CNS News posted an Associated Press story on a Labor Day Rally held in Detroit yesterday.

The article reports on the President’s statements:

I’m going to propose ways to put America back to work that both parties can agree to, because I still believe both parties can work together to solve our problems,” Obama said at an annual Labor Day rally sponsored by the Detroit-area AFL-CIO. “Given the urgency of this moment, given the hardship that many people are facing, folks have got to get together. But we’re not going to wait for them.”

“We’re going to see if we’ve got some straight shooters in Congress. We’re going to see if congressional Republicans will put country before party,” he said.

My first thought upon reading that quote is “How come only the Republicans have to put country before party?” Up until January of this year, the President held majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. It is rather disingenuous on the part of the President to accuse the Republicans of obstructing his programs. For the first two years of his administration, they couldn’t have blocked anything if they had wanted to. Also, during the time, Congress never even bothered to pass a budget.

The rhetoric at the rally did not lend itself to cooperation between the political parties. This is a quote from Teamsters President Jim Hoffa who spoke at the rally:

“President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let’s take these son of b*****s out and give America back to an America where we belong.”

Tacky, over the top, but not really all that unusual. However, if the President truly wants bipartisanship, he does need to tone down his own rhetoric. Everything that has ever gone wrong in Washington is not the Republicans’ fault, and negotiations cannot be successful if the President begins with that premise.