I thought, if nothing else, that we would emerge from behind the looking glass once Barack Obama replaced George W. Bush as president. Plainly, we haven't and the most recent example is in the dueling memes affirming Obama's brilliance on the Debt Hysteria Deal.
We have, on the one hand, Lawrence O'Donnell, sagely informing us that Obama is a genius because he KNOWS the GOP will reject all deals, which leaves Obama as The Only Adult In The Room.
On the other hand, and in blithe contradiction to the above, we have Greg Sargent in the Washington Post channeling the White House via WSJ's Gerald Seib:
A big deal would reassure independents who fear the country is out of control; position Obama as the adult who made Washington work again; allow the President to tell Dems he put entitlements on sounder financial footing; and clear the decks to enact other priorities later. The White House is promoting the piece, so you can assume it reflects the thinking of Obama advisers, and indeed, Obama himself talked in similar terms at his presser yesterday about the need to take the deficit off the table.
Let's focus for one moment on the fact that these two views together comprise the schoolyard taunt, "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose," which, while not so congruent with being the Only Adult In The Room, sounds good at least.
Just a couple of minor quibbles.
To O'Donnell, I ask: What happens if the GOP ACCEPTS the deal?
To Sargent, I say:
1. Independents. Independents are worried about jobs just like the rest of us sane Americans. Nobody gives a damn about the deficit right now EXCEPT Washington, DC. and the Tea Party/GOP. If Obama thinks the Teabaggers are going to vote for him then he has been, um, misinformed.
2. The Only Adult In the Room. If people were voting for The Only Adult In The Room, well, Obama would probably win that election, assuming Sargent is correct. Unfortunately, the American People don't want a daddy, they want a president to enact sensible policies that provide jobs for unemployed Americans.
3. Entitlement "security." We had to destroy the program in order to save it. Next.
4. "Clearing the Decks." Frankly, this one is such a complete howler it's a wonder Sargent would actually put it out under his name. We are supposed to believe that immediately after cutting 4 trillion dollars of spending, the GOP is then going to agree with Obama to do ... what, exactly? Approve job stimulus spending? A national public works program? Raise taxes on the wealthy? A national green energy project? National health care?
You can't fool all the people all the time. Time's up. The Deficit Hysteria Deal is a horror show on every level and we should stop pretending otherwise.