Oh sure, they shut up and took it when Rahm Emanuel called liberals “fucking retarded” for even imagining that the president could be induced to stick to his guns on the public option. And the unions, who provide the armies of phone bankers and door knockers during election time, could deal, if necessary, with Rahm yelling “Fuck the UAW” when it came time to figure out how to save the auto industry. They sat back patiently when Politico portrayed White House officials as “contemptuous of what they see as liberal lamentations unhinged from historical context or contemporary political realities.” They even managed to get over it when presidential spokesperson Robert Gibbs told those guys from The Hill he thought liberal complainers “ought to be drug tested,” were “crazy” and would only “be satisfied when we have Canadian health care and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon.”

Look, we understand that politics is a frustrating business and holding together the disparate coalition that is the Democratic Party these days is no simple matter. But facing an “enthusiasm gap” of epic proportions between a right-wing base that is “loaded for bear” and a Democratic one that is bordering on catatonic, what possible sense can it make to unload on the folks you should be trying hardest to motivate? Just who the hell do you expect to go out and vote Democratic this November? Somehow I don’t think the pundits at the Post and Politico who enjoy this kind of thing are going to be enough.