Obama Should Apologize to Hoekstra

At Thursday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony on the side of a new battery manufacturing plant being built in Holland, Michigan President Obama proved yet again that his smashmouth politics knows no limits.

Using $150 million of Obama’s “stimulus” bill money, Compact Power – a South Korean company – is building the plant in Holland and will eventually create 300 jobs there. The math indicates that’s about $500,000 a job.

The good folks of Holland wanted to celebrate the choice of their town by Compact Power, a South Korean company. They invited two political celebrities: President Obama and Republican Cong. Pete Hoekstra, who is running for Michigan governor this year. The town of Holland is in Hoekstra’s district (in fact, it’s his home town.)

Acknowledging Hoekstra – who was sitting within arm’s reach of the president – Obama first took a cut at him: “There are some folks who want to go back, who think that we should return to the policies that helped to lead to this recession,” he said. “Some of them made the political calculation that it’s better to obstruct than to lend a hand. They’ve said no to tax cuts; they’ve said no to small-business loans; they’ve said no to clean-energy projects.”

And then Obama’s backswing with the slash” “Now, that doesn’t stop them from being at ribbon cuttings, but that’s okay, you know.”

So, with the elegance he demonstrated in the 2008 campaign incidents when he flipped off Hillary Clinton (and, later, John McCain) Obama was calling Hoekstra a hypocrite and choosing to do so on in a time and place when Hoekstra couldn’t respond.

We can refuse to be shocked when Obama proves redundantly that he is a graceless boor. But we can also, and must, demand that he apologize when he does.

Political cheap shots, like the one Obama took at Hoekstra, are entirely inappropriate on neutral ground such as the battery plant opening. Hoekstra is a very solid conservative running in a state which is a model of liberal misgovernment. Though he gets more press attention in his position as ranking Republican on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, Hoekstra has been a consistent opponent of Obama’s spending spree.

If Obama wanted to go back to Holland, Michigan to debate Hoekstra, I’m sure the congressman would oblige. But Obama can’t be excused for the cheap shot. He should apologize to Hoekstra. Maybe invite him over to the White House for a beer.