'Poke the Bear': Political quip isn't just about Russia anymore
Poke the bear. To antagonize someone or something to provoke a reaction.
Given how often politics now devolves into confrontation, it鈥檚 no surprise that this phrase is becoming more popular among the punditry.
The expression 鈥減oke the bear鈥� is more than a century old, . It didn鈥檛 take off until the cold war, when it often was used as a warning not to rile the nuclear-armed Soviet Union. (The bear has been a .) A 1981 column by Joseph Kraft about then-Secretary of State Alexander Haig鈥檚 efforts to sell weapons to China to increase leverage on the 鈥淭he world 鈥� now believes that American policy toward Russia 鈥� if so high-sounding a term can be used for such an empty reality 鈥� consists of poking the bear.鈥�
With Russian President Vladimir Putin drawing international condemnation for his ultra-hawkish moves, 鈥減oke the bear鈥� in that context But Mr. Putin is getting plenty of company for ursine comparisons 鈥� including famously combative New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a likely Republican presidential candidate. After Governor Christie got into one of his widely publicized shouting matches with a protester last fall, CBS News鈥檚 Gayle King the angry reaction from Christie鈥檚 wife: 鈥淪he sort of looks at the guy like, 鈥榊ou should stop talking, sir. Don鈥檛 poke the bear.鈥� 鈥�
But Democrats aren鈥檛 immune from the tag. In a comprehensive new analysis of President Obama鈥檚 relationship with the news media in the Columbia Journalism Review, Susan Milligan the president鈥檚 news conference after Republicans walloped Democrats in last November鈥檚 midterm elections: 鈥淓d Henry of Fox News asked Obama why he was 鈥榙oubling down鈥� on his approach to Congress, and followed with a poke-the-bear question about whether there was something about Obama鈥檚 leadership that was the problem.鈥�
USA Today鈥檚 Paul Singer, a Republican Party initiative last month called 鈥淗illary鈥檚 Hiding鈥� to goad Hillary Rodham Clinton into becoming an actual presidential candidate, headlined the item 鈥淧oking the Bear.鈥� Singer wrote: 鈥淥f course, given Clinton's ability to draw media coverage, it is possible Republicans may someday pine for the days when she was so hard to find.鈥�
And in waging a highly unusual contest for a state Senate seat in a predominantly Democratic district in and around Raleigh, N.C., conservative filmmaker Molotov Mitchell (who changed his name from Jason Alexander Mitchell) his earlier video commentaries questioning where Mr. Obama was born: 鈥淚t was to poke the bear on the left. It doesn鈥檛 matter where Barack Obama was born.鈥� Mr. Mitchell鈥檚 tactics worked, but not to his benefit. He by a 2-to-1 margin.
Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark write their "Speaking Politics" blog exclusively for Politics Voices.
