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The greatest gift the GOP gave Democrats this cycle was the bizarre decision of almost every single Congressional Republican to embrace the Paul Ryan (R-WI) Medicare privatization plan. Medicare privatization is deeply unpopular, especially with seniors, the group most likely to vote. This foolish push by Republicans has also done wonders to repair the damage done to the relationship between Democrats and seniors caused by the Affordable Care Act.
Rank and file Democratic incumbents and candidates could conceivably ride the Medicare privatization issue to victory in 2012, just as they did in 2006 after George Bush attempted to privatize Social Security. As a result, Mitch McConnell has said that Medicare cuts must be a part of any “grand bargain” on the debt ceiling.
Unfortunately, many news outlets are now reporting that President Obama is actively trying to hand over this political edge to the GOP in order to get a debt ceiling deal. From Politico:
For their part, Obama and Reid appear prepared to reach much higher, putting substantial Medicare savings on the table if Republicans would accept added revenues. With the House GOP leadership in New York, all of Monday’s White House maneuvering was Senate-centric. But Obama’s hope is that Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), with whom he met privately last week, will be intrigued by a bolder package that might also help neutralize the Medicare issue now hurting the GOP among elderly voters.
Getting Republicans to sign onto a deal could enhance Obama’s personal brand. It would show him to be a serious “deficit hawk,” able to rise above partisan politics and cut a deal. But he would be helping himself at the expense of everyone else in the party. By giving the Republicans the political “out” they want on Medicare privatization, Obama could be dealing a devastating blow to everyone else in his own party who hoped to use the Ryan vote against their GOP opponents in 2012.
President Barack Obama talks with Chief of Staff Bill Daley in the Cross Hall of the White House, March 3, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
293 Comments
His “brand” is already ruined. He keeps throwing the Dem Congress and citizens under the wheels of a loaded 18 wheeler!
Oh, and now he speaks! Late as usual on all the issues and even his own speeches!
For Jobs—reviewing regulations.
More training—manufacturing jobs.
Congress can do it—Right Now!
rebuilding roads and bridges–by loans to private companies.
Trade Agreements
Middle class families–tax cuts he signed can be there for one more year.
All tied up in congress.
Reduce the deficits–The one big thing for jobs.
1 Trillion dollars worth of spending cuts already.
Tackle Entitlements. See, those old people just have to give it again!
How appropriate that pic up top is – sitting at Reagan’s feet.
Hello?
Did everyone shut out all communications while he speaks?
President Rightwing Fucking Moron.
Is that supposed to be blog comment as haiku?
Oh yeah, Cut taxes means raise taxes for the little people on every thing possible.
I really hate to word “entitlements”. These are things that people paid their money into. They are not “entitled” to get it back – it is OWED to them. A pox on them all.
If the economy doesn’t recover, President Obama still loses in 2012. Regardless of any “grand bargain,” Republican economic sabotage will continue. Then they’ll run on “jobs-jobs-jobs” again like they did last time.
No, but I can give you some if you really want it.
It would require me to reflect on the Bush and republican majority when this mess started.
I do as well, but it is the only terminology they use in DC.
“Obama Prepared to Sell Out Rank and File Democrats on Medicare to Enhance Personal Brand”
You mean, Obama is prepared to destroy the Democratic party. If this pathetic excuse for a president gives up on the Bush tax cuts in this deal, and agrees with the GOP on Medicare cuts, he’ll not only make a disastrous policy decision, he’ll essentially make the Democratic party largely irrelevant. Number one, it’ll clearly show the GOP is still running America, without having the Senate or the White House. Second, it’ll show the Democratic base there’s nothing this president won’t trade, and I mean nothing, to make himself look good to so-called moderates and independents, and third, it’ll say to America you no longer have a champion left to defend any of the institutions formed by FDR and LBJ that helped create the great middle class that led this nation to the greatest prosperity of any nation in history. Once this line is crossed, the Democratic party is going to have to make a decision; either they’re going to support this President in this sellout and destroy their own party, or they’re going to stand up to him, tell him hell no, and begin the process of finding a suitable primary challenger to take this guy out, and run a real progressive as the stand bearer of our party. The moment of truth is about to face the leadership of the Democratic party!
What a great photo. It says it all. Red carpet, gilt chairs, O with his personal financial adviser, with St. Ronnie smiling down. What more could a pol ask for?
And isn’t that the White House COS (and former (Former? Hahahaha!!) JP Morgan-Chase SVP) sitting with him? How appropriate.
He just said it. Painful cuts that Dems don’t like.
I would like for somebody to show me PROOF of how Social Security has contributed to the Deficit.
Congress can change the rules regarding eligibility–and it has done so many times over the years. The rules can be made more generous, or they can be made more restrictive. Benefits which are granted at one time can be withdrawn.
Um…Champagne?
Obama is a pro-war, pro-police state corporatist, making him a Republican through and through. So Republicans have no reason to spend a single dime from their war chest on running a candidate to defeat Obama. It would be best for them to save their war chest for a time when the Democrats actual have a presidential candidate who’ll run this country of ours like a real, honest-to-god Democrat would — someone who’ll put the interests of Main Street above the interests of Wall Street, someone who values the labor market more they do the capital markets.
What concerns me most about Wall Street pouring millions of dollars into Obama’s 2012 election campaign (see link below) is that this means that in order for Obama to give his corporate overlords their money’s worth, he’ll have to be an even bigger and more powerful pro-war, pro-police state corporatist than he was throughout his first term in office. For this reason, Democrats maybe be better off having a Republican defeat Obama in 2012. I’m basing this on the simple truth that a Democratic president who’s bought and paid for by Wall Street is more likely to screw over working and middle class Americans and rob them of their social safety net than a Republican president who’s not bought and paid for by Wall Street.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43523321
Long gone are the days when the battle lines were drawn between Republicans on the Right and Democrats on the Left. The battle lines are now being drawn between rentiers on Wall Street and workers on Main Street.
You repeat that ad-nauseum here. It would work better over at red state or someplace else.
I know, they were just kind of funny, choppy sentences.
Blow it out your ass. Thanks in advance!
Your last paragraph is fundamental truth.
In another twenty years, most of those cowering on Main Street will grasp the meaning of that truth.
In the meantime, and it WILL be a very mean time, Cynthia …
DW
Evidently you are not watching the speech.
You are behind the wall and should not comment until you bring yourself up to date with the real world.
The “moderate” and “independent” voter are by and large the most ignorant of the issues and the most easily manipulated by a bumper sticker slogan. The moronic “middle.”
Why, are they more receptive to accepting fact and less inclined to whine that “Social Security is OWED TO ME?”
Libya has nothing to do with the War Powers Act. It is a message to a bad ruler to step down.
He don’t have to reach any clarification with congress on the issue.
The photo actually depicts a religious observance.
We know all this about this man, why aren’t we putting up a primary challenge to him? He’s a disaster let him f#cking lose.
Fact is:
Social Security IS OWED TO ME!
Is there anyone left that really believes Obama cares for the people. I know there are die hards that are trying to keep the faith in him, but it gets harder and harder because he NEVER learns. We looked for someone to stand up for us and we got someone on some fronts worse than Bush. Watch and see the people flock to Jeb when Obama is history. I guess we’ll never learn either.
And then added…going after entitlements.
I just called my congressman, a sinecured “moderate’ NE Republican.
I asked if the Repubs were going to have a fund available to help seniors pay their rent and mortgages, their health insurance.
His telephone anwering person sounded alarmed, and I pointed out that Obama tends to move to the right to “compromise” with Republicans, and R’s such as Backmann have said it’s not necessary to pass a new debt ceiling because the Chinese can be paid and SocSec recipients can be stiffed. I added that there used to be two different political parties, but now there seemed to be merely two sides to the single Big Money Party. With Obama so deeply needy to compromise, what will the Repubs do for people who won’t get their money to pay their bills?
I said stiffing seniors seemed to be the new philosophy of the R Party and that it also seemed to be a political tactic.
She said she would pass on my concerns.
With Obama actively pushing us into a double dip recession, don’t see a recovery happening.
Bingo. Copy and underscore.
Sometime when you are doing nothing, go to “peopleofwalmart.com” and think to yourself THESE PEOPLE VOTE. Believe me, they are not the “middle” – you will want to cry.
Yes, it is a hushed discussion about the Divine Right of Money, Bluetoe2.
DW
I told you guys this guy was going to re-enforce his sell-out
Maybe we can get the Democrats to be the bad guys and don’t vote on this bill
MITT ROMNEY IN 2012…BY A LONGSHOT!!
The flame of justice was ignited in the hearts of the French public when the people stormed the Bastille. It’s time for the people of the U.S. to storm Wall Street. That action would unite disparate forces and begin the dismantling of the corporatist state.
I paid for my car – does that mean that the gov’t can take it?
Thanks, saw it recently and was saving it for the perfect post.
I don’t know and don’t understand why if there are.
He has done more to kill off the appearance of a two party system than anyone and that is ONE good thing he has done. We now know that there is NOBODY aside from B. Sanders that even tries to speak against what is going on.
And right now, the DC Dems seem to be firmly on Wall Street’s side, since they need all the big buck donors they can find. And those are not on Main Street or the surrounding lower middle class and lower class streets. Or suburbs.
I hope she does pass it on, but as we have seen it won’t mean a thing.
Yup, terrifying stuff…
Does anyone know if Obama mentioned a guest appearance on Two and a Half Men?
Leaves you between laughing and pity, doesn’t it?
Obama could have come out saying we need jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs NOW NOW NOW.
Remember when it was so urgent to get TARP money for the banksters? NOW NOW NOW? How he whipped the DC Dems (behind the scenes, his favorite way to negotiate and pressure)? And all those $Trillions that went to banksters out the back door of the Fed? That shows Obama does understand the need to act.
But JOBS? Those are for peons — and who needs them to govern?
Don’t know about that, but I assume he’s got “Let’s Make a Deal” inked into his calendar…
I don’t know about your car, but you paid payroll taxes into the SS trust fund. Under current law, when you reach a certain age you can apply for benefits out of that trust fund. However my only point was that Congress can change the laws at any time, and have so many times.
A meeting with Bill Fucking Daley under a picture of Ronald Ray-Gun, how fitting to his once again, selling out his base to feather his own nest. Fuck him.
The GOP will absolutely fuck over the whole country in an attempt to make Obama a one-termer. He, in turn, will fuck over his whole party in an attempt to be bipartisan and gain a second term.
In the wake of his landslide election and undeniable mandate, he accomplished something stunning: He snatched pale mediocrity from the jaws of potential greatness.
He doesn’t consider the lack of jobs for half of America as a National Crisis. In his eyes, there is no crisis other than what the people that see him everyday say there is.
In my eyes, he has already lost the election. Might as well let McConnell gloat now and get it over with.
Traitor is a brand?
In his April speech on the deficit, Obama used the word ‘we’ repeatedly, but only to refer to his identity as an American, never to refer to his membership in the Democratic Party.
I know that Dem is a damaged brand, but that’s partly his fault. If the Dem Party needs to be reformed or disbanded, let’s put the reasons on the table.
Meanwhile, Obama needs a primary to remind him which party and whose interests he’s supposed to be representing.
part of the plan from the very start, he is the wolf dressed in democrat clothing and we need him defeated, one term president, please
LOL! Evidently.
If Congressional Democrats follow President Lemming over the cliff, then they deserve to get creamed at the polls. Of course, the Republicans are even more deserving…
I have to hand it to the major parties, they are making it easier and easier to be Green ; )
Not only him, but every vichy Dem from local to DC!
Hear-Hear!
you’re too kind, he’s far from mediocre, he is a disaster, possibly a worse president then bush, definitely worse then reagan, this is not medicracy
That depends on a lot of things. The Rs are in such disarray and if Perry and Palin jump in, it’s going to get worse – or better, depending on your view. They may not be able to get the base to vote for a designated candidate – may have some pissed off Tea Baggers. Obama may just creep in.
what phred said x2
or the Trojan Mouse.
Oh, that is very good. Applauding.
Eric Cantor said it is time Obama get involved in the Debt Talks?
What Eric Cantor really said was “it is time our BLACK RONALD REAGAN get involved in the debt talks?
Obama thinks people will one day forget how horrible and evil he was as president they will not!
Obama thinks his pay day of being a corporate puppet will result in huge sums of money, like CLinton, it will not.
the OBAMA name will be scorn upon for decades to come.
Obama really thinks the conservatives will 1 day love him? NO
We act like Obama caving is something new? STOP IT!! ask Eric Cantor, he knew Obama was going to cave.
I’m feeling generous today. I vote for pale mediocrity.
A primary is the lost hope for the Democratic Party but will any Democrat dare challenge the wunderkind of the corporate media?
Thank you much. I’m here until 1:00. Try the veal it’s the best in town.
Obama is throwing the Dems over the side because he knows he can win with the old pre-Tea-Party republican vote against any candidate (other than Jeb Bush) that the Republicans are likely to put up against him. This happens even if 20 percent of Dems stay home. If he had actually accomplished something positive, one might think it was all worth while, even though we don’t like it. But he hasn’t accomplished anything. He’s made things worse.
Don’t look for any pity from me. And I sure don’t really want to hear all the Progressive Caucus members shaking their fists while they let the GOP take the “rotating villain” role on this one — as if they wouldn’t be there if their vote was needed.
They have tremendous power. It’s not like this is the only vote they will ever have. Even a few of them banding together could make things very difficult for Pelosi and the White House if they wanted to. If they don’t use that power, they deserve what they get — and more.
Politics IS “The Art of the POSSIBLE”. I’m unhappy and frustrated but start detailing how this President can accomplish what you say he should be doing. How does he pass a bill, get an appointment, break a logjam. We are venting but not progressing. I don’t see anything changing significantly for the betterment of the majority of Americans until things get much worse; unfortunately, the wealthy will not “get religion” and decide to share until forced to do so.
The Dems can’t even frame the debate. The Rs rule.
Keep dreaming!!!!
Obama would have had a hard time getting re-elected with a great economy
Obama loss the 2012 election a long, long, long, time ago
No black man in the USA is going win an election without the votes of a lot of HIPPIES period.Ask Colin Powell? not going to happen
the GOP has already shown that they will vote for anyone or anything!
Go find a USA black senator? that won an election without UNION votes?
Keith Olbermann is pulling MSNBC further to the left, this will hurt OBAMA big time, MSNBC can’t protect him anymore, because they are losing viewership to Keith.
Keith hates OBAMA, last night he said, the reason for the DEBT CRISIS is OBAMA, Remember OBAMA developed the Catfood Commission, not the GOP.
On the bright side, if Obama wrecks the Dem Party and the Teabaggers do the same for the Rep Party, then perhaps there is more room for a choice other than Coke or Pepsi to emerge? Right now there is really only one party that counts: the Corporatist one whose memebers wear the American flag lapel pin. Can an opportunity be found after the possible wreckage of both party brands that can challenge the Corporatist Party now running the show?
If I didn’t know better, I’d think they were sitting in one of Saddam’s palaces.
If I wanted Republican policies, I would have voted for a Republican. Obama wants a deal so so bad he is willing to throw whatever he has to under the bus. Progressives need to vote unanimously against this. Senators need to filibuster this.
The Obama brand makes the Edsel look like the greatest commercial success of all time.
“The Dems can’t even frame the debate. The Rs rule.” “WRONG”
the DEMS don’t want to frame the debate! period
You really think OBAMA and the DEMS are this DUMB? WOW
No! Obama and a lot of DEMS are just pure EVIL
A fifth grade politician could have out done Obama and these Dems politically.
How does the party of FDR, lose seats in a Depression? enough said
these DEMS are an insult to FDR, JFK, LBJ, etc. etc.
You must face the Facts that OBAMA IS an R.
Obama = Palin with a Jump Shot
I like to think of how South Park framed the choice in elections, “it’s either a choice between a Giant Douche or a Turd Sandwich”
The purpose of the Democratic Party as it’s currently constituted isn’t to fight for what’s left of the middle class, the working class and the poor on a platform of liberal values. It’s the give the corporatists an Option B when their party of choice, the Republicans, overdoes it and alienates people.
To think that the Democrats would take advantage of the Ryan Plan to harpoon the Republicans is to wilfully engage in nostalgia for the Democratic Party of yore. Obama and this bunch of Democrats will give Ryan “only” half or two-third or three-quarters of what he wants, declare it a great victory and tell us we have to vote for them or Ryan will get everything he wants.
To hell with the Democrats.
Exactly. There was a reason why FDR designed the system to give every worker an account with his or her contributions and those of the employer. Surely he’s twirling in his grave over what the current occupant of the White House is about to do.
The purpose of the Democratic Party is to serve as a buffer between citizens and the Wall Street- and Beltway-based interests who control American politics.
a great “bipartisan” victory, in the words of Leader.
“So Republicans have no reason to spend a single dime from their war chest on running a candidate to defeat Obama.”
That may explain the current slate of Rep contenders. Keep the Rep base agitated with boogeymen and ideologues while Obama delivers? If you could get what you want out of an “opponent,” why spend a dime on a challenger?
Exactly what I was thinking!
put me down as……………,i hate the evil mofo
Oh yeah, that’s right. :) Many folks like Coke or Pepsi. Nobody likes a turd sandwich.
Obama isn’t “prepared” to sell out.
With all due respect, I truly wish our esteemed blog posters here at FDL would lose the narrative fiction that somehow Obama AND the fed. so-called “Democratic” politicians are just “capitulating” or “folding” or “giving in” or “preparing” to sell out the ever-popular boogeyman, the T-GOPers.
Lose the chains that bind you, citizens! The left-right paradigm no longer exists.
So-called “Democrats” sold out a looooong time ago. And Obama has *never* been anything more than a hard-right NeoCon. There’s nothing to “prepare” for here. We are done for. Home & hosed.
Ryan schtupping of US citizens comin’ right up! Guess the conservatives will be dancing in the streets with unbridled JOY to give up what they love to call “entitlements,” which I call: my investment in my retirement future.
Eff ‘em all. Photo depicting our fabulously wealthy Overlords in Vesailles setting sez it all.
The Rs have a problem. Obama is giving them everything they want. If they take the WH the Tea Baggers will make demands that an R prez cannot possibly agree to because they will be so over the top.
The country would be in turmoil and the PTB know this. I think they would like for Obama to win.
Very possible, but a strong narrative will have to be driven through the MSM, and that bunch is on-board with the status quo. Believe it or not, I tend to think baggers have a lot of the same concerns as those on the other side of the spectrum (i.e. jobs, cost of living, retirement, etc.). They’re just horribly misguided about who’s been ramming the shaft upwise. Get them to understand the “corporatist” thing, and we’re halfway there. I use OpenSecrets a lot to demonstrate the point.
Or maybe I’m just nuts.
Not exactly every worker.
Any politician that cuts the lifeline for millions of seniors, the disabled, and survivors on Social Security and Medicare will not be re-elected, and that includes Obama.
Those on SS and Medicare, their children, and their grandchildren will vote as they have never voted before and they will vote out politicians that intend to reduce or eliminate SS and Medicare.
With all due respect, I think you’re quite wrong about this.
I gave up on the Dem v Repub paradigm a long time ago.
The only “deal” that Obama wants is the big, fat deal he made with the upper 1% a long time ago. That “deal” consists of Obama pretending to be a Democratic politician, lying like a rug to his more-or-less progressive/leftie consituents, and then getting well-paid to to DESTROY the Democratic party. Obama’s not doing this to “make a deal” with anyone but the super wealthy, and it’a deal he made a long time ago.
good point.
I’m registered as No Party Affiliation. Does that make me a moron?
Zactly! He is on the teebee right now telling Americans to Eat Cake!
Agreed. Southern Democrats were a big pain in the ass back then.
good line!
With all due respect, whomever the mega-wealthy upper 1% want “elected” will therefore be “elected.”
From the super-mega-obscenely wealthy perspective, what’s not to like about Obama??? He’s their guy. If the upper 1% want Obama as POTUS in 2012, then that’s who it shall be.
No kidding. You spotted the fundamental dishonesty of our Rotating Villian Vichy Dems ages ago. I doff my cap to you, my friend ; )
Still, it doesn’t make watching the grotesque sniveling subservience of Congress critters before their King any easier to witness.
They are a disgrace.
Mmmmmm…Cake….
That is true. TWOOPH!
However, if we the people make a determined effort to refuse to vote on the black box machines and go back to a real tangible paper ballot things would be different.
Yeah! Mango upside down cake.
That’s been Goal Numero Uno since Obama was “elected.” To tell the serf’s go STFU. When various of obama’s “mouthpieces” strutted forth to diss the leftwing, do you not think that they were admonishing *all* peons, no matter how they vote, to go away, STFU, and “eat cake”????
I’ve said it all along. Conservatives may *believe* whatever fiction they like that somehow the wealthy overlords will treat conservatives different bc of how they vote… well guess what? Not bloody likely.
If you’re not a MOTU, you can STFU, and everyone better start now.
the senate and the house were D when became president. i don’t see how what is plainly going down is solely obama’s doing.
I’d like to see it happen, and I’m willing to participate in any efforts to return to paper ballots. But I won’t hold my breath, frankly.
Yes. I knew it then, and now it is clear enough for the entire world to see.
who control THE AMERICAN $ PRINTING PRESS
It’ll be much worse if OilyBomber gets reelected. Then, all bets are off. Katie bar the door. He’ll make mince meat out of the social safety net and the Obots will love him even more for it.
I dipped back into Obama’s presser, caught the closing.
He gave an nice little shout out to the little “folks” who are havin’ a hard time of makin’ things work, losing their homes and jobs, etc.
He wants to help “folks.”
He go so dawgone folksy, droppin’ those g’s right, left and center.
He was givng a campaign speech at the end. One aimed at the rubes, tryin’ to bamboozle them into voting for him again.
He had more than enough neoliberal help in Congress from both sides of the aisle.
Let me be clearer, then (and thanks for letting me know re possible confusion): no, it’s not *all* about Obama. I agree, and in a prior post here today, I mentioned all (at least) federal so-called “Democratic” politicians.
That’s why I stated in an earlier post that the left-right, D v R, paradigm is dead.
Yes, ALL pols of all parties are culpable in this mass rapine & pillaging. I just happened to be focusing on Obama in that prior post that your replied to.
SCREAM ALERT…THERE ARE 8,000 HOMELESS VETERANS living in Los Angeles alone….mind boggles
Obie doesnt care ,if hes a one termer
There are families with small children that have lost their homes living in their cars and tents at camping grounds!
Agreed. They are all corrupt, and as far as I’m concerned, they are nothing more or less than criminals who should be prosecuted and sent straight to jail.
Demand a “clean” bill to raise the debt limit. Boehner already said they will ultimately pass it and Wall St. will make sure. The democrats should be forcing concessions out of the Republicans for this.
And Obama, like his beloved mentor Dick Cheney, would say: SO???
Or like his other beloved mentor, GW Bush: What? Me worry???
Believe you me, these rich f*cks simply don’t give iota of a sh*t about trifling nonsense like serfs living in tents. Plenty more of those peons out there…
Wow. Breathtaking. Obama at Reagan’s feet, sellling out Medicare. The MOTU are going to owe that asshole a boat load of dough when he hits the bricks.
Presidency for me and austerity for thee.
Ha! Pelosi says the Dems are even at the negotiating table with the R’s! She called for them to be part of the process.
Obama was made to run for POTUS only to block HRC. He ran damn well. Does it matter that he knowingly lied? About everything?
Every Obot I’ve talked to says the same thing: he can’t do a thing because of the Repugs, blah, blah, blah. He’s doing his best. This is the first black president, give him a chance. Etc. Etc. The yuppie limo liberal Obots are especially intransigent because they have NO skin in the game because they have a job and money. What the fuck do they care if Obama shreds SS or Medicare or cuts food stamps. Modern liberals are limo liberals; they detest the working class.
god you people are dumb if you think for a second that Obama would NOT sell you out.
Pleeze.
If they make ridiculous concessions, like slashing medicare, can we sue to force them to back down since the entire debt ceiling thing goes against the 14th Amendment? Can we force the unconsitutionality of this whole thing via the courts? I’m curious – I have no idea.
GWB liked to use the term “folks”. He even referred to the perpetrators of 9/11 as “folks.” The electorate likes their pols “folksy”, they think it shows how “human” their “leaders” are.
Lose the chains that bind you: there is no longer a Dem v Repub paradigm. There is only ONE political party. They all work for the Kleptocracy.
No offense, but expecting or hoping for so-called “Democratic” politicians to “do something” for the “small people” is a waste of your time.
Better to see the reality that exists for what it is. The “small people” are not the federal (at least, but more often now, even at the State level – see WI, for example) politicians “constituents.” They ONLY work for the upper 1%.
Yep. Like I said earlier. Employment and Economic stability is not a crisis for them in DC.
America has several crisis, but the half of America that is not working on Wall Street is not part of their picture.
The “debt limit” is a political stunt. As Galbraith and Mosler point out it’s unnecessary and was established as a political playing card with no real function where monetary policy is concerned.
Have you not read the comments?
It’s like what Palin did and does.
Tell me again, how Obama is *different* from Sarah Palin…. and how we’re so much “better off” with Obama, and not having Palin as VP (other than the horrid nails on chalk board voice of hers screeching away)…
I’ll take a radical democratic socialist anytime over a self-identified “liberal.”
Give the man a ceegar! We have a winnah!
Tammany Tiger’s Law: The probability that the Democratic Party will crap on a group is directly proportional to that group’s propensity to support the party.
Some one on another thread said it best, “he has a jump shot.”
Keep the fiction alive for the hard right ideologues while the good cop side of the scam still has some play? Sounds reasonable.
Yep. GW Bush raised the debt limit several times. Did we ever hear about?? Hardly at all, and if we did, we were told that it was “ok.”
This is all completely bogus. But the corp-owned fascist media has had a field day buttering up the populace to bend over & take it where the sun don’t shine.
Believe you me, they’ll gut Soc Sec & Medicare, and we STILL will not see one lousy strike. US citizens will roll over and click the clicker…. sad to say.
ROTFLMAOFF!
The trolls that pop in here still don’t have a clue. I guess they think the repugs will save them from the Greek disaster here too.
The problem is that there are too few on the real left and too many on the fake left (Obama)–and that muddies the waters. We are the fringe, no doubt about it. Obama loves that. That’s why he loves to shit all over us. If we had more numbers, then it would be different–but we are impotent.
Yeah, I’m beginning to miss the smell of tear gas and the sound of bullhorns.
Yeah, that’s about it. Duly noted, as well, that Obomba never used to drop his “g’s” and talk all folksy. This is a feature, not a bug, and he’s been coached to do this… like the phoney that Obama’s always been.
No kidding. Me, too!
Funny that when I mention marching in the streets to acquaintances & friends, they all roll their eyes at me … as if I’m some kind of nutjob.
More’s the pity…
I disagree, they may be both working to accomplish the same thing (make Wall St. happy), but they are still trying to out do each other to win the campaign contributions.
Yeah, no one gives a flying fuck. It’s very depressing. You have an atomized society, with a virulent strain capitalism eating up every thing it can get its maw on.
LOL! By the way I was referring to the mythic “middle” that doesn’t pay any attention to the issues until 2 weeks before the election. That “middle” that is arguably the most naive, ill-informed and misinformed electorate of any advanced country in the world. SD, you are none of these but a beacon of reason and, dare I say hope?, at FDL.
Instead of focusing on getting them benefits we should be arming them.
I wouldn’t say that we are impotent. If we were, Obama would be indifferent to us and not call us out. I take some heart in the fact that Obama DOES actually sh*t on us… if they didn’t have concern, we’d be off the radar, believe me.
But I agree that we are a small portion of the population. The only other (cold) comfort I get is that there does *appear* to be a growing awareness of the very real problems confronting this country.
Some old-school conservatives (not this weird new breed of Rush Limbaugh dittohead John Birch Society “libertarians” funded by the Kochs) are starting to speak out bc they see the very real issues being created (and never fixed) by unending tax cuts & the very weird & draconian social conservative agenda.
Some of those true “old school” conservatives are who we can potentially make common cause with. Just a thought.
The fact that Dems won’t run a challenger is final proof that the party of FDR is dead.
And for refusing to run, pretend liberals like Grayson and Feingold are dead to me.
They would lose, but they would push the Overton window (which, if I read the polls and the public mood correctly, is ready to shatter) and force serious treatment of our issues.
The time when peaceful change is a possibility (if it still is at all) is growing very short.
Like minds may disagree. I don’t quite see it the way you do, but I agree re the campaign contribution part. Thanks for your insights.
The World Can’t Wait
Mayhaps we need new acquaintances.
Heh, I couldn’t resist. *g*
Maybe Obama thinks “we” may grow and that scares the shit out of him and his amoral puppetmasters. Ideas spread. They are most afraid of ideas, despite the bs rhetoric about free speech.
This fucker needs to go, period. Call him stupid of call him a servant of the Oligarchs, I no longer care, he just needs to be removed. while a primary would be preferable, if it means putting in a crazy assclown teabagger, so be it. Better the wolf at the door than the wolf in sheep’s clothing within, devastating at will and with the misguided support of so many well meaning gullible dumbshits.
Wow. 154 comments. Is it Caturday?
Agreed.
ROFLMAO
amen. and not just congress either. not all, but most of the players and wannabe players… worse thing, imo, is when neoliberalism is sold with progressive wrapping. :(
(p.s. howdy SD!)
I know people who live in Transylvania who are more knowledgeable about present-day America than many, many Americans.
gotcha. thanks for the clarification.
Well stated, the Democrats are option B for the Oligarchs.
If you strip away the bigotry and the identification with their oppressors (not that these factors are insignificant), a lot of common ground can be seen.
The bit about the narrative is dead nuts right and could be the touchstone in recognizing the common ground. The still dominant narrative–the one especially clung to by the Teabaggers, despite tangible evidence to the contrary–is that old bedtime story of American Exceptionalism, Rugged Individualism and the limitless upward trajectory of wealth and possibility inherent in free market capitalism. There is no alternative narrative with anywhere near the power of that tired fairytale (“Read it to me again, Daddy!”). It usually takes the undeniable wreckage and bankruptcy of the system that the old narrative explained for a new narrative to emerge (see Thomas Kuhn).
I totally agree. Look at Wisc. That on a national level would wake people up.
sad to say, *many* citizens in many countries are more informed that most Americans are about US politics. That has been a very deliberate goal and aim of the Kleptocracy, and in that goal, they have been very successful, unfortunately.
Well the people in the streets in Greece know a Benito when they see it and are protesting against it.
At this point in our history it doesn’t matter if the President has a D or R after his/her name. They are all Mussolini’s!
Yep. Agreed. Why would Obama, himself, and his mouthpieces, diss the leftwing base so much, unless they had some *fear* over our ideas spreading??? It’s bc just enough of the leftie base are not Obamabots, willingly going along with anything, that made them mad… anger is a cover for fear. Never forget that.
It’s almost as if we’re back in the time of the Haymarket riots, workers against the capitalists. Both parties are a joke. It’s strictly class warfare now. Still got yer street fightin’ threads?
I’m with you on that one. In some ways, it would be preferable to have an “out front” conservative at the helm. It would probably wake up the Obamabots out of their collective stupor, and perhaps we could get more done. Albeit, at this point….. not good…
We definitely need to take lessons from the Greek people, and that’s for sure. They don’t appear to me to be fiddling around with notions like “I really *think* Obama is trying,” or “Obama just can’t help it bc of the mean mean Republicans.”
People really need to get over fairy tales like that and see reality for what it is: Class Warfare.
To wit: what the hell happened to the anti-war movement after Oily O was elected? Not even Code Pink protests Oilbummer. The putative left doesn’t want to get in his grill. They are mortified of it and hence the movement is dead. At least with Bush there was a movement.
I really hate the bastard.
WWII showed them what a Fascist State Party does to people. They understand it very well.
The GOP committee in every state has legislation modeled on Wisconsin written and ready to go at a moment’s notice. Wisconsin IS what the GOP plans for the nation. And as the American people are more and more distracted by trying to survive in this cesspool, the GOP plan will be implemented bit by bit, locality by locality, stat by state just like the plan has been implemented since Raygun’s wildly popular attack on organized labor or even before that, to the days during the Carter administration when the Democrats began deregulating vital industries.
That they do! It is the ALEC program and they follow the play book by the line.
To prevent another rallying of workers with a Haymarket mindset is why FDR instituted his New Deal. He was desperate to save capitalism. If he had been intent on making people’s lives better, his Fireside Chats would have been used to educate people on the evils of unbridled capitalism.
Two points: (1) The photo shows them comparing different versions of a birth certificate for publication. (2) Medicare as we know it won’t disappear, though the eligibility year might be pushed up to 67. Only the federal government could afford to cover the aging population. Private insurance companies would go broke in no time paying to cover the aged cohort.
That is my hope. The Dems are neutered and many are on board with the PB programs. If a real crazy gets in, like a Bachmann, then it might create a Wisconsin moment nationally. This country has little time left as any form of a Democracy established on the ideas of the Enlightenment by “we the People” and the concepts of “Unalienable Rights” and “the Pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness”.
We are going back to Hobbesean times where the Life of Man… is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.
Sadly, fwiw, US citizens were *insulated* from all of that and appear to have learned NADA from WWII, except the MYTH of American Exceptionalism (talk to Europeans & Australians about Team USA “won” the war *for them* and you might be a tad surprised by what they say).
Over my lifetime of work I have put 300,000 dollars of my own money into SS and I’d like it back, I’ll even share it.
I’d say capitalism is evil, any type. It’s reached the same point that state socialism reached with the Soviets. Both systems are bankrupt because of a reliance on top down hierarchy. That’s the common thread of both systems: Communism and Capitalism. Both systems are deeply undemocratic and lead to system rot because they are systems at war with nature and with humans.
The White House has “leaked” that Obama will no longer demand Clinton tax rates for the over $250,000 crowd as the price for Medicare cuts.
This Pew Research Report provides interesting information on voters. Increasingly, “a growing number of Americans are choosing not to identify with either political party, and the center of the political spectrum is increasingly diverse. Rather than being moderate, many of these independents hold extremely strong ideological positions on issues such as the role of government, immigration, the environment and social issues. But they combine these views in ways that defy liberal or conservative orthodoxy.”
Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology
Those and the idiots who watch Fox.
There is none because it hasn’t.
I’ll vote for the 1/2 Man before I’ll vote for (and volunteer for) the utter failure in the Oval Office.
bailouts to corporations, tax welfare for the rich, can be made more generous or ended by Congress – so they are also “entitlements” – indeed Medicare and Social Security have dedicated taxes and rules to keep payouts within the income those taxes bring in (the doc fix is a general funds transfer that allows congress to avoid real health care reform – but that does not change the dedicated tax controlling outflow concept for these two programs).
FDR was educating people. His 1936 acceptance speech is a timeless indictment of unregulated rampant Capitalism. He knew they hated him and he welcomed their hatred!
FDR tried to make Capitalism work for all and to save it. Keep in mind FDR did not have the models of socialist Europe to draw from then. He was faced with Fascism on his right, a system admired by many of the rich and dupes until WWII, and Communisim on his left under a brutal Stalin. Given what he had to work with, and what we were mired in, even after an attempted coup on him and an obstructionist Congress with isolationists, Deficit hawks and people like Grandpa Bush running around. Well, FDR was fucking brilliant and probably the greatest President we have ever had with a possible exception for Lincoln.
You consider Obama to be mediocre?
I consider him to be one of the most massive failures as Prez in our history.
Also, he’s a fucking war criminal.
Problem is capitalism is inherently flawed because it rewards the worst aspects of human nature. You can try to “save” it again and again–but it’s like a weed: it keeps popping up, marring your lawn. We need a new system!
who cares about Obama throwing the Dems under the bus? What about us? This bastard will throw the American people under the bus…btw who the hell is going to vote for this guy? If the GOP puts up a decent candidate why would any Senior vote for Obama after he screwed them? Why would any progressive support him? Not all indies are Fox news neoduds some (like me) are progessive. This leaves Ron Paul types who hate him. kool aid Dems who would vote for him and rank/file GOP who will never vote for him…I smell a new career for BO on Wall st…I just got an email Vance Jones is coming to town near me…I plan to attend and BITCH!
I am not sure what you call what we have now; establish am monopoly, collect rent, pay off the government to keep it going. It doesn’t seem like capitalism any more.
One of the foremost Marxist scholars, David Harvey, doesn’t have a solution or alternative to capitalism. What’s yours?
Well, in 2007 he told The Boston Globe that presidential use of military power required the consent of Congress. But, that’s just me talking — and history.
Mean, pissed off combat vets, not a real smart move fucking them over. The rich think they are untouchable that’s their first mistake.
What Chomsky advocates: anarchism. Marxism is also flawed and authoritarian.
Why on earth are so many liberal-progressives…
Still supporting Obama and the Democrats ?
Why ?
Both the Democrats and Republicans are corrupt to the core. Neither party represents the American people.
Enlightened and consistent anarchism.
A new age of humanity AND reason, with a primary concern and care for planet Earth.
Anyone for genuine rennaisance?
DW
Got a link for that. Not doubting you, just want to be able to stuff it in the face of some Obot acquaintances.
I’m not talking about Marx’s social philosophy, I’m talking about his analysis of capitalism, which is entirely different. Even Harvey says that communism is as good as dead. One of Marx’s ideas was strict control of capital by the state, eg, Glass-Steagal.
See “Capital,” Vols 1-4.
Anarchism might work in a small country. How would you apply anarchist principles to a country of over 300 million people? I disagree with Chomsky on this, and he admits in his writings that a central govt would be needed for some period of time.
I am. It’s the only political ideology emanating from the Enlightenment that seems eminently workable. And the last option, in a sense.
There is no blueprint and that’s why anarchism is the most promising. No dogmatic set of rules like Marxism that you have to follow. I would start with connected worker owned cooperatives and collectives and build from there. We are moving in that direction anyway with the onset of global warming.
You look at the obits lately lotta people not making it to 50 let alone 67.
Gotta to back to work but will respond from there.
I think there are a few in Congress who are making this argument. This was the lead story on Countdown last night. FWIW the U.S. can not default on it’s debts per the 14th Amendment. So all this debt ceiling talk is bullshit. Just my 2 cents.
Thank you so much for that. It appears that there are more and more disinfo of FDR popping up lately.
Okay, no problem. But since you want my solution–I’d like yours as well.
Or perhaps Jerry Springer’s show “Baggage.”
And “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader,” although personally I think his actions are evil and intended rather than stupid.
Perhaps a FDL diary of suggestions for Obama tv appearances?
I vote for pail [the bucket you vomit into] mediocrity.
Ah yes, the “transitional” government.
Perhaps, it is the separation of the people, usually by force and violence, FROM the actual realization of genuine “governance” as an art form?
Government need not be about “control” and “favoring” elites. However, such understanding may only be embraced when it is understood that government is, legitimately, ONLY the servant of the needs and aspiratiuons of the people.
A truly enlightened humanity … will accept no less.
And that aspect of conscience is precisely what ALL of us are engaged upon manifesting.
As you know, SD, it is my contention that we have all been preparing for what we are now facing … for all of our lives, even if that is not yet fully understood or embraced.
BTW, you IS a major aspect of genuine hope, enlighthened reason, and compasionate humanity, here at FDL …
Just so you know.
Namaste
How are the Obots over at Kos & HuffPo taking this?
I have apparently [although not formally] been banned @ HuffPo. Last 6-8 comments I submitted never made it past the mods. I was critical of Obama, but not crazy. Oh well.
I’ve long been an advocate of worker-owned enterprise, which should work in any political economy.
Anarchism is very attractive, however, how do we do things like water treatment systems for our large urban areas? Can we have safe drinking water by committee? Are we not going to have those who would harm or steal from others? How do we deal with that? How would we negotiate trade with other countries if we’re not to be totally isolationist? These are some of the questions I have regarding anarchism in the 21st century.
I don’t have a clear cut solution. I’d like to start with worker owned enterprises with strict regulation on capital, eventually strangling corporate power. We have to have some medium of exchange and using precious metals as a basis as libertarians advocate is impractical.
It’ll have to happen organically. How? It’s up to us. But we know hierarchy can’t satisfy our needs.
Yes, control and elites. Isn’t that the essential problem? Why do we need either?
I hate someone that goes around smiling at you , then stabbed you in the back. This administration has made it plan over and over again that he does not like liberals and does not like liberal policies.He is center right at best. Primary, Primary , Primary….
*blush*
Go over to HuffPo and read the comments on this same story, albiet over there it’s a puff piece for Obama.
The Obamabot population is alive and well. Over there the comments run about 49% Tea Party attacks on Obama, 49% Obamabot defenses of Obama, and 2% critiques from the Left. Plus if you do critique him from the Left the Obamabots will accuse you of being a Tea Partier pretending to be a progressive, because “real” progressives support Obama because he’s done SO much good. They even have links to lists of his good deeds to convince us. (I guess they either have too short of memories to just list a few themselves or they are entrenched in letting some Obama surrogate do their thinking for them, so why list them themselves?)
The headline on the HuffPo story is all about Obama’s comments on the oil company tax break and corporate jet thing, with no mention of the Medicare sellout.
Go AlPo!
Good job.
If you made $100,000 a year for 40 years from ’71 till now your contribution would have only been $282,030.
That puts you in the “high wage earner” group. As a group, the “high wage earner” group tend to get back what they put in plus .54%.
Enjoy that extra half percent. You can see why “high wage earners” prefer some amount of privatizing of SS.
I think the nation-state is archaic. How long has it operated? Too long. Culture is wonderful, but nation-states are not. Do we need countries?
Water treatment? Federated councils is my stab at it, with recall-able reps who really represent the needs of the people.
There’s also the question of private property. Who would own the land food is grown on and how would harvests be allocated and distributed? The same goes for housing.
Why is a picture of Reagan even up in Obama’s White House? I thought each President chose which pictures of previous Presidents got displayed?
THIS is how the future is built; one considered, humane, and rational shared vision at a time, veganrevolution …
Yours + SD’s + selise’s + those of everyone else who truly cares AND spends the time and effort to manifest such understanding, by example, through patience, and with shared humanity.
Carry on, please
DW
When you start with representatives in any capacity the risk of capture by other interests rears its ugly head.
I agree. That’s why some people are talking about cutting benefits (catfood). The CBO projects that by 2036 the trust fund will be empty and payouts will drop down to what the payroll taxes bring in. About a 21% cut.
I personally prefer raising payroll taxes to cutting benefits, but that’s just me.
The land is “owned” by those unborn … seven generations away … just as many Native American peoples believed and practiced.
Who owns the universe and the means of supporting ansd sustaining life?
(How DARE they … presume?)
DW
You know when ever someone says, “We need a new party,” I always think, “We already have third parties, what is the good of one more?”
But I have now been thinking a bit and realized what we do need as far as a third party. We need a bunch of progressive Democrats in the Congress and in state governments to all at once leave the Democratic party and either form that new party or join one of the existing third parties.
I wonder if anyone is advocating for that? It would have to be all behind the scenes as far as who has agreed until enough were willing to join the exodus for it to be a significant political event that would change the system.
Huffpo
I rarely go there; only occasionally for Froomkin. I used to go there all the time and was signed up to her email list when she ran in the recall for gov. before there was even a Huffpo
But the deal is, the ads drove me crazy. They put the ads right in the text of the articles and that might not’ve been so bad, but they were flashing bright greens, and yellows, and pinks. So I stopped going there
I think I still have scars on my corneas from those ads
The Spanish Anarchists during the civil war had a novel approach. People were not forced to be part of a collective. One could either join one or live outside of the collective, with private property and land. They’d have a relationship with the collective–but would live individually. Different strokes for different folks.
It’s sad that the history of what the Spanish Anarchists accomplished has been wiped out of the history books. I bet very few PHd candidates have ever considered the topic for a thesis. But there are books out there explaining what they did. Murray Bookchin, for one.
Possibly, but that’s the risk you have to take. It’s really about a sea change in the way we think as humans. Maybe it’s too idealistic. But do we have a choice? Look at how bad things have gotten. Point is, the elites don’t want us to experiment! Food Not Bombs is attacked because the idea of Food Not Bombs (not what they do) is mortifying to the powers that be.
Naw. The GOP will early on annoint their heir apparant, Romney, just as they annointed the heir apparant in ’08, ’00, ’96, ’88, and ’80. The rest of the process in ’12 is just to figure out who the next heir apparant will be: Huntsman or Bachman or maybe Perry.
Palin has already been rejected by the establishment for anything more than a tool to rouse the rabble. Even if she’d have gotten to be VP that wouldn’t have made her the heir apparant anymore than it did Quayle.
True democracy is participatory … everything else is a cunningly contrived deceit, as you know … I would suggest that, in a society where the true “resource” is understood to be the free minds of people, that there will always be those who see and perceive the “need” and will happily develop the expertise to do all the many things which a viable society requires … including dealing with garbage.
Of course, those who do the most onerous and necessary tasks should be appropriately appreciated and valued.
A society which honors true freedom, allows the growth of understanding to foresee problems long before they become insurmountable or even threatening.
It is only societies at a remove from nature, and human nature, which is decent, by the way, that revell in war and destruction, both large and small, for such societies create social “disease” and, ultimately, universal disaster.
DW
No, not if he or she wants to remain viable in the Democratic Party. Obama owns the Democratic party.
Right on!!!!
Well said.
I wouldn’t be so sure that Obama will win against any of them. Romney or Huntsman would give him a run for his money. Their being Mormon would fade into insignificance if either one is nominated. Glenn Beck has already paved the way for the Christian religious right to rally behind a Mormon. All they’d need is Beck and Huckabee and a few televangelists hugging them and sending out orders to their flocks to fall in line.
I’m familiar with the Spanish anarchists. They did indeed make it work for them before being brutally repressed by Franco’s forces after the revolution.
http://struggle.ws/spaindx.html
Jane, what do you think of my idea of recruiting progressive Democrats to leave the party?
Yes, I agree. Organic evolution. I have some hope that when we reach the endpoint of this disaster an intellectual rebirth will occur. And perhaps it is already happening! People aren’t satisfied. I know I’m not. And that’s because our voices are not heard and that’s mainly because the State and those who represent it like Obama belittle and squash the intellectual energy of the People.
Having been associated with Food Not Bombs since 2002 I know what ya mean.
That was fantastical, SD. John Trudell has spoken to the heart of humanity, as did Crazy Horse.
Thank you.
I hope everyone here will reward themselves with a visit to that link.
DW
How can we sell the earth the people walk upon?
How can we sell the air?
He already did this with his health insurance “reform” bill. I’m sure it will happen again. Look on the bright side–I guess–people can finally bury the walking dead corpse of the Democratic Party and start something new.
It is already happening, veganrevolution.
That is why we are here.
Doing what we are doing.
Humanity is recognizing itself.
And humanity will like, indeed love, what it sees and understands.
The future and this time are ours.
It is a responsibility that must be embraced … as it is, for all hope and possibility are ours (collectively) if we may but find the heart and the soul to become what it is our purpose to become.
It is the price of sentiency … but also, the “reward”.
DW
Yes, totally agree it is a spiritual journey. That’s why anarchism is, to me, a form of religion. The Taoists created the idea initially, so it always originated from a spiritual perspective. Unfortunately, the Europeans turned it into a violent creed at some point–at least some of them, not all, but some–and that’s why it has been dismissed as terrorism.
Who owns the sky or the river or the joy of feeling the sun on our skin, or even, the mud between our toes?
Ah, SD, ’tis not just that we live on paradise, this Earth, which is just the necessary distance from a second-rate star that beams the spark that kindles life and consciousness.
It is so much more …
How lucky we are.
How fortunate.
And, possibly, appreciative of the magic of life.
It is said that we are spiritual beings having a human experience.
What more could we ask for, except insisting upon truth and justice?
DW
heh, if you should ever visit Caturday some Sunday you’ll find a verse from the Tao Te Ching at the end of each post. I’m up to verse 53.
The stooges in the corp-owned fascist media who think they are reporters actually believe this garbage. They spend all their time talking to each other and just swallow whole whatever point of view is the current “common wisdom” that gets fed to them. They are extremely unconscious and don’t seem to have the ability to do self examination. Thus they are totally unaware that what they think is the major “common wisdom” that they buy into is at odds with what they thought was the major “common wisdom” that they bought into before. Chuck Todd, I’m think of you, buddy.
What you describe is the truth as far as political power. But the actual population agrees with us on the issues.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The primary purpose of the plutocrats’ propaganda machine, AKA the media, is not to get the people to believe the propaganda. They couldn’t care less what the people think. The primary purpose of the plutcrats’ propaganda machine is to insulate Versailles from the people.
Thanks! Hey, and thanks for the thought provoking discussion.
I don’t agree that someone on the Left running against Obama would “push the Overton window to the Left.” Why? Because that person would be marginalized by the media and soley used by Obama to burnish his centrist credentials.
Obama loves to make a big deal about how he disses the Left. He did it today in the press conference, bragging how he’s so ready to give up stuff that Democrats want and that will make them unhappy. He’d love to have someone on the Left to attack. He’d become MORE Centrist.
That doesn’t mean I’m against primarying him. But the reason to primary him is to WIN, not to lose and move him to the Left. Kucinich and Dean did not move Kerry to the Left one iota.
The Overton window only works with a cooperative media, not a hostile one that marginalizes the messenger and dismisses the message.
So don’t be so quick to judge Grayson and Feingold. They may agree with me on the whole pushing him to the Left but agree with you they’d lose. So they may be figuring it will hurt the cause not help it.
No, any real challenge will need to come from outside the party.
I should have said Obama would become more centrist. For him to become more centrist would mean moving to the left. He’d definitely burnish his centrist credentials, but he’d actually become more to the right.
My pleasure. It’s been fun. Always looking for fresh thoughts and ideas.
Look, a crazy tea bagger will cause terrible things.
If we are convinced that Obama is a moderate Republican and having him is no different than a real moderate Republican and actually it’s better to have the moderate Republican so as things get worse the people will wake up to the folly of Republican policies, then we should work to get a moderate Republican nominated.
I know it sounds crazy. But maybe we should get some Romney buttons and primary or caucus for Romney? At least then we’d get a halfway sane Tyrion running things instead of an idiotic Joffrey.
“We need a new system (not Capitalism)”
I agree, but what? I favor ParEcon (some have called it the Economics of Star Trek) but the best we can probably hope for at this point is Capitalism heavily re-regulated and a reeducation of why Government is good and social programs are the expectations of civil society. The worst is our continuing slide in Fascism, then a breakup of government and a type of modern corpro-feudalism with the very few exploiting and buffering themelves on the rest. Real Hobsean times where “the life of man… solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
And the really sad thing is that Rayguns crusade against organized labor was set up by our hero Bobby Kennedy’s bashing of labor under JFK and before.
Sounds like anarchism to me. Or maybe not: http://www.anarkismo.net/article/13327
I can’t go along with that. We may feel good about the Wisconsin movement, but the truth is that the wingnuts are implementing all of their agenda in Wisconsin. They are winning. I’m not sure the cost is worth it to rally the people if the people rallied are stripped of all power.
None of these politicians have the character or empathy of Lord Tyrion and all the cruelty of na-King Jeffery. So, I would hope on that analogy.
I see it as keeping things “calm” while society keeps on eroding on the edges (which are now becoming mainstream). This will only acclimate more and more to their lot in life as they lose all memory of what this country was founded upon, and what they should expect as human beings from a civil society and of justice. I think the only chance we have now is a shock doctrine. To let as many people see just how shitty theMOTU’s real policies are toward all of us. The MOTU’s don’t want that, they know they may well lose their heads, literally. So a bromide like Obama is put in place, then let the anger of the people be put upon him, also further souring the concepts of liberalism (by relation ot Democrats, not that BO or Dems are liberal). In the meantime, another snake oil cure name Romney or Pawlenty is pushed into place. No, we need a real crazy assclown put in, if it is even possible. If it looks too dangerous to the MOTU’s, they will fix the election on a blatant level and dare anyone to challenge it.
We need to turn up the heat real fast, then the frogs (us) might jump out and save ourselves before we are cooked to death.
How about those analogies?
I don’t consider Obama either a massive failure or a mediocre.
He’s actually brilliant.
It’s just he’s brilliantly implementing an agenda that serves NeoLiberalism and Empire.
Exactly.
You’re onna roll with that one and cannot disagree. I, too, believe that Obama is quite smart. It’s just that his smartness quotient is being “spent” in favor of the Oligarchy, not the serfs. Nor is Obama spineless in the least. Obama has spine-aplenty, but he’s ram-rodding the agenda of the Kleptocracy, not the “average citizen.”
What a pisser of an election this is going to be in 2012.
Why were the Spanish Anarchists wiped out? Is it because their system could not survive the others? Whatever system comes into place, it’s nice to dream, but it must also be sustainable, survivable defensible, and livable for the people within. Think of animals in nature and what strategies and attributes they must evolve to survive and prosper. Economic/political systems are no different. One of the reasons America has been so prosperous in the world is it engages more of its people, allowed for lives worth living for and had methods in place to change the system peacefully from within and to make it difficult for kings and dynasties to arise. Of course it had location, resources, etc. and there was that matter of genocide of the natives… but most countries have something going on there at some point in their past, our is just more recent. Of course, much of the positive aspects that made our society so attractive and hopeful have now fallen away so we are seeing the end of this country and its ideas unless we find a way to pull it back and cut the Oligarchs off at the knees, or higher and bring the system/politicans back to being more responsive to the people.
Eh?
Obama’s merely a very clever and self-interested, calculating intellectual thug.
As are many of his henchmen (and women); consider Cass Sunstein … whom Obama would dearly love to appoint to SCOTUS, or Hillary Clinton who can barely contain herself at the mere thought of the prospect of obtaining the World Bank presidency
The real purpose of an Ivy League edumacation, these days, is to RULE the world and become as obscenely wealthy as possible, and, and as well to become powerful enough to suffer no consequence for engaging in as much destruction as possible, while droning on about “freedom, justice, and the Murkan way” of makin’ a killin’ while dressed in the most fashionable of emperor’s garb.
If this be brillance, then it bears a most striking resemblance to the previous “administration” … which has hardly ever been accused of “brilliance” …
In their deceit and lack of humanity, the last two administrations are virtually indistinguishable … one from the other.
Neoliberal thugs are still, simply, thugs, no matter how well-dressed or glib they may appear or sound to be.
The “educated” intellectual’s “burden” is no different from what was once considered the “white man’s burden” … and it reeks of precisely the same hubris and lack of humanity.
DW
It’s not dreaming. I can be a reality, and it did work. It’s up to people to decide to evolve. That’s why it’s a spiritual transformation we need, not so much political. We cannot survive under the current system. Capitalism is against nature. It cannot be reformed.
They were wiped out because they refused to go along with Franco’s fascism. The people of Catalonia were successful in establishing a community not dependent upon banks, politicians, etc, and Franco’s capitalist supporters and funders couldn’t live with that.
The “distinction”, SD, between “fascism” AND “capitalism” in Spain, at that time, is moot, at best …
Perhaps that is so, generally, and even here and now?
Ah, well …
DW
So the movement could not survive in the greater environment. Learn form the history. If you want to be liberal, progressive, starry eyed, whatever that is positive toward humans, toward mankind, you also need teeth. We need to hold to our better ideals and not let them slide while also taking a chunk out of the hides of the MOTU’s and their lackey servants, of which Obama appears to be one.
So your solution is… more of the same? LWLW, I don’t like my solution either, but short of revolution and who can say how that might go, a shock to the system my restart the beating heart of democracy and liberalism.
Medicare D: Fed G can’t entertain competitive bids on drugs
(Obama jolly happy, actually quite disinterested)
Is now you see it now you don’t health insurance (acquire a
health risk factor and get a choice of going naked or a premium
death spiral) fraud, class action firms?
When you can’t move from one state to another because the states regulate insurance cos separately and you have to get re-rated due to having
a risk factor, which will happen to all of you because you won’t be babies forever, is that interference with interstate commerce?
What about the health insurance cartel’s immunity from the anti-trust laws?
(Obama jolly happy, actually quite disinterested)
Those arrogant people kill thousands prematurely perennially.
Hardly worth getting upset about the wars. But just a smidgeon from
the defense budget would take you from teachers laid off in droves to
music class for everyone’s kids.
https://sites.google.com/site/evernewecon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHw8P8NnUvI
Enhance Mr. Obama’s brand? With whom would be the first question, why might be a good follow-up. He’s certainly not improving his reputation with Main Street Americans, let alone with liberals. His claim to be “centrist” is about as legitimate as Goldman Sachs claim that it has no idea how Wall Street and the real property market crashed.
I think President Obama’s pathetic lack of leadership is destroying the Democratic Party. He is driven by an obsessive/compulsive need to be loved by Republicans and his willingness to throw progressives and the the base of the Democratic Party under the bus at every opportunity. Where was Obama in Wisconsin and New Jersey? This is a game of chicken and unfortunately we all know Obama will blink. What a disappointment.
To me, Obama’s personal brand is zero. I intend to write Howard Dean’s name in the primary.
It’s a lot more than you’re implying. We are at a momentous stage in human history. I don’t think liberalism or whatever is going to stop the capitalists. We need to think out of the box, reject the system whole hog. I don’t think the nation-state set up as we’ve known it will survive either.
You just said a lot of nothing.
Participatory economics (parecon).
WHAT WE NEED TO GET RID OF IS HIS FUCKFACE
HE WILL BE THE MOST HATED MAN IN AMERICA BEFORE 2012 ROLL AROUND
HE’S LETTING THOSE RICH JEWS BUMP HIS HEAD
I AM AFRAID BECAUSE WE HAVE RAHM AND DICK DURBIN HERE SELLING US OUT IN ILLINOIS
I HATE THE FUCK OUT OF DICK DURBIN…HE ABOUT AS MUCH AS AN LIBERAL AS I AM A TEA-PARTIER
THESE ASSHOLES ARE GETTING PAID UNDER THE TABLE AND THEY ARE STEALING THE ELECTIONS OF AMERICA
RAHM DIDN’T WIN….HE CHEATED….AND THEY ARE GOING TO DO THE SAME FOR OBAMA…UNLESS MITT ROMNEY GET OUT THERE!!!
ROMNEY PLEASE BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF OBAMA….I CAN’T AFFORD HIS DEMOCRATIC VALUES…HELL I DID WAAAAAYYYYY BETTER UNDER BUSH!!1
Even though I don’t like him personally, I recommend what Michael Albert (and his partner, Robin Hahnel, on whom I have no personal opinion) advocates: participatory economics.
Heavily regulated capitalism, otherwise known as social democracy, would certainly be an improvement over capitalism. However, the only way to win social democracy is with an anti-capitalist movement. And, in my opinion, the only way to build an anti-capitalist movement in the United States is by building a pro-parecon one.
Same here.
I’m afraid such shock therapy might kill the patient.
It seems to me the logic is that since Obama is hurting things so much and thus there is no opposition to all this we might as well put in an extremist.
It seems to me we don’t have to go to the extremist, we can put in a Romney who will be almost the same as the second term of Obama and that will accomplish the same thing.
So here’s my plan. Support Romney in the primary. Then in the general support a real alternative, depriving the Democratic party of the support of the Left and make a lot of noise about that in the general.
Also, I think, because anarchists inherently cannot be part of any organized political system. Communists and fascists used them as tools against their enemies, and then wiped them out when they were of no further immediate use.
tsuki,
If you’re going to write in a name why Howard Dean? Why exchange one phony progressive for another one? Since you don’t have to limit yourself by who actually runs, due to you doing a write in, why not write in a real Leftist?
Don’t you realize the Howard Dean campaign was in part a way of diluting the progessive voice in ’04 from a candidate who actually organized votes against the war and was for universal single payer, while Dean was not for single payer and lied in debates that he was the only anti-war candidate while standing less than five feet from the man who led the fight in Congress to vote no? Then in the fight for the health care Dean lied on MSNBC saying single payer wasn’t universal health care and Obama’s plan was beter?
Sorry, I don’t trust the man.
Why not write in Cornell West? or Jane Hamsher? or Michael Moore? or Norm Chomsky? or Bernie Sanders?
The Greenwald on Obama and His Pundit Defenders, and Maddow feels the wrath of Obama fans.
Good example would be Emma Goldman.
No, I basically said the Spanish Anarchist could not survive because there system did not produce what was necessary within or/and without. It is not as rosey or romantic as you think. I also said, be liberal but be ready to fight. Does that help?
Romney is too smooth, like Obama. Romney would be just another Obama term with even shitter actions. No, if Romney is the Republican turd, then I will have to think long and hard about BO, perhaps hoping for another Supine court appointment or two (even Kagan, the mushy used car saleswomen is better than “the gang of 5″). However, if an assclown wins it, who will wreck things real fast, then I say go for it. The patient is alreaedy dead, it has just not completed its journey up the tunnel of light. Might be able to pull it back with sufficient shock.
As always, the final cast of vote will not occur until late next year.
Yep, that struck me too. A picture is worth 1000 words…..
Looks like Obama will beat both Bachmann and Rommey for the gop nomination. It will be hard for the Dem candidate to unseat a sitting President.
You know, I voted for Obama for one main reason–I didn’t think he would bomb Iran and because of it, captapult the world both into a depression and a near hot world war. Now I knew he was no peace candidate as his positions on the pentagon/military drew him out as wannabe militarist.
But my sense now is that Mitt is not crazy enough to bomb Iran. So for me, really no reason to vote Mitt or Mitt-lite. Same results but at least we aren’t engulfed in a near hot world war…you take what you can get. But I will stay through the primaries to vote against every Dem shill including Obama, and then change my registration.