CNN (Borger): Democrats and President Obama Are "Villains" and "Disgraceful" - False Equivalency!
The best part about her commentary is that while Democrats, particularly President Obama, can best show leadership by leading, which appears to mean sacrificing political capital, which is code for embracing Republican ideals! Yet, notice that Borger makes no such demand of Republicans. They are given a free pass on the compromise department. Instead, she takes Democrats to task for not being willing to cut Medicare and Social Security when for better or worse, Democrats were willing to consider such proposals if Republicans seriously considered raising taxes by $1.6 trillion, rather than $600 billion. Also, no mention is made of Boehner's stupid Plan B, as well as the his second abandonment of talks because he did not have the support of his caucus.
The major problem we will have is the media continuous efforts to portray a false equivalency between Democrats and Republicans where Republicans active efforts to threaten default are accepted as the norm and the actions of Democrats are seen as morally equivalent. They are not.
And so Washington begat the next hurdle: the debt ceiling, playing at a theater near you in February. All villains, no heroes.
It's hard to say whether it's more disgraceful or more depressing. Take your pick.
Sure, there's plenty of blame to go around. I get it: Republicans are divided, engaged in outright civil war. The no-tax diehards kept the House speaker from cutting any real and meaningful deal. Then again, liberal Democrats wouldn't touch Medicare and Social Security. They almost flipped out when the president suggested he might be willing to change the way benefits are calculated.
And then there's the president himself. Sometimes it feels like his debate is mostly internal: between the transformational president he wants to be and the transactional president he has become. He can blame everyone else, and he would be partly right. But there's more: Leaders, especially second-term presidents, are supposed to lead. Sacrifice political capital for principled vision. Sacrifice political expediency for belief. Sacrifice some short-term popularity for the long view.
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