Pulping the bully approach to presidential politics, VI

Ezra Klein is replaying that whole paradox of power thing: When Obama comes out for a policy, the GOP will demonize it -- so if Obama wants to get anything done with a GOP House, how can he jump off his shadow?  This time, Klein brings Jon Favreau to bear, affirming the White House's not-at-all-surprising hyper-awareness of this conundrum:

Jonathan Favreau, who in February stepped down as Obama’s chief speechwriter, said that dealing with the Republican Party’s reflexive opposition is a pervasive reality in the White House. “People take a very realistic approach to it,” he said. “They’re not frustrated or upset. It’s more, ‘This is just the way things are and this is how we’ll deal with it.’ The strategy always comes to ‘What gives us the best chance to get something passed?’”

How to call out a President

The blog Letters of Note posts a 1958 letter from Jackie Robinson to President Eisenhower, calling him out for suggesting for the umpteenth time that negroes be "patient" in the face of discrimination and oppression (h/t Andrew Sullivan).

Whose impulsive reaction to a President's speech does the letter's opening call to mind -- by way of contrast?

My dear Mr. President:

I was sitting in the audience at the Summit Meeting of Negro Leaders yesterday when you said we must have patience. On hearing you say this, I felt like standing up and saying, "Oh no! Not again."

No, Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier by dint of superhuman self-restraint, did not leap up on the spot to impugn the President's honor. After the fact, "respectfully," he simply made clear in no uncertain terms (dangling modifier notwithstanding) the pusillanimity, hypocrisy, disingenuity and untenability of Eisenhower's patronizing position:

As the chief executive of our nation, I respectfully suggest that you unwittingly crush the spirit of freedom in Negroes by constantly urging forbrearance and give hope to those pro-segregation leaders like Governor Faubus who would take from us even those freedoms we now enjoy. Your own experience with Governor Faubus is proof enough that forbearance and not eventual integration is the goal that the pro-segregation leaders seek.

How generous that "unwittingly." How incontrovertible the logic. Here's to you, Mr. Robinson.