Yep. Agenda for the 2nd term starts with the lame duck Grand Bargain to further fleece the middle class for the benefit of Wall Street. The raiding of private sector pensions is almost complete, although American Airlines is a little behind the curve. Only a Democrat can get away with raiding Social Security. The Obamabots and “the other guys are worse” fools will just say “oh, no, poor Barry” and watch it happen.

Remember, “the offer is still on the table.” Lame duck, and Trojan horse Democrat, Kent Conrad is already ramping up support. I’m issuing an immediate “buy” advisory on all cat food related products.

Obama is totally bought into the national security state apparatus. He started his term by reappointing a Republican at Defense. He is totally bought into the economy of austerity and oligarchy. He reappointed a Republican to the Fed, resulting in a focus on invisible inflation at the expense of job creation. He is totally bought into “we must destroy Social Security in order to save it.” He appointed Alan (Social Security is a “milk cow with 310 million tits”) Simpson to the Catfood Commission. These were not mistakes. The “stupid vs evil” debate is pointless. Barry’s vaunted intellect was captured by the DC establishment mindset as soon as he got to Washington.

Sorry I have to say electoral politics is pointless. 3rd parties are useless. It’s over, because the majority of Americans can’t or don’t want to think. That’s not an accident. Change will only come from the streets or external pressures.

“…why not write it…” Because torture is a horrible, inhumane throwback to the rack. Writing an opinion that seems to enable it is just one more example of putative liberals caving to conservative pressure, like not closing Guantanamo, and caving on terrorist trials in the civilian court system. At the very least it creates the (correct) opinion that liberals in general and Democrats in particular are impotent, if not deliberately treacherous. And it is becoming more and more normalized in American popular culture. The Court seems able to find a way to make conservative arguments and decisions irrespective of the legal niceties. “Liberals” on the court, like “liberals” in congress, always seem to run for cover in technicalities and fail to make the larger point.

Oh, well someone has to symbolize the moral stance of the republic. Might as well be Jack Bauer.

Not that kind of whore and not directed at Sotomayor. Did you catch the “all of them…” part. But the language was strong and undisciplined, I agree. Intentional device.

Hmmm. She didn’t have to author the opinion, did she?

As a separate issue, the Court in Citizens found a way to go where the case presented did not take them.

And then there’s Bush v. Gore.

Arguments that the Court is ruled by law really don’t hold up very well these days. The law is the law when it is convenient.

Kind of reminds me of the Catholic hierarchy. Matters of, e.g., personal sexual behavior by the rest of us are ruled by divine revelation, graven in stone, non-negotiable and of utmost seriousness and urgency. Sexual predation by priests, not so much.

Hypocrites and whores and .01%er lackeys. All of them.

…nothing they are promising to do…

Probably wise. “We’ll stick a hot poker up your butt” just doesn’t seem like a winner.

Exactly. Asking Warren to speak at his inauguration tells as much about Barry as his appointment of Rahm as COS, Geithner at Treasury, Republican Daddy at Defense and reappointing Bernake to the Fed.

You are absolutely correct. My guess at the motivation of Barry and the Dreamers is that they actually believed they could “change the culture” and then everything could be worked out legislatively like shit after a suppository. This is what we call delusional thinking.

It is clear that Drum, Yglesias, Digby, KOS and others are now preparing for the great assault on memory and reason that will be the Obama campaign.

Don’t know how deeply involved RE was in details of the HC reform sell-out, but its crystal clear which side he was on.

Rahmbo didn’t need failed analysis to screw over us fucking retards. He’s an organic and instinctive DFH hater.

He didn’t need to misunderstand the electorate to advocate selling out the middle class and poor to coddle the health industry corporocats. He’s an authoritarian elitist 1%er.

He was a perfect enforcer for his cool, detached deceitful boss. When he became a lightning rod for the left’s groundswell of disgust with the White House, he was sent back to the home province to keep the serfs under control.

Accomodators like Obama have two choices. They can balance on the fence, which is precarious, or they can straddle the fence, which can get quite uncomfortable. Looks like Barry is trying the latter. Good luck with that.

I agree with what you are saying, but I didn’t pick that up from Shooter.

Also see Iceland.

And Atrios:

“Great Evil
Mehdi Hasan: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/04/unemployment-matters-more-gdp-inflation

How many more of Europe’s jobs will be sacrificed at the altar of deficit reduction? How many more lives ruined, families impoverished and communities destroyed in pursuit of growth-choking, job-killing, self-defeating austerity? It is unacceptable for governments to stand by as dole queues lengthen. Unemployment is not a price worth paying. Nor is it a price that has to be paid.

We can debate forever the stupid or evil question, but whatever the intentions of the various governments and powerful non-governmental actors, their actions are incredibly destructive. I’d lean a bit more toward stupid for many of them, as opposed to evil, if ever many of them could demonstrate a credible “feel your pain” moment. They don’t seem to care.”

In my humble opinion, and with all due respect, what you said is really, really dumb, unless you are shilling for the .1% in their efforts to bring the poverty and dependency of the third world to developed countries.

Do we have a deficit problem? Yes. Will we have to deal with it? Yes. Is austerity the only way to deal with it? No. Should we further reduce government spending now? Hell no, we already have and unemployment is still out of control, destroying individual lives and the hopes and dreams of millions of people.

Please go read Paul Krugman, or any macro 101 text, or look carefully at the effects austerity has had on those countries that have instituted it already, or go spout your .1% dogma somewhere else.

Beauty. Thanks.

Obama played with himself on this. Sold out single-payer before the discussion began, although virtually every poll said the public strongly supported it. Sold out public option for thirty pieces of silver. Put obstructionist morons in charge of getting “bi-partisan” congressional support in committee. Allowed industry operatives to write the bill. Allowed the issue to float during recess so the right could organize opposition.

Then he went on national teevee and lied to everyone about his support for the public option, when months previously his minions had already guaranteed the HC industry that the public option was dead.

The crowning achievement may have been waiting until 2014 to put (most of)the rickety mess into effect.

Stupid, evil, delusional or all the above?

Le Monde:

Les Nations unies sont préoccupés par les “brigades révolutionnaires” en Libye, accusées d’avoir provoqué des incidents à Bani Walid et de détenir des milliers de personnes dans des prisons secrètes, ont dit mercredi 25 janvier deux responsables de l’ONU.

La haut-commissaire pour les droits de l’homme, Navi Pillay, a souligné que le gouvernement libyen n’avait “pas encore établi de contrôle effectif” sur ces “brigades révolutionnaires” qui ont combattu les troupes de Kadhafi mais n’ont pas été réintégrées dans l’armée régulière. Elle s’est dite “très inquiète des conditions de détention des personnes détenues par les brigades”, dont “un grand nombre de ressortissants de l’Afrique subsaharienne” accusées d’avoir soutenu Kadhafi. Ses services ont reçu “des informations alarmantes de torture” dans ces centres de détention secrets.

Also, to me at least, more than a little frightening. Tragically, I’ve already taught my children to fear the uniformed police (yes, I know there are some wonderful ones, but…), now I have to teach them to distrust the whole damn gummint. Does that make me a redneck? I’m so confused.

BTW, don’t let the uniform and the career fool you. D.C. is a DFH if I ever saw one. Deep cover.

I guess it was decided that it was ok to “pre-compromise” on single payer, but not on the public option, since that decision was made before the talks began. Call it giving Barry the benefit of the doubt? I also agree that the public option was beyond nebulous. It was described very differently at different times by different people and things got really bizarre when the discussion got around to how it was eventually going to lead inevitably to single payer.

I guess the point of this discussion is that Barry and the Dreamers sold everyone out, no matter where on the slippery slope you pounded you piton in.

Right. But we’re talking about the furthest toward a real reform that Barry said he would go, not what everyone knows should have, needs to, and in every reasonable and enlightened developed country has, happen(ed). Single payer advocates were shut out from the outset despite incredible support from the public in numerous polls. Which, like a raft of other early decisions, proved that Barry was a sell-out from the start, not bludgeoned into being a sell-out as KOS, Yglesias and their ilk have at various times argued.

No obsession. Just re-register independent and vote for Gus Hall. Or somebody.

There is no such thing as winning for progressives under the current, bought and paid for, election system. They’re all whores, except the (very few) exceptions who prove the rule. Money talks, bullshit walks.

Good grief, you’re on the wrong blog. So…walk.