So, Barry got mad. I guess. That’s what the people who tell me what other people said after I listen to what other people said, said. And, oh, the commenters at the TPM (among others) are just enthralled with him. To paraphrase one of them, he’s so darn smart, he’s not a step ahead of everybody else – he’s 20 steps ahead. Yep. He’s a regular f*cking Ninja. Roll over on, like damn near every negotiation you’re involved in (typically before negotiations even start), and then get mad (he was mad, right?) when the bad guys aren’t satisfied with how far you’ve rolled and figure they can just keep squeezing you (which, really, is a pretty reasonable assumption – hell, it’s probable the most reasonable assumption the teabaggers and wingers are capable of). So, happy as Obama apparently was to sell out Medicare and SS (oh, except it was all part of his stealth plan to force them to be mean and stupid so he’d look reasonable), the crazier wingnuts apparently wouldn’t go for it. So, the Conventional Wisdom goes, Obama looks like a maverick (watch out for mavericks) by bucking his own party and being “reasonable” while the Republicans look like, well, Republicans. I don’t know about you, but I feel better already.