One, who is the establishment, who he refers to as the "Bigs?" Two, it's a sloppy cobbled together column (looks like he was running up against deadline and ran out of ideas), and three, this isn't the first time Fineman has written about Obama in an almost jealous way. The guy is on my goober list.
Why is he so vindictive? What's the bad blood? I think it's probably a personal man thing, something that evolved from a one-on-one that he had with Obama where Fineman felt Obama dissed him.
Here's a story from January, before Obama was sworn in, in which he calls Obama "weak."
In December 2007, he said Oprah out shone Obama. That's weak.
In September 2008, he points out all the mistakes he thinks Obama made.
I don't mind reading criticism that's thoughtful and intelligent. David Brooks is always good for that. But this guy is a hack.
His corny lead says it all:
Surfer that he is, President Obama should know a riptide when he's in one.
