Let's see, if the president calls out the Republican leadership for refusing to consider tax increases as part of a budget deal, he's being kind of a dick.
But if John Boehner says that tax increases must be off the table in any budget negotiations, he's not being a dick?
If Eric Cantor walks out of the budget negotiations because somebody dared to use the word "taxes," he's not being a dick?
If Mitch McConnell says we can't throw any additional tax revenue into the mix, he's not being a dick?
If House Republicans threaten to refuse to increase the debt limit, thereby triggering the first US default in history, a spike in interest rates, and possibly global recession, they're not being dicks?
I'm trying to imagine what would have happened if the Democrats in Congress during the last couple years of the Bush administration had refused en masse to vote to raise the debt ceiling unless the administration agreed to accept the Democratic position on some issue, taxes, spending, whatever. And I'm not supposing that the Democrats were advocating for a compromise. What if the Democrats had said it has to be their way or the highway? There was no way that they would accept even a tiny bit of the other side's ideas.
Now suppose that President Bush had responded that he thought the Democrats were being a tad unreasonable by suggesting that the Republican-controlled Senate, and the administration must go along with the position of the Democratic-controlled House. Is there any chance in the world that anyone in the mainstream media would have said it was the PRESIDENT who was being a bit of a dick?