This appears to be the jettisoning of some unappealing baggage. Obama’s deputy press secretary was trotted out to make the announcement – just in case Obama has to backpedal from this position, too.
“I think there’s actually a pretty long tradition of people shouting at politicians in America,” White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton told reporters on Air Force One when asked about the comments.
“The President thinks that if people want to come and have a spirited debate about health care, a real vigorous conversation about it, that’s a part of the American tradition and he encourages that, because people do have questions and concerns …And so if people want to come and have their concerns and their questions answered, the President thinks that’s important. Now, if you just want to come to a town hall so that you can disrupt and so that you can scream over another person, he doesn’t think that that’s productive. And as a country, we’ve been able to make progress when people actually talk out what our problems are, not try to shout each other down.”
This also leaves the SEIU twisting in the wind, since they have been openly recruiting goons to silence opposition. Welcome to the reality of an opportunistic narcissist as president, folks. You may well be doing his bidding when you take your lumps for him – but he will kick you to the curb at the drop of a poll number.
Bonus question: Wouldn’t you have loved to be a fly on the wall in Nancy Pelosi’s office when she read this article?
Side note to SEIU thugs: you’re on your own when you commit crimes in support of Obama’s policies. Do you really think this guy will protect you if he won’t even rescue the Speaker of the House?
UPDATE: Pelosi may very well be in real trouble over her screed today. AllahPundit has video. Not looking good, Nancy.
This is a man who threw his own grandmother, the woman who helped raise him, under the bus. Do you really think he’ll hesitate for Pelosi or anyone else? In his mind the only thing that counts is that HE looks good to the American people. No one else matters.