CTFD

Ooooo. Everyone is hopping mad at Obama and I admit so was I for about 20 minutes until I calmed down and put things into perspective. I also watched a little Chris Matthews which also helped. I am now way back in Obama's corner and getting tired of everyone pissing and moaning because rich people get to hold on to their tax cut for another two years.

Well as much fiscal sense as that does not make, it is not the entire picture and people who are going to get caught up on the outcome of this one confrontation should take themselves out of the gallery now because, God forbid, Obama may have to toss more bones to Satan's dogs to do what's right.

I think the anger is mostly from people who simply got involved in the fight for the sake of the fight instead of navigating for what success was possible. As partisans, we love to stick it to the other side and we hoped ourselves until we were blue that the moment would come when the White House and Congress announced that the Republicans have lost yet another battle. Then we could dance and cheer about how we skewered those thin-lipped minions of millionaires again like we did with the stimulus and healthcare and financial reform.

Obama does not have that luxury. It is not a sporting event for him. Today he guaranteed that the people who really need help, the unemployed will get some relief. He may have had the option of playing all or nothing, but if he did, how would you feel about things then? Sure you would be blaming the scumbag party, but nothing would have gotten done when something should have been done.

The legislative session is not over either. If Obama starts taking his ball and going home now it would endanger what still has a slim chance of passing through Congress such as the START treaty and the repeal of DADT. It is about the big picture. He is not Dumbledore and this is not Hogwarts. Short of magic, there's nothing the guy could do but agree to an extension of tax cuts to the wealthy for the time being. It's not that big of a deal.

Part of the problem is that many of us envision the Republicans in a room popping champagne and listening to Lawrence Welk in celebration of how they really got Obama. Not the case. This little victory does not remedy the pain they feel of having Barack Obama sitting in the Oval Office. They are still smarting from everything that Obama has done so far that they were unable to block. They are still seething. This is not the big victory they've been waiting for, folks. What would really make them happy is if Obama was voted out of office in 2012. So go ahead and pull your support now. Because that would really give them hope.