I used to talk about Chimperator Bush existing in a bubble within the White House and being out of touch with reality. Based on the reception Obama's minions are receiving at the Aspen Ideas Festival Obama seems to be sliding into a similar bubble world existence. Things are NOT good with the economy and people are VERY unhappy, yet Obama's minions seem shocked by the reaction they are receiving. Among the points of controversy are (1) Obama's lack of leadership and (2) willingness to capitulate to Republicans before he's even begun to negotiate. Surrounding one's self with ass kissers is not an effective way to run a country. A Daily Beast article looks at the apparently detached world within the White House. Here are highlights:*
If David Axelrod thought he was going to be love-bombed at the Aspen Ideas Festival—the week-long conclave of well-heeled do-gooders and big thinkers who, stylistically at least, would be expected to wish President Obama the very best—he had another think coming.
*
“This is a moderate crowd, both Republicans and Dems—you’re not looking at Tea Party Nation,” Time magazine columnist Joe Klein told Obama’s political guru on Tuesday evening during an onstage interview in the fashionable Colorado resort town. “And there’s a sense of disappointment here. They know he’s smart and trying hard. They wonder why he hasn’t been more forceful—why he hasn’t cut through.”
*
“I’m so mad, I want to kick his butt,” said nominal supporter Cynthia Brill, who was attending the panel discussions and earnest disquisitions with her husband Steve, the journalist and high-tech entrepreneur. “They think everything is just fine—they don’t seem to know what’s going on.”
*
Outside of Axelrod’s hearing, Brill, a lawyer, told me that even before the outcome of the debt-limit negotiations is known, Obama has given up far too much in his back and forth with congressional Republicans over increasing the U.S. government’s ability to borrow money and prevent a market-shaking credit default. “He’s already lost the battle,” she claimed.
*
At an earlier panel discussion Tuesday involving various political practioners, Axelrod—who left the White House a few months ago to spearhead the president’s reelection campaign—was put in the surprising position of trying to defend his boss from Jane Harman, a veteran Democratic member of the House who resigned her California seat in February to run the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. . .
*
A couple of hours later during his onstage interview, Axelrod heatedly disputed Klein’s contention that Obama has been a passive leader and a poor salesman for his successes. Klein said Obama “is the first president I’ve ever encountered that has given the voters three tax cuts and never told them about it. What’s up with that?” Axelrod argued that his boss’s leadership efforts are focused on results, not style, and that history will judge Obama’s accomplishments kindly.
If David Axelrod thought he was going to be love-bombed at the Aspen Ideas Festival—the week-long conclave of well-heeled do-gooders and big thinkers who, stylistically at least, would be expected to wish President Obama the very best—he had another think coming.
*
“This is a moderate crowd, both Republicans and Dems—you’re not looking at Tea Party Nation,” Time magazine columnist Joe Klein told Obama’s political guru on Tuesday evening during an onstage interview in the fashionable Colorado resort town. “And there’s a sense of disappointment here. They know he’s smart and trying hard. They wonder why he hasn’t been more forceful—why he hasn’t cut through.”
*
“I’m so mad, I want to kick his butt,” said nominal supporter Cynthia Brill, who was attending the panel discussions and earnest disquisitions with her husband Steve, the journalist and high-tech entrepreneur. “They think everything is just fine—they don’t seem to know what’s going on.”
*
Outside of Axelrod’s hearing, Brill, a lawyer, told me that even before the outcome of the debt-limit negotiations is known, Obama has given up far too much in his back and forth with congressional Republicans over increasing the U.S. government’s ability to borrow money and prevent a market-shaking credit default. “He’s already lost the battle,” she claimed.
*
At an earlier panel discussion Tuesday involving various political practioners, Axelrod—who left the White House a few months ago to spearhead the president’s reelection campaign—was put in the surprising position of trying to defend his boss from Jane Harman, a veteran Democratic member of the House who resigned her California seat in February to run the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. . .
*
A couple of hours later during his onstage interview, Axelrod heatedly disputed Klein’s contention that Obama has been a passive leader and a poor salesman for his successes. Klein said Obama “is the first president I’ve ever encountered that has given the voters three tax cuts and never told them about it. What’s up with that?” Axelrod argued that his boss’s leadership efforts are focused on results, not style, and that history will judge Obama’s accomplishments kindly.
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