President Obama, in his "Remarks by the President on the Reopening of the Government," said:
now that the government is reopened, and this threat to our economy is removed, all of us need to stop focusing on the lobbyists and the bloggers and the talking heads on radio and the professional activists who profit from conflict, and focus on what the majority of Americans sent us here to do, and that's grow this economy; create good jobs; strengthen the middle class; educate our kids; lay the foundation for broad-based prosperity and get our fiscal house in order for the long haul. That's why we're here. That should be our focus.
Mr. Obama has done pretty well himself by profiting from conflict, though he originally attracted political attention as a more conciliatory figure. Anyhow, by posturing, falsely, as someone who deplores conflict, Mr. Obama himself is creating a new one, a false dichotomy between the selfless, long-haul-oriented, pro-growth, pro-education,. pro-middle class, and pro-kids good guys on one hand, and the evil, pro-conflict bloggers and lobbyists on the other hand. I mean, bloggers I can understand Mr. Obama wanting to demonize, but what's the guy got against lobbyists? To hear the press tell it, the lobbyists for business are the ones who got the Republicans to finally cave and lift the debt ceiling. And there are also plenty of lobbyists for educational institutions and pro-middle-class advocacy groups who have been the president's allies in many Washington battles.