The debt ceiling hostage deal post-mortems are coming in, and the bottom line is that extortion works! See here, here, and here for starters. The "balanced approach" Obama demanded as part of a deal? As a senior Senate Democratic aide is quoted in the Kaplan Daily: "...when you look at the emerging details, spending cuts and triggers with no revenue, the president got rolled." That's right, the president got rolled. Again.
But the White House thinks it played the game smart! Those dumbasses think the deal will improve Obama's standing with independents (to hell with progressives!); that "even a losing deal can be a winning strategy." Allow me to offer them a clue, free of charge: voters of all political stripes want a president to be strong and Stand For Something, not cave when the heat is on. I have a few questions for the geniuses calling the shots: What do they think the average voter's impression is of Obama as a leader now? If those voters see him blinking over and over again to the likes of Orange Boner, Missy McConnell and the teatards, what does the White House think these treasured independents imagine him doing when he's across the table from the Chinese or the Russians (to be sure they're observing this president's weakness very closely). A weak president is a danger to us all.
In short, this president and his advisers are not only severely damaging their own prospects and that of their party by unilaterally disarming in the face of thugs and extortionists. They're damaging the country. This won't be the last of it, either. And the best interests of the American people? Well, that's apparently negotiable.
