And then there was this before Boehner spoke:
An approprraite reaction: Krauthammer on Obama’s Address: “I Thought I Was Cynical Until I Heard That Speech”
Reaction roundups at Instapundit:
PETER WEHNER: Our Petulant and Inept President. “The president and his team entered these negotiations believing he could strike a grand bargain that would allow him to present himself as a born-again budget cutter, as fiscally responsible, as a Man of the Center. And in the process, he kept instructing us, he would emerge as the only adult in the room. At this juncture, it looks like Obama is the most adolescent, even childish, figure in the negotiations – a petulant man who also happens to be an inept negotiator. This isn’t what the president and his supporters expected. But of course, that could be said for his entire presidency.”More:
TONY KATZ ON OBAMA’S TALK: “This didn’t seem like a president who was effective. It looked like a panic-stricken leader who was now hoping the like-minded ideologues across America can place enough pressure on Washington to enact non-sensical tax increases. . . . The president was elected to make hard decisions, yet he is unwilling to make any decision. He is supposed to be a great speaker, but has proven he is a horrible listener. And now, he has gone from speaking to begging….begging America to do what he wants, rather than accepting the idea of ‘compromise’ himself.”Plus this:
Related: Obama Blames Bush, Offers Nothing New. Out of his depth?
IRA STOLL: Boehner Was Better:And lastly:President Obama, in his televised talk tonight, trotted out the same false choices he provided in his USA Today oped. The same objections apply. He draped himself in Reagan, as I predicted in my column last week. He was more pointed and aggressive than he’s been in some other recent appearances in aiming at the ‘wealthiest,’ a term he used four times in a short speech. His delivery, particularly early on, was awkward, with almost a deer-in-the-headlights uncomfortable look. . . .
Speaker Boehner, by contrast, was a refreshing surprise, much better than expected. He got off some excellent lines. My favorite was this: “The president has often said we need a ‘balanced’ approach — which in Washington means: we spend more. . .you pay more…..the president wanted a blank check six months ago, and he wants a blank check today. ” He went on, “right now, we have a government so big and so expensive it’s sapping the drive of our people…There is no symptom of big government more menacing than our debt. Break its grip, and we begin to liberate our economy and our future.”
Where it all goes from here is anyone’s guess, but my bet is that it will be some time before Mr. Obama agrees to go on television in prime time if he knows the Republicans are going to have a chance to reply afterward in the same prime time.
OBAMA’S SPEECH: “BABY TALK.” “Consider the condescension implicit in the president’s statement—’a term that most people outside of Washington have probably never heard of before.’ These ‘people outside of Washington’ are not little children being lectured on an obscure subject by a worldly adult. These people outside Washington are … citizens. Judging by the polls, most of us have opinions about whether, and under what conditions, the debt ceiling should be raised. We don’t seem to be as ignorant as Obama thinks we are of the term or concept of a debt ceiling. But the president assumes we’ve never bothered our pretty little heads about such a thing.”UPDATE: Matthews: Obama "Shouldn't Have Gone On National Television To Give A Political Address"
UPDATE: Peter Roff: Obama Shameless As Debt Crisis Looms.