Has the White House Gone Tone Deaf?

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs wondered aloud (and in print) whether members of the "professional left" -- critical of the Obama administration for not having done enough to advance their agenda -- might perhaps be dipping into a stash of ganja, or happy pills, or both.

"I mean, it's crazy," Gibbs said. "Those people ought to be drug tested." Those kooky outraged liberal naysayers, according to Gibbs, would only be satisfied with Dennis Kucinich installed as commander in chief and Canadian-style (shhh, that's code for "socialist") health care. Personal *relaxation* habits aside, after a week like this one, I'd pose the same question to the White House: Namely, what are y'all smoking? Whatever it is, it must be strong.

First things first: Gibbs' comments -- frustrated asides that made one heckuva juicy story for one sorta slow news week -- are no reason to call for the press secretary's resignation, as Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) did. But were they enough for onlookers to slap their foreheads in disbelief, the "D'oh!" heard round the (left-wing) world? Yes. The press secretary's belittling, foolish commentary comes right as the Democrats face a battle to close what pundits like to call the "enthusiasm gap" between liberal and conservative voters ahead of this year's midterm elections. It would have been demoralizing enough if Gibbs had just left Dems with his bons mots from an interview on "Meet the Press," where he proclaimed, "I think there's no doubt there are enough seats in play that could cause Republicans to gain control." But bashing Obama's base at a time when Democratic congressional candidates need all the support they can muster? Questionable strategy.

And that's not all. On Wednesday, the market hastened its retreat following not-so-great economic news out of Europe and downright worrying news out of China. On Thursday, The New York Times reported that homeowners have simply ceased to pay back billions in home loans, leaving lenders in a lurch. And in an op-ed on Tuesday, columnist Bob Herbert described the U.S. unemployment rate as "a horror show." "The nation is facing a full-blown employment crisis," he wrote. "And policy makers are not responding with anything like the sense of urgency that is needed." This, mind you, is the season the White House has dubbed "Recovery Summer."

If you're generous, you might excuse the administration for this wildly premature branding as simply overzealous optimism. But at a time when the country is quite literally adrift, one has to wonder what travel agent Barack and Michelle might have been consulting when they booked the lavish vacation to Marbella, Spain, for the first lady and her daughter, or their upcoming 10-day sojourn to Martha's Vineyard. My colleague Lynn Sweet got the scoop that part of the rationale for the Mrs. Obama's Spain trip was to be with a grieving friend, to which another one of my colleagues offered, "What happened to baking a pie?" Indeed. Perhaps the only baked goods coming out of the White House kitchen these days are space cakes.

The first family's Vineyard jaunt will come after a much touted "vacation" to the Gulf of Mexico this weekend that will last less than 36 hours. Presumably, the Obama clan will be downing gulf shrimp to prove that it's safe to eat (the president, for his part, must be really tired of shrimp at this point) and splash in the water to show that it is not, in fact, laden with oil. But will this really count, in the eyes of the American public, as a ringing endorsement for gulf tourism? The president is also scheduled to speak with local officials and get an update on the latest recovery efforts in the wake of the BP oil spill -- not exactly vacation fare, but more like a business trip with the kids. The transparency of this Florida photo-op is almost painful when you consider the media (and outrage) that is likely to be generated over the Obamas' coming long, luxurious and presumably golf-filled getaway to the tony Vineyard.

And finally: presidential hubris. The withdrawal of U.S. combat forces in Iraq at the end of this month, and Obama's recent virtual unfurling of a "Mission Accomplished" banner, comes as reports show an Iraqi government woefully unprepared to take over, a country lacking rudimentary infrastructure, a potential resurgence of al-Qaeda in Iraq, and an Iraqi military chief who, on Thursday, suggested that U.S. forces might need to stay in the country for not another year (as is planned), but another decade. And, oh yes, the State Department is $400 million short on the money it needs to even make the draw-down possible. While we'll have a good year to wait and see what actually happens in Baghdad, the White House sure seems like it's setting itself up for a fall.

I'll let recreational stoners off the hook here and just put it out there: What's happening over at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.? For a team that was so incredibly skilled at managing the message and reading the pulse of the country throughout the long, hard campaign slog, it has been weirdly, tragically tone deaf these last few weeks. George W. Bush, not someone known for his nuanced approach to anything, managed to keep his head down during the dark days, clearing brush in Crawford, abstaining from the golf course, and waving goodbye to his wife as she took off on low-cost (and domestic!) camping trips. For a country that's hurt, an economy that's limping, and a base that feels bruised, President Obama and his team would do well to descend from that high horse and put their feet back on the ground.


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