The quotation marks are to signify that the above headline is by Allahpundit, not President Obama. But the optics of President Obama’s compromise risk him looking like one of two presidents who were one-termers because of their poor handling of economic issues — Carter or Bush #41, take your pick. As James Lileks writes:
A few thoughts on the tax deal — Rob beat me to it, so make sure you read his post below about the payroll tax.
1. My friend Hugh Hewitt is apoplectic about the 2-year deal, but it seems to set up 2012 nicely. Vote for us to keep your taxes from rising. Vote for them and they’ll go up guaranteed: it’s baked right into the law.
2. Hearing the President get that fussy, irritated tone when he describes the things he had to swallow to get on board, and all the good things he did tax-wise, reminds you how ungracious he is towards his opposition. If you were the smartest guy in the room and had to go along with ignorant boob-skulled bitterclingers, you’d be annoyed too, I suppose.
Speaking of which, at Newsbusters, Noel Sheppard quotes Charles Krauthammer’s take that Obama’s peevish tone made his press conference “actually a speech addressed at Daily Kos, the New York Times, and MoveOn.”
As I wrote in October, it can’t be easy being the Commander and Chief of MSNBC.
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