Making unpopular decisions gains no praise among critics and the media

President Barack Obama

Nothing President Obama does is good enough. The media finds fault with him and pass its disagreements onto the public. When the president made public his decision about temporarily extending tax breaks for the rich, Ed Schultz of MSNBC lost it on TV. Agitated, he forcefully disagreed with his guests whose view was opposite to his. He said President Obama caved to Republicans.

I wondered if he listened to the same message that I heard.

President Obama said sternly, "I know there's some people in my own party, and in the other party who would rather prolong this battle, even if we can't reach a compromise. But I'm not willing to let working families across this country become collateral damage for political warfare here in Washington. And I'm not willing to let our economy slip backwards just as we're pulling ourselves out of this devastating recession."

I read some threads in online papers. Their sentiments were in line with Schultz. Lawrence O'Donnell, The Last Word, MSNBC, had a guest on his show--a Democratic senator--explaining who would suffer the most had the president not acted, working out a deal with Republicans, despite their animosity towards him. The senator said the poor and middle class would suffer the most, and IRS would find itself in a huge paper mess had the tax breaks expired.

The truth: Had President Obama not acted sensibly, extending the tax breaks, millions of unemployed Americans would suffer a greater fate than rich people. The economy would reel on its heels. The crew of newly unemployed would be up a creek without a paddle. This didn't concern Republicans, who had to repay lobbyists and big business for their financial support in November.

President Obama played the hand he had to play. Republicans held him and the unemployed hostage for their own gain. I agree with the President that the tax fight would have been long fought by Republicans. They broadcast that they are not going to bulge if the rich do not get the continued Bush tax break.

The media, for lack of a better description that show imagination, repeats the tripe: "President Obama appears weak." This is nothing new. These remarks were uttered when he was campaigning. Everybody in the media acted as though they had a seat at the negotiating table when the tax breaks were discussed. And because they were not there, they speculate and find fault.

As for President Obama appearing weak, I have found that intelligence looks like a shadowy figure in the presence of sound bites and unintelligible shouting. Some columnists and pundits have said Plain is more intelligent than President Obama.  People relate to her.  Go figure the comparison. I'll take President Obama any day of the week. I am not looking for a daddy or best friend in the White House. I want Obama to be presidential and make applicable decisions for the whole country.