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The following suggests a cure for Obama-bot-ism, analogous to a broad-spectrum anti-biotic. It also might help cure the mentation of Rush Limbaugh ditto-heads, and such. From a comment by jedimsnbcko19 on a recent diary by Jane Hamsher:
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ETA: The source is from somebody named “Hugh” (apparently no last name). From the comment, below, see:
The full table of content for all 260 items is here: http://obamascandalslist.blogspot.com/2009/10/table-of-contents.html
* Documentation for items 1 thru 100 is here: http://obamascandalslist.blogspot.com/2009/10/obama-scandals-list.html
* Documentation for items 101 thru 200 is here: http://obamascandalslist.blogspot.com/2009/11/obama-scandals-list-101.html
* Documentation for items 201-260 is here: http://obamascandalslist.blogspot.com/
===========================
Let say Obama done 10 things for Progressives, he done a lot more for his GOP friends. LOL please read below Mike Sax
1. Reneged on pledge to filibuster FISA Amendments Act (July 2008)
2. Lobbied for $700 billion Paulson TARP bank bailout
3. Pushed for no sanctions against Lieberman despite his support for John McCain
4. Nominated healthcare company lobbyist Tom Daschle as Secretary of HHS
5. Had neoliberal Robert Rubin as his chief economics adviser
6. Then had the equally neoliberal Larry Summers assume this role
7. Chose the failing upwards Timothy Geithner to head Treasury
8. AIG bonuses and money to Goldman under Obama
9. Doubling down in Afghanistan
10. Delay and reduction of withdrawal from Iraq
11. Moving Guantanamo activities to Bagram
12. Military commissions for some detainees
13. Support for indefinite detention
14. Refusal to release torture photos under FOIA
15. Refusal to investigate and prosecute Bush era criminality
16. Geithner’s DOA economic rescue programs: the PPIP and TALF
17. Minimal help for homeowners and no cramdowns
18. Treatment of Chrysler and GM with bankrupcy compared to bank no fail “stress tests”
19. Kabuki of TARP repayment by banks while still dependent on government credit lines
20. Extra-Constitutional use of the Fed by the Executive for fiscal policy
21. Credit Card bill without usury caps and with 9 month delay for other reforms
22. Business friendly Mary Schapiro named to head SEC
23. Gary Gensler who helped deregulate derivatives named to head CFTC
24. $787 billion stimulus: too little, too late, poorly structured
25. Use of financial crisis to attack Social Security and Medicare
26. The great healthcare non-debate
27. Continued use of state secrets argument in ongoing Bush era cases
28. Use of signing statements, including one to punish whistleblowers
29. Vetting process problems, especially tax related ones
30. Leaving Dawn Johnsen’s nomination to head OLC twisting in the wind
31. Eric Holder, failure to reform DOJ, not removing worst of Bush USAs
32. Failure to move against new oil bubble
33. Retention of Bush Defense team: Gates, Patraeus, and Odierno
34. Continued missile strikes inside Pakistan
35. Keeping Bush’s domestic spying programs and adding a new one, cybersecurity
36. Choice of Elena Kagan who favors expansive Presidential powers as Sollicitor General, her subsequent nomination to the Supreme Court
37. Leaving EFCA (to help counter anti-union companies) to wither in Congress
38. Welcoming Arlen Specter who brings nothing to the Democrats into the party
39. Weak ineffective proposals for financial reform
40. Obama wanted John Brennan at CIA but settled for making him his counter- terrorism adviser
41. Chas Freeman with broader Mideast perspective done in by AIPAC
42. Dennis Blair made DNI; failed to act to stop atrocities in East Timor
43. Choice of McChrystal involved in torture in Iraq to head Afghanistan command
44. Obama threat to suspend intelligence cooperation with UK over Binyam Mohamed case
45. Efforts to keep Bush and Obama White House logs secret
46. Playing games with “Don’t ask, don’t tell”
47. Filing a brief to overturn Jackson (access to lawyer) in the Montejo case
48. Not withdrawing Bush brief in Osborne DNA case
49. Egregious brief in challenge to Defense of Marriage Act
50. The Supplemental which made Iraq and Afghanistan Democratic wars
51. Choice of Rahm Emanuel as the President’s Chief of Staff
52. Choice of Dennis Ross as Iran envoy and then his move to the White House
53. Politically embarrassing processes to fill Obama and Clinton’s Senate seats
54. Choice of Bill Richardson, then Judd Gregg to head Commerce Department
55. Reneging on pledge to re-negotiate NAFTA
56. Obama’s throwing his pastor Jeremiah Wright to the curb, then reaching out to religious conservative Rick Warren
57. Continued challenges to habeas corpus petitions over indefinite detention, the Janko case
58. The Obama White House website
59. Continuing an ineffective program that Iran can exploit politically
60. Going slow on climate change when there is no time to
61. Not withdrawing a Bush-era amicus brief in the Ricci v. DeStefano reverse discrimination case and supporting a rollback of Title VII
62. Appointment of a CIA General Counsel who doesn’t know if waterboarding is torture
63. Appointment of a DNI General Counsel who doesn’t know if waterboarding is torture
64. CIA delay in a FOIA request concerning torture
65. The influence of Goldman Sachs in the Obama Administration
66. Attempt to keep secret the Cheney interview on the Plame affair
67. Mountaintop removal under Obama
68. Attempt to restrict Congressional notification on intelligence matters
69. Opposition to a second stimulus
70. Another egregious attempt to fight a habeas corpus petition in the Jawad case
71. Continuing charter schools and standardized tests
72. Holder’s decision to support a weak, narrow review of torture
73. Re-appointment of Ben Bernanke as Fed Chairman
74. Continuing renditions
75. Politically dubious company was used to vet reporters in Afghanistan
76. Judge vetoes a too weak SEC plea bargain with Bank of America
77. Justice’s argument for making Bagram a new Guantanamo, the al Maqaleh case
78. Defense to turn over databases to poorly controlled fusion centers
79. Obama changes but keeps Bush’s Star Wars program
80. Failure to win an Israeli freeze on settlements
81. White House refuses to back its own staffer environmentalist Van Jones
82. Politicized US Attorney in the Siegelman case cleared by Office of Special Counsel
83. Criticism of Iranian nuclear program; support of Israeli nuclear weapons
84. Support for a weakened reporter’s shield law
85. Use of the Zazi case to retain broad Patriot Act surveillance provisions
86. Wilner v. NSA, continuing the coverup of warrantless surveillance of communications between attorneys and detainees
87. Attempt to spike the Goldstone report on Israeli-Hamas war crimes in Gaza
88. Slowness in filling federal judgeships
89. Inadequate aid to overwhelmed state budgets
90. Attempting to dodge the Supreme Court deciding whether innocent Guantanamo detainees can be resettled in the US
91. Allowing drilling in the waters off the north coast of Alaska
92. Keeping detainee accounts of CIA torture secret
93. Current FBI manual allows for widespread domestic spying
94. Securitization invalidates most foreclosures
95. Geithner wanting unlimited powers to save large banks
96. Another state secrets defense to conceal domestic spying
97. Circuit Court dismissal of Maher Arar suit
98. Weakening Sarbanes-Oxley and calling it financial reform
99. Unemployment
100. Inspector General for Fannie and Freddie ousted for investigating fraud
101. Gaming courts to convict Guantanamo detainees
102. White House counsel removed for his principled stands on torture and Guantanamo
103. US seizes mosques claiming Iranian connection
104. Howard Dean removed as head of the DNC
105. Scientist with close ties to Monsanto put in charge of all governmental agricultural research
106. Pesticide lobbyist nominated as Chief Agricultural Negotiator for trade
107. Effort to let some government contractors avoid paying taxes
108. A bad US Attorney nomination for Northern Iowa
109. Hunger in America
110. The breast cancer recommendations fiasco
111. Ongoing confusion and disorganization in the military commissions process
112. Phillip Carter another official in closing Guantanamo resigns
113. Refusal to sign anti-land mine treaty
114. The Ghizzawi case and the legal limbo of “cleared for release”
115. Black prisons at Balad and Bagram
116. Delay in declassifying historic documents
117. Max Baucus’ conflicts of interest in healthcare and with his girlfriend
118. Major security breach at a White House party and a ridiculous assertion of “executive privilege”
119. Dana “Pig Missile” Perino nominated to the Broadcasting Board of Governors
120. Cass Sunstein, an anti-regulator in a regulatory position
121. Warrantless for profit electronic surveillance by telecoms and search engines
122. The government sides with torture lawyer John Yoo and attacks Bevins actions again
123. The TSA publishes its security manual online
124. Toxic legal arguments in al Zahrani v. Rumsfeld, yet another Bevins action
125. The Nobel Peace Prize and a neocon acceptance speech
126. Blackwater’s involvement in military and CIA assassination and drone programs
127. Congressional Research Service censorship in the firing of Morris Davis
128. AIG writes off $25 billion in debt and sticks taxpayers with the bill
129. The Administration plays hardball to kill an amendment that would lower drug costs
130. A poorly considered blank check to Fannie and Freddie
131. Continuing a Bush botch in the Nisoor Square massacre case
132. Jonathan Gruber, a major defender of Obamacare was also a paid consultant for it
133. A Geithner related cover up of the AIG at par payments on swaps
134. Adoption of stealth signing statements
135. al Bihani, more bad legal reasoning in another Guantanamo habeas case
136. Cutting Medicare and Social Security by deficit commission proposed
137. A 3 year non-freeze budget freeze proposed
138. NASA flights privatized
139. OPR report on Yoo and Bybee watered down and its relation to the Padilla case
140. Government targeting of US citizens for assassination
141. Abuse of informants by ICE agents
142. Obama leaves Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board empty
143. Obama backs firing of teachers in Rhode Island
144. Irish human rights advocate Edward Horgan has US visa pulled
145. Threatened veto of 2010 Intelligence Authorization Act over Congressional notifications
146. Obama Administration intimidation of whistleblowing site: wikileaks
147. Fish and Wildlife Service continues to ignore science on endangered species
148. Senate vacation more important than jobless benefits
149. Government seeks to compel turnover of emails without a warrant
150. Obama goes after an NSA whistleblower: the Thomas Drake case
151. Obama goes after a CIA whistleblower: the James Risen case
152. Weakening Miranda rights in national security cases
153. Advocating the privatizing of public housing
154. Another step in making Bagram the new Guantanamo, the al Maqaleh case, the appeals court edition
155. Massey mining disaster, 29 die because of corporate greed and poor regulation
156. Obama proposal for a line item veto
157. A military commander allowed to use military forces for intelligence operations without Presidential approval
158. Political pandering in sending 1200 National Guardsmen to the Southwest border
159. A sad record on resisting Guantanamo habeas petitions
160. Israel attacks an aid convoy for Gaza; Obama punts
161. A further erosion of Miranda: Berghius v. Thompkins
162. Naming James Clapper, a Bush appointee, to be the next DNI
163. DOJ seeks to protect Vatican in sex abuse scandal
164. Yahya Wehelie, an American exiled without charge
165. Failure to replace National Labor Relations Board members means hundreds of decisions must be reviewed
166. SCOTUS opts for overly broad definition of material support to terrorist groups
167. Speaker Pelosi backstabs Social Security
168. Complaints by government scientists of political interference at Bush era levels
169. Flip flop on free trade agreement with Colombia
170. SEC declares major victory but lets Goldman off easy
171. Private contracting of intelligence continues under Obama
172. Two Guantanamo prisoners to be deported back to Algeria against their will
173. The Shirley Sherrod affair: trumped up charges of racism and a bungled response
174. Whitewash report on Bush era US Attorney firings
175. Despite its record, Blackwater still gets big US government contracts
176. Wikileaks releases government files showing Pakistan involvement with Taliban and admission that things are going poorly in Afghanistan
177. Obama seeks to get access to everyone’s web histories without a court order
178. Teacher funding sacrificed to keep Education Secretary Arne Duncan happy
179. State’s top Iran hand resigns over Obama’s Iran policy
180. Citizens United: validation of unlimited corporate political funding
181. Push to expand US arms sales around the world
182. Project Vigilant, Infragard and “volunteer” corporate spying for the government
183. Obama’s approval hits Bush levels in Arab world
184. Effort to pre-empt state environmental lawsuits involving green house gases
185. Justice’s Anti-trust division asleep at the wheel
186. Kagan’s recusals render her even more ineffective on the Supreme Court
187. Poverty level highest since 1994
188. Courts run interference for corporate violators of international law
189. Warren named to set up but not to run Consumer Financial Protection Board
190. Chief economic adviser Larry Summers leaves; Obama looks for someone even more pro-business to replace him
191. DOJ IG report goes soft on Bush era surveillance against peace groups and other activists; meanwhile the Obama Administration conducts raids against similar groups
192. Move to put backdoors in the internet to facilitate spying and more requirements on banks on international money transfers of any size
193. HHS Secretary Sebelius delays for at least two years required insurance coverage for contraception
194. Americans on Medicaid increased to 48.5 million in 2009
195. Big home lenders suspend foreclosures as their documentation gets challenged in court
196. HR 3808, a bill passed by Congress, to facilitate the acceptance of false documentation by banks in foreclosure proceedings
197. ICE raids and deportations increase under Obama
198. Social Security COLA frozen for second straight year; no action taken
199. Waivers for military aid to countries with child soldiers
200. Big and deserved losses in the 2010 elections
ETA #2: Even people who were happy to become acquainted with Hugh’s list, or else be reminded of it, did not make any suggestions about how to circulate it to the public at large.
Please think about that, people. We are mostly “commenting to the choir”. Can “commenting to the choir” make a big change in our putrid system?
I think we need a big, strong “DUMP OBAMA” movement, (beyond just the New Progressive Alliance‘s eventual candidate), and Hugh’s list would probably be handout #1 for such a movement. See diaries by jeffroby on “Dump Obama”
69 Comments
That is the first 200 of 260 items on the table of content of Hugh’s list of Obama scandals.
The full table of content for all 260 items is here.
What’s more impressive is that Hugh has excellent documentation for each of those 260 items:
* Documentation for items 1 thru 100 is here.
* Documentation for items 101 thru 200 is here.
* Documentation for items 201-260 is here.
The indexing is messed up a bit, and I haven’t seen Hugh here for many months. I hope all is well with him.
Oops! Two of those links seem not to work. I’ll try posting raw links:
* The full table of content for all 260 items is here: http://obamascandalslist.blogspot.com/2009/10/table-of-contents.html
* Documentation for items 1 thru 100 is here: http://obamascandalslist.blogspot.com/2009/10/obama-scandals-list.html
* Documentation for items 101 thru 200 is here: http://obamascandalslist.blogspot.com/2009/11/obama-scandals-list-101.html
* Documentation for items 201-260 is here: http://obamascandalslist.blogspot.com/
Okay, those raw links seem to work fine.
Wow!
Per Wigwam above, you should credit Hugh with the links to his work. Over the years it has been impressive.
Done.
Ay yi yi! Thanks for the Bookmarkable lists, metamars and Hugh.
Oh–but no; Bots won’t take the lists as anything much; it’s a ‘chess match’, ya know. (I keep wondering if the man even knows how to play; it’d be supremely ironic if he doesn’t.) ;o)
I miss Hugh’s astute comments on fdl.
I take it he’s left for some reason?
LOL! I just went to KOS to see the Jane Hmsher diaries (only saw one) and the little war there. But there was this link to angryblacklady’s piece the author had apparently used at salon; centrist Dem blogs are loving it. It’s proving my point. ;o)
“We also know a president can’t create jobs. That’s the responsibility of Congress, including a House that has struck down every, single job creation bill put before it and has yet to propose one of their own. Look it up.”
The Wars? Look them up yourselves; I don’t have time to explain the reasons to you.
“Obamabots think for themselves.”
http://www.angryblacklady.com/2011/07/11/confessions-of-an-obamabot-leisa-simone/#more-49960
Oh, come now.
Any day now he’s going to pull a incrementally pragmatic laughing eleven dimensional rabbit with spirals in its eyes out of an invisible top hat. And want a donation.
Or not… except for the donation.
The cure for Obamabot-ism is, strangely enough, more Obama. It’s kind of like radiation or chemotherapy: you’re trying to save the patient before the treatment kills him.
Obama-bot-ism, ditto-heads, etc.: the cure is simple.
Education.
Information.
Objectivity.
Critical thinking.
Simple in principle, but difficult to achieve.
Me too.
It looks like he might have halted work on his list, so I’m a bit concerned about him. IMHO, he was one of the most astute commenters here.
Selise, do know what happened with him?
You can find Hugh over at Correntewire…
Thanks, bungalowkitchens
http://www.correntewire.com/search/node/hugh
Fabulous! Thank you. Facts never convince true believers, but I love your determination and research. This is a keeper.
Jane, it turns out that “Hugh” left FDL, for reasons of censorship, as he explains, here.
Did you know about this? Would you please comment? I haven’t read much by Hugh, but apparently his departure from FDL is a big loss.
I’m less concerned about his being censored, where the censoring amounts to a perceived derailment. That seems legitimate, to me. However, although he doesn’t go into a lot of detail, and thus make a compelling case, he seems to imply that single payer diaries were censored.
“Facts never convince true believers”
Right, but how can you really know who is a “true believer”? What about lurkers, and people who may apparently be closed minded, but who harbor doubts that haven’t matured, yet?
I think one effect of strident “bots” (of all persuasions”) is to create the appearance of a rigid dichotomy of the minds of the populace. IOW, the squeaky wheels reinforce tribalism.
Which is quite convenient for plutocrats who love to exploit tribalism, for their own ends, no?
My mother told me that, years ago, there was a TV show hosted by Mike Dukakis, where you had honest, serious, intelligent, ethical arguments going on between his varied guests.
I think it might be possible to re-create a “no talking over each other zone”, where host and guests are still encouraged to keep their speaking times relatively short (say compared to what I imagine went on with Dukakis’ program, or the extended arguments that you can hear on DemcracyNow.org, or by one of Gary Null’s guests on his internet radio show).
Having said that, internet arguments are extremely self-limiting. They are manifestations of “blogging to the choir”. It would be a better use of people’s time to print out Hugh’s list, and hand them out on public venues, to the unblogged masses.
Most people have little idea as to the specifics of how ended up with crummy Obamacare. Of what use is it if the non-Obama bot, internet blog frequenting, sliver of the population know a lot about this, but most Americans do not?
Hence, the need for blogs to look for ways to propagate their messages to the public, at large. Arguing with Obama-bots online is only valuable insofar as you communicate ideas to lurkers and non-fanatics. I doubt that even doing this could possibly be as useful as going after the unblogged masses, in public venues, as I’ve called for, repeatedly.
We live in a target rich environment, where ignorance is epidemic.
If Obama were a major league ball player, he would have been traded after his first month on the team.
Oh that’s right, he was traded to the Republicans and in his stead we got change we could believe in.
The republicans can keep Obama and change we can believe in, and if it’s not asking for too much, could we have our country back and a decent human being as a President?
Hugh’s departure from the Lake is a great loss. He was one of my very favorite voices around here, especially during the economic collapse of Fall, 2008.
Question: Do decent human beings want to be President?
Yea, Hugh is amazing. Miss his voice here. Actually his list of Bush scandals seems more impressive
http://www.netrootsmass.net/hughs-bush-scandals-list/
I don’t know who’s list is longer now, Bush’s or Obama’s, but Philip Munger aka Edward Teller made a scroll out of the Bush list
http://progressivealaska.blogspot.com/2007/11/hughs-scroll.html
And I happened to save one of his posts at Oxdown – which came before The Seminal, which came before MyFDL
Well I knew my ears were burning! And look at this! All my little Keeble Firebaggers went to all this trouble in my honor. Guess Carly Simon was wrong. It really is about me.
I, believe it or not, though my life isn’t nearly as exciting as a WH paid for play hack as some FDLers have brilliantly deduced(not even the NSA) do occaisonally have something to do other than engage in the “frenentic reactive” (emptwheel) expeierence that is the FDL comment section.
Much as I knoew I would miss my firebaggers I figured “absemce makes the heart grow fonder.”
But when I saw all the trouble you went to just for me, reprinting Jed’s 200 Theses, that everyone dropped by, it even merited a comment from Jane Hamsher, and even Wendy Davis came by for some incisive comments well…
Only one missing is SheKissesFrogs. She whose kisses makes frogs into men. She and Mauimom last night were trying to make something out of the fact that I left a few comments on ABL and Balloon Juice.
Yes, you’ve proved I’m a “troll patroling the site.” Of course this would make them trolls “partrolling BJ.”
Certainly hope I wont too be censured, I’ve done nothing to merit it, but if so at least the liberal blogosphere-beyond just FDL-can see who is really against fascism.
Ok, I realized, I may need a day off, but to for me the guest of honor to not even acknowledge this tremendous effort, that’d just be impolite.
You guys claim to have all these facts that we “Obamabots’ who lack your knowleged need you to give us.
Here’s a couple of interesting facts for the day. First as I have suggested on previous post comments most Americans don’t give Obama ownership for the bad economy.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/voters-blame-bush-more-obama-economy-143014602.html
Also the US is now offically recognizing the Libyan rebels as the offical governement of Libya.
FDL as mostly framed Libya as being motivated by oil, which in this particular case is just lazy boilerplate.
Fact is if we didn’t get in we be criticized for not helping the rebels. If we had not entered when we had Benghazi would have been done by Saturday night/Sunday morning of that week.
Indeed while those who oppose this limited intervention(quibble away that’s what it is) seem to do because of some sort of sentimnetality about Ghadaffi who they feel is a great socialist. If he is a socialist it’s a fairly basterdized versioin of it.
The ignore that not only did the rebels expressly ask for our help but the Arab League, in quite a man bites dog moement requested our help.
My view is that of most of the American people as the above poll suggets. Obama hasn’t made the right call at every step and has made some even considerable errors. But he is basicaly a decent guy who is trying to do right by the American people.
For this reason they basically trust him.
For you guys on the other hand, who claim to speak for the real interests of the American people you yourself ironically like some have said of Obama, have a “messageing problem.”
You seem to turn people off more than turn them on. You claim that if someone supports Obama they are mindless robots like LImbaugh’s ditto heads.
But whether you are right or not you have been stuck with your meter at 325 new members for a very long time. And you seem to be suffereig fomr a “brain drain” where some of your best contributors seem to be leaving, a number with stories not so glowing.
What might make people reluctant to take the plunge? I don’t know maybe they know first of all that anyone who is still an Obama supporter is going to be abused, told their just robots, accused of being paid operatives of the DCCC, told they are deliberately being disruptive…
You claim that we are Obamabots yet you all seem to engage in the most self-congratulating group think. You desire an echo chamber and if one person doesn’t go along with it they’re a disruption.
The question might be as to why do I come on FDL at all? Partly because I am not like many people. I think for a lot of people when they see what an adverserial space this place is for those aren’t part of the chorus would rather avoid it.
But for me, if someone like Larue(among others) is gonna call for me to be banned or censured it makes me hunker down.
I guess I agree that I’d rather be part of a club that doens’t want me as a member. If I go it will be your choice (to censure).
You’ll have your echo chamber though I will have memories.
I don’t want to be President. Does that make me a decent human being? Does anyone have a Venn diagram? (Just being silly…)
I’ll offer this as item number 261:
On Monday of this week, BO said that he would stand up to his own party on the issue of slashing entitlements. (Yikes!!)
In December 2010 BO set up this debt crisis by endorsing the extension of the Bush tax cuts. This fact and his Monday declaration raise two questions. First, will lefty voters who deserted the Ds in 2010 return if the party goes along with BO the R? I think the answer will be “no”. Second, how on earth can the Ds renominate a person who did not have the spine to push back against the Rs in December 2010 but who now has plenty of spine – and no reluctance to declare it – when it comes to fighting his own party on an issue that is supposedly so important to them that it is ensconced in the party bylaws?? I predict that unless BO can fill the D convention with Republicans, the 2012 Democratic convention will be astonishingly somber as delegates are stunned into applaudatory* immobility by the cognitive dissonance of being Democrats and voting to nominate a Republican.
I wish that there were a center-right party that could nominate BO as their Presidential candidate. Maybe that act would wake up the Democrats and induce them to nominate a true Democrat in 2012.
* to coin a word
Long Ago, Hugh Created This.
His work on both presidents is astounding in depth and scope and detail.
I too miss Hugh, and hope he’s ok . . . his commentary in replies to threads was fascinating and on the spot every time.
A TRUE progressive if ever there was one. Bless him.
Please add to the list:
“Signed a budget that included removal of the gray wolf from federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.”
This was a first. Not even a Republican president/congress achieved this anti-progressive agenda. Disgusting to the core.
I was gonna vote for Barry before I read Mike’s rhetoric and I’m still going to hold my nose and vote for him.
Did Mike change anyone’s mind about Barry?
After reading Mike’s comment does anyone trust Barry more?
That’s part of our problem: given the stupidity, corruption, personal attacks on family, etc. that come with any elected office why would a decent, honest person want the job?
Think about running for Congress: would you want to work with people like Anthony Weiner and Ted Stevens, especially since you’d be the most junior and powerless member?
Rhetoric? Well it is a proud art with a long history going back to the Greeks. No doublt you mean it here pejoratively.
Boo as to whether or not I changed anyone’s mind about Barry, probably there’ll be a few who will tell me that they were still on the fence and now they absolutely wont. LOL
I wasn’t gonna et into the frenetic activity today but I guess sometimes the game pulls you back in.
“Everytime I get out they pull me back in!”
“going to be abused, told their just robots, accused of being paid operatives of the DCCC, told they are deliberately being disruptive…”
Is that too high a price to pay?
Not for me irony but many prefer less confrontaion.
Anthony Weiner? What nefarious acts did he actually engage in other than having an unfortunate name?
He twittered a few pictures?
Wow, such a large post to not talk about ONE SINGLE ISSUE. Over 200 ISSUES listed in the OP, and you match that in length, yet manage NOT to hit upon a SINGLE one of them.
So all 200 plus of those above are lies or you agree with them or you disagree with them but still love Barry????
Which is it???
Inquiring minds want to know.
You have to give the guy his due. He deserves all the credit he deserves.
The longer he’s in the oval office the more hope for change more people have.
Well, except for Libya. I forgot you did touch upon that issue.
So, you agree with Obama on Libya.
I guess notwithstanding that little 200 year old parchment we have that specificially says CONGRESS is the branch of government, and the ONLY branch of government, that can declare war. No matter, O can declare himself. And btw, lest you want to pick nits, I’m pretty sure that by attacking another soveriegn country, that is, in terms of internation law, DECLARING WAR. Ergo, President Obama declared war. Not the Congress.
But since he’s a nice guy trying to the right thing, why should we care about a little old 200 year old parchment anyway, right???
Oh, and also, too, did you not see the latest Gallop polling that has a sitting President LOSING by 8 points to a generic Republican???
Yeah, you bots are all the same. Chastised everyone at this site for the two years leading up to 2010 that we were a minority, not to be worried with, when BLAM, just as we said, the Democrats suffered a HISTORIC beating.
And next year, if Obama is the D nominee, they will suffer another one at the Presidential level. And it, exactly like 2010, will be WELL DESERVED.
Hope you’ll stop by in December of 2012. Look forward to reading your posts about how insignificant and meaningless the opinions of us firebaggers are again. See ya in 2012!!!
So you admit you’re in invested in seeing Obama lose?
I know the rebels in Libya don’t care about such quibbling.
Admit it??
Jeebus I’ve been advocating for it for a year now. Damn right I admit it, because any hopes (however dim they may be) of retaking the Democratic Party depends upon him losing. It’s GOT to be done.
If we condone this behaviour, then you can bet the Democrats will continue to put forth these right wingers as candidates because they can raise money more easily from Wall St., corporations, and the rich.
Absolutely admit it, want it, and know that if he doesn’t lose, that if we as liberals condone a President trashing the Constitution the same ways Bush trashed them, then we as liberals DESERVE nothing but these right wing Democrats in name only.
Damn right, I’m going to work as hard against his election as I did in 1980 and 1984 against Ronald Reagan. He will NEVER get my vote, nor will ANY incumbant or blue dog right wing D ever again. After a lifetime of voting D, being raised in a union family, I can tell you with certainty of at least about 10-12 votes that he got last time that he won’t this time from just me and my close family.
And anyone that wants to retake the D party and bring it back to it’s working class roots should want him to lose too. Because if he doesn’t lose, then the D party knows they can run any candidate they want, as right wing as they want, just so long as they aren’t quite as bad as the Republicans, and can count on our votes.
It’s like I’ve said before. I hated Ronald Reagan, did everything I could to see him lose, so why in hell would I vote for a Ronald Reagan like politician now just because he has D beside his name??? WTF??? That’s just crazy. THAT’s putting party over principle.
I’m pretty sure that even if we decided ‘decent people don’t want to be President’, no corollary would logically follow that since you don’t, and I don’t, it makes us ‘decent’. Just wise? ;o)
And I think more is going on with ‘the base’; I swear if he can convince most D’s that he didn’t ‘slash entitlements’ that we all need to do the ‘shared sacrifice’ thing. What he said this morning tried to thread that crappy needle again: I know you’re worried you don’t have a job; after this debt ceiling thingie, we’ll get you some jobs!
It’s utter crap, of course, but some people might just buy it, given the framing the teevee news uses. I wish people had more awareness about what the ‘cuts’ mean to their futures.
It pissed me purple that Obama tied in SS to the deficit, too; so dishonest.
First diary is why he left FDL; interesting.
I think the same thing about people cheering on Ms. Hamsher to run for Senate. I think about Bernie Sanders and a few others suffering idiocy and calumny on a daily basis, and think she is far better on the outside chucking rocks.
While you haven’t changed my mind, you most certainly HAVE further cemented my choice to NOT vote for the sellOut again. And how many of the OP’s valid points have you refuted? Oh, yeah, one. And that’s being as generous as W’s college professors. Keep clapping louder…
I could care less about some of the things you said, but your take on Libya is careless, and your facts are wrong, even about the Arab League; they could only dig up 11 member nations to vote for the Resolution, I think it was.
You might want to read at Asia Times; those reporters are all on the ground, and many even know what they are talking about. Read some of the history of ‘the rebel forces’ and what NATO is rapidly becoming; read about our little mercenary and military force in Africa: Africom,, not a pretty picture unless you admire us using the military to secure resources for…American business, and sometimes for other NATO member nations.
Read about the IPI pipeline in competition with the TAPI pipeline, and why we will be in Afghanistan forever. Or what’s really going on in Iraq, which Sy Hersh will be a powder-keg mess next year, given what Our Guy Maliki is doing to dissenters.
Libya is so close to the same scenario as Iraq it’s almost laughable. And to think some Americans see us as The Good Guys there is sad, sad, sad.
And here I tried to be civil (I even once said that I didn’t think Mike was saying what people had accused him of saying), but now the true face is shown:
“Firebaggers”
Yes, we’re exactly like the Koch-paid Tea Party types, how astute of you to notice, Mike! Your cheap ad hominem attack reveals you for the doctrinaire Obama-ist you are; uninterested in the issues, only whether someone is “for” or “against” Obama. Thus the racist, uneducated attacks of the Tea Party are equated with our disgust for O’s adoption of the Republican agenda, with his actually driving it on several occasions.
Fuck you, buddy. Some of us care about our fellow citizens, our country and ourselves more than we care about the greater glory of Barack Fucking Obama. Grow a pair and live with it.
What? Obama supported a regime change against a government that was on the IMF’s shit list? Wow, he’s really standing up for the little people. I take it all back. *rolleyes*
Sorry, Boo, that was meant as a reply to the Obot, not to you, full apologies…:-(((
And how many of the OP’s valid points have you refuted? Oh, yeah, one. And that’s being as generous as W’s college professors. Keep clapping louder…and I think the proper word for your swill is not rhetoric, but sophistry…
hi wigwam. you might read this. link is also posted above (metamars July 15th, 2011 at 8:20 am)
I’ll provide a different example if it’s important, meaning if you actually want to dispute the point that most folks in Congress are not someone you would want to call “colleague”.
Then let ‘em play solitaire.
It might interest folks to know that I read/post at FDL because it is the least obnoxiously confrontational Liberal site I know of. By that emphasis I mean sure there’s confrontation (unavoidable unless you’re in an echo chamber) but a minimum of shrieking personal insults unaccompanied by a logical reason for disagreement.
Christ, I’ve even seen posters here acknowledge and correct mistakes when I pointed them out, whereas I’ve gotten death threats and invitations to have intercourse with my mother for doing that elsewhere.
Some of the posters and mods here are far from perfect, but if you know of a site where I can read and discuss the Liberal POV in a more civil atmosphere by all means give up the link.
Come on, Mike. Either the government is operating within the law or it’s not, and that’s not quibbling.
Abused Wife: Officer, you have a gun. Please shoot the man who beats me every night.
Cop: I’m not legally allowed to do that, Ma’am.
Abused Wife: I don’t care about such quibbling!
2 parts FDL, 1 part Krugman?
Hugh does valuable work with his list, but we say at the top of every single book salon “please take off-topic conversations to another thread.” Hugh did not respect that, despite repeated warnings. We make a compact with authors when they come here that these will be the conditions under which they will appear. Everyone calls it “censorship” when they break the well-established rules and think they should be an exception. But we have rules for a reason, Hugh knew what they were. If he chose not to follow them, he knew what would happen.
He also seems to have developed quite an active fantasy life, and tells people I endorsed the Obama health care bill. I never did. You would think with such an eye for detail he would have picked that up in a a year’s worth of posting, but apparently not.
I wish him well, and hope he continues his work. His ordinarily sharp mind is not at its best when he gets extremely emotional.
There you go, the dichotomy do I want to be President or a decent human being?
Don’t actually see what fact I got wrong. I said the Rebels wanted our help. I said that if we hadn’t jumped in when we did Ghaddaffi would have put the rebellion down within the next 48 hours and that the Arab Leauge asked us to intervene.
Your answer is only 11 did.
Hardly see how all this makes me wrong.
Well gee Vote, getting a little personal here with al this talk about some of us care about our fellow citizens, etc.
Maybe you feel that my use of the word “firebagger” is insulting and demeaning but it is no more so than “Obamabot.”
You are so offended at comparing you to the tea party but in this post “Obamabots” have been compared to the tea party and dittoheads.
You don’t appreciate the racist, uneducated attacks of the tea party being compared to what you do? Well neither do I.
And I have a pair which is why I’m not just gonna say uncle and join the Obama Sucks chorus for no good reason.
You talk about the racist uneducated tea party but these are the same people that ole fat guy, bin, and others have no problem with coming further to power next year. Indeed, bin claims he will vote for Romney-Bachman next year. Love to be a fly on the wall for that.
I care at least as much about this country and it’s people as you do and you got no business saying otherwise.
And for the record, socialism’s failed everywhere it’s been tried. Even China only achieved all this growth after it decided that capitalism is no longer just for the capitalists.
Regarding the Obama defenders. . . .
I did not vote for Obama in 2008—I saw him for what he was even before he got elected (the telecom immunity thing was the last straw for me).
But I did vote democratic all my life before that. I remember, back in 2000, when people said that they were voting for Nader—I thought they were crazy. I figured that, if we were having trouble electing somebody like Gore, we’d never get somebody like Nader. It also seemed to me that the democrats were not that bad (I knew that they were not perfect, but I though that they were not horrible).
Even up till 2004, I was defending the concept of voting for the democrats as the smartest thing to do.
However, I have changed my mind (the current democrats really are horrible, and I think that we can elect somebody better); I have hope that other people who currently support Obama will start to see things differently as well.
Regarding the “Obamabot” and “firebagger” terms. IMO both can be seen as insulting. And I’m not sure that either term is useful in our conversation.
Maybe though you’re not an “Obamabot” different rules.
But that doesn’t seem unreasonable for the abused wife.
No, but facts can sometimes intimidate them into shutting the fuck up.
Hi Selise. Thanks.
Edward Teller is making a giant scroll of Hugh’s list of Obama Scandals: http://my.firedoglake.com/edwardteller/2011/07/15/is-it-time-for-obamas-scroll/
Thanks.
And just last night:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-15/obama-eliminates-warren-as-consumer-head.html
R.I.P. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Obama has a deplorable record on conservation thus far,
seems he doesn’t give a hoot about wildlife.
Check out this tragic piece:
http://www.defendersblog.org/2011/06/obamas-poor-conservation-record/
It will take far more honest study than I have time or desire to go into here, and none of it may change your mind. The rebels were organized long before all those ‘anonymous’ cell calls allegedly came into Al Jazeera or whomever. They have been misrepresented as much as the Saddam stealing babies out of incubators stories, and the viagra-in-Gadaffi-thugs’-pockets stories are being unmasked.
The Arab league vote: I checked, it was NINE out of 22 members, all coerced but the House of Saud, and Clinton traded it for permission for SA to send mercenaries, forces, and tanks to quell rebellion in Bahrain. Much of it turns out to be Sunni-Shia realpolitik; we and our creature NATO, have decided which sons-of-bitches are ours, the rest can hang. None of it is about exporting democracy. None of it.
Watch as the US is supporting the military government in Egypt. And Iraq, again allowing Malaki to kill Shiites, pretending that the rebellion is a proxy war with Iran. Lies.
I admit it is very hard acknowledging what Clinto and Obama have signed onto; but it is nefarious game behind the scenes, and we owe it to ourselves and our future generations to find the truth (as much as is available) and take off our blinders. We are an Empire in distress; and that’s when Empires are most dangerous, most zealous, and most secretive.
Watch the economics in Libya most of all.
If the cop went and shot the guy what would YOU say should happen to the cop: a medal or a trial?