Obama vs. Boehner: A Pair of Nothingburgers (Kevin Drum(

[Mass]

I normally liked Obama's speaking style a lot, but today, I thought he was not forceful enough, as for Boehner, it was a terrible speech and obviously a bunch of lies. Anyway, Kevin Drum described what I thought very well.

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/07/obama-vs-boehner-pair-nothingburgers

Obama vs. Boehner: A Pair of Nothingburgers

What a discouraging pair of speeches. I expected Obama to stick with his Mr. Reasonable routine, so that wasn't a surprise. But I was surprised that he didn't do a better job of making a case for his own side. It just seemed....limp.I mean, this is not exactly a rousing call to action:

I’m asking you all to make your voice heard. If you want a balanced approach to reducing the deficit, let your Member of Congress know. If you believe we can solve this problem through compromise, send that message.

And when he switched to describing the Republican plan, he didn't do much better. I really don't think he managed to paint the "cuts only" alternative as all that dire sounding, and I don't think he managed to explain the tea party instansigence very well either. I could figure out what he meant because I follow this stuff, but I'm not sure someone who was coming into this cold could have.

And Boehner! What kind of gall does it take to describe last week's House bill as "bipartisan"? How many Dems voted for it? Three? Four? And he repeated this nonsense multiple times. This was accompanied by claims that it was Obama who created this whole crisis in the first place, that healthcare reform added to the deficit, and that he gave it his all to find something, anything, that Obama could agree to. Ugh. The rest was just boilerplate.

[and-justice-for-all]

1. They always try to tear Obama down...never fails..nt

[Mass]

3. Kevin Drum? He tends to be fairly positive about Obama. This is an unfair criticism.

[Doctor Hurt]

6. no. spot on criticism

[sudopod]

7. Mean ol Mother Jones, what a buncha commies, amirite?

*THIS HAS BEEN A TEST OF THE EMERGENCY SARCASM SYSTEM*

[jefferson_dem]

2. I normally like Drum but he's wrong this time.

Obama slams GOP over 'dangerous game' - http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/obama-slams-gop-over-dangerous-game/story-e6frg6so-1226101982505

[Mass]

4. we'll see what it will accomplish. we already know we lost this fight. It will not be a balanced

approach. Now, we' ll see if people put the blame on Obama or Boehner, in this country, not in Australia. I hope I am wrong, but, from what I saw and the media reaction, the blame will be at least spread all around. But Kevin Drum described what I thought listening to the speech, and what many other people did (Jim Fallows had more or less the same type of comment). They do not disagree with Obama on the issues. They just dont understand what he wanted to accomplish.

[Doctor Hurt]

5. It's FUN to be negative all the time.

Being above it all is cool.

[Mass]

8. On what planet do you live? I guess this is another example of the

Obama is a god without power crowd. You cant be even moderately disappointed without some of you jumping all over. Would be nice if you spend as much time criticizing the GOP ideas.

[Doctor Hurt]

9. I haven't said a positive word about Obama tonight

I've said lots of negative things about DU clowns.

Because they are clowns, and deserve mockery.