Crestfallen Krugman: Where'd My Bammy Go?

The rubes are in revolt. Unhappy that their socialist dreamboat has realized he's got little shot at re-election if he continues to spend us into oblivion, the natives are getting restless. Leading this pack of pusillanimous pipsqueaks is New York Times dolt Paul Krugman, who doesn't seem to understand Americans are concerned about spending, inflation and rising prices. In Krugman's world, he figures we can just tax the evil rich to pay for everything. And now he's wondering where the Obama of 2008 has gone.

What have they done with President Obama? What happened to the inspirational figure his supporters thought they elected? Who is this bland, timid guy who doesn’t seem to stand for anything in particular?

I realize that with hostile Republicans controlling the House, there’s not much Mr. Obama can get done in the way of concrete policy. Arguably, all he has left is the bully pulpit. But he isn’t even using that — or, rather, he’s using it to reinforce his enemies’ narrative.

So much for the new tone. Two paragraph in and he's talking about hostile Republicans and enemies. This from the guy who two hours after Gabrielle Giffords was shot declared the violent rhetoric of the right was to blame.

Krugman continues with his ugliness:

And bear in mind that this was just the first of several chances for Republicans to hold the budget hostage and threaten a government shutdown; by caving in so completely on the first round, Mr. Obama set a baseline for even bigger concessions over the next few months.

So to recpa, Republicans are hostile, the enemy and are holding the budget hostage. And this toll complains about how others speak?

I’m not exaggerating. The House budget proposal that was unveiled last week — and was praised as “bold” and “serious” by all of Washington’s Very Serious People — includes savage cuts in Medicaid and other programs that help the neediest, which would among other things deprive 34 million Americans of health insurance.

Savage cuts? My, that's an awfully harsh tone. Krugman wistfully laments what's happened to the incredibly shrinking president:

What’s going on here? Despite the ferocious opposition he has faced since the day he took office, Mr. Obama is clearly still clinging to his vision of himself as a figure who can transcend America’s partisan differences. And his political strategists seem to believe that he can win re-election by positioning himself as being conciliatory and reasonable, by always being willing to compromise.

But if you ask me, I’d say that the nation wants — and more important, the nation needs — a president who believes in something, and is willing to take a stand. And that’s not what we’re seeing.