Ron Fournier has written many dumb columns in his career. In fact, Ron Fournier has written only dumb columns in his career. But today he has outdone himself by gracing our political centrists, yearning as they are for some bipartisanship, with the dumbest column
Fournier is a GOP hack who spews complete bullshit for a living while hiding behind the same "centrist" and "moderate" mantle that Bobo uses at the NYT. He, like Bobo, is the guy the GOP trots out when they want to downplay the fact that their party is batshitcrazy- a role George Will used to fulfill until he went over to the dark side and embraced his inner wingnut. All you need to know about Ron is that while serving as head of the D.C. political bureau at WaPo he also served as one of John McCain's unofficial campaign advisors, turning down an official title so he could continue to use his post at WaPo in order to inject campaign propaganda into the news cycle under the guise of "objective journalist"
<em>Instead of a bipartisan agreement to bring that plan to scale, we got more partisan warfare.</em>
This pretty much describes everything that&#039;s happened in D.C. from 2009-2014, while deftly ignoring the GOP were the ones who decided that &quot;scorched earth&quot; was a viable political strategy.
There are leadership thingys that Obama could have done. The Republicans made it very clear that no matter what he proposed they had no intention of supporting him, so he should have been prepared to react. What does he go and do? He gives them the very healthcare plan that the bulk of them supported and even proposed themselves over the last 20 or so years. The Nerve! Where was the leadership? A leader knows how to deal with opposition and turn it to his advantage.
First off, he was way too chummy with the Democrats. He really should have publicly embarrassed Nancy Pelosi or maybe whacked Steny Hoyer in the nuts, just so the Republicans would know he was really bipartisan. Politicians are a lot like the Mafia, in that they require a demonstration of loyalty before they can begin to trust you.
You also have to make these guys feel like they are part of the process, so you send Biden to get their input and while he&#039;s there, give out some of his world famous back massages. Biden gives a great massage, so use it. Most importantly, you don&#039;t want to look too smart. That just intimidates people and then you&#039;ve lost them. This was the key to the success of the great negotiators like Bush and Reagan. With their style, nobody was intimidated and everybody in the room felt like a frigging genius.
&quot;...we&#039;d all be better had a bipartisan bill passed with the same provisions.&quot; So fucking what? &quot;We&#039;d have won the game if we had scored more points than our opponents.&quot; &quot;If there had been water in the pool, I wouldn&#039;t have hit my head on the bottom diving in.&quot; &quot;If my dog were a cat, he would catch mice.&quot; &quot;If Ron had a point, he wouldn&#039;t be Ron.&quot;
Exactly, because forget about governing -- that&#039;s just for high school civics classes. The really important thing is who is winning and who is losing.
His main beef, I think, is that the Republicans are getting zero credit for what&#039;s turning out to be a very popular program. (The strategy of howling about how it&#039;s not popular is not working for some reason . . . probably having to do with how popular it is.)
Fournier is a GOP hack who spews complete bullshit for a living while hiding behind the same &quot;centrist&quot; and &quot;moderate&quot; mantle that Bobo uses at the NYT. He, like Bobo, is the guy the GOP trots out when they want to downplay the fact that their party is batshitcrazy- a role George Will used to fulfill until he went over to the dark side and embraced his inner wingnut. All you need to know about Ron is that while serving as head of the D.C. political bureau at WaPo he also served as one of John McCain&#039;s unofficial campaign advisors, turning down an official title so he could continue to use his post at WaPo in order to inject campaign propaganda into the news cycle under the guise of &quot;objective journalist&quot;
That boy, I say, that boy is about as sharp as a pound of wet liver.
<em>Instead of a bipartisan agreement to bring that plan to scale, we got more partisan warfare.</em>
This pretty much describes everything that&#039;s happened in D.C. from 2009-2014, while deftly ignoring the GOP were the ones who decided that &quot;scorched earth&quot; was a viable political strategy.
Typical beltway bullshit- it&#039;s not the content of the bill that matters, it&#039;s the process in which it was passed.
There are leadership thingys that Obama could have done. The Republicans made it very clear that no matter what he proposed they had no intention of supporting him, so he should have been prepared to react. What does he go and do? He gives them the very healthcare plan that the bulk of them supported and even proposed themselves over the last 20 or so years. The Nerve! Where was the leadership? A leader knows how to deal with opposition and turn it to his advantage.
First off, he was way too chummy with the Democrats. He really should have publicly embarrassed Nancy Pelosi or maybe whacked Steny Hoyer in the nuts, just so the Republicans would know he was really bipartisan. Politicians are a lot like the Mafia, in that they require a demonstration of loyalty before they can begin to trust you.
You also have to make these guys feel like they are part of the process, so you send Biden to get their input and while he&#039;s there, give out some of his world famous back massages. Biden gives a great massage, so use it. Most importantly, you don&#039;t want to look too smart. That just intimidates people and then you&#039;ve lost them. This was the key to the success of the great negotiators like Bush and Reagan. With their style, nobody was intimidated and everybody in the room felt like a frigging genius.
He seems <strike>nice</strike>like A Idiot.
I&#039;d be with you, but I don&#039;t have tile in my kitchen.
&quot;...we&#039;d all be better had a bipartisan bill passed with the same provisions.&quot; So fucking what? &quot;We&#039;d have won the game if we had scored more points than our opponents.&quot; &quot;If there had been water in the pool, I wouldn&#039;t have hit my head on the bottom diving in.&quot; &quot;If my dog were a cat, he would catch mice.&quot; &quot;If Ron had a point, he wouldn&#039;t be Ron.&quot;
I&#039;m betting nobody had to tell that rooster to keep fucking that chicken.
seems?
Was it good for you too?
&quot;Black is not slimming, dear.&quot;
Exactly, because forget about governing -- that&#039;s just for high school civics classes. The really important thing is who is winning and who is losing.
Two cans short of a six-pack.
His main beef, I think, is that the Republicans are getting zero credit for what&#039;s turning out to be a very popular program. (The strategy of howling about how it&#039;s not popular is not working for some reason . . . probably having to do with how popular it is.)