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The White House re-election team is spinning desperately to both change the subject from the debt limit bill and divert attention from its failure to address any real problem the country faces.
The President’s spokespeople would have us believe the bill was both necessary and good for the economy. But if that is true, why are there no economists or politicians standing behind the President, applauding as he signs the bill?
The Budget Control Act of 2011, Aug. 2, 2011
It’s hard to avoid the most logical explanations for the President’s solitary act: Despite his Party leadership’s complicity in voting for and sanctioning the bill, no sensible Democrat, and certainly no one running in 2012 for re-election, wanted to be in a picture that economists now, and historians later, may point to as possibly the most economically stupid and shameful act of surrender ever signed by an American President.
And even when Republicans like John Boehner are willing to take public credit for getting “98 percent of what I wanted,” the White House certainty did not want to be surrounded by a bunch of jubilant Republicans holding up two fingers for victory behind Mr. Obama’s head as he signed his own surrender to their successful blackmail.
So the picture of the President shows him signing the bill alone, while Mitch McConnell brazenly celebrated the victory of economic blackmail and extortion on the Senate floor. From the NYT:
“The debt ceiling should not be something that is used as a gun against the heads of the American people,” the president said.
But Mr. McConnell sees it differently. . . .
Mr. McConnell said the just-ended debate in Washington created “an entirely new template” for future attempts to raise the debt ceiling.
“This kind of discussion isn’t something to dread; it’s something to welcome,” Mr. McConnell said. “And while the president may not have particularly enjoyed this debate, it was a debate that Washington needed to have.” . . .
“Never again will any president, from either party, be allowed to raise the debt ceiling without being held accountable for it by the American people and without having to engage in the kind of debate we’ve just come through,” Mr. McConnell said moments before the Senate vote on the deal he worked out to raise the debt ceiling by $2.1 trillion.
So there it is. The likely next Majority Leader of the Senate just told the President of the United States that even though the debt limit was supposedly raised enough to get through his first term, but at a terrible price to the nation’s credibility and institutions, the Republican Party will again hold the debt limit hostage in 2013 if he wins reelection. And once again the Republican Party will blackmail the nation, exploiting a President that either agrees with their goals or cannot find the wisdom or the courage to defend the nation’s credit or its economy.
The economists warn us we’re facing a possible renewed recession to go with the continued depression being suffered by the unemployed and many others. The economy needs a strong President who understands the economics of a “lesser depression” (or “balance-sheet recession”). It needs a leader who is prepared to mobilize the nation’s huge resources to overcome it and mitigate its damage. And it needs a President who cannot be blackmailed by implacable zealots and is not afraid to call them out. But those qualities don’t apply to Mr. Obama. So how are the nation’s government and economy supposed to survive such an incompetent, feckless President?
There was once a time when Presidents looked to a group of respected elders who, in times of crisis, could get access to a President and tell him he’d truly screwed up, that he needed to change course. I don’t know who these people are today. Does this President have anyone of that stature to whom he would listen? Because the people who surround him appear as clueless and helpless as he is.
In another era, a much stronger, far more effective, and more politically astute President, when faced with growing rejection of his war policies that were splitting the country, surprised the nation by saying “I shall not seek, and I will not accept . . .” That moment has arrived for Mr. Obama, but there’s no one close enough and wise enough to tell him, and he doesn’t seem able or willing to figure it out himself.
247 Comments
Obama is an ethical snake and a moral coward. Pass it on.
“I will not seek, and I will not accept . . .”
Oh, how I’d love to hear those words come out of O’s mouth.
Seconded!
“…surrounded by a bunch of jubilant Republicans holding up two fingers for victory behind Mr. Obama’s head as he signed his own surrender to their successful blackmail.”
For once, a photoshopped photo, rather than the original, would represent the truth.
As Scarecrow once said, “Interesting that such notions have some logic. Strange times.”
LBJ could at least read the handwriting on the wall. He knew he had screwed up in Vietnam, and the guilt killed him. I know, because my dad knew him. After he left the White House, LBJ started smoking again and drank heavily. He escalated the war because he believed Kennedy’s “the best and the brightest,” who mostly believed in intervention, and, more importantly, because he didn’t want the Republicans to label him as “soft on Communism.”
Whoops.
At least LBJ knew when to bow out gracefully. Unlike Obama, who is nothing more than a spoiled, arrogant, nouveau riche windbag who doesn’t remember who he is: the son of an idealistic Kenyan immigrant(by all accounts pretty much an asshole), and a daughter of the white upper middle class(his grandma WAS a banker, and his grandpa a businessman).
LBJ understood African-Americans in his gut more than Obama does, because Obama has turned his back on his wife’s people in the name of capitalism.
Oh this is sad. But the picture does need a caption. Let me think… We’re going to hurt some people, fucking retarded leftists
BO was a community organizer for a while. I guess he decided he didn’t much care for that community.
There were more reports today of another meeting between WH staff and “progressive” bloggers, which reportedly turned into a finger pointing exercise. It appears we haven’t been clapping hard enough again.
According to Tichman in “The March of Folly”, LBJ’s problem, as is the case with so many leaders, was that he was “wooden-headed” – once a (bad) decision was made, he couldn’t change his mind. “Mr. President, just 50,000 more troops and we’ll have them on the run”. And so it went – LBJ couldn’t admit an error, couldn’t change direction. For this same character flaw, I don’t think we have any hope of Obama changing his direction with the economy, not in this term, nor in the next (if elected). Boy, I wish he’d decide to not run for re-election.
thx, scarecrow. it was during the Shirley Sherrod embarrassment – when an Administration fearful of Fox news saying mean things about them the next morning ordered the late-night resignation of an innocent woman without hearing the facts or allowing her one word in her defense – when i began to truly fear for the safety of our Country in the hands of such quivering quislings.
Caption:
“Boy, I wish I didn’t have to be in this picture, either!”
If I sign it with my left hand, that means it’s progressive!
Hahaha. WH staffers pointed accusingly at lefty bloggers. So. clueless.
And it wasn’t so long ago that they were scolding us that progressive bloggers aren’t real voters. His problem is not progressive bloggers it’s old-fashioned liberals and Reagan Democrats. Both want the New Deal, for different but compatible reasons. Jobs. Social Security. Health Care. Infrastruture spending. No Ipads, Blackberries, Facebook, Twitter, or even Kos required.
I think this picture is just a preview of the many Dems running for re-election who will also shun having Zero come to their campaign appearances, fundraisers, appear in their ads, etc. I have a feeling that in the next year so much shit is going to hit the fan that everybody who’s complicit in this ratfucking is going to be scrambling to distance themselves from it. Fortunately, we here at the Lake will have none of that!
Thought bubble? How about,
“I can’t believe some people still support me! This is so fucking EASY! I’ve done what I was sent here to do in only three years. It took Dick Cheney decades and two administrations to get this far! I’ve got another year left and even the possibility of being re-elected. If that happens, the sky is the limit baby. I could probably tank the entire WORLD!”
This is one of the best posts ever at FDL. Thanks, Scarecrow.
You must be channeling me Scarecrow. I was saying this a couple of days ago:
http://my.firedoglake.com/smcclurk/2011/07/31/its-time-to-make-the-call-dare-obama-to-resign/
I have a friend that is scouring over the bill that was so important it would shut down government, but the public could not see the details. We’ve already been alerted about the Pentagon getting an extra 50 million because the repugs lowered it from the agreed upon 400 mill in cuts.
Just wait, there is more coming once that deficit bill is combed through.
The FAA situation is another hostage/crisis situation for the repugs and they will continue to do this until America stops them!
Any idea who the so called progressive blogger are? Was Jane there;)
I think Obama and the robotic party that follows him is going to get what they so richly deserve, too bad the country is going to get it too. They’ve embraced the tea party philosophy of lots of cuts and no jobs and the public will likely to be mad as hell about that in another year when we are in the middle of the Obama Depression. They will blame him as they should. As the econonmy craters perhaps a compassionate conservative will ride in on the white horse…. anybody seen Jeb?
“Our position is it does not matter what they put on this legislation, we are not going to accept anything but clean bills because we will not be blackmailed over default. Get it? No extortion. No blackmail. What you hear are their screams of complaint as they realize we are not, not, not budging on this.” — Clinton White House Official, November 9, 1995.
The Great Capitulator has to go whether or not a Democrat runs against him.
Great read SC, thanks for putting it out there about Obama’s lack of support.
I just want to go back on record that I’ve been suggesting/guessing/positing that the Dim Party will have a quiet chat with him, he will step down, and HRC will get the Dim Nod, and the selection.
And the GOP will trot out Jeb Bush, and he will win one rigged way or another . . .
It don’t really matter, the stay at home votes for both parties is gonna be huge, the defection of Dems and Indies to other choices will go up a lot (3-5% of the Dim party or more counting those who LEFT the party as I have), and on the GOP side there will be more disenchantment with the Debt Deal and the lack of jobs effort on the part of the GOP so you’ll see a record of stay at homes and along with GOP leaning Indie’s, votes swung elsewhere . . .
It’s a Dim bloodbath across the board, and who KNOWS what the GOP will suffer or gain in either house of Congress.
Just one problem. To continue the 1968 analogy, if Obama steps down, we won’t get RFK or Gene McCarthy as the nominee. We won’t even get Hubert Humphrey. We’re liable to wind up with a Scoop Jackson or a John Connolly.
Having extended Bush tax cuts for billionaires and millionaires, that would have ended if Mr. O did nothing, now he has his boot on the necks of the poor, the homeless, the unemployed, the sick, and the elderly.
It’s hard to beat the caption: “Surrender.”
Nowadays, his “community” is a few blocks in lower Manhattan that surround Wall Street.
All that’s missing is a railroad car.
Whoops, that’s barring a homeland false flag event and if Iran is attacked it won’t matter WHO runs or gets elected.
Well, we’re either both prescient or both nuts. Dunno which is worse.
If we vote for O, we will get more of the same.
Don’t people understand this?
In this depression (at least for main street), businesses are not hiring as they should and are instead sitting on loads of cash.
Thus it’s up to “our” government.
But O already said government does not create jobs.
So those who vote for O, as many will, will somehow be stunned when HE CONTINUES ON HIS CURRENT PATH.
He’s shown what he’s about – Reagan. He’s a bigger corporatist than Clinton ever was. And unlike Clinton, he is actually taking out SS/Medicare/Medicaid. I hate to say it, but thank Dawg for Lewinsky.
Interesting quote. Got a cite?
Exactly where he wants it.
Protect those that bribe him.
And destroy the weakest and most defenseless.
I often wonder if the thought ever crosses Obama’s mind what he could have achieved the past couple years if he had rallied the “troops” (his base). Many commentators suggested last year that the GOP is terrified of offending their base and the Dems are terrified of associating with theirs. Remember how Shrub bragged after the 2004 election that he had political capital and planned on spending it? Just think how much political capital Obama has squandered since 2008, because he turned his back on his base!
Yes, they showed particular cowardice and lack of principle on that one.
Yes, but at least we know how we’ll pay for our 4th war. Lieberman has already offered the Pentagon the Social Security trust fund.
All I know is that he helps along the repugs with their hostage program. Each and every time, he goes behind closed doors, calls someone outside of congress to negotiate and BLAM! Crisis averted and the repugs walk away with Puddin face!
He walks all over any Dem in congress that even thinks they might say something. Of course, I can’t blame him for their stupidity and lack of anything decent. They pretty showed the world what they are about too.
Your mention of the FAA debacle gives me the opportunity to point out that it is Delta Airlines that is almost single handedly orchestrating the GOPers on this. Yet NO ONE here in Georgia much less the MSM or cable seems inclined to mention Delta. We ought to be picketing them.
Seriously? Scoop Jackson or John Connolly would be a HUGE improvement, hell Richard Nixon was more progressive than Obama. Connolly was Nixon’s Tsy secretary when we went off the gold standard, and who then told European finance ministers, “The dollar is our currency and your problem.”
I hate this threading. Re post from a reply to PeasantParty
Your mention of the FAA debacle gives me the opportunity to point out that it is Delta Airlines that is almost single handedly orchestrating the GOPers on this. Yet NO ONE here in Georgia much less the MSM or cable seems inclined to mention Delta. We ought to be picketing them.
I was never as disgusted as I am now, even under Bush. At least there was no pretense around Bush.
Are you talking about all of us DFH’s that are puriest, sanctimonious, should be thinking about other stuff, and really should just STFU?
Thanks for putting in a word for LBJ. He got suckered by Walt Rostow, who was his National Security Advisor inherited from Kennedy. I always thought Macnamara got a bad rap. He was just making the trains run on time; he didn’t determine where they were going. George Bundy deserves some credit for the fiasco, too. You have to remember that the Joe McCarthy purges were only 8 years old at the time, and there were a lot of unhealed scars. People were still afraid, if not of McCarthy. Nixon made his career on that stuff, and the Thugs were still pushing it. LBJ felt cornered. He should have trusted his instincts. Easy to say in hindsight, of course.
He was an asshole, too, of course. This is just some mitigation.
His base is a ? mark.
Now Larue, have you not repeatedly said that Iran would NOT be attacked?
Just checking to see if my memeory banks are not too-non-functioning-to-ail?
;~DW
100 Percent in Agreement!
Boycott Delta, Picket, sell off any stock. It’s all about Union Busting and taking the money to run!
His brand of leadership is a listening tour. He’s going to go from state to state reminding folks that unemployment is high — but that he nor any D can do anything about it. Great strategy for winning the Senate and House.
“Movin’ on up…to the East Side…to a dee-lux apartment in the sky…”
Well, they sure are mentioning Delta up here in Minneapolis but then folks weren’t happy when they bought Northwest. Typical fiasco. The state gave Northwest lots of money to create jobs then Delta comes in and destroys the jobs.
With Bush, there was always the belief, the hope, that the next election (2008) could end the nightmare. I don’t see the voters having that choice or that hope in 2012. They can throw out the President but not change a thing on the economic front.
The photograph is tragic from the standpoint of the promise unfulfilled.
His base are the people Rahm called “fucking retards”. Rahm got fired for running his mouth, not for thinking that progressives are fucking retards. Maybe somebody in the White House finally figured out that the base may just not come home after all so they’ve resorted to their next brilliant strategy: Blaming us for their failures. Their whole philosophy rests on the idea that it’s not the policy but the messaging. It works so well for Republicans, right? Of course that doesn’t take into account that liberals as a bloc are much better informed than Republicans. Always.
I don’t see any hope for this administration to be honest. Wishing for, even hoping for a primary challenge is understandable but believing one is possible is delusional.
Jane’s post this morning and this one following up on it is a tipping point. Obama just fucked his Presidency. He did before, too, but this one is for real. These are moments you can’t reverse.
I was feeling a bit sorry for him this afternoon. A decent kid, with real ability, and real insight into America. Gets picked up after his great speech by the PTB after his great speech at the Kerry Convetion, and doesn’t realize they are going to use him and throw him out like a used tampax. That’s where he is heading. He needed some senior advisors, as Scarecrow says. He doesn’t and didn’t have any. He’s old meat and will be tossed out for Rick Perry or Romney or even Jeb. And he won’t know what hit him.
there’s no way out is there?
In a meeting today, the President told the media that this was the fault of the Congress — not the Republicans, but the Congress — not finishing its jobs. So everybody be angry at . . . Congress.
Yeah, and he is going to go around telling everyone to eat their peas and live within their means and sacrifice and unfortunately Americans have been listening because they decided to stop spending.
Exactly! That’s why the photo is going to become an iconic image – President Obama light years away from Candidate Obama. This is the 21st century version of Hoover’s fateful last days of his administration.
I really really really wish we would stop with this meme. One can’t, with a straight face, look at the evidence any longer and conclude the results were anything other than what he exactly wanted.
I will repeat something I’ve said before. If you in negotiations with a political enemy, and really had little or no leverage, but there was a well known possible alternative that even a former POTUS said he would use, what would you do?
Would you publicly take it off the table or would you, even if your lawyers advised it was legally shaky, at least continue to use it as a threat???
If you choose publicly take it off the table (which is what Obama CHOSE), then you’re either the world’s dumbest negotiator, or you’re indeed interested in making it appear that you have no leverage so that you can “lose” with an excuse.
And no one will ever convince me that anyone that rise up through the ranks of politics to POTUS can be the world’s dumbest negotiator.
NO serious negotiator would’ve done that. NONE. No way anyone that really had the intent of “winning” would’ve taken a viable negotiating tool of the table PUBLICLY like that. This is proof he wasn’t seriously negotiating, he was instead trying to “lose”.
How much evidence do we need?
You don’t really expect the man to just come out and say “Heh, you know I think I should tell you all that my role really was to lose in those negotiations. It was all scripted out by our handlers.” If you’re waiting for that, then you’re not serious about holding people accountable for anything, because that’s not the way it works.
I have full confidence that he totally understands what he is undertaking. He has a strange history and it molded him just like us all.
I think it’s time to begin calling the WH urging Obama not to seek a 2nd term. He had a chance and he totally misread the country and squandered an historic opportunity for transformational change.
You have to perform the equivalent of adjusting for inflation–that is, adjusting for how much the country has moved to the right since 1968.
Put it this way: the GOP hard-liners wouldn’t have just run Nixon and Connolly out of the party; they would have shown Goldwater and Reagan. And based on what I’ve been reading about Karl Rove idol William McKinley, he’d have gotten the bum’s rush as well.
If Paul Krugman were standing behind him, I’m sure he wouldn’t be applauding. It does make me laugh a little, despite the madness of everything, to imagine what he would be doing, though. Just imagine…
Even professional apologist Ezra Klein is beginning to jump ship on this administration, and can’t polish this turd – he called this fiasco a “terible, no good, very bad deal.”
And I read that at the Common Purpose meeting, the White House got mad at the professional left and blamed them for not selling the positives of this deal. They seem to think that the problem is the marketing, not the defective products – and they intend to keep serving shit sandwiches.
I guess if Engineering turns out a product that electrocutes the customers and poisons their pets, the logical choice from management is to lay off the Marketing department for not reaching their sales goals.
There should be no lingering doubts about what Obama is: A Vichycrat through and through. He would have called himself a Republican if he had begun his political career in the south. Just read this and decide which philosophy he favors:
Obama’s nominated plenty of conservatives and Republicans before but Mike Lee’s a teabagger. I guess if you’re going for confirmation percentage rather than any kind of principled nominations, this guy is a good choice.
As someone who voted for the President I was so optimistic at the beginning. I never could have predicted this current state of affairs. I was talking with a local business owner just today and he said “I don’t like Obama and I don’t hate him.” What could be worse than being irrelevant. I honestly don’t know what to do with my disappointment. I guess I would feel less disappointed if he would just stand his ground, win or loose.
Sorta. The Dem party can, from sheer long-run self preservation, wake up and say, “you don’t represent us; we won’t follow you.” If there are any non-Pods left. There may not be.
I thought there would be more defections over this bill, because there were lots of people screaming “stop!” but there weren’t anywhere near enough.
It’s a huge problem replacing this President, because there is probably no way to replace Obama and still retain the Presidency in 2012, because the party will be split. You lose a huge chunk of the Party’s most faithful supporters.
He may still win because the GOPs are so terrible, but that means more of what we just got.
What a load of horse-shite. And not the good kind either. I’m talking about the kind that festers and rots and has flies all over it.
Can’t believe you feel sorry for this thing.
He is destroying America and Democracy (which is pretty much dead anyway).
Trust me he will do just fine after. He’s given wall street everything they want. After he will be making a minimum of 100 million every ear. I don’t feel sorry for him. All I fell is disgust.
Thank you.
I get tired of it too.
You nailed it.
And the same thing goes for the “cave” language. Even Democratic politicians are openly using that word. It’s an EXCUSE.
He doesn’t CAVE, he does whatever it takes to ensure he gets the results that he’s gotten. If it takes refusing to include raising the debt ceiling in the extension of the Bush Tax cuts to help make it appear he has no leverage in a future negotiation, that’s what he’ll do. If a new option emerges that might give him leverage, he’ll PUBLICLY take it off the table.
Those aren’t acts of someone without a clue. Those are acts of someone pre-determining an outcome. The exact outcome he got,
Actually, he DID sign a surrender bill. Literally, the bill includes this:
It’s literally a surrender he signed.
Soon “The Market” will correct the unemployment problem, just like it always does. More employment (low wage, of course) will occur in China, Korea, India and The Ukraine.
Obama is a True Believer in Rush Limbaugh’s Free Market Capitalism.
Now, if we lift all those pesky regulations and let business thrive, then, we might get some American Employment. Corporations must be able to Pollute, Plunder and Poison customers at will. Also slave wages, tort reform, an 80 hour work week and child labor.
Even then, Americans would be punked again.
Its still cheaper overseas. Ha! Fooled Again!
There are a few things that remain in America that Republicans want to get.
Oil (no matter where it lies) , Coal, Trees (The California Redwoods, especially!)
More deregulation needed pronto.
Whether he is incompetent or getting what he always wanted is now beside the point. It is a difference that doesn’t matter, because he obviously can’t deliver what his Party nominated him to do. The difference only matters to those of us who were deceived into thinking (a) he was more competent than Bush or (b) he was one of us. But operationally in terms of consequences, it really doesn’t matter anymore.
It’s a turd sandwich.
I mean only the fools were buying the polish before.
But this … well you can’t polish this.
This is incredibly hurtful to the country. Only a “D” prez could pull this off. Just like Clinton did with welfare, ie. kick people off so they suffer and die.
BII tried and failed. This guy’s right of Reagan. If I wanted to vote R I would have. Not some R with a “D” next to his name.
underemployedlovinit said…
Nope, Obama’s base is a $ sign. No question about it.
Yeah, good luck with that
fine with me
Wish I knew how to tweet.
I would tweet: Had ur chance. Bai.
I agree with you but i would go one step further and admit to embarrassment that he pulled the wool over so many eyes with a couple of empty speeches. He’s toast. What a shame that the first black president is such an abysmal failure.
WOW! What a Surrender Guy! OMG.Unbelievable. He figuratively willfully castrated himself.
The one thing I don’t agree with in this post is the notion that Obama is not doing exactly what he intends to do, and then reveling in it. Sorry, but a man engaged in a moral struggle would show it in some way. Obama is channelling the disaster capitalist’s ideology and their greedy agenda. I don’t know why they do this. I don’t know what he gets out of it or what Michele thinks of it. But he is doing it — to his own country.
I’m waiting for him to announce that the solution to the Depression is repeal of the New Deal. Oh, wait, that was the Grand Bargain.
Obama: “Let them eat peas.”
I don’t think he’s going to lose the presidency, however. I still see all my liberal friends obsessed with the tea party. From their perspective, the tea party is so bad that we need to keep electing neoliberals. That is their unshakeable bottom line.
Obama’s second term is a lead-pipe cinch.
I am going to disagree with you about Clinton. Welfare reform was very successful. I wish we had a pres of Clinton’s caliber amd political skill today.
rosalind- The Sherrod incident was a big turning point for me also
Kelly!
OMG! You are so right. I can’t believe that language was included in that bill. So they spent paragraphs saying the President can no longer use authority to raise the debt ceiling no matter what!
Surrender? Capitulate? Lay down and get walked on?
Ooooo, I’ve got words. Can’t say it here, but I gots some!
Too late. He’s already gotten the endorsement of Grover Cleveland (he’s on the $1,000 bill), James Madison ($5,000), Salmon P. Chase ($10,000), and Woodrow Wilson ($100,000).
Money talks.
“Willfully” being the key word.
This is more a problem of writing than a disagreement. I have written, several times, that Mr. Obama believes the economic nonsense he utters. He believes the debt is a serious problem, he believes it is holding up recovery, not just for the future, but for today. So yes, he used the perception of a debt limit “crisis” to pursue his debt reduction strategy.
I also believe he and his advisers believe the nonsense we’ve heard from Geithner over the weekend, and repeated by Obama, that you had to “make room” for “good” spending/investment by lowering the deficit, as though there is some finite pot of money available, and we have to save some in order to spend some more wisely. It’s gibberish, but I think these people believe it or believe they can sell it to voters. So they say it over and over.
So yes, he sorta got what he wanted on cuts, but he didn’t get what he wanted on other stuff — like extensions of the payroll tax cut or unemployment insurance, or an infrastructure program, or whatever. And he couldn’t get any of that because he’d already given up the leverage from the threat of invoking the 14th, or having Tim minting “change you can REALLY believe in.” He gave up that leverage to create different leverage to force the debt reductions slashing government on confused, befuddled Democrats.
They should have told him he’s the damn President and the Constitution did not create a helpless executive. I used to advise a state agency, and I always figured out how to interpret our statute to do what I think needed to be done. ALWAYS. But they didn’t. But I can’t include all of this in a post that’s making a different point about how the voters will now perceive his competence to be President.
rosalind- The Sherrod incident was a pivotal moment for me also as far as giving President Obama the benefit of the doubt
thirded!
Uh-huh!
No need to re-elect him. He is completely cut off now.
As usual, it’s a little more complicated than that, but, yo, there’s so much bullshit in this bill – it’s ridiculous.
And from what I heard, the people he was supposed to help were no better or worse off by the time he finished his resume building stint!
Ouch! Harsh! Funny, but harsh.
Maybe not. I’d take George Jefferson in a heartbeat over Barack Obama.
And Mr. O was the first person to state, that the public option was dead.
In fact, if I were President and was truly against the bill, I would’ve vetoed, gotten the Congress to try and override it, and in the meantime claimed the 14th amendment option.
Actually, anyone who really didn’t like that bill would’ve done that.
Anyone here, who really hates the bill, think they wouldn’t have used their constitutional right to veto on this POS and then used a publicly known alternative to address the debt limit?? An alternative a former POTUS even said was valid. An alternative many constitutional experts believe was valid?
Do you really think if anyone was against the bill that they wouldn’t have vetoed it?? Does anyone believe had it been a Republican President and the bill had 100% tax increases as the means to lower the deficit that the Republican President wouldn’t have vetoed it and used the 14th amendment??? Really?
Well…that figures now, doesn’t it?
Obama does not care if he’s reelected or not.
And he has said so.
The only logical reason for even bringing the concept up would be to try to convince some skeptical Demwit about the 2012 electoral slaughterhouse that awaits them.
Whether he actually runs or not simply depends on if his owners think he can do even more damage to the middle class that way.
Yeah, Ezra’s got this one surrounded. He’s been on every side of it. Amazing.
Cotton mouth water snakes! Every Damn one of them!
We’ll see. We don’t disagree about his Presidency. I just think he isn’t up to the job. You think he is, but that he is doing it for someone else. The test will be what he gets after he loses in 2012. If it’s just book tours, I’m right and you’re wrong. If he goes to Goldman-Sachs, you’re right and I’m wrong.
Yep. I doubt many in Minnesota or who worked for NW has much printable to say about Delta. Here in Georgia Coke and Delta are more untouchable than God.
Think about it this way. Bohner negotiated a deal in which he got 98% of what he wanted and 0% of what he did not want. And yet he still did not have the votes in the House and Senate to pass the thing. The Democrats had the decisive votes in their hands, but they got NOTHING out of the deal. NINETY FIVE DEMOCRATS in the House and FORTY FIVE DEMOCRATS in the Senate voted for it for NOTHING.
According to Speaker Pelosi, Boehner never her talked to her, and she never asked the members to vote for the bill. According to an article in Mother Jones “Pelosi didn’t have to send any signal. Her Democrats, she says, are a “sophisticated” group, and they could see that without Democratic support the bill would fail.”
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/08/pelosi-boehner-debt-ceiling-deal
In other words they are well trained to be obedient and respond to hand signals like sheep herding dogs. It’s no wonder that none of them had the guts to show their faces at this event.
I don’t believe the country has moved much to the right. After Clinton passed his Telecom Act of 1996 the only viewpoint that was aired is the view of the rich. Washington has moved to the right and the media also, but I do not think the people can be blamed for not knowing opinions that are not discussed.
Surveys for the last 20 or 30 years have shown that people wanted medical coverage for all and the press and the rich managed to bury this story.
Of COURSE LBJ was an asshole! But other than Indochina, a very BIG other, I concede, he was OUR asshole.
Obama is THEIR asshole. He makes Tricky Dick look damned good in comparison. And I HATED Tricky Dick. Silly me.
Thanks for reminding everyone of Geithner’s incredible statement implying that with 9.5 percent unemployed (and 7 percent more underemployed), the economy has a resource-allocation problem. It was the most asinine thing I’ve seen in a long time. How he managed to get a Ph.D. in economics is beyond me. He really is as stupid as he talks. I’m actually surprised, since I am friends with one of his mentors at the Fed. Obviously my friend didn’t do a good job.
It’s hard to figure how he got through Harvard Law School. I don’t think he’d have made it through Econ 101 at my school.
I’d like to hear more about that; I’ve always found it a bit dubious, given that he was quaffing the neoliberal brew at UC at the same time. . . Show me to the skinny.
There are those, btw, who question what his mother may have been up to in Indonesia, as well, in the aftermath of a massacre of Communists and Socialists there.
Wall Street didn’t put its shoes up on your Oval Office desk in quite the same way in those days.
Sure, but that would require good does of humble pie; not the easiest thing to do. Assuming he actually believed to his core in vision he was setting for the country, why such a failure? Everything he campaigned on was what I was hoping he would achieve. I knew there would be losses along the way, but nothing like this. What‘s the saying, fool me once…
Yeah, another communication fail on my part.
Sorry, it really wasn’t directed specifically at you, I just used those quotes to make the point. I have seen you say those things so I wasn’t really directing at you. Sorry.
It’s just the last two days have been non-stop “cave” “Republicans win” “the President lost” “President handled the negotiations poorly” yadda yadda yadda.
So I was ranting based on that.
Again, sorry I did it in a way that does look like it’s personally directed at you. I do know better, I read you all the time.
Did you notice that the house Dem votes were equal, exactly 95 for and 95 against?
To someone not watching closely, or someone looking at the numbers a year from now it would appear to be a washout or meaningless. However, we all know the bill would never have passed without the Yeas. It is another clever switch and bait for the public eye.
It’s very difficult to find a Democrat that will stand up and say, “this debt/deficit crisis is phony.” And then explain why that’s so. I was watching Pa. Dem Senator whatshisname [Casey] on Hardball, and he was a walking commercial for deficit hysteria and how important it was to reduce that deficit and get our unsustainable debt under control, blah, blah, blah, and then, without a pause, he says how we were now focused on job creation.
These people just don’t know much and no one seems to be teaching them, and then they get their econ talking points from Obama and Bill Daley and Pfeiffer and every other economic dope, which sound just like the GOP talking points. There’s no way a group that has those beliefs was going to stop this bill. They just worry about why that Krugman guy keeps calling them idiots.
This is so true. And it’s hilarious that the debacle may have been so strongly driven by a complete misreading of the tiny strand of the “independent” electorate that the WH and Plouffe believe will get him back in. As if they didn’t want or need jobs or economic relief, too; as if losing everyone the hell else doesn’t alter your equation just a little.
There’s always a way out. Revolution.
Yeah the Democrat who pretends to represent me sent me a spam reply quoting a few local citizens on the virtue of compromise which was strange considering that she voted to capitulate instead. They wanted you to compromise Amy! They didn’t tell you to surrender!
…and historians later, may point to as possibly the most economically stupid and shameful act of surrender ever signed by an American President.
*heh* Speaking as a schooled Historian, Shrub, maybe, will only be the second ‘Worst Prez’ evah…! ;-)
Just picked this up over at the Great Orange Satan.
Barack Obama walks into a car dealership and says to the salesman, “I want to buy a car. Not having a car is not an option. I will definitely buy a car today. And I will definitely buy it from you; I will not buy one from the dealership down the street. I will be buying from you no matter what. But I will not pay a penny more than 50% the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.”
The salesman scratches his head. “So let me get this straight: You will be be buying a car from me no matter what I do or say?”
“Yes,” says Obama.
“Okay, then my offer is 100% of the MSRP.”
“I’ll tell you what,” Obama says, “I can see you understand the importance of a balanced approach. So I will meet you more than halfway. What do you say to 80%?”
The salesman shakes his head. “100%. And you’re a Kenyan Nazi Muslim Socialist baby killer.”
Obama nods thoughtfully. “Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I see your point. How about 95%?”
“100%.”
“Deal!”
“Now it’s 120%,” says the salesman.
“Really?”
“Yes. I’ve been in this business a long time, and I know about cars. Trust me.”
“Well, I don’t know,” says Obama, “But I guess you’ve got me over a barrel. You have a deal. But NEXT time I’m really going to drive a hard bargain!”
I can’t wait, the salesman thinks.
“tank the world”? I don’t think their malice is that overt. Certainly, they wouldn’t care to be harmed themselves. These folks, and the man himself, are machiavellian cynics. They share a certain loathing for progressives who dare to raise moral questions. They are the personification of the arrogance of wealth and privilege. Their liberalism is shallow–cosmetic. They will toss a bone every now and then but their liberalism is really just a condescending form of paternalism.
Then there was Lani Guinier, a Sister Souljah, and Aristide. He sure liked to hang a Black person out the WH window to dry every now and then, didn’t that “Black Man” president?
Hi CTuttle. We know each other. Good to see you here.
Casey – I think he was stunned that he got some push back from Matthews who is usually pretty establishment.
Absolutely correct.
Believe me, any Pentagon cuts will be in weapons programs that are outright boondogle embarrassments, or in veteran’s programs/benefits.
Try 28% un or underemployed.
Oh man, you got a link for that? I would so love to read more about that. I’ll do a google search and see if I can find it though.
Obama — I think its more the influence of his mentors at the Law and Econ departments of Univ. of Chicago, but that’s a guess.
*heh* Where else would I be, Knut…? *g*
Let’s just see how far they take that when there is a Republican in the WH.
I’m with you about the threading–not time to fix it? I would also love some way to acknowledge smart posts without a) having to write a one-line space-consuming response or b) turning FDL into the popularity contest that Kos is. Is there a way?
Read about his community organizing. I accidentally ran across it this AM, but it was hard to find.
It may be instructive to look at the outfit where he did his “community organizing,” the invocation of which makes so many lefties go weak in the knees. My understanding of the group, Developing Communities Project, at the time was that it was simply a church-based social service agency. What he pushed as his main political credential then, to an audience generally familiar with that organization, was his role in a youth-oriented voter registration drive.
http://www.progressive.org/mag_reed0508
I didn’t take it personally. Just a drafting problem. When I was thinking about this post in advance, there was a paragraph in my head that talked about alternative views of Obama, but in the end, it doesn’t matter much if you think he’s duplicitous, or misguided, or just incompetent, or clever or whatever, we get what we get, and since whatever he’s doing is empowering some very evil forces and precedents, the nation is in trouble.
And NAFTA?
Maybe they were just upset about The Rude Pundit, he posted his ‘we need to see other politicians’ breakup message:
http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/. 8/03/2011 A “Dear Barack” Letter:
I hope The Rude One will be okay, breakups are rough.
———
This next line, while apt, is tangential, so while it might apply it is not directed in that manner.
When you choose the lesser of evils what you get is evil.
Not only that, but Elizabeth Drew’s piece about the budget debacle in the new NYRB makes clear that Obama–well into a new term, should he obtain–will be so shackled by the terms of the agreement that there will be no money for any new initiatives. We may be screwed well into 2016 (when the usual wave of exhaustion brings us some fresh hell in the form of a Republican president.)
Not to pile further pessimism atop the steam pile of entrails we are poking through at the moment. . .
Experience counts for much more than many thought
fourth’d
Yes, he screwed up bigtime, but we have to give him credit for Medicare.
No good politician would ever do this, and no good person certainly wouldn’t.
Ok, I found it.
Apparently it was very minor. The story even said the WH guy got big applause when he finished.
Once in the veal pen, always in the veal pen I guess. There for a minute I had hopes of someone breaking out.
“I resign, effective immediately” would be even better. So long as we’re dreaming.
Those are the kinds of “jokes” that eat away at a President’s credibility with voters and they just keep piling up until there’s a tipping point. I think that explains why his handlers are working so hard to change to subject.
Whether or not Obama is a Republican mole, the outcome is the same.
I must say right away that Obama does not deserve to be reelected, as you say he is a feckless, incompetent boob. But one thing bothers me about the alternatives: the supreme court and what happens if one of the conservative candidates gets elected. I feel like I’ve been captured with no real way out.
btw, wonder what a Great Orange Satan Sandwich tastes like??
Please go O.
You did your best, but it fell short (way, way, short).
More Gore? He’d lose, but, at least, several on the right would have apoplexy.
I’m in my fifties and I don’t recall any president constantly negotiating with the opposing party over everything–even when he had a large majority in the House and a super-majority in the Senate as Obama did in his first two years. Further, I don’t ever recall that opposing party always getting so much of its way.
Amen!
fifthed
Kelly, bust out Sec. 402 (e)…! ;-)
I agree with TalkingStick. Delta was instrumental in encouraging the GOP on this. They attempted to keep the taxes that would normally go to the FAA and only decided to give it up after they were outed. Delta, deserves our attention… and not in a good way. Scumbags.
Actually, no. There’s a more complex reality at work. He DID want to put social security and medicare on the block, and that–from a historic perpsective–may be the miserable, memorable historical crux of this biscuit. But he also got outmaneuvered at every freaking turn, as Elizabeth Drew’s piece in the current NYRB makes clear. And he wanted even BIGGER cuts, so y(our) anger is more than justified (in fact, let’s get madder and DO something).
But he wanted to end the Bush tax cuts, too (something that WALL STREET, in fact would put up with), because he needs to get the economy going. And he was completely, utterly, pantsed in that regard. (Not only was he repeatedly outmaneuvered, but both Dems and Repubs were very derisive toward him, beginning to end of the process. He has suffered a considerable loss of prestige among those who approval he deeply yearns for. If he wins re-election, we are looking at one isolated, pretty neurotic and (as always) deeply narcissistic SOB in the WH. Or maybe he’ll just utterly disengage.)
The good news from the WH perspective is that politically (and Drew says all the people with program and policy ideas are now GONE, the campaign people completely run the show) is that they have a year and a half to pretend to care. Watch out now for the populist rhetoric, the rolled-up shirtsleeves, and lots and lots of “bold” half-assed iniatives the President knows the Republicans will/can shoot down.
Yeah, it does seem to have a feeling of inevitability to it, doesn’t it??
I think the final nail in the coffin will be when he signs the catfood II bill cutting social security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
If he can’t recover from this event, I think that one will definitely do him in.
I just wonder whether he’ll even bother with trying to keep up the appearance of giving a shit.
Yes, he does believe it. I recall my economics class a hundred years or so ago when they actually said that the government could crowd out private investment. I guess what they meant was the money really would run out. Problem is that is apparently what Timmy, Obama and the republicans still believe.
Next up will be to bring back the corporate overseas money at a ridiculous tax rate. That will pass both houses easily and Obama will sign it. So we will have to decide how that gets enacted, what provisos should we lobby for? If this actually stimulates the economy, it will prove beyond a doubt that governemt was crowding out private investment. See??
Au contraire. That follows logically from the ideological drivel he imbibed in lieu of real political economy at Harvard.
Good one.
I’d certainly never have known.
Wanna bet. That supreme narcissist? Every policy person who came in with him has left; the campaign people are bunkered down there in every corner. That’s what a narcissist says when he’s feeling wounded by your lack of adoration.
That too
Depressions are harvest seasons for the oligarchs.
A (select) few of the super-rich (i.e. oligarchs) made a lot of money off of the Great Depression, buy buying assets for pennies on the dollar, then waiting for (or helping) the economy recover. If we would have just let the markets crash (so they could come in and scoop up enough cheap shit), there would now be more support among the wealthy (i.e. the not-so-super-rich) for some real government-sponsored economic recovery. As it is now, the oligarchs are still trying to wipe out a few more middle-income jabronies (which is what should have already happened instead of bailing out a deregulated/crooked financial sector to prop up a bunch of unwise 401k investments) which was obviously done to get public support for Obama’s pro big-bank/Wall-Street agenda. When the economy is torn down far enough, a (select) few of the super-rich (i.e. oligarchs) will then allow for some government-sponsored economic recovery. But not before, they want to tear everything down even more so they get the most bang for their depression investments/bucks (i.e. pennies).
Jeff Cohen wrote a good article about Obama.
But the evidence is clear that Obama is an often-willing servant of corporate interests — not someone reluctantly doing their bidding, or serving their interests only because Republicans forced him to.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/07/24
That was the moment & reason I decided to go Green.
ROFLMAO
Wow. You’re saying that welfare reform. . . worked? All those people without a safety net now might disagree with you.
Just because welfare as it stood was deeply patronizing, unproductive, and inhuman doesn’t mean we didn’t need real, expanded, welfare programs (come to my county in Florida, where our infant mortality rate is higher than El Salvador’s, among precisely the people who Clinton cut off).
Get our your history book and read up (you might start with No One Left to Lie To; yes, I know that Hitchens is a burn-out, traiterous SOB). Clinton ended welfare in a panic that the Republicans might receive a sudden blip in the polls, in an election that he had sewed up.
Experience. he had none. And somehow everyone, myself included, was willing to completely overlook the fact that this man had never run so much as a lemonade stand. He is completely unqualified for this job and unfortunately he fooled too many people.
Good effin bye, Obama.
Clinton negotiatex with the repubs over just about everything. And very successfully too. But then he’d been a governor and had experience.
Where are Kent Conrad, Diane Feinstein, and Mark Warner? This is their big moment.
I heard it from some progressive economist on Pacifica. Obama believes that no matter what he screws up the Federal Reserve can bail him out and save him.
Well, if there is no way to replace O and retain the presidency in 2012, and the alternative is an equally evil R, why *not* split the D party now?
At this point, progressive movement building is the only feasible long-term solution. The next Democrat in line to run for Prez after O is most likely part of *today’s* flacid feaux Dem problem.
He’s so done
I think they will try to sell those 24 pens on eBay.
One would hope someone upraised a middle finger or two, but I doubt it.
Moving sale, estate sale, or campaign funding sale?
I agree he is not up to the job.
Shortly after Obama passed and signed the bailout William Greider write an article in the Nation stating it would not be enough money and he would not be able to back for more. Obama had access to any economic adviser he wanted and almost any economist would have been proud to advise him. How is it that a very bright writer for the Nation knew it was not enough and Obama did not? If I was aware why wasn’t he?
I suspect Obama is not as smart as he thinks he is and furthermore his combined handling of the oil spill and the financial crisis has lead me to believe he is incompetent. I can not passively watch people I know lose jobs and homes and vote for Obama for a second term. Fortunately, there may be a Republican running for the presidency to the left of Obama. I survived Bush so I don’t think I have that much to worry about.
In addition, Washington is full of politicians that do not know the difference between right and wrong, I might have doubted this once, but this vote proved it.
Or an umbrella.
Yes, truly iconic. Not even the Chief Engineer of this trainwreck (aside from Obama himself), namely Timmy, was present.
(OT) ATTN: FYI If anyone’s interested, whitZende just logged on at Progressive Blue…
I heard this on Thom Hartmann’s program this AM.
Instructions on how to take over the Republican Party.
http://www.wikihow.com/Take-Over-the-Local-Party-Precinct-(U.S.A.)
This is the problem with a federally elected officials who are nothing more than professional fundraisers. Self-selecting is clearly not working out in terms of producing competent governance. We would be better off with a lottery system. We would get a far more representative government than what we currently have with far greater diversity of life experience and ideas.
As much as I find Obama to be an amoral evil loathsome man, the greater problem is Congress. Unless we fix Congress we are screwed, because we will never be able to count on one person to solve our problems, when there are 535 others hell bent on tending to party favors rather than governing.
He looks so alone. He’s sure got political B.O. now that’s for sure. A F*cking crook is what he is.
Can we get some details on Delta’s role. Maybe also a cite? Thanks.
what about a signing statement,like chimpy did all the time
It’s the media, absolutely. You can’t have a country where 80 percent of the people want something and the elected reps do the opposite, without a huge effort by a corporate/fascist media to NOT REPORT the facts. It’s the messages from the media that Idiot America receives that allows this farce of a democracy to continue. I think we’re still about 30 percent of the country that’s illiterate, those folks are not reading a blog, an editorial page, they’re watching pictures on their hypnosis machine and then voting. they’re called “the Republican base”.
Obama brought this upon himself. You NEVER pay a blackmailer. They always come back for more. Unfortunately once again, we’ve elected a self-absorbed, elitist blowhard to the highest office. Obama,always fearful he would be perceived as an angry black man. He’s much worse–a cowardly black man. I hope he never utters MJK’s name again.
I’ll bet.
But note: I said he does not care if he wins or loses, not whether or not he’d run.
But if you’re looking at it from the ego-boost point of view… he’s already maxed it.
He’s the one who dismantled the protective shields around the New Deal and left open for the slaughter.
He did it… and he knows history will never forget that while humans exist.
Ego, yes, but he’s already played for the big time and he has won, and thus he has won equally big in the ego department.
Run or not, win or not it doesn’t matter because he did not let the consequences of his actions stand in the way of those actions.
And he won.
That solitary signing might have suited him very well indeed… after all, it was his victory lap.
A melty creamsicle ; )
He shoulda signed it at the Appomattox Court House.
(see http://my.firedoglake.com/cmaukonen/2011/08/02/the-tea-party-caucus-the-demographics/)
Probably like shit.
He’s one one those winners that turn out to actually be losers, an impostor.
Genius my ass, on so many counts a megalomaniac proclaiming he plays 11 dimensional chess on the weekends with betrayus.
in 1965, we were 20 years from defeating hitler and tojo.
20 years ago, it was mario and the 7 dwarfs, cuz no one could beat the winner of the 100 hour gulf war.
I have a hunch that the hardheadedness that got LBJ into Vietnam and stuck in Vietnam was the hardheadedness that got the Civil Rights Act & … blah blah blah passed.
What a freaking mess, then and now. While I don’t agree with LBJ’s decisions on Vietnam, and in hindsight the domino theory looks even dumber now than I was 12 in 1972, I don’t know WTF I would have done if I was 45 or 55 or 65 in 1965 and in charge –
0bummer’s decisions, on the other hand, make perfect sense – he’s a fucking sell out, and he’s selling us out.
rmm.
The smartest guy in the room.
How will History view this?
Kids will ask who killed the FDR NEW DEAL, that help the poor, the sick, the elderly?
A teacher will put this photo on the screens of all the kids in her class? (this happens if the USA has schools 20 years from now)
A kid will say “that is OBAMA the first black president, he must have really hated the poor, the sick, the elderly!”
and the teacher will say “Yes He Did”
and every kid in the class will shake their heads in Disgust!
this is how Obama over takes Hoover for the award of Worst USA President Ever.
A Kid will ask what Did Obama do after he killed the FDR NEW DEAL?
the Teacher will say ” Obama had a birthday party, the only gift OBAMA ever wanted was to kill the FDR NEW DEAL”
then teacher will say “that OBAMA was one sick Fuck”
Since we’re all so convinced that he’s done, and since we all agree that a principled if futile gesture is at least as valuable as an unprincipled but practical gesture…
… who are we supporting for the primary challenge?
And is it really impossible that there would be a serious candidate?
Sure it could further damage him and sort of ensure President Romney/Bachman, but since we’ve (I include myself) have talked ourselves into a lather about how he’s no better than them, isn’t 2012 the time to start building a progressive Democratic party?
This picture reminds me of “A turd in a punchbowl”. Everyone simultaneously say “Ewwwww” and immediately steps away.
Actually he seems pretty proud of his handiwork.
Working people who want to give this lying jackass another term deserve to be called idiots.
Matt Damon…our Raygun
X 2
What President fucked over college Students?
that would be OBAMA!
Debt deal screws college kids
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385×606111
anne on talkleft suggests having zero change parties – clear up the confusion.
maybe that is a tenable strategery-ry?? ;)
I’m voting “Medicare ForAll” – AHIP-Care killed me.
rmm.
The “No Billionaire Left Behind” Education President
Obama is not a coward. He’s got plenty of audacity – the audacity of a lying scammer and a thief.
That is one of the worst pictures a president could ever take. I know many here believe it’s all by his design, that he got the debt deal he wanted, but would be allow his narcissistic ass to be humilated like this on the national and world stage? The whole thing enforces the notion he’s a pushover.
I don’t think so. I think he’s just weak, incompetent, and worships at the altar of Milton Friedman.
Obama reminds me of a quote a Sex Pistols song..
“he isn’t fit to shovel shit from one place to another”.
Oxymoron alert!!:
“a progressive Democratic party”
See newprogs.org
The only thing that would make any sense, is that he is consciously or subconsciously, effecting pay back for 200 plus years of injustices.
otherwise I am at a loss.
Who charges people $35,800.00 to come to their Birthday Party?
that would be OBAMA!
Matt Tabbi
says progressives think OBAMA is the worst USA President EVER!
however
the OBAMA class thinks he is doing an AWESOME job killing the USA middle class
Most Americans don’t have $35,800.00 to go to a birthday party.
the entire OBAMA political team should just quit!!!
you just fucked up the NEW DEAL, and the nation is in a Depression
Obama is just like BUSH
his supporters the Haves and the HAVES a lot
poor, sick, and old people, go buy your own birthday cake
I’m on record that it would not happen because it would start a nuke based ww3 among other things.
But if Israel or the US rulers are dumbfuck enough to DO it, like I said, it won’t matter WHO gets elected.
Obama does not want to be a president, he wants to be a negotiator, but is not even good at that. Obama should have said he did not like the Republican way of holding hostage of the raising of the debt, said he had a better plan, but sign it anyway. Then campaign against it.
if you are on fb, there is a new group called “President Obama, I am a progressive/liberal: Don’t take my vote for granted.” please go over there and join. we need a movement.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/155636514512345/
The Trojan horse ain’t working for you, that’s for sure.
I question his decency, his ability, and his insight into America. This guy is a narcissist, an elitist, and an opportunist who had no compunctions about cutting off heating oil for the poor while extending tax cuts for millionaires. His ability to negotiate is legendary.
We see Barry, alone.
He sees Absent Daddy, approving him. And his parents are together! He helped them find compromise.
Had a good friend who during the Vietnam War was Marine Corp Commandant General Greene’s Adjutant General (i.e. his top lawyer). Told me that LBJ had tasked all the service heads to report back to him what it would take to win in Vietnam. My guy said 550,000 troops minimum, no guarantee. I don’t recall if he mentioned what the Army and Navy guys said, but the Air Force guy– there was the problem. (I guess we’re talking Curtis Lemay’s man here here.) Bragged on the superiority of American air power: we can just bomb ‘em back to the stone age with our B52s, etc.
Now, for an insight into why LBJ ultimately chose that route, let’s turn to LBJ’s WikiP’s war entry account:
Someone already mentioned that LBJ was wracked with guilt over his decision to prolong the Vietnam War. Maybe his own war experience had something to do with it.
ROFLMAO!
Not at the joke (although it is funny) but at how a Tea Partier saying exactly the same thing would be excoriated in these very pages as a racist.
“no better or worse off”
Pity we won’t be able to say the same after he finishes his Presidential stint.
Obama really acted like the lawnmower buyer in the other joke. Pathetic, and so predictable.
But, just another sign of extragalactic intelligence according to the Church of Obama.
“some way to acknowledge smart posts”
Every post has a “Like” button.
Every post displays a count of how many times it has been “Liked”
User-friendly is kinda my specialty.
I meant the humor to be geographical and economic – plus the tune is catchy. Any racial element is unintended and purely coincidental. (Stop laughing at my disclaimer!) If I remember correctly, George did turn Republican when his business got profitable.
“If it’s just book tours”
… and another book, and the talk show circuit, and the lecture circuit, etc.
No matter what, the guy’s never going to have to worry about putting food on the table like a real person.
Don’t insult innocent reptiles like that!
I have a simple question. What would this year have looked like up in Washington D.C. if the Bush era tax cuts had been allowed to expire as scheduled at midnight on Dec. 31, 2010? Would there have been a default crisis, economic hostage taking, or any such nonsense? Would raising the debt ceiling have even been an issue to address? Would talk of Tax Reform arisen? Would Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid been on the table as a bargaining chip?
The answer is NO to all of these questions. Tax Reform would have been taken care of by “reforming” the tax structure back to Clinton era levels, which would have pumped a whole lot of money into the U.S. Treasury, thus nullifying arguments about “budget constraints” requiring draconian Republican policies being enacted. What just happened was a right-wing Washington D.C. sham literally set in motion when President Barack Obama, Senate majority leader Harry Reid and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last year decided to do something instead of just doing nothing, decided to extend the toxic Bush era tax cuts instead of just letting them expire as scheduled. And now I’m being asked to believe that these three are “upset” about what just happened, that they are surprised that Republicans would hold a gun to our nation’s head, even after Obama, Reid and Pelosi handed the gun to them? Sorry, that lie don’t fly anymore. None of this would have happened if not for these three extending the toxic Bush era tax cuts when they could have (together, or individually) stopped these budget-busting deficit-exploding revenue-draining Bush era tax cuts from doing any more damage to our country.
there’s still a few rubes left. tickets ranged from 50 to 35800.
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/politics&id=8287567
‘Brittany Kinser was among the 2,400 people packed into the sweaty Aragon Ballroom. She volunteered for Obama in 2008 but grew disenchanted.
“He hasn’t been as motivating as in the past. Today was awesome though. He was very energized. It was like Obama I knew,” said Kinser.’
no, brittany, it was like the mythical savior you desperately wanted. and being a dutiful glass-half-full O follower, sees what she wants to see. there’s still alot of people in denial.
“so that you can “lose” with an excuse.”
And the many firebaggers frothing about Rethuglicans forcing him, holding hostage, blah, blah, blah, are providing support for his excuse.
I hope this ends up at the bottom, right under the post I’m replying to: mytwocents 9:30 pm
I’ve got a fun idea that might even be a growth thing.
mytwocents (I once had that handle on a different board, btw.), would you be interested in a role-play debate where you’re an intelligent Conservative (not a nutcase, not a racist) who said exactly what you did say, honestly meaning it to be humorous for the several reasons that IS funny?
I’ll be the Progressive who insists it was the bigoted remark of a racist.
Should definitely be fun, might even be educational.
“It appears we haven’t been clapping hard enough again.”
LOL!
Look ‘em in the eye and say (straight-faced), “It is difficult to clap while typing.”
Then roll your eyes and add, “n00b!”
The hostages in that case were the ’99ers– individuals whose unemployment insurance were running out.
The other reason given for making the deal was a 2% reduction in people’s weekly/monthly payroll tax– money that would have otherwise gone into the social security trust fund but acted as “a backdoor stimulus”, which most people barely even noticed.
(When Bush implemented his first and only direct stimulus, he was smart enough to put in a lump sum– $300 and $600 checks from the Treasury, as I recall– a form that people could immediately appreciate.)
I remember at the time imagining the oil companies calculating the extra amount of disposable income that would inject into the economy and then immediately raising their prices to hoover it all up…
I heard it on a radio program a few months back but I can’t remember the name of the speaker. In any event, similar remarks about his mixed results were written in the link.
http://www.chicagomag.com/core/pagetools.php?url=%2FChicago-Magazine%2FApril-2011%2FThe-End-of-Community-Organizing-in-Chicago%2F&mode=print
Heard an interesting take by James Carvel on a local radio show today. he says if O was smart, he would have reluctantly signed the bill but then gone to the people and said what a bad deal it was but he had to do it to prevent default. He would then say that the repubs owned the economy they ruined and then run against the do-bad repub congress blaming them when the next crash comes. The cynicism is breathtaking.
It would probably work except I don’t think that O’s ego will allow it or that his ‘brain trust’ is that smart.
Pretty good analysis of why the primary thing won’t happen.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-obama-wont-face-a-primary-challenge/2011/08/03/gIQAHGzqsI_story.html?hpid=z3
I don’t know, Obama looked like his dog died when be made the announcement of a deal last Sunday. Body language was of defeat, not triumph.
Or maybe he was just disappointed that Boehner die not give him a kiss on the lips prior to the Republicans gang raping him.
He isn’t descendant from American Slaves. If he were to seeking to right historical injustices to his family he’d go after the British. He is breaking glass ceilings but he really believes the monied elites are smarter than the rest of us.
Yes.
DW
He IS a southpaw.
I hate the rating system at Kos. It turns the place into a popularity contest, and naturally negative ratings follow which hides posts after an accumulation and narrows the allowable points of view.
They’ve even gotten McCarthyite, recording exactly who up-voted posts.
Exactly.
seventh’d
(Gotta take bustedcelt as IN = #6)
The domino theory was a bunch of bunk and known to be so at the time. In one of his autobiographies, John Kenneth Galbraith, ambassador to India under Kennedy, tells of how Prime Minister Nehru of India told him that the Vietnamese and the Chinese were not the friends that Americans seemed to think they were. As was proven when the Vietnam War ended and the Vietnamese immediately tangled with the Chinese.
Lani Guinier was the turning point for me with Clinton – never a word in her defense. I left the President slot blank in the 1996 election and just voted for Gore for Vice President and the rest of the Democratic ticket on down the line.
In relation to the Jeff Cohen article, In 2005 he spoke at the Hamilton Project, he said he was not only there to speak but to engage in the project. He is part of it.
In the video he says there is a market for solutions to update the outdated programs of the New Deal. Video
Unions as entrenched interests
Here’s a little more: Hamilton Project is made up of Wall Street Democrats and it’s advisory board has 13 Wall Street Investment Bankers and DLC insiders.
http://firedoglake.com/2008/02/13/the-hamilton-project-same-corporatist-whine-in-new-dlc-vessels/
At least Clinton was dealing with Republican majorities in both houses of Congress during his last six years. Clinton was also willing to fight them.
I noted before Obama was elected that he consistently took the path of least resistance, and that behavior has continued. So you may be right.
Let’s put it this way: whether or not Obama is a Republican mole, he acts exactly like one. So the point is moot except to psychologists.
I just want to point out that among the MANY MANY lies that are used to cover and divert, one of the big lies is:
OBAMA is courting the independent voters.
This is just a lie. He is enacting fascist legislation according to the GOP script.
“O gives libruls the finger” does not sell very well.
“O loves Reagan.” does not sell very well either.
but the pursuit of the nebulous *independents* is just enough of a mirage to never get tested.
Notice it’s not ‘moderates’ or ‘middle’ but independents.
Anyway, it’s one of the Big Lies.
He’s not wrecking the safety net to get the I vote.
He’s doing it because he wants to.
Independents is just a cover story.
(I am very thankful for FDL in helping point out the truth, and try to participate on that effort.)
Don’t repeat the lie!
Thanks,
cjc
I laugh when the true progressive agenda get funded to the tune of millions, or say ten cents per US Citizen.
Then the authoritarian, banking, and military arms get funded in the billions, or worse, tens or hundreds of billions. Maybe a trillion if needed.
But yes– to your post.
1- It is on purpose
2- Crumbs and photo ops for progressive ideals.
I think it *does* matter b/c if he’s just feckless, then, the more-better-Democrats is still in action, and we should do that.
If on the other hand, it’s on purpose, then this party does not serve me, and I will never vote for a D again.
BTW, I am never voting for another democrat.
In fact, DINOs (or fascist D’s) should face, may I suggest, a FDL purity test.
“You vote for some crap that we all know is wrong, and we will not only not vote for you, we will vote for your opponent.”
I don’t like the Club for Growth, but I do admire their tactics. They will cross party lines, and vote for the other guy, just to show you the door. Thus — there is more party loyalty on the other side of the aisle.
That’s actually the best way to show your guy the door. Vote for the other viable candidate. In 2 or 6 years, push your candidate in the primary.
–
But I think the D party is beyond salvage, and I’m not looking for a bright side.
Cynical, perhaps, but once the reactionaries had staked out austerity as their position, macroeconomics says that was probably politically the most effective position. And, really, all he’d have been doing is borrowing the “They made me do it.” line from the Republicans who’d anointed the ‘Tea Party’ as their fall guys. Instead, Obama is out there with Geithner and his confidence fairies trumpeting this deal as the best thing since sliced cheese, tarring himself and his party with shared responsibility for the consequences of what looks to be truly awful legislation. The politics are breathtakingly bad, so bad that I think “daft” works as an appropriate descriptor. He’s not even hedging his bets. Talk about hostage taking.
Another mind boggling thing about this is, once the Republican position was known, he took the lead on pushing for a harsher bill. So much so that he gave away the cover of the 14th Amendment option, which doubtless raised the public pressure on his own fucking caucus. This was an option which Biden said was still viable when he met with the Democratic caucus ahead of the floor vote. Moreover, for what little it’s worth as after the fact spin, McConnel now says the Republicans weren’t really ready to allow default.
Yeah, he was up there alone: to all appearances, he undercut his own party in pursuit of one of the legislative priorities of his opposition. Who benefits by appearing in that picture?
Cynical, perhaps, but once the reactionaries had staked out austerity as their position, macroeconomics says that was probably politically the most effective position. And, really, all he’d have been doing is borrowing the “They made me do it.” line from the Republicans who’d anointed the ‘Tea Party’ as their fall guys. Instead, Obama is out there with Geithner and his confidence fairies trumpeting this deal as the best thing since sliced cheese, tarring himself and his party with shared responsibility for the consequences of what looks to be truly awful legislation. The politics are breathtakingly bad, so bad that I think “daft” works as an appropriate descriptor. He’s not even hedging his bets. Talk about hostage taking.
Another mind boggling thing about this is, once the Republican position was known, he took the lead on pushing for a harsher bill. So much so that he gave away the cover of the 14th Amendment option, which doubtless raised the public pressure on his own fucking caucus. This was an option which Biden said was still viable when he met with the Democratic caucus ahead of the floor vote. Moreover, for what little it’s worth as after the fact spin, McConnel now says the Republicans weren’t really ready to allow default.
Yeah, he was up there alone: to all appearances, he undercut his own party in pursuit of one of the legislative priorities of his opposition. Who benefits by appearing in that picture?
… as I noted upthread he can not and will not disown it.
It was the principal goal and is the principal achievement of his administration.
The fact that it was what the oligarchy put him in office to achieve does not matter.
What matters is that this was his moment… he will not deny it.