Barrel Strength

Jennifer Rubin notes a “graciousness deficit” in Obama’s presidency and your correspondent noted something similar earlier.  She states:

Why do this? President Obama is the one whom we were told has unlimited empathy, who can bring people with differing perspectives together without recrimination. He is not hobbled by the Bush-Clinton political wars which left both sides of the political aisle exhausted and in low repute. He, of all people, had the ability to start fresh and elevate the tone in Washington.

We are seeing, I think, the unlimited hubris of a candidate enjoying sky-high poll ratings and media adoration who believes he owes his opponents only civility, but not respect.

The “why” is easy to answer.  Recall the Persian proverb: the scorpion doesn’t sting out of malice, it is its nature to do so.  Similarly, Obama famously stated: “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.”  This after all is a president who learned his politics in Chicago, where they play with elbows up.