PRESIDENT OBAMA AS ATTICUS FINCH?

David Atkins over at Digby explores this in an analysis of the deal extorted by the extremist Tea Party thugs.

I've never been in the camp of progressives who believe Mr. Obama should act like a bully and double down on threats and intransigence.  Atkins explains that we liberals/progressives never supported that style of governing.

"It is not our instinct to take an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. It is not our instinct to play by the rules of "The Chicago Way", where an act of aggression by an opponent is responded to with an act of equal or greater retaliation by your own side.

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When faced with an opposition willing to use lies, extortion and terrorism to achieve its goals, there are two possible responses. The first is equal and opposite aggression: to give as good as you get. But the second is to remain open-handed and and assume that by being the adult, turning the other cheek and giving way to your opponent even if only temporarily, you will seize the moral high ground and let the opponent's own momentum carry him over to his own destruction.

That is the essence of what can be loosely characterized as "Eastern" wisdom, a very Taoist or Buddhist approach. In the Christian tradition, this sort of counsel can be found throughout the Book of Matthew. In a more secular vein, it could be called the Atticus Finch approach. Insofar as one gives Barack Obama the benefit of the doubt, he almost surely sees himself as Atticus Finch refusing to punch back even as the villain spits in his face."

I don't like the deal that the extortionist Tea Party Republicans extracted from the adults in our government.  I'm angry with how they took us to the brink of disaster and at their incompetence in and ignorance about governing.  What this capitulation to their threats and demands means will play out over the next year and a half.

Meanwhile, I tend to agree with the assessment written by "Smartypants:"

MICHELE OBAMA in 2008:  "Here's the thing about my husband: even in the toughest moments, when it seems like all is lost, Barack Obama never loses sight of the end goal. He never lets himself get distracted by the chatter and the noise, even if it comes from some of his best supporters. He just keeps moving forward.

And in those moments when we're all sweating it, when we're worried that the bill won't pass or the negotiation will fall through, Barack always reminds me that we're playing a long game here. He reminds me that change is slow — it doesn't happen overnight.

If we keep showing up, if we keep fighting the good fight and doing what we know is right, then eventually we will get there.

We always have."

SMARTYPANTS:  "As we hear rumors about what might be in the debt ceiling bill, I begin to wonder about that long game.

I've had one guess in the back of my mind for a couple of days. Its not like I have the greatest track record in these predictions. But its still interesting to throw this kind of thing out there. And then this morning I saw something that made it seem even more likely.

What I saw was an short note in Politico titled WH fine with no new revenue until 2013. It refers to something Gene Sperling, Director of the National Economic Council, said."

FACT SHEET ON THE DEAL HERE

The Daily Kos stands with President Obama.  Link here.