Barack Obama's political tone has become progressively more partisan since his "no red states, no blue states just the United States" warm 'n fuzziness at the 2004 Dem convention. But President Obama's rhetoric is still not harsh enough to suit Mike Barnicle.
On Morning Joe today, the former Boston Globe columnist demanded to know of Obama press sec Jay Carney just when the president was going to stop "swinging at air" and start calling out Republicans by name. Video after the jump.
MIKE BARNICLE: It would seem to me, just reading the president's speech that he gave yesterday that he's onto the fairness issue, which I think, as we've talked about here obviously for quite --
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: -- will resonate.
BARNICLE: -- is the real issue out in the country: the fairness issue. People know that what's going on and has been going on for years now is just at some level isn't fair. And as we've said repeatedly, we don't care if you're rich, just, I don't want to be poor. That's the deal on this country. That's the deal. So, Jay, in that context, when do you figure the timetable is for the president to stop swinging at air, which is what he did in a sense yesterday, and name his opponents: Boehner, McConnell, Cantor: Republicans, by name. They say no. They keep doing it. What's the timeframe for that?
JAY CARNEY: Well I, look, I think we've been pretty explicit. The president has, I have and others about what the obstacle is in Congress and we've named the names and parties and we're going to keep pressing on with that.
Note: in his intensely partisan speech yesterday, PBO explicitly alleged that "trickle down economics" doesn't work. Consider that "trickle down economics" is simply a pejorative synonym for . . . capitalism.
PS: Check the screengrab. Somebody give Jay Carney a hug!
