Lawrence O'Donnell: What you are seeing is the most masterful rope-a-dope ever seen by a president

[ProSense]

Lawrence O'Donnell: What you are seeing is the most masterful rope-a-dope ever seen by a president

by Eclectablog

This made me go to bed late last night. Brilliant analysis. Whenever I find myself doubting what the president is doing, I'm always reassured by recalling how many previous times I have had those doubts only to be shown by the end that his strategy was brilliant and successful, achieving the best possible results given the situation.

The debt ceiling debate is a stunning example of this according to O'Donnell. It's long, but it's worth every second.

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"What you are now witnessing is the most masterful rope-a-dope ever performed by a president against an opposition party in Congress. It began months ago... Joe Biden then lead negotiations with House Republicans about how to find a compromise position on the White House position of doing nothing but raising the debt ceiling and the Republicans position of cutting $4 trillion in spending while raising the debt ceiling. Biden and House Democrats then rope-a-doped the Republicans into weeks of discussions over trillions of dollars of spending cuts. And during that time, Democrats appeared to be increasingly willing to go along with trillions of dollars of spending cuts -- possibly as much as three trillion. Then Biden and the President insisted that there be at least a trillion in tax revenue increases and Republican Eric Cantor fell for the Obama ultimatum and walked out of the talks doing exactly what the President wanted him to do because Cantor was thereby proving to the country once again that President Obama was willing to be much more flexible and reasonable in these negotiations and compromises with Republicans than Republicans were willing to be with the President. Specific policy issues aside, President Obama has already won the public contest of who appears to be more reasonable and he won that weeks ago."

O'Donnell then goes onto explain how Republicans are now running from their own positions with the end of this game very likely leading to a passage of the debt ceiling without any preconditions, the position the President wanted from Day One.

"The more President Obama pushes for the $4 trillion package, the more Boehner retreats from it. The President is finally capitalizing on a phenomenon that has been obvious from the start of his presidency: if he is in favor of something then the Republicans are opposed -- it's as simple as that. Here is the President embracing the Republicans number so now the Republicans must be against their own number. This, THIS! is a work of strategic brilliance by the President.

Perfect.

more

[MannyGoldstein]

1. So Obama will masterfully force them to accept only three-fourths of what they want,

including deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare - unless he caves/appeases/capitulates and gives them everything.

O'Donnell is usually very astute, but in this case I think he's missing the forest for the trees.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

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[MannyGoldstein]

5. Help me out here: what, specifically did he originally want?

Thanks.

[dennis4868]

7. OMG....

Please watch Lawrence last night...he explains it out in details...I know Lawrence went against the DU/PL narrative last night but facts are facts...sorry about that.

[MannyGoldstein]

17. I did watch it. I thought that Obama wanted the ceiling raised with no preconditions

Are you suggesting that he's on the verge of that? I don't think Lawrence is.

[mzmolly]

36. I think O'Donnell is saying

that will be the end result. Obama will appear reasonable, Republicans will tantrum away because they didn't get to keep their tax cuts and we'll have a clean vote.

[Lil Missy]

9. To raise the debt ceiling with no conditions attached. n/t

[ProSense]

11. What'll happen

is Boehner will win and Bernie Sanders and the majority Democratic caucus and the President will look like fools.

[FreakinDJ]

14. While a clear Majority of the Country want ....

No cuts in benefits and taxes raised on the Wealthy

Now how is that a winning position for any one

[Lil Missy]

52. Come again?

[mzmolly]

28. The goal is forcing Republicans to walk away from their manufactured panic

while having the President look willing to compromise. (A clean debt vote is the end result.) When Republicans walk away from the debt deal of the century, over small tax increases for the wealthy, they lose cred with anyone but the tea party. That's my take on Larry O's take in a nutshell. ;)

I hope he's right.

[Lil Missy]

53. Looks like Obama's brilliant game of "rope a dope" worked on you too.

[Hand_With_Eyes]

58. All we have to go by is past experience

...

[woo me with science]

2. Standing up and publicly validating Right Wing lies

about how the poor must sacrifice to "strengthen" the economy is not brilliant or courageous, even if O'Donnell thinks it is part of some brilliant brazillion-level chess strategy.

It feeds the poisonous memes that are destroying this country, and it is morally and ethically wrong.

The President should not lie about what will be good for this economy and the American people. He should be a truth teller and a leader for what is right.

[mzmolly]

27. Note how careful his statements were. He didn't validate

lies. He was careful not to.

[woo me with science]

31. He absolutely validated them.

He argued strongly that we need to eat our peas and have spending and benefit cuts first in order to get "a solid fiscal situation" before investing in jobs and infrastructure.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/07/11/press-conference-president

I mean, the infrastructure bank that we’ve proposed is relatively small. But could we imagine a project where we’re rebuilding roads and bridges and ports and schools and broadband lines and smart grids, and taking all those construction workers and putting them to work right now? I can imagine a very aggressive program like that that I think the American people would rally around and would be good for the economy not just next year or the year after, but for the next 20 or 30 years.

But we can’t even have that conversation if people feel as if we don't have our fiscal house in order. So the idea here is let’s act now. Let’s get this problem off the table. And then with some firm footing, with a solid fiscal situation, we will then be in a position to make the kind of investments that I think are going to be necessary to win the future.

Three hundred economists have warned this President that focusing on the deficit first and jobs second will be bad for this economy.* Yet Obama stands up and tells the American people that cutting spending and benefits first will give us the "solid fiscal situation" we need.

It is outrageous and irresponsible. He had from Day One of his Presidency to change the national conversation about the economy, teach and lead from the bully pulpit, and build a push in the country for policies that will actually work. Instead, he has adopted and publicly validated Right Wing framing and lies about what we need to do to get out of this mess.

*http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x560332

[mzmolly]

34. Where did he say benefit cuts?

:hi:

[woo me with science]

41. I really hope that was meant to be facetious.

(:hi:)

But even if it wasn't, my point would still be valid. Even, if by some incredible word-stretching feat of rhetoric, you wanted to argue that "trimming benefits" does not mean benefit cuts(!!!), he is still arguing that spending cuts and managing the deficit before managing unemployment will improve the economy, which is a Right Wing fabrication that has been rightly and publicly debunked by 300 economists.

Sorry if you were waving with agreement. :blush: I am just so tired of the word games that I could :puke:

[mzmolly]

43. It wasn't.

I think The President worded his statements carefully.

I have a theory about why entitlement cuts (that directly effect ever American, including the Tea Party) are being floated. I hope my theory is correct and there isn't actually a desire to make a grand deal that hurts seniors now, or down the road.

I do understand you're tired of word games. I am too.

Peace

[dennis4868]

4. thanks for posting!

Obama is the greatest president of my lifetime...he continues to do wonders even when things look to be impossible...he's a great chess player and its working! :-)

[Bluenorthwest]

15. To me it is significant that you repeated a slogan rather than

address in any way the issue the other poster brought up. It is ethically and morally wrong to lie about such important things as a tactic. The President claims to have a Christian set of ethics that can not endure equal rights for some minorities, but oddly it allows for all manner of word games and mendacity used to gain a political agenda. It is a form of the faith I am not familiar with, one that says 'no rules but for those against the gay'.
If you can not address what you think about the ethics in play, your opinion that he is 'doing wonders' just sounds like more faith based language, and that faith based stuff always ends with my community getting fucked over.

[dennis4868]

21. blaahhh, blaaahhh, blahhhh!

[NV Whino]

18. We're back to playing chess?

Yesterday it was poker.

[mzmolly]

30. Playing politics,

is more appropriate.

[oldhippydude]

38. am i the only one who remembers

a couple of years ago Obama said "if the republicans want to stand for tax breaks for the rich, thats a game i want play".. we are playing long ball.. going into 2012 republicans will be totally discredited... I'm hoping Lawrence was right, like many other posters i respect his intelligence and analysis.

[mzmolly]

39. I hope he's right too.

:hi:

[paulk]

42. to the beltway types it's all about "playing politics"

it's a game between the two parties - Obama scores political points here, the Republicans there - and the biggest game of all is the next election. Can Obama score enough points to win re-election? Can the Democrats retake the House? Can they keep control of the Senate? The audience is on the edge of their seats!


Think of the ratings!

[mzmolly]

56. Yes. It's a shame that politicians have to win elections

and stuff.

[paulk]

60. that's hardly the point

fuck it

[blueclown]

6. O'Donnell's credibility is declining by the second...

[dennis4868]

8. There's nobody better...

on TV than Lawrence...he knows how the game is played and what it takes to get things done in congress...I know, I know, alot of what he says is against the DU narrative so alot of people here will trash...sad!

[blueclown]

10. He sounds like one of the true "believers".

He sounds like a participant at Jonestown.

[mzmolly]

26. He sounds like someone who understands politics is a political game

at times. That is not naive. Quite the contrary.

[Wait Wut]

37. Totally agree.

Lawrence is the (forgive me) adult in the room at MSNBC. I once loved Keith and Rachel, but too much popularity ruined them. Since Keith has been gone, Rachel seems to have brought it down a notch (hmmmmm...where have I heard that before?).

Lawrence can get his point across without yelling at or lecturing me. I like being treated like an adult by someone far more intelligent than myself. Makes me feel like learning something. Screaming is the debate style of choice here, that's why they don't like Lawrence. He can occasionally lose his temper, but because it's so rare, it becomes more effective.

Rachel and Keith can still be great, but I watch her less and Keith not at all since his move.

[dennis4868]

51. I always get the feeling that Maddow is...

lecturing everyone....that's a trurn off for me...

[Hand_With_Eyes]

59. Shs is a PHD

She talks like a professor, go figure..

[dennis4868]

61. She can talk like a Profressor all she wants...

but don't talk to me like I know nothing.

[Hand_With_Eyes]

62. So she should stop informing people?

Really? If you are offended by information, perhaps you should just turn off her show.

[dennis4868]

63. she can inform people...

that's her damn job...but I and others get a feeling that when she speaks she thinks she knows best and that we all know nothing...

[ProSense]

12. His credibility

is fine. It's the people who believe the President is an idiot who are losing credibility.

[Kahuna]

13. The repukes just want to force Obama to cut Medicare so that

it lets them off for supporting the ryan plan. That's it in a nutshell. Even if it means a financial calamity for the nation and the world.

[Armstead]

20. Hmmmmm. I never thought of that. But it sure sounds logical for them to do. And once again.....

if that happens, the Democrats were given a gift and tossed it into the dumpster.

[Kahuna]

48. I'm surprised that you never thought of that. They've been trying to

get the Dems to give them an out since they made the blunder of voting for the Ryan plan and all of the political outrage that ensued. But of course you're right.. the Dems can always find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

[Vattel]

16. dupe

[bahrbearian]

19. I want a president that is a master at playing rope a dope.

I want a president that when he is negotiating he will use every trick in the book, Lying, deceit, 'now you see it now you don't'. I don't want someone who came to negotiate in good faith. I don't want someone that explains what they are putting on the table, I want it to be a surprise.

[Kahuna]

49. Obama never reveals his hand. He always lets people flap their gums

and say he's stupid, naive or whatever. By the time he reveals his cards, those who under estimated him are the ones who appear to be the stupid ones.

[Telly Savalas]

57. Well I'll let him reveal his cards

before I choose to believe that his political maneuvering is the greatest thing in the history of Western Civilization like that Lawrence guy claims or that the President intends to replace SS with a program that uses seniors as raw material for Soylent Green like the asshole "People's Poet" contingent here claims.

[masonjason22]

22. Hope

Well let's hope Barack starts acting like the president that we elected.

[CakeGrrl]

23. Good. A perspective from someone who has an idea how

Washington actually works.

K/R

[Kahuna]

50. Imagine that.

:)

[yellowcanine]

24. A "clean" debt limit increase was Obama's original position.

It is also what is best for the economy. Now is not the time to be putting in place huge cuts or trying to reform the tax system. Those are long term debates that should be more carefully considered. Obama has called the Republican bluff. I believe a "clean" debt limit increase will pass with most of the Democrats supporting it and enough Republicans for a majority.

[mzmolly]

25. Video here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=708255&mesg_id=708255

Posted before it was available on Youtube. http://thelastword.msnbc.msn.com/

[Proud Liberal Dem]

29. O'Donnell's spiel was encouraging

However, the whole thing has not been fully resolved, so methinks it might have been a tad premature for O'Donnell to declare victory for PO. Right now, I don't think anybody really knows how Act III is going to play out. I sincerely hope it ends well for us but without some give on the Republican side, I just don't know what's going to happen. They'd be crazy to actually let the government default but without knowing how a default might fit into their long-range plans (assuming they and their buddies have some), we just don't know who's going to come out on top over this. :shrug:

[boomerbust]

32. Thanks Lawrence

I just came up with Obama's new campaign slogan

"HOPE A Dope" 2012

[GOPBasher]

33. I hope he's right, but I really doubt they'll get the debt-limit increase.

Why would the Republicans shun their base, when they're not the ones who stand to lose politically if the we default?

[mzmolly]

35. The hope is that they will lose politically

if they look like they're being unreasonable ... which they do. ;)

[CrazyBob]

40. Sound fundaments are better than cleverness

Stick with the people who support you and build from there. Simple.

Cleverness can be countered. Good fundamentals, on the other hand, are hard to beat.

[freshwest]

44. Thanks for the interesting post, ProSense. I take it you don't agree, though?

[Scurrilous]

45. K & R

:thumbsup:

[politicasista]

46. Hopefully, he chewed out his fill in for comparing/labeling

Kerry as a flip-flopper just like Romney, when he is the real flipper. Oh wait! So-called Democrats and Progressive liberals repeat CW too!

[Name removed]

47. Deleted message

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[Liberal_Stalwart71]

54. KICKED, BOOKMARKED AND RECOMMENDED!!! THANK YOU!!!!! n/t

[high density]

55. Is Obama really getting credit?

I'm just trying to imagine if the coveted "independents" voting in 2012 will care (or even realize) that Obama acted during this in a fiscally responsible manner. Are we sure that the ceiling will be raised a sufficient amount so this won't be debated again between now and the election?

I enjoyed this perspective from O'Donnell, but I think it's a bit optimistic.