If McCain had shown that kind of fight three years ago, things might be a lot better off than they are now.
In his defense, however, I have to admit that back then nobody had any real conception of how bad Obama was going to be. That’s a pretty lame defense, but I am willing to give him that.
It’s interesting. I am starting to get a sense that there are establishment elements in the country — elite left, right and moderate — that are starting to become very concerned with the way things are trending. When the NYT starts taking potshots at Obama, even mild ones, it’s a strong signal to the established wealthy that their interests are at stake.
The establishment elite, more than anyone else, are utterly dependent on their position in the system. And by that I mean the degree by which they can manipulate political power on behalf of their sponsors and themselves. If Obama upsets the applecart and overthrows the current political order, they go down with it — or a lot of them do, anyhow.
This, cannot be in their best interests, and sometimes you can even get the feeling the people like Pelosi know it. Oh sure, officially he’s still the Wonder Prez... but they have to be getting nervous. Obama really has shown that he plays nasty at a level that is simply not usually done at that strata.
Furthermore, ever action he takes outside of Constitutional authority weakens their Constitutional authority, and lessens the influence of those who look to congress for their share of the loot.
Again, all members of the political elite have an interest in the current political order. Obama’s utter incompetency has brought the nation to ungovernable straits and they have to be worried about restoring equilibrium.
That point might also explain why Sotomayor was so hard on the Obama administration during the recent hearing on Arizona’s immigration law. She’s telling Obama that she is a Supreme Court Justice now, and not his tool or his puppet.