Ed Kilgore wonders what critics on the right are asking for when they complain that Obama has abandoned bipartisanship:
[W]hat, exactly, would the critics have Obama do? Abandon his own agenda in favor of theirs?...
The bottom line is that a lot of the conservative carping about Obama's "partisanship" is so disingenuous that its authors are exhibiting a lot of chutzpah in accusing the president of dishonesty about his intentions.
An emailer at The Corner is much more upfront about what the critics really want. S/he excoriates Jonah Goldberg for congratulating Obama for the successful resolution of the pirate situation and says that instead he and all his compatriots on the right should be doing this:
Create doubt. Question his judgment. Support his opponents. Ridicule his errors. Mitigate his successes with suggestion of unintended consequences. Refuse to praise his work. Challenge his advocates when they advocate; don't let them own the conversation.
Why aren't you saying that Obama has created more pirates now?...
Does rightwing media not know how to do propaganda?
THAT'S what the critics are after. Good on Goldberg for at least claiming that he isn't interested in doing propaganda and that he'll praise or condemn the administration impartially on the basis of policies, praising those he thinks are good and condemning those he thinks are bad.