Joint Session

President Obama's inner Machiavelli seems to be failing him in his latest attempt to roll over the Congress.  His last minute request/demand that he be allowed to address a joint session of Congress the same night as a long-scheduled Republican Presidential debate has worked out badly after Speaker Boehner politely declined the invitation and suggested, uh, how about the next night?  Boehner's reasonableness in this has left the White House little alternative but to back down, and now it is reduced to trying to reassure Americans that the President's rescheduled speech won't get in the way of coverage of the concurrent first game of the NFL season.

What the hell is going on here?  This attempt by the White House to steal attention from the Republican debate is downright weird, and it reminds me of nothing more than the kind of thing a jealous teenager might try in hopes of ruining a party where he or she hasn't been invited.  The idea that a speech about his latest ridiculous plan for reviving the economy needs the backdrop of an assembled Congress is insulting to the Congress, which is a co-equal branch of our government and not just scenery, and to the people of the nation, since that same Congress does represent us, whether we like it or not.

Expecting the White House to display any respect for the nation or its institutions is probably futile at this point.  Fortunately, the White House is meeting little but derision in the media and from the public in this latest episode, even if the derision on the left amounts to being angry that Obama has managed to make himself look childish and the Republicans reasonable and adult.  I think that Obama deserves nothing but praise for continuing to lose support just about everywhere in the electorate, no matter how or why he does it.

Addendum:  Apparently the White House's reaction is even more silly than I thought.