Cramer vs. Cramer

By Kyle-Anne Shiver and Lee Cary

The host of CNBC’s Mad Money , Jim Cramer, has responded to the White House’s reaction to his criticism of President Obama. Here’s one response to Kramer’s reaction.

Cramer offered a rebuttal to Press Secretary Robert Gibbs’ critical comments about his (Cramer’s) negative comments about how the Obama administration is handling the financial crisis.

Here’s a brief overview of the exchange that led to Cramer’s response:

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was invited to weigh in on yet another CNBC personality yesterday.

An NBC correspondent asked Gibbs about CNBC's Jim Cramer, who has recently assailed President Obama for pushing "a radical agenda" that "put a level of fear in this country that I have not seen ever in my life."

Mr. Gibbs' digs were less incendiary than the ones he took at Mr. Santelli on February 20, but they were there -- "if you turn on a certain program it's geared to a very small audience -- no offense to my good friends or friend at CNBC," Gibbs said, "but the President has to look out for the broader economy and for the broader population."

More vaguely, Gibbs did suggest that Cramer's track record is not one that should bring instant credibility, saying he doesn't understand "the basis for what Mr. Cramer said, I'm not entirely sure what he's pointing to make some of the statements that he's made. I think you can go back and look at any number of statements that he's made in the past about the economy and where some of the backup for those are, too."

In the context of his response to Gibbs, Cramer admits he supported Obama in the election:

I also made it clear in a New York magazine article that I favored Obama over McCain because I thought Obama to be a middle-of-the-road Democrat, exactly the kind I have supported all my adult life, although I will admit to being far more left-wing during my teenage years and early 20s.

To be totally out of the closet, I actually embrace every part of Obama's agenda, right down to the increase on personal taxes and the mortgage deduction. I am a fierce environmentalist who has donated multiple acres to the state of New Jersey to keep forever wild. I believe in cap and trade. I favor playing hardball with drug companies that hold up the U.S. government with me-too products.

The only explanation for Cramer (and several of my good and intelligent friends) thinking that Obama would be a “middle-of-the-road Democrat” is Cramer’s failure to do the degree of due diligence in his candidate analysis that his viewers assume he does when analyzing individual stocks and the market.

After all, Obama’s behaviors come as no surprise to the vast majority of the writers and readers of the American Thinker.

Consequently, this writer’s response to Cramer repeats that voiced by John McClane (Bruce Willis) in the first Die Hard movie (1988) when police Sergeant Al Powell suddenly realizes that the 911 call that came from Nakatomi Plaza is real.

“Welcome to the party, Pal.”