Soul Searching = More Hippie Bashing

Yes, I did the politically correct thing and bleeped out the D word.

Well, I read some analysis over at WAPO.  I couldn’t just go enjoy a nice sunny Sunday like many other folks.  The headline was just too full of potential one-liners for me to not follow the siren song.  It’s–surprise!!! (not)–more gossip mongering as journalism by Ann Kornblut and the title is:  ‘Soul-searching’ Obama aides: Democrats’ midterm election losses a wake-up call. Kornblut is well known for printing Republican slogans as real news.   Both Glenn Greenwald and Bob Somerby have pretty much done all the criticism of Kornblut you could possibly read. We won’t even start on her major CDS upon which she seems to have built her career.  I just couldn’t let this one go.

She’s back to her tricks with acting like she has insiders in the White House whose names never seem to get mentioned.  She also deserves a time out for gratuitously using the word shellacking  along with Frank Rich over at the NY T today.  The rest is just bizarre.  Perhaps she’s out to fill Sally Quinn’s shoes?  Who are these so-called advisers any way?  This thing is long and it adds nothing to any current conversation about the mid term elections.  It’s a waste of ink and bytes.

The advisers are deeply concerned about winning back political independents, who supported Obama two years ago by an eight-point margin but backed Republicans for the House this year by 19 points. To do so, they think he must forge partnerships with Republicans on key issues and make noticeable progress on his oft-repeated campaign pledge to change the ways of Washington.

Even more important, senior administration officials said, Obama will need to oversee tangible improvements in the economy. They cannot just keep arguing, as Democrats did during the recent campaign, that things would have been worse if not for administration policies.

One adviser said they spent the past dozen days “soul-searching.”

Another said that, around the White House, “people aren’t just sitting around doing soul-searching. They’re gaming out the short, medium and long term.”

“People have given a lot of thought to this,” said that adviser, who like others interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to freely discuss internal deliberations.

What does this say to you besides, gee, Obama should just get it over and basically become a Republican? Again, who are these people without names but with active souls to be searched? Is this a precursor to more hippie bashing and handing Republicans victory before they even do anything at all?

So, here it is again … the first compromise.  Just let the rich have those damned tax cuts already!!!

Over the next few days, White House officials said they will begin to gauge whether they can forge an alliance with any top Republicans, many of whom are scheduled to attend a bipartisan meeting at the White House on Thursday. Although Obama could benefit from a high-profile compromise – perhaps on extending the Bush-era tax cuts or on other tax initiatives set to expire before the end of the year – officials are also prepared to point out any Republican intransigence.

Again, who are THEY?  I’ve seen more concrete information in the National Enquirer.  What editor let’s this crap get published?  Then Kornblut goes right on with a series of quotes from named Republicans that basically says they could give a hoot about working with Obama.  They’re more interested in making him a one term president.

So, what’s next?  ASK an unnamed Democratic political source.

“There isn’t going to be a reset button. That’s not their style,” said a Democratic strategist who works with the White House on several issues. “They don’t like pivots, and they also believe they’re right.”

And then end with an unnamed senior official.

On the other hand, “underreading it would be to think that we did all the right things and didn’t say them the right way, and if people had just listened they would have gotten it,” one senior administration official said. “That’s not what we think. That’s not what the president thinks.”

Why doesn’t the Washington Post just put up a gossip page and assign Kornblut the top spot?  Who are these people that control the information we get these days and why are they getting paid for it?  As far as I can see, she’s just hoping the White House will veer more right than ever and bash a few more hippies.  What ever did we do to deserve a press corps like this?  At least Ulsterman’s serial insider conversations  were better written.