In every relationship when one of the partners is severely dysfunctional and self-destructive, it is up to those who care about him to sit him down and tell him that as much as they love him, they can no longer serve as his enablers. They must say that it is now impossible to stand idly by and support him as he engages in harmful behavior that brings shame, disappointment and great financial risk to himself, his party and the people who trusted in him to fulfill his promises. Senate and Congressional Democrats, it is time to show President Obama some serious tough love.
It is up to you to make him see that his apparently ungovernable compulsion to strike a deal at any cost has made him a pathetic figure, neither respected nor feared by his opponents or admired and trusted by his supporters. His lofty rhetoric and promises of change are now seen as just so much hot air from a man who is either unwilling or unable to act decisively and with conviction.
Time after time we have watched him give away the store on solid Democratic issues in order to strike a deal that accomplished nothing for his constituents and left his opponents better off, secure in the knowledge that if they dig their heels in on any issue, this president would cave. How could they not, just look at his track record.
He watered down his original stimulus package deleting out the much needed infrastructure and jobs components to please Republicans who then rewarded his conciliatory actions by giving him not one single vote to pass the bill. In his signature issue of healthcare reform, his sole leadership role in the early negotiations consisted of rushing to throw the "public option" under the bus, making questionable concessions to big pharma behind closed doors and agreeing to leave the insurance companies firmly in charge of our broken healthcare system. All of these pre-mature concessions were made in order to appease Republicans, who again met him half way by casting not one single vote for the finished bill they largely shaped and are to this very minute trying to repeal.
And now, God help us, after standing strong last week and getting the upper hand on deficit reduction and raising the debt ceiling, he suddenly appears to be willing to cut $4 trillion in entitlement spending including Medicare and Social Security on the vague promise that Republicans will consider tax reform somewhere down the road. Worse still, he's defending this complete capitulation with the lame excuse that Lincoln didn't free all the slaves in his great emancipation proclamation. Could this man be in any greater need of an intervention?
Forcing a loved one to get help is never an easy task, but Senate and Congressional Democrats, you no longer have a choice. It's time to quit enabling this delusional man and tell him in no undertain terms that you will not vote for any cuts in the budget that are not matched by additional revenues. While you're at it, take away his car keys too.