebuttal. Any interruption to dispute the facts — like, say, Rep. Joe Wilson yelling out, “You LIE!” during an address to Congress — comes across as rude to the office of the presidency. The Supreme Court is completely unused to being criticized to their faces; members of Congress are used to the back-and-forth of debates on the floor in which every accusation and assertion can be rebutted and cross-examined.
I’m reminded of Saul Alinsky’s Third Rule: Wherever possible, go outside of the experience of your enemy.
UPDATE: Campaign Spot reader Stephen reminds me of another example: “President Obama took a shot at Rep. Pete Hoekstra during an event here Thursday, subtly taunting the Michigan Republican — who was seated in the front row — as among those who opposed the federal stimulus package but showed up at a groundbreaking ceremony funded by it.”
ANOTHER UPDATE: This isn’t quite trashing his invited guest, but early in his presidency, Obama lobbied Rep. Aaron Schock (R., Ill.) to vote for his stimulus plan while in front of an audience. If not an assault, it was an ambush.
Yep. Who was the Rep from Michigan, who I believe was running for governor, who had the same thing happen to him. Barry invited him for some supposedly non-partison speach, then attacked him for not denoucing the Porkulus money spent in that district.
When are people going to realize that this is a mean, petty person? He felt that Ryan's budget showed him up, so he invited Ryan to a speach, lying to him about the tone and nature of the speach, then attacked him, in a setting where Ryan could not respond, and with an audience of college students friendly to Obama.
Ryan, or at least his staff, should have seen it for the trap that it was. Let that be a lesson to any future Charlie Browns. Lucy is always going to pull the football away.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbusePut another way, Barack Obama has always been the kind of bully who will only hit you when other people are holding your arms. Odd mix of machismo and cowardice.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseFortunately enough it seems Ryan's response to the speech is cutting through the usual level of noise and reaching some people. Combine Ryan's sharp response with some of the negative reviews he's getting in the media (a particularly devastating WSJ Editorial) and I think Obama has made a pretty grievous error with this speech. The debate will still center around House Republicans' budget because Obama and Democrats still haven't made a serious counter proposal.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseObama has destroyed to Office of the President of the United States with his Alinskyite tactics and demonstrated lack of respect to this country and everything it stands for. My long-term concern is that Obama has denigrated the office he holds so much that even an adroit statesman will not be able to bring back the respect it deserves.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIK,
Good catch. Pete Hoekstra was the rep. Last July was the incident:
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Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe best two analogies I've heard about Obama lately are that he's like the dog that always chased cars (the Presidency) and once he caught the car, he had no idea what to do with it. The other is he's like a guy who always bragged about being a 'black belt' in karate and someone has a brother (Ryan) who actually is one and asks if they could spar.
Bottom line is that I think Obama is in way over his head here. He's afraid of Ryan, who actually has ideas about how to deal with the economy and Obama doesn't. Think about it...we are currently spending $3.82 for every $2.17 of revenue. Just how long does our President think that is sustainable? How long could you get away with spending $1.65 negative amount? right now I cannot stand our politicians in Washington. All this posturing is ignoring the issue and really disgusting.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseNot only is Obama incompetent, he's also a jerk.
The left would be screaming for impeachment if a Republican went about his (or her) business the same way as Obama .
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseObama is a punk, pure and simple.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI thought this guy was supposed to be an intellectual. He seems pretty committed to coming across as a petty, thin-skinned child. Fortunately, people outside conservative circles are starting to get wise.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseObama shows the class of a thug ...
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusegiven Obamas attitude and abuse towards guests I'm going to go out on a very short limb and bet that his pickup b-ball games are played by his opponents in the very best tradition of "customer" golf ...
he's a coward on many levels ...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWacky Baracky = no class.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'd love to see someone like Ryan get up and walk out without a word. The image would say it all.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnother one for the guest trashing file is the Blair House summit when Obama snapped at McCain that the election is over in response to McCain's criticism of the Democrat's back room deals in the healthcare debate.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhy can't Boehner, Cantor, McConnell, and the rest of the GOP poobahs show a little of the unflinching honesty shown by Ryan. Ryan is effective because he manages to quench his emotions when the bully is doing everything he can to make him cry. He calmly states the facts, educates, and doesn't sell short his hand, unlike the "pros" who project defeatism.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseDoesn't his broadside on Paul Ryan just prove what was said about Obama during his luncheon with GOP Senators back in 2010 that he was thin-skinned and reactionary?
I'd put my money on Paul Ryan in a heartbeat if those two were in a fair debate!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLet's not forget the nasty things he said about the health insurance industry and the chamber of commerce before asking them for favors.
Obama's MO seems to be to kick someone in the crotch then ask them for a ride to the store.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbusePlease observe: Use the apostrophe-S if the affliction is named after someone who had it. Leave off the apostrophe-S if it is named after who discovered it. For example:
* Lou Gehrig's disease named after the patient it was diagnosed in.
* Down syndrome named after the English physician John Langdon Down who characterized the condition, but did not have it.
Let's use it in a sentence, shall we. -- "From the VA, 1200 US veterans recently found out they were mistakenly told they had life threatening Lou Gehrig's Disease. ...But, Obamacare will be different. Really."
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI've long believed that President Obama knew no limits to the power of his own words. No matter how many times he's kicked you, he seems to think, a few smiles and nice words will fix it. And people have tiptoes around him for so long that he's not far wrong in believing this.
As such, he probably never learned the importance of being nice to people, in case you need to rely on them later. Why should he, if he thinks he can always win them over later?
And he's a liberal, meaning that he says he's compassionate and wants to save the poorest members of society from those nasty Republicans. Coming from one of the nastiest American politicians in recent memory, that sounds more than a little strange.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe problem is that Obama never tells the truth, he is literally a compulsive liar.
The bad news is the conservatives will say that he is wrong or that something is untrue. What they should be saying is Obama is lying, and he knows he is lying. Some are starting to point out that Obama is lying, because, after all, he is lying.
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