Senator Urges Obama: Don't Start Enemies List

[Are_grits_groceries]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Republican invoked the memory of the scandal-marred Nixon administration on Wednesday to urge U.S. President Barack Obama to "back up" and not "start an enemies list."

Senator Lamar Alexander told Reuters he has begun to see the Obama White House adopting an attitude similar to that of the Richard Nixon White House four decades ago, that "everybody is against us and we are going to get them."

Alexander cited as examples the Obama administration's suggestion that it may support stripping the insurance industry of its exemption of federal anti-trust laws, its clash with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the president saying he will call out people who oppose him and boycott Fox News network.

Alexander, a member of the congressional Republican leadership, said he is "suggesting that the president back up" and "don't start an enemies list."

Alexander made the comments at the Reuters Washington Summit, a series of interviews with key Washington figures, in advance of a speech that he plans to give later in the day on the same topic on the Senate floor.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/21/us/politics/politics-us-washington-summit-politics-enemies.html

Well Lamar, you just made mine. WTF is he talking about? Now Rahm is a different story.

[tridim]

1. 100 bucks Roger Ailes and Lamar Alexander and pals.

Psst dude, saying Faux isn't news isn't an enemies list, it's just stating a fact.

Edit: Just as I expected, there are 11,000 results on Google.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-us%3AIE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7ADBF_en&q=%27Roger+Ailes%22+%22lamar+alexander%22&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

[Barack_America]

2. Republicans demanding freedom to lie, cheat and steal without consequences.

What's new?

[LTR]

3. More Republicans drinking the Flavor-Ade

Sad that our elected officials are such morans.

[Pirate Smile]

4. Obama is a scary thug. No, Obama is a weak wuss. Which one is it, Republicans? Huh?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

6. Obama isn't doing anything. ZOMG!!11 Obama is turning the country socialist!

[liberal N proud]

5. Enemy lists are so Republican

They all have Obama as enemy number 1.

[TwilightGardener]

7. LOL. Obama knows who his enemies are, even if he doesn't keep a list.

All Presidents do.

[dennis4868]

8. This guy....

must have gone to the Glenn Beck school of nutjobs......

[ellie]

9. Nice to see the repukes

focused on the important things. Worthless bunch of fuckers, every single one of them.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

10. Wow, strawman much, Alexander?

[Barack_America]

11. I think he's groveling for a Christmas card.

;)

[Overseas]

12. It's the old Gingrich trick-- accuse the other guy of what your partry has been doing

for years.

Dubya and Gang screened all participants in their "open town hall meetings" and ejected people for wearing the wrong T-shirts.

Dubya and Gang excluded lots of reporters and news organizations they deemed unfriendly.

But the GOP figures that was long enough ago in our 24-hour news cycles that they can pretend they did no such thing and shout loudly about Democrats doing it now and get some good news coverage.

I'd love to hear about some Democratic senators responding to his senate floor speech with examples of the Bush Gang excluding and favoring particular journalists.

Moving Helen Thomas out of the front row and bringing in the Outstanding Journalist Jeff Gannon, for example.