   Stronger, Please, Mr. President  A Commentary by Joe Conason
Thursday, February 12, 2009  Having allowed his Republican
opponents to dominate the economic debate for two weeks as his
stimulus proposal languished, President Obama used his first
news conference to rebut them -- coolly and civilly, yet without
leaving any doubt that he can strike back harder if necessary.
He drew the lines that had to be drawn, calling out the
opposition's hypocrisy on spending and identifying conservatives
whose answer is to do nothing (except cut taxes for the rich, as
always).  For the White House, the strategic issue is whether he
waited too long to confront the stimulus critics -- and how he
will balance bipartisanship with toughness in dealing with the
recalcitrant Republicans from now on.  As the debate over the
stimulus unfolded, the still mighty conservative propaganda
machine incessantly churned out three talking points,
encountering very little effective response from the newly
empowered progressives:  We should r