The Triumph of Magical Thinking - Ctd

For liberal-leaning Matt Miller, the debt-ceiling "fiasco," the downgrade, horrific jobs numbers and stock market gyrations made him snap. "It’s the sound of confidence in Obama’s leadership breaking." Uh, wha'? It's all Obama fault? Really? Even crazier, Miller writes that he knows "who the real villains are at this volatile moment" and promptly names the Tea Party Republicans and their collaborators. And yes, he confesses that "other forces may be 'responsible' for the bad news." But he's "mad at Barack Obama" anyway.

Why? Because, well, "a president has the most power to shape the debate." Um, since when? Behold the power of Magical Thinking. That kind of presidential power for which Miller pines exists only in a West Wing episode. Even initiatives near and dear to FDR's heart were blocked at times by Congress.

Miller's piece was so ridiculous that I didn't bother to comment on it yesterday. But today a number of observers reacted as I did. Kevin Drum: "Honest to God, Republicans must all be sitting in their back rooms and just cackling like hell right now. ... [They hoped their strategy] would cause moderates and lefties alike to become disgusted with Obama's weakness even though we all know who's really responsible for what's going on. And it worked!" Steve Benen: "The unstated message seems to be: Sure, Republicans have become an American nightmare. That's obvious. In fact, it's such a given, it's not worth talking about. Instead, let's denounce the White House ..."

Drum wraps it all up with a nice, liberal-blue bow: "We are such chumps."