Now, I've considered Donald Trump worthy for his blustery circus value --- it's been great political theater of late --- although I haven't given him much thought as a serious contender. He's soaking up media attention, which is discombobulating the GOP field. But JBW, now promoted to ace SpongeBob commenter status, gives me his Athenian wisdom on Obama's ill-advised attention to Trump and the birther issue:
One doesn't become president by being stupid, one does so by taking advantage of the stupidity of the other side, which your party has cultivated in spades in recent years.Really. Stupid is as stupid does, then, since going after Donald Trump last night at the White House Correspondents' Dinner wasn't too smart. As Glenn Reynolds indicates, "Sucker":
You don’t punish Donald Trump by giving him attention. A more experienced politician would know that. Nor is building Trump up good for Obama — Trump has actually hurt him more than all the others combined. Because, you know, Trump has actually been willing to criticize him without being afraid of the Big Media retribution. The various traditional GOP candidates still have the old cringe-reflex where Big Media criticism is concerned.Exactly.
Not only that, responding to Trump makes Obama look desperate and unpresidential. Dumb, in other words, like SpongeBob (and James B. Webb --- and scroll forward to about 2:30 minutes at the clip for JBW-level of sophistication.)
And speaking of JBW's "sophisticated" political analysis (from last year), if I were a betting man my ace commenter SpongeBob would owe me $100:
If however Don is so certain about Obama's dismal approval ratings translating into epic failure then I'll offer him this meager yet serious wager: $100 says that the Republicans fail to gain a majority in either house of congress this November.Crack analysis!!
Well, maybe JBW should send that money to Obambi! He's gonna need it for reelection!!