Remember way back when, when Barry told us all that his would be the most transparent administration in history? Well speaking of transparent, I think most of us have been able to recognize what’s going on regarding Barry latest attempt at what’s been called a "charm offensive". Except for, of course, those 12 GOP boobs that took him up on his silly little dinner invite. From the get-go there have been any number of characters there on his team who were busy describing the schmooze assault as a bunch of nonsense as well as a silly waste of Barry's valuable time. You know, time that he could be spending on the golf course or on another exotic vacation somewhere. And after having been underway for roughly two weeks, there may now be a few cracks developing in what as has been the rich air of charm emanating from White House.
First to pretty much lose any and all semblance of, at least appearing to possess, a sunny disposition was Spokesmoron Jay Carney. Carney had been doing his best, or as best as could be expected, in his effort to appear to be the occasionally charming spokesman for our kinder and gentler president, going so far as to begin his daily media briefing this past Monday with a big smile, a rather uncharacteristic sunny disposition and even a bit of percussion right there at the lectern. He even greeted those assembled with a hearty, "Happy Monday!" Wearing what could arguably be described as a festive yellow tie and assuming a rather relaxed pose, he went on, "Good afternoon. Thanks for being here for your White House briefing. Spring is here early." It was almost enough to ask, "Who are you and what have you done with Jay?"
But it didn’t take long before the storm clouds began to gather and our trusty Spokesmoron was back into his customary wintry mood. The first questioner, I guess the one that started things to go chilly was the Associated Press’s Jim Kuhnhenn. He asked Carney to square Barry "Almighty’s" supposed "charm offensive" with his decision to speak this week to the highly partisan Organizing for Action group. Our suddenly-not-so-sunny Spokesmoron set to work in an effort to correct the obviously confused Kuhnhenn by saying, "I think you’re misrepresenting the group." Next came NPR’s Mara Liasson who asked a question about Barry’s yet-to-be-released budget. "Mara, the way you phrase that question, you know, makes me think that you’re still working on a typewriter or something," Carney told the 57-year-old Liasson.
But the disposition that had a first, at least, appeared to be so sunny, continued its slide into the abyss as Carney further then informed ABC News’s Ann Compton that she had a mistaken understanding of the president’s meetings this week with lawmakers. And when CBS’s Bill Plante pressed him on when Barry would release a budget, which by the way was supposed to have been done last month, Carney struck a rather aggressive pose by leaning forward a bit and with all signs of the previous sunny disposition having, by then, completely dissipated. "I challenge virtually every premise of your question," he told Plante. "I don’t know what your question is here," he said when Plante tried to ask it in a different way. Carney's such a jerk, I swear. This entire administration is made up of folks who are complete assholes!
And in proving that he was not quite done with his chastising of Plante, our stellar, intrepid Spokesmoron asked the 75-year-old newsman, when he persisted in inquiring about the tardiness of the budget, "Bill, how long have you been covering Washington?" Carney then took another shot, asking, "Has there ever been a presidential budget that was enacted, word for word, into law?" NBC’s Chuck Todd broke in, telling Carney that a president never waits until after the House and the Senate introduce budgets to introduce his own. "Well, I disagree with that," Carney snapped. Well if this is their attempt at a charm offensive, which is how so many have chosen to describe it, I'd hate see the version of their asshole offensive. Oh wait a minute, silly me, we already have, for the last four years!
This whole nonsensical farce began last week, when Barry put on a bit of show by take a dozen Republican senators out to the Jefferson Hotel for a meal of blue crab risotto, lobster Thermidor, sea bass and the like. Then he followed that up by inviting House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan to the White House for some more sea bass, accompanied by vegetable soup. And this week we’re told that we can expect Barry "Almighty" to pay three visits to Capitol Hill, something that ordinarily would take him several months, if not longer. At the same time, White House reporters say they’ve noticed a softening in Barry advisers’ tone since Bob Woodward’s public spat with White House official Gene Sperling. The phone calls and e-mails from the president’s aides have become less confrontational and less vulgar. Vulgar? Really?
While this charm offensive of Barry's may be a welcome development, let's not forget that it's nothing more than a tactic. There’s nothing genuine about it. And Republicans who have been the targets of Barry’s ire need to be very wary of not getting sucked by all the false sincerity or supposed warm feelings. The meals and the House (and Senate) calls don’t necessarily mean things will change for the better in the capital, nor should they. While Barry may have had a nice lunch with Ryan last week, it didn't seem to cause Carney, on Monday, to decide against blasting Ryan’s Medicare proposal. Which he essentially did by saying, "This debate was had over the previous year and a half, and I think the American people were categorically opposed to the approach that says that we should voucherize Medicare."
'Spokesmoron' Carney also vigorously defended Barry’s decision to speak to Organizing for Action, a group of former Barry staffers and donors using his reelection campaign’s infrastructure to pressure Republicans to support his agenda. "I’m wondering whether there’s potentially a mixed message there," the AP’s Kuhnhenn said to Carney, "because last week, OFA sent out an e-mail calling Republicans obstructionists, blaming them for the sequester, saying if only they had voted for closing tax loopholes, the public wouldn’t be in this jam." Carney smiled, and proceeded to lie, saying, "Republicans made a choice," he said. "The sequester is here, it’s being implemented as a result of the choice made on Capitol Hill by Republicans," he added. Let’s not forget the sequester was all Barry's doing!
And I suppose the final sign that the supposed charm offense may be crumbling under the stress of its own weight came when Carney argued that Barry’s agenda "is inherently bipartisan" and that it was up to Republicans to sign on. "There’s nothing partisan about deficit reduction," he said. "There’s nothing partisan about comprehensive immigration reform. . . . I would argue that there’s nothing partisan about common-sense solutions to reduce gun violence in America." Well, I guess that sums things up pretty well. Don't ya think? So I guess what's expected at this juncture, at least if the Republicans want to keep this little charm offense going, is for them to just keep their mouths shut and to simply sign onto everything that Barry wants. And then, all will be well and right with the World.
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