AUTHOR: Earl Ofari Hutchinson
FORUM: The Huffington Post
LENGTH: 763 words
THESIS: Obama is, and has been for some time, horrifyingly "right of center on some issues"
SYNONYMS FOR 'WIMPY': "gun shy," "soft-pedaling," "soft shoeing"
REDUNDANCY OF THE DAY: "mute silence"
APPEARANCES OF THE PHRASE 'PEEP OF PROTEST': 2
NEW LABEL FOR REPUBLICAN OPPOSITION: "counterinsurgency"
REASONS TO FEAR OBAMA, THE SPINELESS RIGHT-WINGER: "he could well toss more friends under the bus"
THE LAST WORD:

Obama announced there'll be no public funds for abortions, smacked down former president Jimmy Carter who rightly branded attacks on Obama as racist, soft-pedaled the racism and xenophobia that fueled the so-called taxpayer march, and blew off the Congressional Progressive Caucus when it begged for a meeting with him to try and stiffen his spine on the public option.

The White House's mute silence when its friends are forcibly shoved out the White House door, and the soft shoeing on the issues, is not merely a political recalibration. It's a direct reaction to the GOP counterinsurgency against Obama. The Right isn't just dominating the political debate. It has driven Obama -- not to the center; he was never really anywhere else politically -- but to the right of center on some issues.

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Heather Horn