Politics: In his weekly radio address and elsewhere over the weekend, President Obama blamed Republicans for "holding back" the recovery by blocking his still-MIA jobs plan. This wins the prize for Oval Office hubris.He's even questioning the "patriotism" of GOP leaders on the Hill, claiming they're putting politics above country. "They're more interested in the politics of it than they are in solving the problem," he complained .
"The worst part is when you are talking to a family member of a fallen soldier and you are hugging them," he added. "And then you see sometimes our politics not living up to that level of commitment and patriotism that we see from our troops."
The most ideologically rigid president in history then accused Republicans -- who control just a third of the Pennsylvania Avenue power corridor -- of "rigidity" in refusing to raise taxes in a recession.
"When I saw our Republican presidential primary candidates suggesting that they would not be willing to close a single tax break, even if they were going to get $10 of savings for every $1 of revenue that raised, that is no longer thinking in a common-sense way," Obama said. " At that point, what you're seeing is ideological rigidity that is preventing us from solving problems."
You can't appreciate the heights of this cynicism without looking at Obama's 2006 memoir, "The Audacity of Hope," where he blamed Bush and Republicans for "anemic job growth," "flatlining wages" and not making "tough choices to control spending." All the horrible things he said came from GOP policies back then are umpteen times worse now under his own policies.
Obama can't have it both ways. He can't blame Republicans when they're in power, and then keep blaming Republicans when he's in power. At some point, he's got to take responsibility for the jobless recovery -- the first since WWII with no gain in wages and salaries in the first eight quarters after a recession's end. He's got to take ownership for the failure of his own ideas and leadership.
The only problem, if he takes ownership he is handing out a gold plated invitation for a primary challenger, and he knows it.