Erika highlights the latest example of President Obama's impertinence on debt negotiations below. To put the White House's flat rejection of Mitch McConnell's invitation into a broader context, let's review the timeline, shall we?
Yesterday: President Obama hectors Congressional leaders about "doing their job" on the debt ceiling, demanding that Capitol Hill get serious about averting a ruinous default. Quoth The One: "My expectation is that leaders are going to lead."
This morning: At the insistence of Senators Ron Johnson and Jeff Sessions, the Senate agrees to cancel its planned recess and heed the president's call.
Also this morning: Republican leader Mitch McConnell invites President Obama to meet with his caucus to discuss the precise issue the president repeatedly insisted be dealt with "right now" at his press conference.
This afteroon: White House Press Secretary Jay Carney issues what amounts to a Cee Lo Green retort to McConnell's invitation:
The White House effectively turned down an invitation by Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell for President Barack Obama to visit his members on Capitol Hill on Thursday to discuss raising the debt limit. White House press secretary Jay Carney, while not directly saying the invitation had been rejected, said Obama did not need to hear Republicans tell him what they would not support. That, Carney said, was "not a conversation worth having."
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You know, I'm beginning to suspect this hyper-partisan president isn't authentically interested in leading good-faith negotiations with Republicans. I'm tempted to say more, but I'd prefer not to get suspended indefinitely.
UPDATE - An arresting observation from NRO's Jim Geragthy, presented without further comment:
@jimgeraghty - Drudge headline 1: Obama to GOP invite: "Not a conversation worth having." Drudge headline 2: Obama opens contacts with Muslim Brotherhood.
UPDATE II - Senate Republicans are just teeing off on Obama on the floor as I write this. So far, Ron Johnson, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio have lit up the president, pointing out that he won't meet with them because he's too busy attending political fundraisers.
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