For Barack Obama to cite "civil liberties" as a reason why Democratic apathy is "just irresponsible," and to claim with a straight face that this election will determine whether we're "the kind of country that respects" them, is so detached from basic reality that I actually had to read this three or four times to make certain I hadn't misunderstood it.

This post and some of the posts it links provide some interesting perspective on Biden's whine. I found this observation particularly interesting:

So when people scratch their heads and wonder how a campaign based on hectoring the “professional left” expects to turn out voters, the answer is, it doesn’t. And you don’t see anyone who’s actually running for office this November engaging in it...

This isn’t about GOTV. It’s about setting up a fall guy for November. The headline should really read:

Obama Distances Himself From Democratic Voters

The liberal left is being thrown in front of a bus. They have no representatives. The Dems represent an odd coalition of centrist conservatives who don't like the tea party and the authoritarian left. Remember, Palin was hauled out to discredit the Republicans so the Dems could sail into power. I said the day she was announced that the election was over. She was never a serious candidate. They needed the Dems back in power mostly for reasons related to international relations, as well as for the healthcare plan. They now require a Republican congress, probably so they can raise the minimum age for social security. However, the number of actual tea party primary victories was probably a bit of a miscalculation that will limit the intended Republican victories, so the left wing has to be deliberately squelched to restore the balance.

We are very much not in control here.