The Petulant President and Yesterday's Meltdown

I'm not sure we've seen this level of president meltdown since Nixon's "I am not a crook" press conference back in the 70's. An angry and petulant president let go with a stream of thin-skinned consciousness in which he blasted enemies real and imagined. Jim Geraghty collects some of the reaction in his Morning Jolt email:

1. A Descent into Obamadness
Just think, as the Gulf oil spill mess dragged on, some of Obama's fans wished he would emote more. Well, he's emoting now, and the dominant tone is "Get off my back, people."

My take on Obama's Tuesday press conference was that he's now incapable of going two sentences without contradicting himself, suggesting that his own thinking on the tax deal is muddled and he's winging it. He declared that keeping the current tax rates for the rich is a serious mistake and unaffordable, and yet a moment later he was insisting the deal was absolutely necessary. The national interest requires Obama to reach a compromise with Republicans, and yet they're morally equivalent to "hostage-takers." He needs to avoid raising taxes because of the perilous state of the economy, and yet the threat of a double dip recession is now behind us. He wasn't negotiating from a state of weakness but time was not on his side. He doesn't pay any attention to what the press writes about him, but he knows they've been wrong before.

It seems I'm on the same page as Pete Wehner: "It appears to me that Obama is a man of tremendous internal contradictions. He fancies himself as a post-partisan, post-ideological figure who alone can elevate public discourse. He obviously took great pride in presenting himself as America's Socrates during the presidential campaign. At the same time, Mr. Obama is a man of unusual arrogance who, if things don't go his way, becomes prickly. He lashes out. And he begins to feel sorry for himself. Notoriously thin-skinned and accustomed to worshipful treatment by those around him (including the press), Obama is now clearly disquieted. On some deep level, Obama must understand that, at this moment at least, his presidency is coming apart. It's not at all clear to me that he's particularly well equipped to deal with the shifting fortunes, the hardships, and the battering that a president must endure. Difficult circumstances seem to be bringing out his worst qualities rather than his best. And that may be what was on display this afternoon."
"Worst press conference -- ever," concludes Jennifer Rubin at her newWashington Post blog. "I don't mean just for Obama. I mean any president. Or head of state. When I wrote this morning that he doesn't do well in defeat, you didn't know how right I was, huh? . . . On Twitter, there is shock and awe among pundits and reporters. Is Obama melting down? Has he lost control of the conversation? Yikes. Whoever let him go out there and do this rant-a-thon should be fired. Oh, was it Obama's idea? I think his own party is indeed going to go into 'riot mode.' A House GOP leadership aide pronounced the performance 'angry' and out-of-touch. That's being generous.
Michelle Malkin could barely believe her eyes: "President Obama looks haggard and peeved and petulant at his White House press briefing on the tax deal, still underway as I type. Exuding his typical gracelessness, he pouted about being forced into negotiations, whined about 'tax cuts for the wealthy' as the 'Holy Grail' of the Republican Party, and yes, referred to the GOP as 'hostage-takers.' . . . So much self-pitying stuff and nonsense packed into one plaintive wail. . . . Someone had Crabby-os for breakfast this morning."

And one more reaction from Michael Goodwin:

O, now Dems get it
After watching President Obama give two speeches and a press conference in two days, I can now confidently summarize his logic on the tax deal.

Republicans are evil for making him do it. And Democrats are stupid for not understanding why he did it.

In other words, he's moral and wise, and you're not.

To call Obama's performance unpresidential doesn't do justice to his shotgun fury. After lashing out yesterday at his base -- The New York Times editorial page, "purists," liberals and "sanctimonious" Democrats -- he accused Republicans of holding tax cuts for the wealthy as "their Holy Grail." He also charged them with "hostage taking" because they insisted on blocking tax hikes for any Americans.

It was a remarkable two-day spectacle, if you like self-pitying tirades and bare-knuckled language about "itchin' for a fight" from a man who promised to unite the country. Remember, no red, no blue states, only the United States?

Actually, maybe he's finally found the formula.

Democrats now on the receiving end of his contempt for dissent know what Republicans and independents have experienced for two years. You're either with him 100 percent, or he's against you.

It's not what he promised, but it's who he is.

There is no grace in this man, only arrogance and pompousness. He's truly unworthy of the job.