He used to be our darling.
Remember this? :
There he was. Robert Gibbs going after the Devil's spawn, Sean Hannity. It was a beautiful moment, one that was cheered vociferously over the left-wing blogosphere. Not long after the President was elected Mr. Gibbs was appointed Press Secretary. I remember hearing this first on the Stephanie Miller show and she and her crew were giddy.
As you all know, Mr. Gibbs said some pretty stupid things about what he calls "the Professional Left". Some are calling for his resignation. I can't say that I blame them. However, the reason I think he should step down is not because of what he said, but when he and how he said it.
Today, the President had a victory in the form of a 26 billion dollar aid package that will be going to the states to help keep teachers teaching and students learning. This could have been easily bracketed by going after another target we love: Sarah Palin.
You might have seen this clip around the web and other sources of news.
To be honest, I didn't see the eyeroll, but I did hear the chorus of "Oh." You know, that kind of "Oh" that suggests that you are an inferior creature, a troublemaker, which is what the Palins think about teachers.
The Congress gave a lifeline to teachers across America and the President signed it. The DNC would have been able to cap it off with having some of their surrogates go after the half-Governor.
But nooooooo.
Robert Gibbs shot off his mouth (probably over drinks with a reporter) and just derailed any hope of a good news day for the White House. A White House that is in need of good news days.
This is their PR guy? This is the face of the White House? What the hell was he thinking?
People are now using Robert Gibbs' statements to declare open war on the Obama Presidency. I thought that what Robert Gibb's said was stupid, but what some people like MinistryOfTruth are saying is worse.
Should Robert Gibbs resign? Probably. His job is to be the face of the White House and right now that face is being metaphorically littered with graffiti as we speak. This is politics and he should know better. He either does that or he makes a full on apology to "the Professional Left", without whom he would not have that wonderful job serving at the pleasure of the President. I know. Good luck with that.
However, for everyone to say "I give up." is kind of stupid. I have been, at times, frustrated by this White House and there have been times when I have said, "Dammit, why did they do this? I give up." After I cooled down, however (and unfortunately listened to the likes of Sarah Palin), I remembered a phrase from my past. Done is Better than Perfect.
This came from when I used to work in a scene shop for a university theater department as part of a work study program. We had to get a lot done in a short amount of time because the theater was a professional repertory theater. We were often building for more than one show. We wanted to make everything perfectly, but we knew that it would take too much time so we made sure it got done and done well, but not perfectly. The sets worked just fine. The shows, for the most part, were good.
I recall that when the Health Care Reform Act was getting close to passage, Jane Hamsher came out with the "Kill the Bill" proposal. Because the public option wasn't included she wanted to get people to get their Congressmen and Congresswomen to kill the bill. The best article on this is from Ezra Klein.
The vast, overwhelming majority of families will be better off under this bill. The families in the greatest danger get the most help. They will have insurance that they can use, and if they need it, subsidies to help them afford it. Compared with the status quo, in which about 50 million people have no insurance and tens of millions more have insurance they can't afford to use, this is a massive improvement. As Jonathan Cohn writes, "This is a hugely progressive program to bolster economic security, the likes of which we haven't enacted in this country for a long, long time."
By the way, guess who was first in line to take a piece out of Robert Gibbs? Look at the timestamp. That was fast.
From one view, I think I understand his frustration because if you put it together, the list looks like this.
SCHIP has been strengthened over the last 18 months.
Same-sex couples get equal health care protection for federal employees.
We're getting out of Iraq.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
American cars are coming back.
And...
We are now hearing from Katrina Vandenheuvel that Elizabeth Warren will be nominated for the position of head of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. By the way, here are Robert Gibbs' comments about her.
There's more. Feel free to add.
However, I understand the side from "The Professional Left"...
We're still in Afghanistan.
DADT has not been repealed.
Guantanamo is still open.
I know. There's more for this side as well. Feel free to add.
I want to add this quote from Hamsher's article about Gibbs comments.
Gibbs echoes the oft-heard refrain that George Bush left such a mess, and people expect too much change too fast. But if Obama were actually fighting for the change he promised and losing because of overwhelming opposition, the "progressives" Gibbs is whining about would be behind him 100%. The problem is not that he’s fighting corporate America and losing. The problem is that all too often, it’s obvious that he’s fighting for the other side.
"But if Obama were actually fighting for the change he promised and losing because of overwhelming opposition, the 'progressives' Gibbs is whining about would be behind him 100%."
The problem with that logic is, we would be losing. Perhaps big.
Maybe that is the issue that is getting lost. Maybe that's what Gibbs was trying to say "inartfully".
We have a saying in Vikings land, "You can call it a moral victory all you want, but it's still losing."
This administration has gotten a lot done. There is also a lot they have left to do. It's not perfect, I know. What the hell is?
This administration is working for a public with a short attention span. Just two years ago, people were complaining that the President had too much on his plate and couldn't possibly get a lot of this done. Now, we're complaining that he is not doing enough. We were complaining that we were falling off a cliff, economically (which we were) and now we want to live in penthouses again. You can't have it all, folks.
Last thing. I, personnally, don't want a repeat of 1995 (where that hypocrite, Newt Gingrich, tried to usurp President Clinton).
That's what will happen if the Republicans get control. Robert Gibbs stupid mouth hasn't changed that.
UPDATE: For the grammar fiends out there, you have your correction. It was late when I wrote this. I was tired. I posted it afterwards.