Krugman on Obama "Lashing Out"

Here is a bit from a post by Krugman on his NY Times blog about yesterday's news conference by Obama where he praised himself for his pragmatism, claimed he had forced the Republicans to give him a "good deal" (which has the Republicans laughing, high-fiving, and back slapping in front of the cameras) while getting really good stuff for ordinary Americans (while the camera shows Democratic leaders in deep shock and several of them letting go their anger at Obama in front of the cameras. So much for an "even-handed win". Here's Krugman's take on Obama's "success"...

There is a case for the tax cut deal, as the best of a very bad situation. But Obama did not help that case yesterday by lashing out at “purists”.

Leave aside the merits for a moment: what possible purpose does this kind of lashing out serve? Will activists be shamed into recovering their previous enthusiasm? Will Republicans stop their vicious attacks because Obama is lashing out to his left? It was pure self-indulgence; even if he feels aggrieved, he has to judge his words by their usefulness, not by his desire to vent. This isn’t about him.

And beyond that, who are these purists? Yes, a few people on the left refused to support health reform over the lack of a public option — but not many. To the extent that Obama has had trouble selling that plan, “purists” weren’t a factor; his own lack of effective messaging was.

On taxes: there might be more forgiveness now if Obama had shown any sign of fighting before now. A new article by Noam Scheiber confirms the impression I and others had that the administration really didn’t push Congress to take up the issue...

Let me add that Obama has never, as far as I can recall, pointed out that these horrible tax increases on the rich the GOP warns about would bring rates back to what they were under Bill Clinton — a time of enormous prosperity. But then, Obama has always had a weirdly hard time making the case that the Clinton economy refuted Reaganism.

Add in the White House’s repeated validations of the right-wing position on the evils of public spending, from the spending freeze to the pay freeze, the appointment of a conservative Democrat and a paleo-conservative Republican to head the debt commission, etc. — and now Obama expects trust and praise from progressives?

What’s particularly striking is that Obama seems passionate about denouncing his progressive critics, even as he has nice words for the people who have spent two years trying to destroy him.

I've given up on Obama. He is a disaster. There was an historic moment in 2008 for a leader like FDR or Lincoln to step forth and guide the nation in a new direction, but they got Obama instead. The funny thing is that Republicans foam at the mouth over Obama, but he's the best thing possible for them. If they had elected McCain with the his policies the US would be in the toilet and the Republican's name would be mud. But with Obama saving the economy "sort of", i.e. enough so it isn't in the toilet, but not enough to recover in 3, 4, or 5 years, it positions the Republicans to step forth as "saviours" in 2012 and win the presidency.

The Republicans showed their savoir faire in this latest deal with Obama by setting up the unemployment payments to expire in 2012 at the start of the next big presidential election cycle. That will anger voters as they see the downtrodden cast out by the idiotic decision of Obama to extend benefits only a bit and not enough. That's Obama at every step. He wins a bit, but not enough to make a difference. He promises change but doesn't do enough to actually make a change that people can perceive.