Desperate White House tries to suppress dissent

Wesley Pruden:

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Mr. Obama and his White House can't seem to get their brains around the fact that the election of '08 is over, and he won. A candidate feeds on red meat, but a president is the president of everyone, and must set a different table. Mr. Obama campaigned with promises of a post-racial, post-partisan, post-rancor administration, and millions of Americans responded with enthusiasm. The candidate who said he took inspiration from Abraham Lincoln of Illinois now acts as if he takes inspiration from the distinguished statesmen of the Third World, where press opposition to the leader is usually a bloody no-no.

The remarkable White House attempt to define which news organization is legitimate and which is not began in August, as Mr. Obama's poll numbers began a dramatic slide. Suddenly the man who yearns to be the permanent president of the Student Body, loved by all and adored by the co-eds and their mamas, is rendered human after all. Anita Dunn, the director of White House communications, says that when the administration began planning for autumn (with important gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia), the president "needed to be more aggressive in defining what the choices are, and in protecting and pushing forward our agenda."

Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge and Fox News are big enough to take care of themselves, but the implications of what the Obamanauts are trying to do are scary, indeed. Brisk and even brutal opposition is something every president must endure; it's a pity that Mr. Obama skipped school the day the class studied American history. The candidate insists that the critics who scoff that he isn't really the messiah, but another Chicago politician, are just being cynical. This week Ms. Dunn insisted that the Obama image is intact. "He's who he has always been." So we are learning, to widespread sorrow.

I think Rush Limbaugh and the others who criticize the administration can handle the heat. What seems to be clear also is that this administration has a problem handling the heat. In the process they have made themselves look small. Rush and Glenn Beck and the Tea Party movement have shown us Obama's vulnerabilities and the Obama administration attacks only confirm them.