Tweet
The disgusting way in which Obama did not lift a finger in Van Jones’ defense, resulting in Jones’ resignation yesterday, sent a powerful message to the progressive community from Obama: progressives are Obama’s fodder for feeding to the right-wing noise machine, presumably with the horribly misguided notion that it will somehow silence them. It appears that Beck’s next target may well be Cass Sunstein.
I will make a bold prediction that Obama’s response to the upcoming attack on Sunstein will be vastly different from the non-response to the attack on Jones. Sunstein is a "liberal" or "progressive" only from labeling by the M$M. The reality is that he is no different from David Broder. Check out his presentation at Netroots Nation 2008, where he was one of the first to spout the ridiculous "don’t criminalize policy differences" trope in defense of Bush Administration officials who committed multiple crimes. [Also be sure to follow the video to the end, where the first question is a thing of beauty as our own eCAHNomics takes Sunstein to the woodshed for his inanity.]
Obama quickly has become an entrenched denizen of "the village". Sunstein aspires to nothing less than being an elder of that same village, as evidenced by his ready abandonment of the Constitution and the rule of law. Also, Sunstein and Obama have been friends for quite a while, so I expect Obama to fight hard in Sunstein’s defense and to appeal to the village to close ranks around one of their own.
Defending someone with real progressive (Jones) or village-attacking (Jeremiah Wright) views is something Obama will never do. Defending someone who is a newly-christened member of Broder’s Serious people is something he will gladly undertake.
How do you think Obama will respond?
43 Comments
Such a pity that Beck didn’t go after Sunstein first, and then Jones. I’d gladly trade any number of Sunsteins for one Jones. But the WH is now sufficiently awake that they’ll resist any attempt on Sunstein. Not because of Sunstein’s ties to Obama, marraige to Sam Power (isn’t that right?), or his absurd views on rule of law. It’s just that WH will draw the line at one loss.
Personally, I wouldn’t piss on Sunstein if he was on fire, and I hope the progressive community doesn’t lift a finger to help.
Yes, he’s married to Power, in more than one sense…
My take on Obama (short version) is that — in his thinking — he doesn’t want to be distracted by any sort of fight; he wants to move forward, because he believes that is the only direction to go.
My guess, therefore, is that if the R’s pick a fight over Sunstein, Obama will cut Sunstein loose the same way he cut Van Jones loose.
As damaging as it would be to the administration, I would enjoy seeing Sunstein taken down.
His Nudge is U of Chicago elitist claptrap at its
finestworst.Hear! Hear!
IMHO, Obama bought into that shit, and that explains a lot of his post-primary resistance to change. (I admit that may be letting him off the hook too much and unfairly shifting the blame to Sunstein.)
I won’t bet against your theory, mainly because I thought the same thing when I read Beck’s tweet. NN ‘08 was my first close look at Sunstein, and that gave me one more warning about Obama that I ignored.
Of course, Sunstein is as unworthy of protection as Jones was of being protected–which increases the odds Obama will protect him. The only thing that would be good about that is that it would finally turn the village against Beck.
What would Beck do to MLK Jr?
MKL Jr., “Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at B1ACKS in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them.”
A link would be appreciated.
Wow, I’d never seen that before.
Of course, Sunstein was completely wrong looking forward,
while DFH eCAHN was 100% right.
I think your asessment is correct, Jim. Sunstein is the consummate insider, which will soon be all the Obama Administration has left.
That all depends. I don’t think it is possible to meaningfully assess the response with so many unknown variables.
Obama practices a supple brand of politics. This, more than anything, seems to be the essence of your criticism of Obama.
Yes, his brand of politics certainly is supple, full in the wallet as it were, and not at all subtle as far as where his loyalties lie.
And Jim, I don’t think we’ll be lucky enough to get Dawn Johnsen anywhere near the OLC other than blogging again.
he.. the Examiner put out an article on Van called “Black Nationalism”.. I guess we now know what they really think.
Thank you for the video link. That was fascinating. I was surprised that John Dean seemed so “Cass-like.”
I apologize for responding to my own link, but I just remembered the other thing that so struck me in the video. Sunstein talks about how critical the first 6 months will be for the new head of OLC. Where is Dawn Johnsen??
Still twisting in the wind. And the window closes tonight at midnight for Obama to put her in as a recess appointment. Congress is back in session tomorrow.
That would be a left of left, divisive act, just at a time when we need to be looking forward.
Because he’s (Sunstein is) serious, or because progressives and civil liberties absolutists don’t like him?
FunnyWheelieDiva
Well, that would make it double good for him, wouldn’t it? Protect the village and screw the DFH’s at the same time.
I don’t know if any here are familiar with a website called the Black Agenda Report.
Veddy interestin’. Pulls NO punches about the present administration.
Although there is no article regarding Van Jones, the last thread was written PRIOR to his resignation, it is well worth a trip to this progressive blog,from the black community,for an alternate perspective.
Black Agenda Report | the journal of African American political …Aug 26, 2009 … http://www.blackagendareport.com/ – Cached – Similar
06 Black Agenda Report
President Obama Declares His …
‘Left’ Obamites Prefer Kool-Aid …
Obama Pulls US Out of UN … Obama’s First 100 Days
Obama Gets an “F” from Black Agenda Report | … Bruce A. Dixon at Black Agenda Report, a progressive “journal of African American political thought and action,” has graded the first 100 …
tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/…/obama-gets-an-f-from-black-age.php – Cached – Similar
I’m familiar with BAG. The “agenda” is tainted by the prinicpals early desire to join the Obama campaign, and their subsequent rejection. Ever since, they have been anti Obama, which isn’t hard if you choose the hard leftist line anyway. Obama, despite rightwing rhetoric, is hardly the great leftist hope to bring more Marxism to public policy. I don’t think he ever implied otherwise. Most of BAGs writing seems couched in that notion; that as a black man he needs to be more aligned with those who have fought in the inner city trenches and have a pronounced and jaundiced view of the constant failure of the Democratic party to adequately address them. I have no argument with most of what’s written at BAG. I still can’t see the horrible consequences of socialism we’ve been conditioned to fear since the 50’s. I guess Bush couldn’t either, because it was the neocons who ended up socializing the banks and auto industry. Kind of like Nixon and China I guess.
I don’t know Jim. Obama is fast developing a track record of turning tail and running at the first sign of a spat (much less a real argument or dare I say fisticuffs ; ) I suspect he’ll pull a Brennan with Sunstein — cut him loose for optics, but keep him close in a nominally different position.
I suppose that is a real possibility. What are the odds Jones will even ever hear from Obama again?
Oh he’ll probably get a WH Christmas card. I doubt Jones will display it on his mantle though ; )
Sunstein is white.
And he’s a very very very bad writer too. Kinda like Rove.
Unfortunately, the TradMed line on Jones is that he’s a dirty Commie: http://www.salon.com/politics/…..index.html
Remember, only Republicans can get away with saying crazy-ass shit. Even if what you’re saying really isn’t that crazy, especially compared to what comes out of Michele Bachmann’s or Glenn Beck’s mouths.
So lets find some communist sounding quote from Michele Bachmann and call her a Communist or whatever shoe fits. She says lots of wacky stuff, it shouldn’t be too hard.
It is equally ridiculous, and that is a framing the TV people can actually understand. Even if they don’t cover it, it will dry the story up as we start using it as a tit for tat.
I see it more a realization that you can’t fight conspiracy theorists if you employ them. That petition was fatal, because if “we all play this game,” who cares how ridiculous their claims are?
If you are trying to establish a higher standard you’ve got to hold to it.
Right, so we have to start holding the entire Bush administration, including press corps, responsible for the illegal invasion of Iraq.
The clue to that is to investigate 9/11. 9/11 was an inside job, one of it’s many purposes was to give a reason to invade Iraq.
The insane idea is thinking the big media people can keep their fantasy bubble intact forever. They are trying.
They went after Van Jones because they always go after anything that might pop their bubble of denial about invading Iraq. Anyone who so much as mentions the 9/11 cover up, as in thinking it might be an inside job, gets the ‘treatment’. Van Jones is just one of many.
Sounding like a Red Stater, just a bit?
People in Washington, D.C., think the same way as people here.
So rest easy.
You’ve got the truth. As to 9-11. As to 11-22-63.
You want to believe in the system? Good for you, goddamnit.
Actually, what the fringers, with the help of the media, did to Jones was much worse than what’s being described here.
He signed a petition asking questions about what happened before 9/11.
The entire petition can be found at truthout.com. I don’t believe that questions are accusations. It’s a line of inquiry that needs to be followed. Is it more important than torture or illegal wiretapping or the Patriot Acts or any of the other crimes/disregard of the Constitution of the Bush Administration? It’s a matter of opinion.
This “Truther” Mantra is just a smoke screen to hide their “Birther” movement. They’ve turned a serious inquiry (9/11) into a joke by equating it to their own far far fringers. Maybe we lost the Birthers through this, but at the expense of the 9/11 inquiry AND Jones.
I know one thing for sure, we’ll never reframe anything so long as THEY get to create the vocabulary and then we pick it up as our way to try to communicate with them. We simply don’t speak the same language.
Trying to talk about Jones and then using the word “truther” will always puts us at a decided disadvantage. I know this doesn’t help Jones, but we’ve got to stop letting them frame everything. Seriously.
From Jeremy Scahill:
http://rebelreports.com/post/1…..e-w…
Rep. Mike Pence, Who Led Witch Hunt Against Van Jones, Took $1000s From Extremist Erik Prince
Rep. Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican whose name has been mentioned as a potential GOP presidential candidate (and who is not sure if he believes in evolution), led the witch-hunt to force the resignation of White House Green Jobs advisor, Van Jones,….
> snip
On Friday, Pence, who describes himself as “Christian, Conservative, Republican, in that order,” said Jones’s “extremist views and coarse rhetoric have no place in this administration or the public debate.” Beyond the obvious here (the hate-filled rhetoric we see every day from racist, right-wing wackos, including those in public office), it is an interesting comment considering that Pence is an extremist right-wing evangelical Christian who has taken thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Blackwater’s owner, Erik Prince. Prince has also donated to Pence’s Political Action Committee “Principles Exalt a Nation.”
Of course, it’s the fault of Obama for not defending him, or the fault of the jackass who harped on it, or anyone else in the world is to blame because the public disapproved of Jones signing that petition.
It can’t be that it was something that Jones should have thought twice about.
Jim – as long as Sunstein doesn’t end up on the SCOTUS, I’ll be happy. And yes, that’s a very low bar…
Just saying.
Agreed.
Obama will cut loose any and all progressive (or even liberal) allies. He has chosen to cut all ties with the sectors most responsible for his Presidency – the people who would most support him if he was anyway NEAR the person he pretended to be during campaign season.
And those he swore to serve (the Repugs) despise him anyway and frankly would be happy to see him dead. Meanwhile, we the people have 3+ years of f*ckovers to wade through.
Cass R. Sunstein, born Sept 1954, is an American legal scholar in fields of constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and law and behavioral economics.
Education:
1. BA 1975 from Harvard College -played varsity squash and on the Harvard Lampoon
2. J.D. 1978, achieved magna cum laude at Harvard Law School
3. Executive editor of Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review
4. Part of winning team of Ames Moot Court Competition while at Harvard
PROFESSIONAL LIFE:
1. Sunstein heads the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
2. He served Justice Benjamin Kaplan of Mass Supreme Judicial Court (1978-1979)
3. He served Justice Thurgood Marshall of the Supreme Court (1979-1980)
4. He served the Office of Legal Counsel in Justice Dept as attorney-advisor (1980-1981)
5. Sunstein made full professor at Chicago Law School in 1985 at age of young age of 31
6. Was named the Karl N. Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence 1988.
7. Honored 1993 “distinguished service” and permanent Llewellyn Distinguished Service Professor
8. Professor at prestigious University of Chicago Law School for 27 years
9. Holds the Harry Kalven Visiting Professorship
10. Holds the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School
Sunstein’s Other Outstanding Services:
1. Samuel Rubin Visiting Professor of Law at Columbia Law School in the fall of 1986
2. Visiting professor at Harvard Law School in spring 1987, winter 2005, spring 2007
3. Teaches “Elements of the Law”, intro legal reasoning, legal theory, law&economics
4. Joined Harvard Law School 2008 serving as director of Program on Risk Regulation
5. Risk Regulation focuses on how law+policy impact central hazards of 21st century
6. Studies Low Probability Events: terrorism, infectious diseases, natural disasters
7. Research on risk regulation concept of availability cascades, popular discussion is self-feeding and causes overweight of its importance
Professor’s Impressive Array of Books:
1. After the Rights Revolution (1990)
2. The Partial Constitution (1993)
3. Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech (1995)
4. Legal Reasoning and Political Conflict (1996)
5. Free Markets and Social Justice (1997)
6. One Case at a Time (1999)
7. Risk and Reason (2002)
8. Why Societies Need Dissent (2003)
9. Laws of Fear: Beyond the Precautionary Principle (2005)
10. Radicals in Robes: Why Extreme Right-Wing Courts Are Wrong for America (2005)
11. Are Judges Political? An Empirical Analysis of the Federal Judiciary (2005)
12. Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge (2006)
13. co-authored with Thaler&Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness (2008)
He advocates Second Bill of Rights proposed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, right to an education, right to a home, right to health care, and right to protection against monopolies
So?
Those “impressive credentials” just prove how craven his actions are in believing that the higher levels of the government comprise an uber class that is above the law.
Greenwald has plenty to say about Cass Sunstein and i for one will do nothing to save his sorry skin if the drooler brigade goes after him.
Oh, I think I’ll manage to pop some popcorn.
“The Nudging of Hope” is what we got. Sunstein is a middlebrow thinker and a silly theorist. But Obama loves the idea of nudging people to do the right thing. The right thing is always determined by the Chicago School of Flim Flam aka Neo Feudalism. Friedmanism is junk economics. Nudging is junk psychology.
We have back benchers in the White House. God help us. We are well on our way to Mike Judge’s “Idiocracy”.