And it's not just Republicans he's provoking. It's just about anybody who crosses his path, even his party's deranged left wing.
Long-time liberal Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel is a case in point. The veteran Harlem congressman reacted to criticism from the president, who called on him to "end his career with dignity," by remarking that Obama hasn't "been around long enough to determine what my dignity is."
He added sarcastically that it's more likely to be the other way around over the next two years, predicting the time will come when it will be he who will have to protect the president's dignity.
Taking opposite sides over a two-day span, Obama first indicated opposition to the building of a mosque on the edge of Manhattan's Ground Zero, and the next day opposed the idea.
After voicing his support Friday night, he reversed himself after his remarks sparked a firestorm of criticism, saying that he was merely noting that the Mosqueteers had a right to build there.
"I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there," Obama said. "I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That's what our country is about."
Having taken both sides on the issue he managed to anger both supporters of the mosque and its opponents.
Hungry for all-out support from the left, he managed to alienate them when he failed to get the so-called government option that would have created a full socialistic health care system in the final version of the health care reform bill.
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His continued support for the war in Afghanistan is angering the anti-war segment of the Democratic Party's left wing, which wants the U.S. out of there, period.
For their part, the White House spokespeople adamantly deny that they are angry at leftist criticism, denying liberal claims that the White House is angry over their claims that President Obama is more worried about making deals than adhering to the liberal version of ideological purity.
According to White House press spokesman Robert Gibbs, liberals would never admit that anything Obama does is good enough to satisfy them.
"I hear these people saying he's like George Bush," Gibbs said, adding that such people ought to be tested for drugs. "I mean, it's crazy."
He dismissed what he called the "professional left," adding, "They will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we've eliminated the Pentagon. That's not reality."
His final shot: "They wouldn't be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president."
Needless to say, conservatives are bristling with scorn over the president's continued attacks on former President George W. Bush, who has been out of office for over two years.
Insisting that the current recession is Bush's fault, the president and his fellow Democrats blatantly ignore that the Congress, which controls spending and the passage of all economic legislation ,was in the Democratic hands during the final four years of the Bush administration.
Noting that "[w]ith unemployment sky-high and the country sinking deeper into debt every minute, it's clear that the last 19 months of "government-as-community-organizer" hasn't worked," said GOP House minority leader John Boehner.
"You know it. I know it. The American people know it. The only ones who don't seem to get it are the Democrats running the White House and Congress. "
Zeroing in on unemployment, Boehner said, "We've exposed debacles in places like my home state where our Democratic governor sent "stimulus" tax dollars to El Salvador -- yes, El Salvador -- as Americans continue to ask "where are the jobs?"
And the top Democrat is Barack Obama. Is it any wonder he's just about on top of about half of everyone's list of most unpopular politicians?
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