AMEN to all below from Dan Froomkin....
The nation needs to see a different President Obama next Wednesday when he addresses a joint session of Congress.
His laid-back attempt to take the high road just isn't working.
It was all very noble and everything to try to be bipartisan. It was most excellently un-Bush-like to actually ask Congress to try its hand at legislating. It was admirably high-minded to attempt conciliation, to adopt a professorial role, and stay at 30,000 feet.
But no more. The Republican Party and the national discourse have been hijacked by unhinged zealots. The Democratic congressional leadership has shown itself to be incoherent, incapable and corrupted. So for Obama, it's either time to fight back or give up.
Obama could, I guess, back off on everything remotely controversial in his health care proposal, throw the public option and universal coverage and end-of-life counseling overboard, and try to get everyone to find common ground. But even that wouldn't appease his critics. They won't stop fighting just because he does. Their goal is for Obama to lose.
Alternately, Obama could commit himself to some specifics, call out his critics, and remind people why all this is so damned important.
Here's one thing he could say: I'm not going to chase after the crazies on the right anymore. I cannot do business with these people, try as I may. I reach out and they accuse me of being a socialist who wants to pull the plug on grandma. read more here....
President Obama needs to knock this out of the park, but will he? Are we going to hear more of bipartisanship? Which is NOT WORKING. He needs to have a fire in his belly and talk plainly to the American Public. Because right now, everyone is suspect of what will happen but more importantly, what he stands for.
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