Pun Salad

… just another tricky day for you:

• I'm slightly tempted to sign this MoveOn.org petition, composed in response to Scott Brown's election to the US Senate:

  Voters want real change. It's time for the Democratic Party to stop siding with corporate interests and start fighting for working families.

  It would be nice if Democrats interpreted this as a call to shut off the corporate welfare spigot. Unfortunately, that's almost certainly not what MoveOn wants, and that's not what we're likely to get.

• Instead, we'll almost certainly see more "fighting"; it must have focus-grouped well at some point.
  • WaPo news story:

    Obama weaved angry us-against-them rhetoric throughout the day, telling a town hall audience that he "will never stop fighting" for an economy that works for the hard-working, not just those already well off.

  • Yesterday:

    Decrying the "army" of Wall Street lobbyists challenging his proposals for financial regulatory reform, President Obama said "if those folks want a fight, it's a fight I'm ready to have."

  • From The Hill today:

    "It's going to be a fight, you watch," Obama said. "[Critics are going to ask] 'why's he meddling in the financial industry?' 'It's another example of Obama being big government.' No. I just want to have some rules in place so when these guys make dumb decisions you don't have to foot the bill."

    "I don't mind having that fight," Obama added.

  • And he's being encouraged by pundits: Eugene Robinson:

    The president can surrender and blame Republicans for killing health-care reform yet again, or he can fight tooth and nail on behalf of the 46 million Americans who remain uninsured.

  • Or E. J. Dionne, a couple days ago:

    Obama needs to resolve the contradictions that are plaguing him, and to come out fighting. The president may not be entirely comfortable with this, but now he's fighting for his political life.

  All that soothing hope-n-changeyness is so 2009. In 2010, Obama's motto is: "I'm looking for someone to slug." So much for earning that Nobel Peace Prize…

• A related headline: Obama Seen as Anti-Business by 77% of U.S. Investors.

  U.S. investors overwhelmingly see President Barack Obama as anti-business and question his ability to manage a financial crisis, according to a Bloomberg survey.

  Based on the above, I'm sure he could get that number up to 85%-90%!

• On an unrelated note, here's vocational guidance from Professor Margaret Soltan:

  If you can’t imagine starting a marijuana growing business at home, you’re probably not cut out to be a professor.

  … she may not be totally serious.