Gibbs fights back - Updated

You know its August because the only thing going on in politics is internet spats. This "interview" with Gibbs in The Hill has the hippies in a mass snit this morning. I put scare quotes around interview because it's really just The Hill's spin with a couple of isolated, link baiting quotes but here's the gist.

...White House press secretary Robert Gibbs blasted liberal naysayers, whom he said would never regard anything the president did as good enough.

He's not entirely wrong about that. Nor is this completely untrue.

Gibbs said the professional left is not representative of the progressives who organized, campaigned, raised money and ultimately voted for Obama.

Progressives, Gibbs said, are the liberals outside of Washington “in America,” and they are grateful for what Obama has accomplished in a shattered economy with uniform Republican opposition and a short amount of time.

Outside of the netroots bubble, I still see a lot of support for Obama. And frankly, there are days when even I get tired of the relentless netroots outrage about every single thing that isn't accomplished instantly, while the administration's successes are very nearly ignored. The empath in me can't help but think that nobody is inspired to cooperate under the weight of constant criticism.

My friend Creature takes a measured tone about it, but thinks Gibbs' hippie punching was unnecessary. That's true enough but me, I can't worked up over it at all. I see the netroots beating up on Obama nearly every single day on the internets. It doesn't matter if they have legitimate gripes or if they're being unrealistic, the fact is they're dishing it out. So the way I figure it, Gibbs, right or wrong, should be allowed to punch back once in a while. Everybody needs to vent sometimes.

Meanwhile, young Ezra is wise for his years. He puts his finger on the underlying dynamic.

And so it is here: The left is angry at the White House, and the White House is angry at the left, and both may be justified in their annoyance and tactical critiques, but the tension is actually a result of the rules allowing 41 senators to block the will of 59.

I think he's right. Everyone is just frustrated by the failures of the process and besides, a big Dem establishment/netroots fight has become an August tradition.

Update: I no sooner posted this than I see Gibbs apologized and clarified his remarks. Which isn't good enough for the quoted high profile lefty critics at the link...