The Bigger They Are, the Harder They Fall - Obama's Future?

No one is more surprised than I am at the precipitous fall in the President's approval rating (well, there might be a few others). From those heady post-election days when even some Democrats were secretly hoping for some positive change they could believe in.

Today, even Mr. Obama's base is blaming him for spilled oil, Wall Street greed, unemployment, lack of oysters, and maybe even the widespread flooding. Gosh, GOD he is not, despite what those people say.

I, too, was hopeful when Mr. Obama promised to end the rancor and bickering in Washington in the hopes of getting things done. Now even he bashes the Republicans for everything from tax policy to government regulation. He offers no more olive branches to the other side, probably because they just take the olives for their martinis, and return the charred branch. You can only get burned so much before you back off a little.

But I still cringe when Mr. Obama makes light of a ranking conservative using some of the same hyperbole and innuendo he sought to bury. Maybe he has the adopted the age-old philosophy, that "if you can't beat 'em. join 'em." No, not take their side. Oh no, join 'em down in the gutter where playing dirty is now part of the game. The audacity.