Pass the Blame

So the thinkable unthinkable has occurred, just as the administration was licking the BBQ sauce off their fingers. Downgraded. The ultimate Friday document dump.

S&P put the blame in the usual places, meanwhile the Dems have begun blaming the people who organized to try and stop the spending. The Repubs are blaming Obama.

Will no one blame Saddam and bin Laden? They are just as much a part of this tailspin as anyone else. Oh wait--the Dems did recently caterwaul about some hostage-taking terrorists who want to blow up the government or the planet or something. Maybe that was it.

C'mon politicians, this is a wake up call. It's a cold water slap in the face after several days of partying. Tough choices are going to need to be made to save this country. It's going to hurt some. But for once it really is about the children. There's no reason why America--the country that invented aviation and put a man on the Moon--can't turn this around.

MORE 8/6/11

While some on the left are interpreting S&P's comments as being directed at the Tea Party for their unwillingness to bend on spending issues (which itself is ironic) these same folks are generally upset with Obama for giving away the store to Boehner:

White House officials believe the president’s approach will pay off politically. They think the image of him as a reasonable compromiser fits with what most voters are looking for, especially the centrist independents who are turning their backs on the Democratic Party.

They may be right. Obama talked over and over about compromise during the negotiations. Never mind that according to reports he undercut a deal for 4 trillion that included more taxes by adding a last-minute additional 400 billion tax increase poison pill. That deal might have avoided a downgrade so perhaps the press should ask both Boehner and Obama some questions about it.

Then again, that busted deal will likely be spun towards Obama's advantage by his officials, blaming Boehner for the downgrade because the Tea Party didn't want the additional 400 billion in taxes, whereas Obama was the calm moderate centrist only looking to get the big deal done and satisfy the rating agencies.

In a real world that would be water under the bridge, not a political strawman. A real leader would come out Monday, make a speech to the public and try to unify Americans for the challenge ahead. But the guy occupying the top spot has already exhausted his credibility by constantly promising, dividing and demonizing, so few would buy it.