Roll Call reported Thursday that during a heated meeting of House Democrats to discuss Barack Obama's tax compromise plan, an unknown member was heard saying, "F--k the President."
According to Howard Fineman, appearing on MSNBC's "Countdown," that was not the sole F-word expressed in disgust for the President at this contentious gathering (video follows with transcript and commentary):
KEITH OLBERMANN, HOST: In Nancy Pelosi’s last month as Speaker, and the last month of Democrat control of the House of Representatives, Democrats stood up against Republicans and against the President. Our fifth story tonight, after a rowdy, dramatic, closed door meeting of House Democrats in almost total unison on this issue, the Speaker of the House says the President's tax plan will not get a vote in the House without changes, or as one unidentified Democratic member of Congress put it, according to the newspaper Roll Call, quote, "F the President,” unquote.
After discussing the state of the plan with Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, Olbermann brought in Fineman:
OLBERMANN: Let's turn to MSNBC political analyst Howard Fineman, also senior political editor of the Huffington Post. Good evening, Howard.
HOWARD FINEMAN, THE HUFFINGTON POST: Hi, Keith.
OLBERMANN: This has been an extraordinary week in this debate between these two parts of the Democratic Party. But this quote, “F the President?” Kind of strong. What can you tell us about the, the, the Democratic revolt in the House this morning?
FINEMAN: Well, like Barney Frank, I wasn't there either, but I did talk to a lot of people who were, and it was pretty startling. There was, there was sotto voce apparently, you know, not too loud, an "F the President.” There was a, there was a “No f-ing way.” There was a “He F-ed it up.” You know, we had a fairly liberal use of the F-word inside those closed doors, and there was a lot of anger. And, and, and frankly the President's appearance before this same group of people yesterday, when he tried to explain his side of things, didn't help. As a matter of fact, it just made things worse is my understanding of it. One member I talked to said if this is the way he's going to negotiate with the Republicans, what's he going to do with the Iranians, you know?
One can anticipate Rush Limbaugh on Friday sarcastically accusing those uttering these vulgarities of being racist - for any criticism of the President has to be because he's black - and MSNBC"s Ed Schultz as well as the Rev. Al Sharpton taking him seriously.
That's certainly what Fineman and Olbermann would have said if this was a meeting of Republican House members and such language was used in reference to Obama.
It also seems likely that if Olbermann wasn't so angered by what Obama put on the table concerning the Bush tax cuts two days ago, these Democrat obscenities would not have been discussed on "Countdown" unless they were directed at a Republican, especially if it was Sarah Palin.
But Olbermann, much like his colleague Rachel Maddow, feels betrayed by the current White House resident, and he's working overtime to prove it.
So peeved is he that he later in the show brought on the president of the machinists' union, a former Hillary Clinton supporter who explained why nobody should be surprised by Obama's behavior since Inauguration Day:
The buyer's remorse on display would bring a tear to your eye if it wasn't so funny.
I expected MSNBC would become a much more enjoyable network to watch after the Republican victory on November 2, but I never thought it would be this entertaining.
Did you?
