Yeah, I was really surprised to not see any diary on Obama's latest "NO." So I thought I'd just put it on the diary record.
He said no to the GOP's crappy deal today. And he's been saying no for weeks. He has not caved. The Democrats have not caved. And gee, I think that's worth noting. Lord knows, there's been endless diaries about where Obama caved, even if where he supposedly did so, the dire predictions of many here have yet to become reality.
I make note of that.
Let me be clear here, I don't doubt much that if the republicans would accept Obama's stick w/his carrot, we would indeed or will indeed consummate the dreaded "Grand Bargain." Which will not make anyone here happy, myself included. But it should be pretty clear by now, that he won't be negotiating the grand bargain over the funding of the government or the debt ceiling. AND, predicting what that grand bargain will or won't be is a fool's errand.
I make note of that.
We need to note that Obama just said NO to what many would have sworn he'd give into. A paltry offer from the GOP, but an offer! The answer was NO.
We need to note this president is standing up for things EVEN BIGGER than his own signature legislation, Obamacare or the ACA, whatever you want to call it. He is standing up for refusing to let the minority take the majority hostage, he is standing up not only for his own power in the office of the presidency, but for whoever may hold that seat after him. He is standing up for a principle, that wait for it, may be the most significant thing he ever does, all around.
I make note of that.
No matter what you think of him, I really do believe he has found something that rankles him more than the GOP trying to repeal, defund and kill Obamacare. After all, that's ALL they've done since 2010. 40 times? I think he's pretty used to that by now.
But I think what the GOP is trying to pull off, beyond the defunding of his signature legislation, and straight into a revolution of the minority, the resurrection of a confederate civil war mentality---an attempt to deliver a ransom note so brazen it rolls ones eyes to the back of their head---is being soundly and resolutely rebuffed by this president. And in the days to come we must remember what this battle was really about. And it has never been about Obamacare. That was and is just a mask for so much more.
I make note of that.
And ironically, as it's gotten to be about much more than Obamacare for the president and for the American people, the ACA has been inching UP in the polls, as the republicans plummet down. Rachel just covered this point on her show tonight, and how sweet is that?
Obama will never be visibly as progressive as I can afford to be, pretty sure of that. Whether that's because he's really a center right politician, as many here want to say, or whether it's because he's a smart and savvy politician, good enough at it to bide his time and like a surfer, roll with the waves in the best ways he sees, who knows? There are those here who think they do know, but so far, their track record isn't any better than mine---which is I dunno. We'll have to wait and see.
Still, just putting on the record that today, Obama did not cave. The Democrats did not cave. Worth noting. What's next? Again, I dunno.