BULLETIN:  BARACK OBAMA GETS POLITICAL – AT 10:06 A.M. ET:  It may seem strange to some, but the president of the United States, lofty and endlessly good-hearted, is playing politics, and even his loyal disciples admit it.  And the politics he is playing is ugly.  The Politico reports:

Mitch McConnell is in bed with Wall Street “movers and shakers” — and is fronting “cynical and deceptive” arguments on their behalf.

John Boehner is a health care Chicken Little to be mocked for predicting Armageddon if the Democrats’ reform bill passed.

Sarah Palin can be ignored on arms control because she’s “not exactly an expert on nuclear issues.”

And Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are just a “troublesome” twosome spreading “vitriol.”

Democratic oppo research? Comments from Daily Kos?

No, this is your president speaking.

Once chastised for not being tough enough, President Barack Obama has lately been getting personal with his political adversaries — singling them out for scorn in speeches, interviews, asides and even in his weekly radio address.

Rather than just going after big groups of bad guys — insurance companies, lobbyists, the media — Obama has adopted a strategy that gives a face to the enemy.

By setting himself up against specific opponents, he provides a point of contrast that’s useful in invigorating a base hungry for bare knuckles and bravado — and forces those in the middle to choose between him and his villain du jour.

COMMENT:  Aren't you shocked?

One of the myths spread by the MSM is that Barack Obama is lofty and above us all, simply a higher-quality fellow than that last president, or, in fact, any other.  Well, maybe Lincoln edges him, but he was just another midwestern white guy, so he doesn't count.  Also, he talked funny.  I mean, who says "fourscore"?

In fact, Obama is a small-time Chicago politician who never took on the machine, but worked within it, who has been deceptive about his past, and who sat in a church pew for 20 years and then claimed he didn't know his pastor had hateful, anti-American views.  If he were on the right, Katie Couric and Christiane Amanpour would have laughed him out of politics years ago. 

Of the presidents I've seen, I'd rank Obama pretty much near the bottom in integrity.  This is the man, after all, whose campaign tried to label Bill and Hillary Clinton as racists.  They may be many things, but that ain't one of them. 

So don't be surprised by Obama's personal attacks.  They will get worse, not better.  And yesterday he openly played the race card, appealing to some ethnic groups, but not others, to get out and vote. 

Don't underestimate Obama's political skills.  He has a fanatical base.  Don't underestimate what he's willing to do to remain in power, with the congressional support he needs.  He has one of the best political teams in presidential history.

These are opening guns.  They're directed at our side.  Our side has yet to come up with a coherent strategy to insure a victory, rather than just dream of one.

April 27, 2010