Paying the Piper

Looks like Obama is reaping the whirlwind from his peevish press conference of Tuesday. After denouncing his own left-wing base as airy, pie-in-the-sky, out-of-touch extremists, perhaps it's no surprise that Democrats would retaliate by messing with Obama on policy matters like trying terrorists in civilian courts and closing Guantanamo.

The subtext -- in their choosing these issues -- seems to be to remind the President that they've stood behind many of his highly unpopular, even foolhardy, decisions, and now feel that they have nothing to show for it.

All very entertaining, to be sure. But withIran apparently trying to secure a nuclear toehold in South America, it's not a great moment for the US President to be exposed as a weak and divisive leader (can you be a "leader" if no one is following you?).