A Kinsley-esque gaffe occurs when a politician inadvertently speaks the truth, a rarity in Washington, especially so within the Obama White House. Their latest unforced error occurred while speaking to the Wall Street Journal, as spotted by Ace:
And bear in mind the Democrats’ public position is that they just hate that politics has been brought into this by The Damned Tea Party, and all they want is for the government to open so that it can work its governmental magic.
But here’s what they say when they’ve got a drink in them.
Said a senior administration official: “We are winning…It doesn’t really matter to us” how long the shutdown lasts “because what matters is the end result.”
The Washington Post asks if this is a potential “game-changer.”
They don’t think the “We’re winning” part is important, because obviously someone is going to win and lose, and Rand Paul just also said that he thought the GOP could win this. But they do think the part about not caring how long the government remains shut down is a problem for the White House.
The first part — “We’re winning” — is indeed important because the Democrats position, endlessly trumpeted by the media, is that they’re sickened by the politics of this. Well that was always, obviously, bunk, and a six year old could see that.
But the media pushed that line anyway, uncritically. “We’re winning” complicates their jobs on that front. (Their jobs being to carry water for Democrats, of course.)
Winning? You’re doing it wrong, says Jake Tapper of CNN:
There’s a definition of “winning” being used in DC that recalls that of Charlie Sheen
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 4, 2013
Official White House spokesman Jay Carney is reduced to disavowing a quote from his own White House:
.@PressSec So the White House disavows the White House? @morningmoneyben
— jon gabriel (@ExJon) October 4, 2013
To paraphrase the Gipper, sometimes the left hand doesn’t know what the far left hand is doing in the Obama White House.
And speaking of which, as Ed Morrissey writes, “Obama cancels entire Asia trip over shutdown to, er … not negotiate:”
The White House could have gotten Obama out of the fray and onto the high-profile arena of global diplomacy. That would have elevated his status while making Congress look petty in comparison. Instead, Obama will sit in the White House and refuse to negotiate, which makes him look at least as petty as Congress, and undermine his credibility on leadership even further. Canceling the trip looks a lot more like a temper tantrum than the act of a statesman, either domestically or internationally.
Well, there isn’t much of a need for left side of the aisle to learn the rules, when they’ve already bribed all of the umpires.
As for the right side of the aisle, former GWB speech writer Marc Thiessen describes it as “The Seinfeld Shutdown” — “Quick: What do Republicans want in exchange for ending the government shutdown? If you know the answer, congratulations — because Republicans sure don’t.”
In spite of that, James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal wonders, “Could Republicans Be Winning?” In that they’ve gotten the left to drop their masks — and occasionally their trousers as well this week, yes.
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