Reply #14: It's not the responsibility of citizens to worry about whether they're

[last_texas_dem]

"alienating" elected officials. Unless things have gotten royally screwed-up these days, it's supposed to be the other way around.

Gibbs (and Obama?) seems to have made the political calculation that Obama will not be hurt substantially by attacking part of his political base.

Perhaps he's right = 1) the interview is likely a one/two-day news story that will be forgotten shortly, and 2) Gibbs's specific attacks were largely strawman-level ("they want to abolish the Pentagon!! OMGZ!!!!!1!") nonsense that sound like some Archie Bunker-esque character going off on "hippies."

I know guys like Gibbs, due to the nature of their jobs, operate on a very political level. If a statement or an action doesn't cause substantial political damage = no harm, no foul. At the same time, as a political calculator, what exactly did Gibbs think he'd be gaining by making these remarks? I'm hardly part of any "professional left," but all they do is lower my opinion of Gibbs as a person and cause me to question his political intelligence. They don't reflect too well on his boss, either.