A truly “progressive” lot, these former Obama aides are.
Every day throughout the summer of 2006, seemingly without end, things just kept getting worse for Washington Republicans. Iraq was spiraling out of control, President George W. Bush was at the depth of his unpopularity. Congressional Republicans were mired in scandal. One was even caught sending dirty instant messages to young boys.
What followed was the Democratic wave of 2006, which handed Congress to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, followed by a second wave ridden by Barack Obama into the White House. Pundits talked about the end of the Republican Party, or at best, a permanent rump status.
“I remember this point in Bush’s presidency. I kept a list of Cook and Rothenberg’s ‘toss up’ races. That list tripled in six months from January,” said one GOP operative who wondered where his place in the permanently Democratic Washington would be.
Eight years later, he’s surprised by the answer: Fighting alongside former Obama administration officials against a common enemy — labor unions. He’s referring to former top White House aides Robert Gibbs and Ben LaBolt, who have signed on to battle teachers unions in a series of lawsuits across the country, aligning themselves with Republican operatives who no longer worry the Obama whiz kids and their army of small donors will wipe them off the map.
“We are about to hold more House seats than we ever have. We will take the Senate,” said the GOP official, who asked not to be named to preserve his business options. “The future is bright for us. Shit, we may even take on the teachers unions with Obama campaign operatives-turned-lobbyists.”
Here’s another example of a former aide to President Obama (his former chief of staff no less) going after progressives who dared to challenge him.
Zach, thanks.
Not one Wall Street CEO’s been indicted, but Gibbs and others are only too happy to go after teachers.
I wonder if Gibbs or LaBolt were ever on Organizing For America’s payroll?
This is where all the libertarian billionaire money is flowing right now. They’ve decided we don’t need teachers but rather, subject-matter coaches wielding expensive technological tools. I suppose you don’t need teachers if your goal is to create a compliant, incurious, ill-paid workforce.