Republicans now have Obama right where Obama wants them to.
And consider the odd situation in which that leaves the President. As much as he has been under attack from Republicans over executive authority, he has a political incentive to bait Republicans into talking more about impeachment, which would both build pressure for it within the GOP and force them to deny it to the media. The best way for him to do so is to take more unilateral action on issues like immigration. That would incense Republicans, who would then rush to the cameras to decry his lawlessness, which would lead journalists to ask them whether they’re going to impeach him, which would lead them to tie themselves in knots denying it. Obama would get both the policy results he wants and the political benefit of making his opponents look like they’re about to drag the country into a repeat of the farce of 1998.
So yes, the talk of impeachment is in part a plot by the White House. But they’re only exploiting the pressure that exists within the GOP — pressure that John Boehner and the rest of the party leadership helped create. And if you think you’ve seen Republicans squirming uncomfortably over the question up until now, just you wait.
WashingtonPost.com
Bold text added by the diarist
I'd strongly encourage you to read the whole piece by Paul Waldman quoted above. It clearly illustrates that Obama now has a clear incentive to troll the shit out of extremist Republicans who hate him more than they love America.
Because Republicans decided on the day of Obama's first inauguration to oppose everything this President does. Their goal was to sabotage Obama's Presidency and America's recovery for their own political gain.
Even if that would hurt average Americans
Especially if that would hurt average Americans and impede our nation's economic recovery. That way they can run on the outrage they themselves created.
Even if they previously supported the idea Obama was trying to pass into law.
And that worked in 2010. It also failed miserably in 2012.
Now it is 2014 and the GOP strategy seems to be "Second term, same as the first"
Oppose everything, watch NOTHING improve, hobble Obama's second term. And blame the lack of progress on, you guessed it, Obama.
But Obama is NOT going along with it.
He is using the powers available to him as Chief Executive to get shit done, with or without a recalcitrant, petty partisan driven GOP House of Representatives.
So sue me
Or impeach me
Which the GOP has (sued him)
Which countless wingnuts claim they should (impeach him)
Now, unless Sarah Palin is a Democratic plant it is laughable to say that all of this impeachment talk started with Obama's WH. Impeaching Obama is a laughable proposal outside the GOP, kind of like every other GOP idea.
But just because no one outside the GOp takes it seriously doesn't mean the GOP base won't cling to it until the bitter end (see Palin, Sarah)
For years the GOP has been saying Obama is lawless, a tyrant, a dictator, and weak, or whatever. Whatever they can get to stick to a wall. The problem is NONE OF THAT CRAP will stick to a wall outside of the sound proof echo chamber that is the GOP's incestuously amplified corporate media machine.
At the beginning of Obama's second term The Heritage Foundation advised Congressional Republicans to ditch all the governing bullshit and stick to inventing scandals. All of those nothing burger scandals have FAILED to resonate with anyone outside the GOP echo chamber. Let's take a look at some of those failed GOP noise machine trumped up "Scandals".
IRS "scandal" = FAIL
#BENGHAZI!!1!!! = FAIL
Bundy Ranch = racist outburst + FAIL
Bergdahl = FAIL, fizzled out in a week
Obamacare won't help anyone = FAIL
and on and on it goes.
The GOP has tried to avoid governing as much as they can. But that lack of desire to do government stuff ran head first into the wall that the GOP wants to build on the Mexican border.
Because the GOP's newest self-manufactured "Crisis" was along the southern border. OMG! there are immigrants and refugees coming here! Aren't you southern state white people who fear and loath immigrants angry?, asked Republicans. Why won't Obama do something said the screechweasels on the right!?!?
So Obama started saying he would "do something"
And that made the screechweasels screech even louder.
How dare Obama do things?!? He isn't the "Decider". He is a tyrant or something, and Republicans started whipping up their hardcore base with promises of impeachable offenses that Republicans are entirely incapable of articulating without using terms so vague it might appear at the bottom of a credit card agreement.
This leaves President Obama in the perfect position to keep Rope-a-Doping these GOP clowns as hard as he wants to.
GOP won't pass any immigration laws? Obama can issue some executive orders. Shit will get done. Democratic constituencies will appreciate those moves, it will infuriate the GOP base further, increasing the demands for impeaching Obama over arggle barrgle something something, which will remind Dem voters to get off their asses and vote in 2014, and so on and so forth.
So Very Serious Republicans like Paul Ryan say Impeachment talk is a 'ridiculous game"
Guess what, fuckface, YOU BUILT THAT. Don't come whining to the rest of us when that thing Republicans built blows up in the face of Republicans.
And Obama knows it.
More below the fold
At this point Obama is the roadrunner and the GOP is Wile E. Coyote, forever doomed to be crushed by the zany ACME traps they have set themselves for Obama, and all the while Obama sticks his tongue out and goes MEEP MEEP before racing off to the music of a happy cartoon xylophone tune.
This is what happens when you tell the GOP base Obama is a lawless tyrant hell bent on destroying 'Murica. They believe you. Then they demand impeachment. Then they get super pissed at GOP leaders who can't deliver on Impeachment because those GOP leaders know it would be laughed at by the larger American public and it would only motivate Dems to vote against their looney wingnut asses.
It's like a DirecTV commercial.
Don't call Obama a tyrant.
When you call Obama a tyrant wingnuts want to impeach him
When wingnuts want to impeach Obama Dem voters get motivated to vote in off year elections.
The GOP really has two choices here, either shitcan the looney impeachment talk OR admit that Obama isn't the lawless tyrant hell bent on destroying the constitution that they've painted him as for the last 5 or 6 years.
But the GOP can't do either of those things or their rabid teabagger base would throw them out faster than you can say Eric Cantor.
Whereas Obama can now continue to rope-a-dope these schmucks to his hearts content.
Don't want to pass a real immigration reform bill that addresses a clear pathway to citizenship? I'll just get my pen and my phone. There is an Executive Order for that.
Which will make wingnuts howl for impeachment
Which will make Dem voters realize they need to get off their asses and vote in 2014
Which will make John Boehner cry out in agony at how the WH plotted all this.
Yes, if Obama has mind control powers that make Steve King, Sarah Palin, RW pundits and a host of elected Republicans say stupid shit than yes this is a devious WH plot.
OR, Obama is using a kind of political ju jitsu to make Republicans throw themselves off balance by using the force of their attacks against him against themselves.
Either way it is a win/win for Obama and everyone else in America who actually wants to see these problems solved instead of the shrinking minority of shrieking Republicans who'd rather build a 2,000 mile fence so they can continue screaming at Latino's from the 'Murcian side of the border.
Republicans don't want to fix these problems. They like the status quo as is. They just want to scream about these problems, blame Dems and "Big Gov" and demonize the brown people whom their base clearly has nothing but animosity and loathing for.
Here, Obama has been put in a corner, and now he is using the GOP's frenzied hatred of himself to beat the living shit out of the GOP with their own belligerent momentum against him.
But you keep on weaselscreeching about Obama's tyranny, Mr. Republican man. Please proceed.
Because if Obama is so horrible go ahead and impeach him.
And if not, do kindly shut the hell up, sit the fuck down and do your fucking job.
And that job isn't whining to cable news shows about Obama. That job is governing. If you can't do that don't get pissed when Obama does it for you.
Or do get pissed. I don't give a fuck anymore what Republicans think.
President Obama has the ability to beat the crap out of Republicans without barely moving. He just dodges their attacks and counter punches while they miss badly on their jabs and tire themselves out.
That's what Rope-a-Dope looks like.
And maybe I am being too kind to Obama on this. Maybe. But either Obama is the all time king of Presidential Rope-a-Dope, a tyrant of the beltway boxing arena, or the GOP is so amazingly incompetent that they have become a Sideshow Bob trapped in a field full of rakes that they have set their themselves.
It's probably a little bit of both.
Here is a belligerent GOP that has zero credibility outside of the beltway, the corporate owned media and the GOP base.
Here is 2nd most popular politician in America named Barack Obama.
And guess what, that weak fickle tyrannical despot Obama is mopping the fucking floor with the GOP.
Because Obama is the Teflon President. Nothing the GOP throws at him sticks. None of their punches land or have any strength behind them. And the only politician in America more popular than Obama is Hillary Clinton.
I'm not saying that President Obama is Muhammad Ali, but the GOP of 2014 sure as shit ain't no Sonny Liston.
So please proceed, you ridiculous screeching right wing nutjobs. It doesn't matter if we call it Rope-A-Dope, 11th dimensional chess or Jedi Mind Tricks, Obama continues to hand these Republicans their asses.
And these modern Republicans deserve to have their asses handed to them.
I leave the floor to you.
Paypal link for Jesse LaGreca
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