The Sadistic Strategy of Obama & Reid

In the showdown over the shutdown of the U.S. government, the Obamaites tipped their hand yesterday as what their strategy is.

Taking a page out of Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals," the plan is to maximize the people's pain -- to maximize the political damage to the enemy, the Republican Party.

Consider this: Asked Wednesday if there were any danger of America defaulting on her debt, President Obama rushed to assure a reporter that, yes, indeed, there certainly is such a peril.

Why would a president act in so perverse a manner, were he not trying deliberately to rattle or panic the markets?

This is an open memorial on the mall, to which the old soldiers of the Greatest Generation, flown here on honor flights, come to a last roll call with their comrades. The memorial is dedicated to them, to what they and their buddies did, and to those who never came home.

But when the old soldiers got here, the Park Service, apparently acting on orders from the White House complex, had thrown up steel barriers and crime-scene tape to keep them from visiting the site on what is surely the last trip many will ever make to see their memorial.

To their credit, the vets and their families pulled aside the barriers to walk through their monument, singing songs in memory of the heroes who had gone before.

Now one reads that Obama has ordered the cemetery and beaches at Normandy closed. Again, what kind of mindset produces this?

Undeniably, Republicans have voted to defund Obamacare, to suspend it for one year, and to reform it. But in each of these three votes, the House also voted to fund the entire government.

Why, then, is the government shut down? Because Harry Reid and Barack Obama have issued an edict: Either Obamacare is fully funded and untouched in the continuing resolution, or we kill the CR, shut down the government, and blame you.

This is all about a petulant president whose prize program the people do not want, but who insists it be imposed upon them, to assure himself a paragraph in the history books.

This week, Republicans tried to pass legislation that would keep open all memorials and monuments, all tourist sites in Washington, D.C., and all programs for America's veterans.

Again, Reid and Obama do not want to ease the pain of the people. They want to intensify that pain, ratchet it up, maximize it, to put maximum pressure on and do maximum damage to the GOP.

They are inflicting pain on fellow Americans -- to break their political enemies. And they can only succeed in sustaining their Big Lie -- that it is Republicans who want to keep the government shut down -- because of a collaborationist press.

Several days ago, the Post wailed that Republicans were endangering the nation's health by failing to fund NIH. But now that the Republican House has tried to fund NIH in full, where is the editorial denouncing Pelosi or Reid for blocking funding for NIH? Nowhere. Which suggests the Post's real concern was never about funding NIH but about bashing the GOP.

In Thursday's lead editorial: "National Security at Risk," the Washington Post asks, "At a time of war, how can Republicans justify furloughing much of the intelligence workforce?"

Yet, not a word in the editorial about the indispensable role of Reid and our commander-in-chief in preventing America's security agencies from being funded.

What should the House Republican do before week's end? Pass bills funding the Pentagon, State, CIA, NSA, Homeland Security and any other agency having to do with the national security. But when Harry Reid again balks that he is not going to "play this little game," anyone think the Post will hold him accountable?

The Obama-Reid strategy -- inflict maximum pain on the country for maximum gain for themselves -- coupled with a refusal to talk with the GOP -- reflects this city's contempt for conservative Republicans.

Yet, the sadistic strategy of Obama and Reid, and the poisonous atmosphere it has created, is telling America that: In its assessment of this city's ruling establishment, the Tea Party has more than a small point.

Yet, with Reid now on the defensive, trying to justify his refusal to cooperate in funding any agency, the truth may be gaining on the Big Lie.

Here's an oldie post of mine from 2009 on Harry Reid's history of reneging on promises:

...McConnell got Reid to agree to hold a high-profile debt-limit vote next month -- just before the president's State of the Union address...
Specter suggests Reid reneged on word.

Newly-turned Democrat Arlen Specter today hinted that that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reneged on his word to allow Specter to keep his seniority on committees on which he sits. "Sen. Reid assured me that I would keep my committee assignments, and that I would have the same seniority as if I had been elected as a Democrat in 1980," Specter said in a written statement today.

Reid Bows to Far Left as Rs Rank Judges Issue #1.

And they undoubtedly have the Rasmussen survey results in the back of their minds as they consider their reaction to Majority Leader Reid’s broken promise to confirm three appeals court nominees before the Memorial Day recess, as well as Reid’s sure-to-be-broken earlier promises to meet the historical average (17) for appeals court confirmations in a president’s final two years. With just a couple of months left in the confirmation window, Reid is less than halfway to meeting that average.
[snip]
“A good GOP Senate source reports today that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell addressed the entire Republican Conference … about the judge-fight issue. McConnell is said to have been very insistent that he would not let Majority Leader Reid's broken promise go unpunished … He would not tell the Conference exactly what action he was planning, but he did say it would be very firm, and that all concerned would know it when we see it.” – Quin Hillyer (5/21/08)
[snip]
While Sen. Lott overcame numerous obstacles to get Paez and Berzon confirmed, Sen. Reid has looked for excuses to renege on his pledge.
[snip]
GOP senators are understandably angry that Sen. Reid broke the golden rule of senatorial honor by reneging on his commitment.
[snip]

Democrats Target Coburn’s Holds

To ease passage of the public lands measure, Reid promised Coburn the chance to offer a limited number of amendments.
But after the majority leader objected to a Coburn proposal that would have eased restrictions on firearms in national parks, the package stalled for months, prompting Coburn to charge that Reid reneged on their agreement.
Coburn eventually got to offer four amendments — all of which were defeated — but not the guns measure.

Reid: No Vote On Lifting Drug Import Ban Before Health-Care Bill

Republicans accused U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., of reneging Tuesday on a pledge to allow a Senate vote on a measure lifting an import ban on pharmaceutical drugs before lawmakers take up health-care legislation.
The development, supported by major drug makers, comes as the Senate is moving to craft the politically delicate compromises needed for the broader health care overhaul bill.
In a letter to a bipartisan group of senators that have been pushing for the import ban to be scrapped, Reid said there wouldn't be time in the busy legislative calendar for full consideration of legislation lifting the long-standing prohibition now.
"He did commit to us and obviously that commitment is not going to be kept," Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., said Tuesday evening.

Recently...

AFL-CIO Boss to Harry Reid: Go Nuclear

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.) accused Republicans of trying to “disable the administration” by blocking the appointments, though he stopped short of saying “campaign donations are directly attributable” for GOP opposition. Merkley received $1.2 million from labor groups since 2010, including more than $275,000 for his 2014 campaign.
Merkley defended President Obama’s recess appointments while the Senate was in session because “functionally we were out of session.” He also accused McConnell of violating a pair of “gentleman’s agreements” to confirm President Obama’s nominees without “obstruction” from the minority.
Obama and Reid reneged on a labor truce of their own when the Democrats re-nominated Block and Griffin to the board, according to a top Republican aide.

-PJ

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