Republicans are derided as the party in disarray and, with Michael Steele at the helm, there is little wonder. GOP stalwarts are often depicted as dinosaurs by a disparaging press or by faux conservatives who are hired by the disparaging press. (See: Parker, Kathleen and Brooks, David for more information.)
But you have to look to the Democratic camp to find the true dinosaurs. Not the kindly vegetarian Brontosaurus-like creatures they pretend to be. No more pretense of Barney’s “I love you, you love me.” The Democrats have become like the “Jurassic Park” version of the Velociraptor – working as a team to tear their enemies limb from limb. Maybe even a friend or two. Certainly a vice president.
When asked on March 16 about former Vice President Dick Cheney’s criticism of the Obama economic record, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs mocked him, saying that Rush Limbaugh must have been too busy. “So, they trotted out the next most popular member of the Republican cabal.” A “cabal?” The only group plotting anything is made up of Democrats – and they are far from secret about it.
The Obama administration is very publicly in full-on attack mode, romping through press rooms and the hallways of Congress looking to feed. It doesn’t just roar against talk radio any more. They and the liberals who follow them are looking to take a bite out of anyone who disagrees with their economic performance – from Limbaugh to money mad man Jim Cramer.
The “change”-d Democratic Party doesn’t tolerate criticism. Oppose them and the White House or one of its supporters starts ringing the dinner bell. Hungry Obama supporters rush in, eager for a piece of any who criticize their master. Bloggers, think tankers, pundits and journalists all swarm in at the smell of blood.
That was the Obama campaign strategy. When distribution of wealth came up during the race, Obama flunky Bill Burton complained about “a fake news controversy drummed up by the all too common alliance of Fox News, the Drudge Report and John McCain.” That same strategy was deployed to go after Fox host Sean Hannity.
Now, it’s a sick government policy that looks like liberals’ worst imaginings of the Nixon administration – complete with an enemies list. Jim Cramer was only one recent victim of this Obama feeding frenzy. Gibbs couldn’t help gloating after always-liberal, sometime-comedian Jon Stewart chewed up Cramer last week. "I enjoyed it thoroughly,” Gibbs told a happy press corps.
Cramer had supported Obama and bashed the Bush White House repeatedly. None of that mattered. He had committed an unpardonable sin – he went against Obama. For that, he was the main course at a national buffet. And so-called progressive groups are now targeting CNBC in its entirety.
But this isn’t about CNBC or the left’s top targets – Cramer, the Howard Beale-esque Rick Santelli or the statesmanlike Larry Kudlow. What it’s about is a White House with a monstrous agenda to stifle dissent. Obama’s pack has abandoned all pretense of bipartisanship and embraced what Hillary Clinton once called “the politics of personal destruction.”
It was only January when The Washington Post headline was claiming “Transition Signals A Centrist Approach In Obama White House.” No rational conservative believed it then. If anyone else does now, they aren’t being rational.
Obama is trying to give the public someone to hate so they don’t focus on what he is doing. The difference now is the left is backing that up with a sophisticated network of Web sites, TV shows and pundits who take their cues from the White House. When the Obama administration is not throwing red meat to its base over Wall Street, it’s going after critics.
Soon after Cheney criticized Obama, Huffingtonpost.com’s own Arianna Huffington responded – envisioning the former vice president as the main course for Stewart, a comedian pretending to be a populist. She was angered that CNN’s John King was insufficiently rude or militant to the former VP and wished the “Daily Show” host had filled in for King. In what’s left of Arianna’s mind since her great liberal conversion, Stewart is the new T-Rex able to intimidate all into submission. She even lamented the lack of a “Jon Stewart Journalism Deprogramming Center.” “Is there any sentient human being – other than Bush apologists – disputing that the Bush administration left Obama a mess?” she whined.
Yes, Bush left Obama a recession. So what? Clinton left Bush one. Both situations stink, so fair’s fair. But that’s not the point. The point is that the response is part of a clearly orchestrated strategy to hunt down and destroy any opposition.
Less than two months in and the Obama administration hasn’t advanced, it’s devolved – all the way back to the age of the dinosaur. And like those dinosaurs, it’s big and powerful and dangerous.