Unnoticed in all the screaming over President Obama's deal with the GOP is the fact that he called the Republicans some very nasty names:
Q Mr. President, what do you say to Democrats who say you’re rewarding Republican obstruction here? You yourself used in your opening statement they were unwilling to budge on this. A lot of progressive Democrats are saying they’re unwilling to budge, and you’re asking them to get off the fence and budge. Why should they be rewarding Republican obstruction?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, let me use a couple of analogies. I’ve said before that I felt that the middle-class tax cuts were being held hostage to the high-end tax cuts. I think it’s tempting not to negotiate with hostage-takers, unless the hostage gets harmed. Then people will question the wisdom of that strategy. In this case, the hostage was the American people and I was not willing to see them get harmed. Whitehouse.gov
Well, almost unnoticed. The right-wing media is not happy with these words.
Exuding his typical gracelessness, [Obama] pouted about being forced into negotiations, whined about "tax cuts for the wealthy" as the "Holy Grail" of the Republican Party, and yes, referred to the GOP as "hostage-takers."
"It’s tempting not to negotiate with hostage takers, unless the hostage gets harmed...the hostage was the American people."
So much self-pitying stuff and nonsense packed into one plaintive wail. Michelle Malkin blog [Emphasis in original]
Trying to strike a strong and combative tone to appease the angry Democrats, Obama spoke about Republicans as though they were a new species of sea life, before comparing the negotiations as a hostage crisis with the American people as the hostages and the GOP as the "hostage-takers." That is no exaggeration, but a direct quote, and he went on to call Speaker-elect John Boehner a "bomb-thrower." Wellsy's World
Last week, Democratic senator Bob Menendez said that negotiating with Republicans on tax cuts is "almost" like negotiating with "terrorists." At the time, the harsh analogy--long favored by left-wing bloggers--seemed like it may have been an unbecoming slip-of-the tongue for the Democratic senator, but President Obama's remarks indicate that comparing Republicans to hostage-takers is now an official Democratic talking point. Weekly Standard
Or see this compilation by Media Matters of right-wing commentators complaining that Obama was saying "Republicans are the enemy" (Hannity), that he was showing al-Qaeda he would negotiate with them if they took hostages (James Rosen), that he was "demoniz[ing] Republicans" (TheBlaze), and that he was "petulant and arrogant" (NRO). In other words, the president really got under their skin.
Media Matters also pointed out that Reagan and G. W. Bush had also used the "hostage" metaphor when talking about Democrats. But their examples do not quite so explicitly refer to the other political party as "hostage-takers." That shifts the emphasis from the action to the actors.
In other words, Obama is calling out the Republicans as much for what they ARE as for what they DO.
Although there's been a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth on this forum and elsewhere that Obama wouldn't "fight" for his goals, I do agree with eclectablog's recommended diary that Obama actually did get a decent deal, given the hand he was forced to play. And he, deliberately I am sure, used fighting words to describe the Republicans and the role they chose to play.
They are certainly aware of it.