This is indeed depressing. In the debates, it was possible if one was inclined to excuse Obama's comments because he disavowed the fake "crisis" before spouting nonsense on Social Security. But he's now repeating it and explicitly using the crisis language. Ugh. There's no way around it --and I say this as someone who's leaned towards him from the start of the campaign -- but he's been a serious disappointment on the ground, and if he keeps this up it's nearly a deal-breaker.
Bob Somerby recently pointed out that "it’s fairly clear that the press corps loathes Clinton and Edwards -- but not Obama." Although I wouldn't necessarily bet on this continuing if he actually wins the primary, this remains one of his strongest selling points: better uncertainty than someone who we know will mean a full-bore return to Dowdite lunacy. But if he's going to cultivate the press by actually adopting the Millionaire Pundit Values of the WaPo editorial board, that's useless.
--Scott Lemieux
