Don't Mess With The Prez
According to Politico;
"Barack Hussein Obama is the nation's first hip president.":
OK, he's hip, he's cool but politics is a contact sport, business is a blood sport, just what does all this street cred mean, and what have you done lately? You know, like firing the CEO of General Motors, or having the CEOs of Bank of America, and CITI Group reaching for their Depends.
How's this grab you; Obama Repeatedly Reminds House GOP Of Their Zero Stimulus Votes:
And, to all my Limbaugh loving, tea bagging, Blue Dog friends, Barack's in the White House!
Peace out.
...watch him walk. Listen to him talk. See the body language, the expressions, the clothes. He's got attitude, rhythm, a sense of humor, contemporary tastes.Just how hip is he?:
This much is clear: Whether dealing with the Wall Street mess, shifting troops from Iraq to Afghanistan or fumbling to fill his Cabinet, Obama leans heavily on personal panache to push political policies. Truth be told, his style is rooted in something elusive and hard to define. Pure and simple, it's hip.
"Being hip is being able to navigate your environment and others' environments," like the way Obama traverses racial boundaries, said John Leland, author of the definitive book "Hip: The History."
(He's) so hip that school kids in Albany, N.Y., coined a term for it: "Baracking." And it doesn't stop there. Those in the know at Albany High greet each other by saying: "What's up, my Obama?" and they respond to a sneeze with "Barack you." Misbehavior is peer-corrected with the admonition, "Barack's in the White House," which translates, "Show some respect."
OK, he's hip, he's cool but politics is a contact sport, business is a blood sport, just what does all this street cred mean, and what have you done lately? You know, like firing the CEO of General Motors, or having the CEOs of Bank of America, and CITI Group reaching for their Depends.
How's this grab you; Obama Repeatedly Reminds House GOP Of Their Zero Stimulus Votes:
A GOP source familiar with the meeting said that the president was extremely sensitive -- even "thin-skinned" -- to the fact that the stimulus bill received no GOP votes in the House. He continually brought it up throughout the meeting.But wait, there's more:
Obama also offered payback for that goose egg. A major overhaul of the health care system, he told the Republican leadership, would be done using a legislative process known as reconciliation, meaning that the GOP won't be able to filibuster it.Congress has until October 15 to pass health care or student lending reform OR it's reconciliation. No, ifs, no, ands, no buts. I wonder if the Republican's think Prez hip is like, kidding?
Congress has until October 15 to pass health care or student lending reform under the normal process. If it doesn't, reconciliation can be used to eliminate the 60-vote requirement.
GOP aides, however, said that Obama was pretty clear that reconciliation would be used. "From what was told me, it sounded more like he would almost definitely use reconciliation for healthcare. I don't think he hedged much," said one.And, if you call now, we'll throw in; Obama To Nelson: We're Going Around You. That's right, word to, leathers wearing, motorcycle ridding, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), the Senate's fiercest protector of subsidies for student lending institutions, vower to block any effort to reduce those subsidies, like with a filibuster!
An agreement struck between the president and House and Senate negotiators won't give Nelson that chance. A process known as "reconciliation" allows budgetary measures to be moved through the Senate with a simple majority, rather than 60. Multiple congressional sources say that congressional Democrats have decided to use reconciliation to go after student-lending subsidies, specifically to get around Nelson.So, word to all my TPM, peeps, What's up, my Obama?
And, to all my Limbaugh loving, tea bagging, Blue Dog friends, Barack's in the White House!
Peace out.
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Nice, Steve.
It's about time some balance was restored to the legislative process, yes, the President did well to remind them that if they wanted to be extreme obstructionists, that there was a constitutional remedy for that.
Good on Obama.
April 25, 2009 1:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Steve, You are a really good detective and analyst,you always bring it. Isn't it nice to have a President you can respect, who was accused of being an Elitist because of his intelligence? Who is hip enough to be cool to the kids? You have stated it well in this post,so "Barack You" Steve.
April 25, 2009 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the comments (I'm like blushing).
In my head I know him, I'm there doing his audio. "Steve, how did I sound out there?" "Clear as a bell, Mr President."
April 25, 2009 5:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is blushing hip now? ;)
April 25, 2009 9:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
For an old dog...
April 26, 2009 8:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wassup, my Obama? Rec'd.
April 25, 2009 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
And to think that I opposed Barack in the primaries because I was afraid he wouldn't fight dirty. Keep proving me wrong, My Obama!
April 25, 2009 5:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Nature Boy fight dirty? "Woooooo!"
April 25, 2009 5:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
You Barack. Recommended for perspective. Because being president is a bitch, especially when you have principles.
April 25, 2009 5:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Obama also offered payback for that goose egg."
Interesting. The Repos surely deserve payback. I hope Obama plays it well, this country does need honest debate of issues. Railroading something through is often bad, but the Party of No needs to get off their one-track negative ideology here to become part of the process.
April 25, 2009 6:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Repos are fast becoming the Washington Generals of politics. When looking at the first 100 days for both sides the contrasts are amazing.
April 25, 2009 7:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
High time the White House had some "flava!"
April 25, 2009 7:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love it, my Obama.
I like the way he is handling the republicans. He's telling the to get in the game and start playing or the game will be played without them.
April 25, 2009 7:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is so well done, Steve! Just so well done!
You've Baracked it!
April 25, 2009 9:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Republicans have been acting like children and now President Obama is treating them as such.
And what is the cry of children? "It's not fair!"
The first hundred days have been better than the last 8 years!
April 25, 2009 9:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's not only the Prez...he's First Dad. Great observation, stevem...
April 26, 2009 8:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Great post Steve, thanks.
I think Obama is a 10th degree black belt in political ju jitsu. He earned his bones and learned his chops in Chicago politics. If there is a more knife fighting, eye gouging, crotch kicking place to grow up in politics, I don't know where it is.
I love watching a wingnut attacker bullrush him and end up flat on his ass with an unruffled and bemused Obama looking on.
On another level it occurs to me as though the right is trying to block Obama on some checkers move and Obama is playing 3 dimensional chess.
GObama, he's got this.
April 25, 2009 9:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
"I love watching a wingnut attacker bullrush him and end up flat on his ass with an unruffled and bemused Obama looking on."
They're running into the "wall of hip." The media is catching on, too. Remember in the last reel of "Beetlejuice" when the witch doctor sprinkled powder on Beetlejuice's head and it shrunk and the pitch of his voice went up? I give you a vision of the Republican party. Tnx for the comment...s
April 26, 2009 8:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
You hit it out of the park with this one, Steve. I'm about as hip as a lamp post but can sure recognize it in others! He's cool, calm, collected and faces down opposition with the eye of the tiger. Strikes me as the "give them enough rope" philosophy, especially when it comes to letting the public see how things really are for themselves.
April 25, 2009 9:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
What I really appreciate is this is who he as been since day one, no drama is strength, as you so aptly say, "it lets the public see how things really are for themselves." Good comment.
April 26, 2009 8:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Prez
A tiny quibble with an otherwise exemplary post:
The current (extraspecialprimo hip) usage is simply Prez, as a nod to an earlier hipster of renown.
April 25, 2009 10:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
I belay my age, please don't let Murry know I'm like really, really old, man. So, please excuse me, I've gotta dust off my "Bird" LPs...
April 26, 2009 9:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
I just spent a bunch of time trying to find a tape or a transcript and it ain't out there, so I'm stuck with my questionable memory.
It was back during the primaries, in one of those on-camera sit-down with the editorial board of a newspaper, either the Indianapolis Star or the the Reno Gazette-Journal (and yeah, that's a lot a hyphens for one sentence) I think.
In the course of describing his approach to dealing with people he said something like I'll reach out to work with you in good faith on issues we have in common and I will trust you to respond by working in good faith with me but if you double cross me, I will use all of the power at my disposal (and then smiling) to. crush. you. Then he laughed and indicated he was just kidding and the editors laughed but it was pretty clear that he was doing what Al Franken calls "kidding on the square."
It was one of those moments when I said to myself "any fool who thinks he can run over this guy more than once is going to get his nuts crushed the second tie he tries."
So Ben? Congressional Republicans? Here's that party pack of shit tacos you ordered when you were grabbing all that great camera time during the stimulus debate. Chow down fellas! Mmmm good!
If anyone else recalls the tape I'm talking about and can find a link, I'd love to see it again.
April 25, 2009 10:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I remember hearing about that interview but not where.
For the life of me I can't fathom why all the lightweights think Obama is weak. Any fool knows that someone who can drive to the basket with five-seven-foot 300 pound players hanging off them and score is no one to trifle with. Then again, they're not, "players." Great comment, NC...s
April 26, 2009 9:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Okay, let's sum it up. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? Nah. Never happens.
October 15th is an awfully long time for Obama to give the Right. He always gives the other side a chance, one chance. Then it's going to go through just like the Prez sez. The Right has their chance to bring some new ideas to the table, but like they did to the economy, they are bankrupt.
April 26, 2009 1:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
"October 15th is an awfully long time for Obama to give the Right."
All the better to hang themselves with. I'm sure that date is calculated like everything else our President does. It takes time for some for things to sink in like, "Barack's in the White House"
April 26, 2009 9:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's an eternity in Internet years. but in Congress years, its about as short a time as you can reasonably expect anyone to get something this complicated done.
April 26, 2009 9:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
Steve, "Whazzup, my Obama?"
April 26, 2009 1:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for a thoughtful post. I am struck by the complete lack of strategy the nopublicans have shown. If they had voted "aye" for Obama's first several bills, they could have gotten a pass by claiming they were respecting the new President, and giving him a chance. Then, later on they could pull their zero votes and claim that is is out of conscience rather than obstructionism. Probably some people would even have believed them. Instead, they betrayed their own childish and selfish motives to defeat anything and everything our President is in favor of.
In fact, they gave Obama exactly what he needed: Proof that he has to play hardball to get the policies passed that he was elected to accomplish. They are reduced to calling him "thin-skinned!" They played themselves like a violin, and then gave the bow to Obama!
No matter how many lies Newt and his ilk state for the record, they are their own worst enemies. Oh, I almost left out the New York race that according to Steele, was supposed to be a refutation of Obama's policies -- that guy must just love the flavor of shoe leather!
April 26, 2009 9:34 AM | Reply | Permalink