Why It Matters That President Obama Embarrassed U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

Why It Matters That President Obama Embarrassed U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
http://sane-ramblings.blogspot.com/2011/07/is-us-senate-majority-leader-harry-reid.html

The Democratic Underground top story at 1 pm PDT time on 7/22/11 was: "Reid: 'I'm the Senate majority leader. Why don't I know about this deal?' " The debt ceiling talks and the U.S. government's out of control spending aside, the political chasms in America are already endangering any effective government. We don't need today's development to add to it.

“I’m the Senate majority leader — why don’t I know about this deal?” Reid demanded as soon as the budget director walked into the historic Mansfield Room for a meeting with Senate Democrats, according to a lawmaker who witnessed the exchange...... Democrats were outraged about reports that Obama was willing to accept major spending cuts in exchange for reforming the tax code at some point in the future as part of a deal to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling."

It is never a wise negotiating tactic to embarrass anyone, let alone those whose support you need, not just now but in the future.

The best approach for President Obama to resolve this matter is to promptly sit down privately with Senate Majority Leader Reid and apologize, acknowledging his mistake rather than trying to rationalize it, and to provide assurance it won't happen again. It would be a respectful way to rebuild a good relationship between the two men. And after all, we all make mistakes and it is the wise person who learns from them.

[Inuca]

1. Maybe because there was no deal? n/t

[polmaven]

8. Why bother?

you won't get through to people who so badly want to believe the absolute worst.

[ThomWV]

11. Don't you get it? Because there were negotiations, not what deal was reached.

The President has no business at all "negotiating" deals with the house or the Senate or anyone else without the leaders of both of those bodies present. Boner should never have been in the room if Nancy Pelosi wasn't, and the fucking turtle-man should never have been in the room unless he was excorted by Harry.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. What pisses me off the most about this whole effing debt ceiling thing is that the

supreme court and Katherine Harris can select a president and the president cannot bring about sanity in the pubs. I think the latter is a much more difficult task than it might appear.

[SusanaMontana41]

15. An impossible task, I'd say. n/t

[Dept of Beer]

3. LBJ found out after he left the Senate that he couldn't act the same

way as when he was there.

[dgibby]

4. It's not the first time he's cut the Dems in Congress out of the negotiations.

For the smartest guy in the room, it's a dumb way to operate. I guess that's why a "senior Dem" said Pres. Obama couldn't be trusted (per MSNBC).

[bvar22]

5. If THIS guy were President...

...there wouldn't be any "secret meetings".


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5t8GdxFYBU



Who will STAND and FIGHT for THIS American Majority?
You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.

[Blue_In_AK]

12. Oh, yes, he did give good speech, didn't he? n/t

[madokie]

6. Good words to remember " we all make mistakes and it is the wise person who learns from them."

I agree with you on this.

In some ways I see a lot of President Carter in President Obama in that they both want to go it alone.

[pnwmom]

7. I like Harry Reid more and more. I think it's no accident that he wound

up in that position. He's much stronger than many people give him credit for.

[CarmanK]

9. Reid is weak, A local NV airport is hostage to the FAA auth bill!

[orwell]

10. Reid has been ineffective for years...

...the Cons roll him like a cheap cigar.

[Scuba]

13. I was taught that one cannot be embarrassed by another, but only by one's own actions. n/t

[Obamanaut]

16. Me too. nt

[jtrockville]

14. "sit down privately with Senate Majority Leader Reid and apologize"

Maybe Obama has already done this.