That Term “Stockholm Syndrome,” I Do Not Think…

Without getting into the debate we’ve been having in comments about his merits as a columnist, I note that Frank Rich’s latest much-praised column makes no sense:

THOSE desperate to decipher the baffling Obama presidency could do worse than consult an article titled “Understanding Stockholm Syndrome” in the online archive of The F.B.I. Law Enforcement Bulletin. It explains that hostage takers are most successful at winning a victim’s loyalty if they temper their brutality with a bogus show of kindness.

My question: what shows of kindness? The Republicans have been nothing if not blunt about the fact that they have no interest in dealmaking on anything but the most favorable terms, and have swatted away olive branches with a refreshing lack of equivocation. And while I think that the majority of political observers greatly underestimate the leverage wielded by congressional conservatives, even I don’t think that the Republicans have the inherent leverage of captors. Tax cuts are an issue that Republicans really care about, but far from aggressively using his leverage Obama has been very clear about his plans to cave. There’s plenty of blame to go around — conservative Senate Democrats are probably the primary villains here — but Obama isn’t a prisoner on tax cuts either.