◼ Democrats have criticized Obama on the speech scheduling flap. James Carville said he was "out of bounds." Salon.com's Cent Uygur sensed "the audacity of weakness." It reminds me of a phrase describing a character in the 1980s TV series Dallas" -- "blustering, opportunistic, craven and hopelessly ineffective all at once." - Michael Barone/Washington Examiner
Not such a big deal, some people are saying. I disagree. I think it illustrates several of the weaknesses of this presidency....
Before last week, presidents and congressional leaders always agreed privately on scheduling presidential addresses to joint sessions before any public announcement was made. But it appears that no such agreement was made here, just a brusque announcement that had to be retracted.
Another weakness on display was contempt for public opinion. White House press secretary Jay Carney said it was just "coincidental" that the president wanted to speak at the same time as the Reagan Library debate. It was just "one debate that's one of many on one channel."
...A third Obama weakness is his propensity to charge his political opponents with playing politics when he is doing exactly that himself. In previewing this latest jobs-and-the-economy speech, Carney said that Obama will make the case "that politics is broken, and that politics is getting in the way of the very necessary things we need to do."
This from the president who has brushed aside one bipartisan initiative after another... An excellent piece, well worth reading in its entirety
