Is Obama a Secret Republican???

Hey, it's more credible than the Kenyan/Muslim bullshit. Let us do a rundown...

• Gitmo still open? Check.
• Still mired in wars? Check.
• GOP health care? Passed.
• Cheering spending cuts? Check.
• And defense spending? Pretty much untouched.
• Tax cuts for rich? Extended.
• Prosecution of torture? God no!
• Treatment of whistle blowers? Bradly Manning - strip!
• Unemployment 8-10%? Fire gov employees.
• More stimulus? Nah, cuts!
• The stimulus? Must have tax cuts!
• Banksters? Big bonuses for everyone!
• Regulation? Pfft.
  
• Gays serve in military? Thanks mostly to courts.
• How about marriage? Meh, courts can do that too.
• What about the court? Replaced the leftmost justice with a moderate, now it's more right leaning than ever...but the new justice is a woman, so minor win (Note: I really like Sotamayor and Kagan isn't necessarily bad, but likely worse than who she replaced).

Now, I liked Obama a lot when he was running and he hasn't had the easiest of times to deal with as president, and he has had the most dysfunctional Senate in history (seriously, it was worse than the present House), but all told, his messaging and his actions independent the legislation that got through and to him have been colossal fails to me. It's like someone took Bob Dole and gave him Clinton's charisma. I don't get it. I don't like it.

I knew going in that he seemed to have an odd fetish for compromise and bipartisanship like all too many people in D.C. but he also seemed quite smart, so he would know not to compromise with himself prior to sending a bill to the floor. He would know not to take GOP talking points as his own which just makes it harder to get things done. He would know that, in the end, Republicans were fighting him, not the positions, and he would have to make bills much more liberal, so as to get the compromise back, to get them to have a real stake in things. He would know that if the GOP can get what it wants while still opposing it and voting against it, then they would do just that.

He doesn't seem to know these things. He is either taking a long view that doesn't mind lots of present pain, or we have collectively mistaken calm for thoughtfulness.