Tuesday, February 10, 2009

A zwischenzug classic maneuver

Bob Herbert:
The simple truth is that most Republican politicians would like Mr. Obama to fail because that is their ticket to a quick return to power. I think the president is a more formidable opponent than they realize.

Mr. Obama is like a championship chess player, always several moves ahead of friend and foe alike. He’s smart, deft, elegant and subtle. While Lindsey Graham was behaving like a 6-year-old on the Senate floor and Pete Sessions was studying passages in his Taliban handbook, Mr. Obama and his aides were assessing what’s achievable in terms of stimulus legislation and how best to get there.

I’d personally like to see a more robust stimulus package, with increased infrastructure spending and fewer tax cuts. But the reality is that Mr. Obama needs at least a handful of Republican votes in the Senate to get anything at all done, and he can’t afford to lose this first crucial legislative fight of his presidency.

The Democrats may succeed in bolstering their package somewhat in conference, but I think Mr. Obama would have been satisfied all along to start his presidency off with an $800 billion-plus stimulus program.
Not that I know much about chess, I just think we're seeing a whole new type of game being played...

2 comments:

darkblack said...

...Or, America has been forced to play a version of 'Texas checkers' for the last 8 years that only allowed it a move on every third turn, while the other side started with all chips 'kinged'.

The subtler nuances of chess might fall by the wayside under those conditions.

;>)

ellroon said...

Lol, darkblack! Haven't heard of Texas checkers! How about the way I end up playing ... tossing the board to the floor and jumping on the pieces?

Maybe I should run for Congress...