EPIC FAIL

Mass. voters 'Tea' off on turncoat O
By MICHAEL GOODWIN
Last Updated: 9:20 AM, January 20, 2010
Posted: 3:53 AM, January 20, 2010
http://www.nypost.com/

A friend who toiled in the magazine business tells a story. In the mid-1970s, the publisher of their national news weekly took him to lunch to celebrate how well things were going. Circulation and ads were both roaring, making for happy campers all around.

As he clinked Martini glasses with my friend, the publisher declared, "The dogs like the dog food!"

The story's glib disdain for the customers comes as a well-timed metaphor. Unfortunately for President Obama, American voters don't like the crap he is plopping in their food dishes.

Now they are doing something about it. His health-care monstrosity has turned simmering discontent into a battle cry of resistance and cost him iron-clad control of the US Senate.

That Ted Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts was the scene of the smack-down spells out the dimensions of the anger. Obama went to Harvard Law School, but apparently never learned the lessons of the first Boston Tea Party.

And so his arrogance and the heavy hand of big government sparked the second. A year to the day after he made history by taking the oath, he stands on the wrong side of a new American revolution.

It's hard to believe how quickly the nation has turned against Obama and the Democratic Party. Then again, it feels like an eternity since he swept into office on a tide of good will and hope.

Remember how he would unite the country? And boost the economy? As his faith in government grows, the public's faith in him declines. Even the stock market rose yesterday on expectations that the Obama agenda would be stalled.

It is a remarkable fall from grace for a man who squandered a mandate and basic trust. Even he cannot govern without the consent of the governed.

The victory by little-known Republican Scott Brown marks the third time where a state Obama won in 2008 has turned thumbs down on him in the last three months. Starting with Virginia and New Jersey, each GOP victory has sharpened the sense that he wildly overreached in forcing the country to take a sharp left turn.

While it is true he inherited an economic mess and two wars, the electorate is concluding his policies have made things worse. That fully half the country views his first year as a failure marks a record decline in presidential score keeping.

Obama has only himself to blame. While the far-left barons of Congress played their predictable part, the president has played their eager accomplice.

Historians will judge whether he led or followed them. For now, it's sufficient to say they are in the soup together.

Yet still they show only defiance. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed the health-care package would become law "one way or the other." With only about 35 percent of the public supporting it, she has picked a fight with an angry public. Does she not believe in democracy?

Most disheartening, the White House has boarded her ship of fools. Politico.com reports Obama will respond to the defeat with a "combative turn."

Apparently his hostility and contempt for dissent was his Mr. Nice Guy routine. The article quotes an aide saying the president has no doubts about his course and growing opposition "reinforces the conviction to fight hard."

This madness was echoed by White House flack Robert Gibbs, who chalked up the anger over the health bills to public ignorance of the benefits.

Yes, that must be it. It isn't possible the dogs don't really like the dog food!

It must be the packaging and the selling job. And so in coming days, watch as the best and brightest reach for shinier labels and loftier adjectives.

They should beware. These American dogs bite.