David Broder: Obama's Muscle Moment

It was a dramatic show of muscle, targeting two of the erstwhile Big Three, and the economic mainstay of the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan, which rank among the top five political pillars of the Democratic Party. Michigan’s Democratic governor, Jennifer Granholm, protested that Wagoner was being made a scapegoat. But Sen. Carl Levin commented that when Obama met with members of the Michigan delegation, he made plain that “there wasn’t much point in arguing whether or not it was fair or unfair, wise or unwise. It was a decision that he didn’t ask us about; he informed us.”

You can hear in the comments of Levin and other members of Congress the sounds of grudging admiration for a fellow politician who has shown them he has more backbone than they expected.

Read it all.

print

Posted in * Economics, Politics, Economy, Office of the President, Politics in General, President Barack Obama, The Possibility of a Bailout for the U.S. Auto Industry

14 comments on “David Broder: Obama's Muscle Moment

  1. Jeffersonian says:

    Broder’s fawning for our Il Duce sickens me.

  2. Jeff Thimsen says:

    He’s actually written some fairly critical stuff about Obama.

  3. Jeffersonian says:

    Perhaps, but have Oprompta fire a CEO like Mussolini dismissing an Italian corporate president, and Broder turns into a 12 year-old girl at a Jonas Brothers concert.

  4. robroy says:

    The firing was a gesture. He got a $20 million golden parachute supposedly. I am sure that he’ll be crying on the beaches of the Bahamas.

    A true “muscle moment” would be renogiating salaries on those workers paid not to work.

  5. Jeffersonian says:

    [blockquote]The firing was a gesture. He got a $20 million golden parachute supposedly. I am sure that he’ll be crying on the beaches of the Bahamas. [/blockquote]

    That’s not the point, Robroy, the point is the Executive arrogating to itself powers found in neither the Constitution nor statute, powers more akin to those found in fascist states then in supposed liberal democracies.

  6. Dr. William Tighe says:

    What do you expect from a communist?

  7. Daniel says:

    I’d be a whole lot more impressed if he had also fired the president of the UAW, the union sharing much of the blame for the mess Detroit is in. So far, Obama is just playing to the blood lust of the uninformed electorate and quietly making his political payoffs on schedule.

  8. A Floridian says:

    Like KJS, Obama is a law unto himself. #5 describes what we have seen from both:
    “…the Executive arrogating to itself powers found in neither the Constitution nor statute, powers more akin to those found in fascist states then in supposed liberal democracies.”

  9. Br. Michael says:

    6, ditto.

  10. Nikolaus says:

    At the rate his is going Obamanation will have a lock on the worst president of all time in very short order.

  11. Fr. Dale says:

    10. Nikolaus
    [blockquote]At the rate his is going Obamanation will have a lock on the worst president of all time in very short order [/blockquote]
    He has a quite a way to go before he can beat Jimmy Carter for that infamous honor. “Stagflation”, double digit inflation, long lines for expensive gasoline, no gas on Sunday in WI. Hostages kept by the Iranians and a disastrous attempt to rescue them. He then had the guts to tell the American people it was their fault. His greatest positive accomplishment was building houses for Habitat for Humanity and now he is ruining that “legacy” with anti Israeli statements.

  12. robroy says:

    Jeffersonian, the president can certainly ask that someone step down. I think that it is the point. Mr. Broder is trying to say that Obama has got some cajones. I don’t see that at all.

  13. Jeffersonian says:

    And a guy with a bandana over his face can “ask” you for your wallet.

  14. Nikolaus says:

    Understood Deacon Dale. But I expect that Barry will make Jimmy look good.