Protect them, then blame them

President Obama wants to blame the Republicans for his inability to pass progressive legislation. Indeed the Republicans are bad news. But Obama bent over backwards to protect Republicans and their corporate allies from accountability for their many crimes. Rather than fight them, he coddled them, surrounded himself with Wall Street executives and Bush holdovers, and compromised early and often. Now, during another election campaign, he wants to paint himself as a friend of the middle class. His actions belie his words. He can’t have it both ways.