Somebody remind me again of why I *have* to vote for Obama?

I can’t pretend to care about the death of a vicious sociopath who brought down a worthy organization like Acorn and tried to destroy Shirley Sherrod, among his other crimes. I get so sick of people sending their “thoughts and prayers” and hand-wringing about the demise of a monster like this. I don’t believe our moral bona fides require such a reaction. If somebody is doing major damage to society, I say fuck him.

I mean to attach my comment to #150 – whoops. Love your last line about the future. I’m very encouraged also by OWS and believe a surprisingly broad coalition will form that will include even the wayward, Koch-bankrolled tea partiers… not to mention all the libertarians. Onward!

Very well said, defogger!

and to those commenting on the horrors of Ed & Rachel, try listening to Stephanie Miller and her gang on the radio. They’re no different than the pinheads on Fox except for posing as progressives – the same endless lame jokes, maddening crosstalk, smugness, and LOTS of Obama defending – still! I rarely bother with MSNBC OR radio windbags like Randi Rhodes & Thom Hartman who mainly like the sound of their own voices; best to read the blogs to find out what’s really happening and get some useful ideas.

Dylan’s righteousness is indeed welcome, but don’t be surprised if Phil the Asshole of MSNBC fires him. Truth is just not welcome in the “polite” discourse of mainstream political talk, even when the ship is sinking.

And surely those Dems who voted in favor of this disaster knew Obama would never invoke the 14th Amendment and voted accordingly.

I don’t believe Biden for a second. There is NO reason, given Obama’s history, to think that he was prepared to invoke the 14th Amendment. He is on record as saying he didn’t think it was “legal.” (Like that ever stopped any president, including him.) This was a case of pandering to his base, acting all progressive when it’s too late to do anything about it. A cheap shot and incredibly insulting behavior from the WH, as usual.

It no longer matters to me whether Obama is sincere (“his heart’s in the right place” according to Kos and others) or craven and calculating and corporatist. The result is the same bitter pill we’re all busy swallowing.

Well said. Reminds me of being at Newart Airport a couple of years ago when they confiscated a sealed 12 oz. bottle of juice I had in my carry-on. I asked them what they were going to do with and the guy laughed and said they give confiscated stuff like that to the homeless. One minute it’s potentially lethal; the next it’s handed to the homeless. No chemical test done. It’s all so stupid.

The authoritarian mindset — which seems to be the one that Ames and Levine embrace whether they know it or not — will not admit failure or apologize for a mistake. It won’t matter to them that their wretched Nation piece (which is doing some serious damage to the reputation of an otherwise respected and helpful publication) is being dismantled by multiple sources, and universally denounced for the irresponsible, unethical, and generally clueless hit piece it is. They obviously cannot back down from what they’ve written because they’re incapable of admitting they were wrong. Or perhaps they’ll take the coward-apologist’s way out: “If anyone [e.g., Tyner] was offended by what we wrote, we apologize.” But no, they won’t even do that. If The Nation cares about its brand, these two boobs will be canned.

Well said, buzz.

West isn’t stupid; he sees what’s happening, and is rightly appalled. Just as I and many others are appalled at Obama’s petulance and bitchiness when confronted with what his policies tell us about him. I’m glad West confronted him and hope others will do it, though I doubt a narcissist like this can be reached.

You do kind of wonder if there’s something like that going on. He *seems* intelligent, but that’s probably just the much-vaunted “rhetorical gift” at work — which does not necessarily equate with intelligence. The more I see him and see what he says and does, the more perplexed I am. One thing’s clear, though: he’s been an absolute disaster as president of the people and shows no sign of “course-correcting” that.

I think of the pivotal moment in Clint Eastwood’s movie Play Misty for Me when Jessica Walters says “God, you’re dumb.” Oh, but wait, I forgot the “eleven-dimensional chess” thing. Does anybody still take that idea seriously?