"He is not acting presidential. He is behaving in a way designed in my opinion to divide us, to make us look at each other with skepticism, with suspicion. That is the end of America as we know it," Langone fulminated. "The destruction he is inflicting by his behavior will carry on long after we settle the debt limit."
I don't know who Langone is describing, but it's not Obama. Sure, he's taken a jab or two at fat cats, and quickly retreated. Mostly he's reached out to Republicans time and again, only to be rebuffed and humiliated, from the earliest days of his term. On "Hardball" today we discussed the extreme reaction this conciliating president has triggered in the GOP, from the earliest moments of his presidency.
But as we talked, I felt I had to point out: Demonizing Democratic presidents didn't start with Obama. Racism makes the Obama attacks uglier, but the attacks on President Clinton were plenty ugly, too. Leaving aside the sex scandals, Clinton's civil rights history earned him the animus of Arkansas right-wingers while he was governor. When Clinton became president, Jerry Falwell and friends promoted "The Clinton Chronicles," a "documentary" claiming he'd run an Arkansas racketeering operation responsible for cocaine smuggling, bank fraud and murder. He was accused of having a hand in the suicide of his friend Vince Foster; the Wall Street Journal demanded an investigation into whether it was actually murder. Sen. Jesse Helms warned him that if he visited military bases in the South, "He better have a bodyguard." All that on top of fruitless investigations into Whitewater, "travelgate" and allegations of improper Chinese fundraising -- and then impeachment.
She has a point.
