After a weekend out of town and out of the loop, I woke up to news video footage of President Obama addressing a press conference at the NATO summit. I had to track down the exact quote because it seemed so unbelievable:
Sounding frustrated on the last day of the NATO summit, Obama said military officials, senior members of past Republican administrations and European states backed the treaty with Russia…“There is no other reason not to do it other than the fact that Washington has become a very partisan place,” Obama said.
There’s a lot going on here.
Of course, there’s the crutch of partisanship as an argument – as if Democrats don’t reflexively balk at ideas that are proven to work when proposed by a Republican.
But more disturbing is the argument that petty bickering from another side is stalling the work of the American government. It’s a fine political argument when making a stump speech intended to motivate supporters and convince independents, but a wholly different animal when delivered on foreign soil.
If it weren’t for the TSA controversy, conservative pundits would likely be all over the President for this comment.
Jim Eltringham 