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RedditAs we mark the first 100 days of his presidency, it is staggering to consider the enormous challenges President Obama inherited from his predecessor, arguably the worst President ever. Can the devastation wrought by an eight-year nightmare be sorted out in 100 Days? Of course it can't. That's why Obama himself talked about needing to measure his accomplishments not by the first 100 days, but by the first 1,000.
Yet as we near this iconic marker -- whether one is disappointed by some key appointments (read on), the size of the recovery bill, escalation in Afghanistan, the bank bailout plan or other issues -- this President must be given credit for hitting the ground running and confronting challenges head on. Brutal and fundamental fights still lie ahead -- on energy, healthcare, the budget, to name a few.
Obama understood the power -- both symbolic and real -- of swift, smart action, even within the first 100 hours of his inauguration. He pledged to close Guantanamo and the CIA black sites. He quickly passed a strong recovery bill -- even if it was smaller than it should have been; that bill and his proposed budget begin to lay out a new blueprint for economic recovery and reconstruction, and a break with ill-conceived dogma about deficit reduction that has defined and limited economic policy for thirty years. He repealed the global gag order, took steps to restore science to its proper place with regard to stem cell research and addressing climate change, and has embarked on a substantive transformation to a clean energy economy.
On diplomacy, Obama has shown a willingness to engage with countries that may have interests and ideas that diverge from those of the US. He's expressed support for a more central US role in global alliances, including a firm endorsement of the UN, and on recent trips to Europe and Latin America he's set a new tone of respect and listening. He's declared his commitment to nuclear abolition and, in doing so, has opened the door to a renewed and wiser nuclear non-proliferation framework. He has begun to reset the relationship with Russia, reexamining the folly of missile defense, putting NATO expansion on the back burner, and cooperating on regional diplomacy to stabilize Afghanistan. After years of failed policy toward Cuba, the Administration has created new possibilities for cooperation by lifting restrictions on Cuban Americans' visits to relatives and the amount of money they can send to them. Diplomatic overtures to Iran have also opened new windows of possibility. Obama has committed to withdrawing from Iraq on a faster timetable -- and we need to push him to adhere to his commitment to security through withdrawal. It's disappointing to see his support for increasing the defense budget with a new focus on counterinsurgency and low intensity conflict. But, in all, we see in Obama a sense of responsibility and a desire to reengage the world on new terms, following eight years of arrogance and swagger. We see the rough outline of an Obama Doctrine -- progressive realism -- a belief, as the President stated, that "we do our best to promote our ideals and our values by our example." What will be the real test, however, is the one Obama recently described at the Summit of the Americas, " The test for all of us is not simply words, but also deeds."
But there are two areas which I fear could endanger the Obama Presidency: military escalation in Afghanistan and the bank bailout. With the cratering economy, and most projections indicating double-digit unemployment through 2011, there is a sense that he has given with one hand through his recovery plan and budget proposal, but tied the other with a bank bailout that could undermine much of the good in his economic plan. The contrast between the treatment of the auto industry, where workers and managers and creditors and shareholders are taking the hits, and the bailout of banks is corrosive. The selection of the Summers/Geithner team was a huge missed opportunity and misstep. When more bonuses are paid out, and more self-dealing exposed, we may see more anger -- especially right wing populism. On Afghanistan, I am concerned that it will bleed us of the resources needed for economic recovery, further destabilize Pakistan, open a rift with our European allies, and negate the positive effects of withdrawing from Iraq on our image in the Muslim world.
Alternatively, there is reason for optimism. The President's commitment to pragmatism and experimentation suggests that -- if the bank bailout doesn't work, and he's confronted by mobilized citizens and thinkers who understand the endemic problems of the Summers/Geithner approach -- he may ultimately move to a Plan B or even a Team B in order to maintain his popularity and credibility, and keep his agenda alive.
We can also hope that hearings in Congress, and pressure from citizens who seek a non-military path to security in Afghanistan and Pakistan, will push the Administration to bear down on regional diplomacy, commonsense counter-terrorism measures, and targeted development aid as the most effective security policies to stabilize the region.
Other issues will measure not only Obama's fighting spirit, but whether this Congress has the spine to be a reform Congress, and whether progressives can mobilize to create space in a system hardwired to resist change.
Key challenges lie ahead. Healthcare will be a brutal battle, as will the energy and climate bill. The gloves are already off over the Employee Free Choice Act and we can't afford to lose that fight -- even if it means a compromise, but one that retains key elements of the bill. Will Obama stand for universal healthcare with an option for a public plan? Without that option, meaningful healthcare reform is in real trouble. On these issues and others, will the President temper one of his favorite phrases -- "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good" -- in order to push the limits of the possible? There is a fine line between necessary compromises in order to achieve profound change and watering down polices to appease for-profit special interests.
With regard to torture -- Obama took the much needed step of immediately renouncing it, ending its use, and releasing the memos. But we need to hold not only the architects of illegal activity responsible but also those who implemented it. Torture remains a sore on the body republic, and Congress needs to ensure accountability for the future of our democracy and our reputation in the eyes of the world.
But the defining political struggle ahead is the budget. President Obama knows that the right isn't going to give an inch, that members of his own party are turning tail and fixating on deficits instead of investment, and that some of the missteps of his own economic team have made the budget debate even more difficult. Progressives will need to confront lobbies mobilized to halt essential reforms. For better or worse, this President has shown himself as open to influence -- he's malleable -- and progressives need to keep that in mind as we fight for an agenda that is just, sustainable and real.
After 100 days, some important and worthy markers have been laid down by Obama. But the big battles lie ahead in the next 900. On Wednesday, The Nation will host a public forum in DC --Obama @ 100-- to assess the Administration's progress and the President's evolving relationship with progressives. Obama himself has called on citizens to believe in their ability to bring change to Washington. One way of doing that is to attend forums like ours -- forums that give voice to ideas that until now were barely heard in our downsized politics of excluded alternatives -- but with this President stand a fighting chance.
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Katrina vanden Heuvel
Thoughts on politics, current affairs, riffs and reflections on whats in the news and whats not--but should be.
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Interesting how the Right didn't even wait...already declaring Obama a "failed President" at 100 days, supported of course by loads of Rasmussen polls (not really so much OTHER polls...noticed that?)
And sadly, joined by a few "pure progressives" doing their Veruca Salt (no the Willy Wonka char, not the band) impression with a "I Want It Now!" rendition.
Patience apparently is a sorely lacking virtue these days. We've already got Sarah Palin and Ralph Nader waiting in the wings, ready to measure curtains in the Residence.
Posted by Mask at 04/22/2009 @ 11:56am
Looks like the Castro brothers were only pulling Obama's leg...they're not releasing any political prisoners. Oh well, back to the drawing board.
Posted by ACook at 04/22/2009 @ 12:10pm
people still don't get how deep a hole we have dug ourselves into.
cease digging.
Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/22/2009 @ 12:19pm
C+
Posted by frosty zoom at 04/22/2009 @ 1:32pm
Posted by ACook at 04/22/2009 @ 12:10pm
ACOOK, you buy anything from China?
Posted by Mask at 04/22/2009 @ 1:33pm
ACOOK, you buy anything from China?
Posted by Mask at 04/22/2009 @ 1:33pm
only cigars....
Posted by frosty zoom at 04/22/2009 @ 1:48pm
Afghanistan and the bank bailouts... These are the two biggest things Obama has decided on and I think he's wrong on both.
Good thing he campaigned on "hope" because that's really all his devout followers have.
Afghanistan military escalation and his deferral of our liberty to the Fed and IMF. Yep, great job so far Barak.
Isn't in wonderful have a "cool" President though?! [Swoon here]
Posted by freiheit1 at 04/22/2009 @ 1:51pm
This is about the most comprehensive summary of the agenda I have ever seen.
I think The Nation ought to buy space in every newspaper and news magazine in the U.S. to publish this op-ed, so all can see it.
If The Nation is not willing to do this, I think Conservatives should donate money to pay for it.
If the American people could see this instead of the picture of Obama that they see on the Nightly News, that would guarantee that no Democrat or even non-Conservative Republican would ever get elected to public office again.
Posted by sjchermak at 04/22/2009 @ 2:02pm
frei,
reagan lent out your liberty a long time ago.....
Posted by frosty zoom at 04/22/2009 @ 2:03pm
Posted by freiheit1 at 04/22/2009 @ 1:51pm
FREI, only 8 more months until the dollar collapses....just relax and breath deep the gathering gloom, huh?
(Ref: Posted by freiheit1 at 11/13/2008 @ 4:37pm)
Posted by Mask at 04/22/2009 @ 2:16pm
Comments on miscellaneous excerpts from Katrina vanden Heuvel's article about President Obama:
"....He pledged to close Guantanamo and the CIA black sites....."
Comment: And the terrorist darlings cheered.
".....took steps to restore science to its proper place with regard to stem cell research and addressing climate change...."
Comment: This happening while the adult stem cell research is showing a lot of promise and results, where the embroynic stem cells in controversy (that have showed no promise) will probably not be needed for research anyway, and where climate data is starting to trend towards the earth cooling down.
"......he's set a new tone of respect and listening....."
Comment: Listening to who? Obama is too busy apologizing for his own country to be listening to anybody.
".....lifting restrictions on Cuban Americans' visits to relatives ...."
Comment: Will the Cubans reciprocate by allowing Elian Gonzales to visit his relatives in America? I first figured no, but with Obama as President maybe Elian would be allowed to visit because the Cubans know that Obama would most likely make sure that Elian would be taken from America once again to communist Gulag.
"......as the President stated, that "we do our best to promote our ideals and our values by our example....."
Comment: In Obama's sentence above he doesn't necessarily mean American ideals and values in general, he means American lib's ideas and values.
=======
One thing that is encouraging here is that the author of this op-ed, Katrina vanden Heuvel is the same person who said she would "push back" against Karl Rove when they appeared on This Week together.....but he mopped the floor with her on the show, so maybe some of KVH's agenda won't see the light of day.
Posted by sjchermak at 04/22/2009 @ 2:17pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 04/22/2009 @ 2:03pm
No, it was Woodrow Wilson, Frosty, not Reagan.
Mask, your point isn't clear. Do you believe that the dollar is fundamentally sound, or are you just all warm and fuzzy being smug about pointing out I once said its collapse could occur in 2009?
Gathering gloom? How do you know I wouldn't profit enormously from a collapse of the dollar.
Thank you for continuously demonstrating how too clever people aren't necessarily very smart.
Posted by freiheit1 at 04/22/2009 @ 2:39pm
Posted by sjchermak at 04/22/2009 @ 2:17pm
Hey, SJ... another group of believers in "intensive interrogation" need your defense over at Eyal Press' post on "The Notion"....help 'em out, huh?
Posted by Mask at 04/22/2009 @ 2:56pm
Posted by freiheit1 at 04/22/2009 @ 2:39pm
Didn't realize you were HOPING for a collapsed dollar, FREI...just thought you were in RESE/PLUNGER mode. That's different, naturally.
Posted by Mask at 04/22/2009 @ 2:57pm
A Brief Open Letter to The Nation
I don't consider myself a cynic per se, but any bracingly honest assessment of our current state of affairs should at least "leave a mark" so to speak.
Even The Nation magazine (of which I am a firm fan) has in some respects let us down. The Nation is not a monolithic entity of course --nor do I think it ever should be-- but we've seen evidence of the split personality recently in the contrast of more "radical" contributors such as Jeremy Scahill, Naomi Klein, Chris Hedges, and many TomDispatches versus The Nation's rather unprincipled endorsement of Barack Obama for president.
I say unprincipled specifically in light of the fact that The Nation has made many pointed references over the years to a need to escape "horse race" politics -- that is, the politics of personality versus policies. Barack Obama was a poster child for horse race politics in many respects. His success was based primarily on his ability to "keep it vague" along with his meticulously cultivated "pristine" image.
At this stage I have mixed emotions on the subject of Barack Obama --the same mixed emotions that soured me on Obama during the early stages of his U.S. Senate tenure. Namely, he has long appeared to be too strongly under the sway of the finance sector.
At what looks to be perhaps the most critical juncture in a very long time for this nation, I dearly hope that The Nation, along with the broader nation, can find a way to apply much needed, well-aimed fire to the feet of our president.
Yes, Barack Obama has done and continues to do some very important and useful things, but let's not allow that --along with "Cheney-Bush fatigue"-- to blur the bigger picture.
We are in deep trouble here, and Barack Obama has yet to prove whose side he's on.
Posted by b_kool_66 at 04/22/2009 @ 3:13pm
Here's a pretty good short piece from Counterpunch that reflects some of my own feelings:
The Fatal Thread
By CHRIS FLOYD
With the release of the U.S. Senate's report on the Bush Administration torture program, it is now incontrovertibly clear and officially established by the highest, most respectable Establishment institutions that George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and a host of other top officials deliberately, willingly, and with malice aforethought, established a system of interrogation using brutal techniques that they knew were against the law. Hence the need for the torture memos that attempted to give retroactive legal cover for atrocities that were already taking place at the orders of the White House and the Pentagon. They were also told repeatedly that these tortures were ineffective at producing useful intelligence.
What's more, it is now undeniable that they began this program long before they had captured even one "high-profile al Qaeda detainee," and that they were using these heinous techniques not in a desperate bid to save the nation from further attacks which has long been their preening, self-serving claim but instead to produce spurious data about the non-existent link between Iraq and al Qaeda. In other words, George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld ordered their minions to beat and torment captives in order to get them to say something a anything that could then be used to "justify" a war of aggression that these grand statesmen had been planning long before the September 11 attacks.
Posted by b_kool_66 at 04/22/2009 @ 3:19pm
You cannot disentangle the torture program from the war of aggression in Iraq nor from the illegal wiretapping program, the corrupt war profiteering, and all the other degradations of liberty and law that have been so accelerated in the past eight years. They are all of a piece, part and parcel of a plan to expand and entrench America's "unipolar domination" of world affairs with a thoroughly militarized state led by an unaccountable, authoritarian "Unitary Executive."
This is one reason why Barack Obama is so obviously reluctant to tug on the torture thread too hard. If you tear it out, with full-scale prosecutions and top officials locked up behind bars, the whole rotten skein would fall apart. Once you start genuinely subjecting government officials including security apparatchiks and military brass to the full extent of the law, there would be no end to the unraveling: senators, contractors, representatives, bureaucrats, generals, lobbyists, judges, corporate chiefs the whole edifice of Establishment power would be shaken to the core as its leading lights went down, one after the other.
Thus the mere act of applying the ordinary, bourgeois laws of the land as they stand right now would constitute a world-shaking revolution, an overthrow of the existing order every bit as radical as any ideologue's dream of mass uprising. It would be, in effect, a re-founding of the Republic and the end of the empire, which cannot survive without continual war, lawless rule and endless corruption.
Posted by b_kool_66 at 04/22/2009 @ 3:19pm
And that's why we will not see Barack Obama follow such a course. He might, in the end, have to pull much harder on the torture thread than he wants to; as we noted yesterday, a few upper-level middlemen might have to be offered up as scapegoats to quell the PR tempest. But he has already demonstrated, over and over, that he has no intention or desire to unravel the skein of imperial power. Indeed, he is trying to strengthen that skein and bind it more tightly, as we have seen in his various court cases seeking to uphold or even expand authoritarian powers claimed by Bush, in his escalation of the Afghan war, in his continual expansion of attacks in Pakistan, in his servile coddling and protection of the CIA, and in his celebration of the "success" and "extraordinary achievement" of the war crime in Iraq.
Ironically, the torture issue that he is so desperately trying to shake off his hands is in fact the one opportunity for the historical greatness that Obama and his ardent fans obviously yearn for. It holds forth the best chance the last chance? for dismantling the imperial machine of brutality and corruption, and starting anew. But he would not be where he is today if he were the kind of man to see and seize such an opportunity.
He will let it go and all hope for change, for renewal, for a re-founded Republic, will go with it.
Source:
www.counterpunch.org/floyd04222009.html
Posted by b_kool_66 at 04/22/2009 @ 3:19pm
"whether one is disappointed by some key appointments (read on), the size of the recovery bill, escalation in Afghanistan, the bank bailout plan or other issues -- this President must be given credit"
Why does Obama get a free pass? Why must he still be given credit? All our money is being embezzled into the hands of the elite, the Banksters and Wall St. With Tim Geithner (Former president of the Not-So-federal reseerve) as our Treasury Secretary it is a complete hi-jacking of Our Government into the Hands of the PRIVATE "federal" reserve (oh, and there aren't any reserves left either).
Should we give Obama credit for sending in Drones to KILL Innocent civilians in Pakistan within his first two weeks in office?
Or should we give Obama credit for ordering the navy seal to "take-out" three 16 year old "pirates" - when if you dig a little deeper into this Pirate story you will see how Colonial Nations (UK & US) are the cause for the pirates in the first place.
And then you Obamabots call anyone that disagrees with Obama A Right-Wing Nut - WTF?! I am not a right winger, and I am not a Nut! Obama isn't doing anything good for this country, in fact to me he is no more than a George Bush the 3rd.
Get off this whole False Left/Right Paradigm and lets start ALL thinking like Americans, like this country is for ALL of us who live here, not just Liberal Nuts or Right Wing Nuts but for every nut out there!
visit my blog @ http://enemyartistkristofer.blogspot.com
Posted by kristofeR! at 04/22/2009 @ 3:22pm
KvH: "The gloves are already off over the Employee Free Choice Act and we can't afford to lose that fight....."
What this overall `Offering' by the Editor is , is a 100-Day Tribute to Magic and a booster shot for the Left.....like clicking the `Refresh/Reload' icon!
wrt EFCA......today in the WSJ, Thomas-was-wronged-by-Kansas-Frank opined "Card Check Is Dead". Lefties, your mission, should you accept, is to flood Mr. Frank's email box with messages of HOPE.....tell him that KvH sent you, HAPPILY......:)!
Posted by Happy at 04/22/2009 @ 3:24pm
Posted by kristofeR! at 04/22/2009 @ 3:22pm
He was doing okay...right upto the end when he just became another of the "Self Promoters" who show up here every so often! Geez, I hate that.
Posted by Mask at 04/22/2009 @ 3:42pm
Sorry, But I have a Job - I cannot just sit around commenting all day long.
And I am here at least once a day, thank you
Posted by kristofeR! at 04/22/2009 @ 3:49pm
We've already got Sarah Palin and Ralph Nader waiting in the wings, ready to measure curtains in the Residence.
Posted by Mask at 04/22/2009 @ 11:56am | ignore this person | warn this person
...and practicing fancy pageant walking.
Posted by schnellerheinz at 04/22/2009 @ 4:06pm
Let me bootstrap onto last week's column about the Georgetown speech. The President found the origin of the economic crisis in the housing bubble pumped up by improper lending. He found the solution in an attack "on many fronts". That raises the question of causation. If the bubble full of toxic mortgages which went pffft! is the cause of the problem, how will the problem be solved before handling that pneumatotoxicological thing? This brings me to the President's style of rhetoric, if not his reasoning. His five or six front attack reminded me of a lawyer making five or six arguments at appeal, each of which had different premises, so that each theory argued against the rest. "If you like any of them, please find for my client." Someone suggests that the President has, to use my analogy, two clients: "What the president pulled off was remarkable. He mobilized the resources and relationships of both tribes--the non-geographical networks of elite colleges, law schools, law firms, and the like, and the most efficient geographically grounded political machine left in the nation." That is Chicago. The question is, did they hire themselves a lawyer or a President? If he proceeds on six fronts at once, or fifteen--Secretary Clinton says Pakistan is "abdicating to the Taleban" and your Dreyfuss speaks of the most dangerous place on earth--in agreement with the FM of Israel, it appears--it seems likely he will advance on none of them. I often think this is what we elect a President to do: nothing.
Posted by chrisrushlau at 04/22/2009 @ 4:13pm
Posted by schnellerheinz at 04/22/2009 @ 4:06pm
Ugh...just got image of Ralph in ...
swimsuit competition!
Posted by Mask at 04/22/2009 @ 5:41pm
ACOOK, you buy anything from China?
Posted by Mask at 04/22/2009 @ 1:33pm
Have you?
Posted by ACook at 04/22/2009 @ 8:05pm
Posted by ACook at 04/22/2009 @ 8:05pm
Yes...and would buy from Cuba. I'm not a hypocrite.
Posted by Mask at 04/22/2009 @ 8:25pm
Posted by b_kool_66 at 04/22/2009 @ 3:13pm
I was going to post here, but you stole my fire. Well said. I'm on a roller coaster ride with Obama. Some days I approve of him and other days I'm so pissed off that I wanna puke.
I wish I could tell what side of the fence this guy hangs out in. I can say however that he seems to able to change his mind and modify his postion when pushed.
Like FDR said, "Make me do it".
I haven't lost "Hope" quite yet..
Posted by chaoszen at 04/22/2009 @ 11:50pm
If the American people could see this instead of the picture of Obama that they see on the Nightly News, that would guarantee that no Democrat or even non-Conservative Republican would ever get elected to public office again.
Posted by sjchermak at 04/22/2009 @ 2:02pm
Yeah because Bush's approval ratings shows that conservatives REALLY get it right when it comes to what the American people want.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/23/2009 @ 06:10am
Oh yeah and don't forget to look at who almost has a filibuster proof Congress.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/23/2009 @ 06:10am
snowball666,
You said ".....---- Yeah, like we NEVER had any reason to be embarrassed by your Nookyuhlar-pronouncing, German-Ass-Grabbie, Saudi PDA-flaunting putz failing to represent our ideas and values abroad......"
I have to admit I can't argue with you there! President Bush certainly did not represent (abroad or anywhere else) YOUR LIB ideas and values.
You said ".....--- Tell you what, let's make a bet...I'll pay you a dollar for every degree C it drops if you pay me $100 for each inch the ocean rises from here on out. Deal? ..."
What is this, snowball666? Is this really you making this post, or did you let Mask log on with your userid?
Posted by sjchermak at 04/23/2009 @ 07:27am
Posted by sjchermak at 04/23/2009 @ 07:27am
Hey, SJ...still waiting for you to show up on Eyal Press' thread at "The Notion"...
we need some defenders of torture and the Chinese Communists
Posted by Mask at 04/23/2009 @ 07:56am
BTW, off-topic, but funny-
http://politics.theatlantic.com /2009/04/ whos_more_popular_than_republicans_these_days.php
Apparently, the GOP is less popular than...
Venezuela!
LOL
Posted by Mask at 04/23/2009 @ 08:31am
snowball666,
Maybe you, Mask and Phil McCrevice are all the same person. Maybe all the lib bloggers here are one person.....it would be hard to believe that more than one person would believe a lot of this lib stuff.
Posted by sjchermak at 04/23/2009 @ 10:19am
I'd've gone all Pollock on the canvas long ago.
Posted by snowball666 at 04/23/2009 @ 10:35am
"gone all Pollock".........reminds me of the excellent "going Galt" article (Tom Blumer of PJM) I read earlier this morning. The article resonates w/me...and one poster's comments that caught my fancy, and I paste here:
(by) Kelly:
Most everything stated in this article hits right on target. As a small business owner with many years behind me I can say definitively that I made a conscious choiced to slow down when I saw that the POR regime was the most likely "winner" in the election.
Many non-business people seem to have a misconception about business. They need to learn that business is run by humans with emotional and intellectual agendas of their own. It's not all about facts and figures (money). It IS a great deal about personal desires and motivations. Many of us are smart enough to have saved and invested wisely during the previous 8-12 years and now, since the direction of the country is painfully clear, we are willing and able to wait it out for a few years. Our business knowledge, investments and profits can be put to use in other countries if we grow tired of waiting. It's a global world now and we have choices.
Posted by Happy at 04/23/2009 @ 11:25am
With the foreign relations abilities of a liberal indoctrinated highschool senior, and the naitivity of a jr.high schooler Pres. Obamanation that makes desolation has become the embarrassing apoligist for the imagined wrongs of the U.S.A. tinfoil hatted fools across the land. And for this KVH applaudes him!
He and the Demoncrats in congress pulling his puppet strings are set to administer the coup de gra to the American economy for decades to come. They have resurrected the nanny state and are now busy creating a larger ENSLAVED class of citizens totally dependent on them for all their needs and desirous of doing only thier bidding!
Oh yea, freedom, liberty, constitutional rule of law are ready for the royal Obamanation flush alright with the Demoncrats pulling the handle!
Posted by comancheamerican at 04/23/2009 @ 11:26am
How his next 900 are beter. This site gives an excellent analysis of Obama's first 100 days http://www.thebarackobamawatch.com/
Posted by nycusa055 at 04/23/2009 @ 11:28am
Posted by comancheamerican at 04/23/2009 @ 11:26am
So...what's your escape plan, RIO?
Posted by Mask at 04/23/2009 @ 11:32am
Posted by sjchermak at 04/23/2009 @ 10:19am
Okay...if there's only one of us....how did McCain lose???
Posted by Mask at 04/23/2009 @ 11:33am
Mask,
You ask ".....Okay...if there's only one of us....how did McCain lose???...."
Maybe it was because he said he thought global warming was a threat (I can't remember who told me that - was it you perhaps?) and so people realized there were no Conservatives running for President, and so if they had to pick between 2 liberals they might as well go for the more lib-lib.
It also may be because he and Sarah Palin did not switch places on the GOP ticket, something that has never been done before, but it would have been worth a try, in order to have a Conservative running for President and the less lib-lib as her VP running mate.
So there are 2 theories there, since you asked.
Posted by sjchermak at 04/23/2009 @ 12:15pm
100 down 1360 to go till he is out of office
Posted by abell12ct at 04/23/2009 @ 12:47pm
Posted by sjchermak at 04/23/2009 @ 12:15pm
Too bad the theory doesn't hold up given the RISE, not decline, in number of voters.
BTW, as far as "Future President Palin" goes.... you better read this-
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/
"Levi Johnston: I have a lawyer".
The adventures of the Wasillia Hillbillies continues...
Posted by Mask at 04/23/2009 @ 1:03pm
100 down 1360 to go till he is out of office
Posted by abell12ct at 04/23/2009 @ 12:47pm
Dont you mean, 100 down 2748 to go? Heheheh
Posted by Extraneous at 04/23/2009 @ 1:27pm
Mask,
I had 2 theories that didn't seem tied to the quantity of voters but then you say that my theory doesn't hold up because of the rise in the quantity of voters.
Mask, if you say so!
I guess that would be the same as saying there may be 40 days this summer where the temperature in Sacramento, California hits 90 degrees or more IF the city of Dayton, Ohio would hire 30 new police officers AND the New York Yankees are in first place in their division by the All-Star break.
Posted by sjchermak at 04/23/2009 @ 2:59pm
And to defend the last paragraph in my post above, that paragraph makes more sense than ANYTHING Phil McCrevice has ever posted in.
Posted by sjchermak at 04/23/2009 @ 3:00pm
"....arguably the worst President ever."
Or one of the best, depending on your value set.
But vanden Heuvel takes the position that all of this is the result of the actions of one incompetent President, who obviously had to be the greatest villian of all time, at least in her mind. (I wonder if she thought better of Ronald Reagan?)
How about we consider the idea that this is the result of a sudden realization in the financial world, beginning last spring, that the likely next president would be a Democrat? Compound that with the devastating revelation in July/August of the probably election of the most inexperienced of all possible candidates, who, after using his god-given talents to gain overwhelming popular support, continued to believe in and expound on an economic fantasy that, while appealing to the unwashed masses, was to an intelligent and logical investor, a recipe for catastrophe.
Lay the blame where it really belongs. With the victory of Democrat Party.
Posted by Elcobar at 04/23/2009 @ 3:06pm
"Levi Johnston: I have a lawyer".
The adventures of the Wasillia Hillbillies continues...
Posted by Mask at 04/23/2009 @ 1:03pm
But I miss Buddy Ebsen.
Posted by schnellerheinz at 04/23/2009 @ 3:17pm
ANYTHING Phil McCrevice has ever posted in.
Posted by sjchermak at 04/23/2009 @ 3:00pm | ignore this person | warn this person
I find Phil McCrevice immensely entertaining.
A blogging virtuoso.
Posted by schnellerheinz at 04/23/2009 @ 3:19pm
Posted by sjchermak at 04/23/2009 @ 2:59pm
No, it's merely as simple as...
there were more voters in 2008, so the myth of "Most people didn't turn out to vote for McCain because he wasn't a 'real' conservative"....is false.
More people voted for Obama than McCain and since it was UP from 2000 and 2004, there were no "missing conservative voters".
Posted by Mask at 04/23/2009 @ 3:30pm
Obama won because of......
Posted by snowball666 at 04/23/2009 @ 4:09pm
Two REAL reasons Magic won:
1) He's black and 2) He wasn't vetted enough by the MSM and got away with false advertising--particularly in the late stages when he moved definitively to the center and blurred the differences w/McCain.
Today, the MSM treats him w/kid gloves.....because he's (still) black.....and (still) a rock star.
Posted by Happy at 04/23/2009 @ 4:22pm
I am continually fascinated by the inability of people to distinguish between issues of vital interest to their country and those, even though significant, less critical to a nation's destiny. With regard to the former, those by which a society lives or dies - foreign policy, the economy, civil liberties and health care - Mr. Obama is nothing short of a progressive's nightmare, a Bush Lite. Despite a more tactful visage than Mr. Bush could muster, it is clear that Mr. Obama intends to maintain the American Empire using money better spent in other ways and over the bodies of countless innocent people, that he will continue to facilitate the redistribution of wealth upward from the poor and the middle class as he prostrates himself before America's corporate power elite, that he will at least maintain, if not expand, the ominous doctrine of the unitary executive and that, because he opposes a single payer system, will allow for-profit insurance companies to retain control of the (non)quality health care of American citizens. It is true Mr. Obama has espoused traditionally "liberal" positions on an array of social issues, but if he remains true to form (meaning long on empty rhetoric and short on decisive action), the actual implementation of social reform will be delayed or conveniently lost in the sufflle. Which raises the question of who is more dangerous: the politician whose policies you despise but are worn on his sleeve or the politician with similar policies hidden behind a cloak of false promises?
Posted by saroman at 04/23/2009 @ 4:36pm
1) He's black and 2) He wasn't vetted enough by the MSM and got away with false advertising--particularly in the late stages when he moved definitively to the center and blurred the differences w/McCain.
Today, the MSM treats him w/kid gloves.....because he's (still) black.....and (still) a rock star.
Posted by Happy at 04/23/2009 @ 4:22pm
Yeah of course. It's libs who think everyone is stupid, not you guys.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/23/2009 @ 4:59pm
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/23/2009 @ 4:59pm
Thanks! Glad that a black young man like you, know damn well that Obama couldn't have won if he is white!
Posted by Happy at 04/23/2009 @ 5:23pm
Hey Mask,
You have been promoting the theme how popular Obama and his administration are, gloating about polls, etc.
Don't count your chickens before they hatch. You may find that Obama's popularity is not as much as you think and the amount that is there is soft and may get softer as the Obama agenda unfolds.
Here are some blog entries from The National Post (a Canadian newspaper) regarding stupid remarks Obama's Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, made recently:
The border for dummies National Post editorial board National Post Published: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 http://www.nationalpost.com/ todays-paper/story_comments.html?id=1520295
debby936, 12:07 PM EDT · Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
I am so sorry that you have to be subjected to American politics at this time in history. Please know that 62 million Americans did not vote for this administration and Washington DC does not mirror the views and beliefs of America as a whole.
docfjs, 10:50 AM EDT · Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
Napolitano is an idiot and we in Arizona are glad to be rid of her. She and Obama are both clueless when it comes to terrorism and are even afraid to say the word. My sincere apologies to Canada. We will fix this mistake in four years.
fritz66, 02:35 PM EDT · Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
The 9/11 19 were invited into the States on approved visas, and if DHS thinks they came from Canada, well, they haven't done their research. If there is another attack on the great People of America, it will happen within it's borders again. To my American cousins, thank you for your kind words, and know it is appreciated. We hold no ill will with you, the real Americans.
Posted by sjchermak at 04/23/2009 @ 5:53pm
...know damn well that Obama couldn't have won if he is white!
Posted by Happy at 04/23/2009 @ 5:23pm
I dunno, following Dubya, I don't think a Dem with a pulse could have LOST.
Posted by schnellerheinz at 04/23/2009 @ 5:59pm
Posted by sjchermak at 04/23/2009 @ 5:53pm
SJ, you DO know that the National Post is the Canadian versiof the Weekly Standard at best...World Net Daily at worst?
And printed phoney stories about Iran forcing Jews to wear yellow stars? Phoney...as in false?
Posted by Mask at 04/23/2009 @ 7:20pm
BTW, taking off a few days....
so SJCHER gets a vacation.
LOL
Posted by Mask at 04/23/2009 @ 7:22pm
No,
I don't necessarily go on vacation when you do.... ...actually it will not be good with you on vacation because your postings are from a lib who also has a mission to be a pest, on purpose, and those can be amusing and a break from some of the other libs on this site.
For example, on another thread right now there is a article about the Mideast situation again, and when I saw it earlier today I thought, here goes, syfriendly the anti-Semite will be posting in soon......and sure enough I checked there before coming to this thread and syfriendly the anti-Semite has now posted some venom.
Given a choice between your nonsense and the venom from syfriendly the anti-Semite, I will take your posts any day....... and I believe I have noticed you taking on and arguing with syfriendly the anti-Semite, too.
So hurry back, Mask.
Posted by sjchermak at 04/23/2009 @ 7:54pm
Posted by saroman@4/23/2009@4:36pm
Saroman (kinda creepy name for us Tolkien fans)has made a pretty good point here. However, under alot of the politico-progressive radar, Obama seems to be committed to meaningful environmental action. And folks, if the global warming coupled with environmental degradation spirals out of control, the rest of these debates will be meaningless (at least from the point of view that we, like mosquitoes, exist to propagate our genes into the future). OK, that sounded awful. Too much sherry. Snowball666 you rocked on this thread.
Posted by cdlepthien at 04/23/2009 @ 9:11pm
snowball666,
Maybe you, Mask and Phil McCrevice are all the same person. Maybe all the lib bloggers here are one person.....it would be hard to believe that more than one person would believe a lot of this lib stuff.
Posted by sjchermak at 04/23/2009 @ 10:19am
Au contraire, SJ, au contraire.
Posted by schnellerheinz at 04/23/2009 @ 9:27pm
Like what exactly?
Posted by snowball666 at 04/23/2009 @ 6:38pm
Like his days at Harvard.....beginning w/how he got in. Yes, he admitted to having benefited from AA but lo and behold, NO ONE pursued or leaked any details. Of course, this also meant no probing into just how `smart' or `qualified' BHO was.
Why no one sought to quantify his smarts? What's his IQ? GPA? Why no probes of his lack of ANY writings for the Harvard Law Review? Why no probes of his being a Lecturer at the UofC w/out any qualifications other than a law degree? Why was it mostly the Conservatives (but just barely by the MSM) that were digging into HusseinO's very strong ties w/Bill Ayers? Why the correct label of the `Most Liberal Senator' was not applied to him by the MSM? Why no major stories, other than in the Con blogs, of how Obama `won' his elections by running unopposed by disqualifying his opponent?
None of these questions I posed, were dealt with by ANY of the Old Media.....and why? The MSM wanted a clean and articulate black MAN as the POTUS....they didn't want Hillary who was "likable enough" only to BHO, and only in a speech.
BTW, unlike most, I don't buy into the mantra Magic is all that smart. Certainly he is above average.....but that's not a tough hurdle. His not throwing Rev. Wright under the bus immediately (when "God bleep America" was all over the airwaves) told me all I needed to know.
He owes his Presidency to early support by Oprah and the Kennedys and HRC's not defending the caucus states....all of which boils down to the simple biological fact he is/looks black (really Half-and-Half but due to Kenyan blood, he looks far more black than white).
Posted by Happy at 04/23/2009 @ 9:58pm
"Like his days at Harvard.....beginning w/how he got in. Yes, he admitted to having benefited from AA but lo and behold, NO ONE pursued or leaked any details. Of course, this also meant no probing into just how `smart' or `qualified' BHO was."
He actually never "admitted" to it. He said it is possible that I COULD have but I don't know.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/23/2009 @ 10:15pm
"Why was it mostly the Conservatives (but just barely by the MSM) that were digging into HusseinO's very strong ties w/Bill Ayers?"
Because it didn't matter it was just conservatives trying to take his political credibility and not actually pushing things that matter?
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/23/2009 @ 10:16pm
"His not throwing Rev. Wright under the bus immediately (when "God bleep America" was all over the airwaves) told me all I needed to know. "
You mean that he has integrity and sticks by the people he knows instead of just doing things out of political convenience? I guess that's for conservatives like you Happy.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/23/2009 @ 10:17pm
He owes his Presidency to early support by Oprah and the Kennedys and HRC's not defending the caucus states....all of which boils down to the simple biological fact he is/looks black (really Half-and-Half but due to Kenyan blood, he looks far more black than white).
Posted by Happy at 04/23/2009 @ 9:58pm
No he owes his Presidency to people constantly underestimating how smart he was and trying to play the same old same old strategies against a slightly newer model politician.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/23/2009 @ 10:18pm
Posted by Happy at 04/23/2009 @ 9:58pm
You obviously are entranced into hating Obama no matter what he does. You can repeat that he only won because he is black all you want if that makes you feel better Happy. Point is he won fair and square and you are stuck with him for 4 years just like we were stuck with Bush after a DUBIOUS win at best. Suck it up and stop complaining because you lost. And stop drinking that Kool Aid it has made you lose your mind Happy.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/23/2009 @ 10:20pm
Why has the Nation not covered the corporate take over of all US food, seed and farmland that the "food safety" bills entail?
Potential stories:
1. That all this was meant to be done while people were distracted by the bailout so those bills would sail through unnoticed but a few farmers and others managed to reach the public to warn them.
2. That these bills are more unconstitutional and all inclusive than the Patriot Act and affect every one of us who "hold" food.
3. That the bills are a take over of the US food supply and all seed. See "2009 Food Safety Bill ..." by Nicole-Johnson at Oped News (It's the Kissinger plan to control food, control people and it is already occurring in other countries - the shock is that they would do it to us).
4. That the left has been so blind sided it is attacking its own in bringing the message, on behalf of corporations who wrote the bills. See "Are Progressives Being Duped ... ?" by Rob Kall at Oped News
5. That the bills make the Patriot Act look benign by comparison, could be used to crush dissent without citing a political act - simple non-compliance with food safety could mean long prison terms applied by MONSANTO ...with no judicial review.
(2) LIMITATION ON REVIEW- In a civil action under paragraph (1), the validity and appropriateness of the order of the Administrator assessing the civil penalty shall not be subject to judicial review.
(f) Discretion of the Administrator To Prosecute- Nothing in this Act requires the Administrator to report for prosecution, or for the commencement of an action, ...
(g) Remedies Not Exclusive- The remedies provided in this section are in addition to, and not exclusive of, other remedies that may be available. See more at "Food Safety crimes and you" at yupfarming:
Posted by Yupfarming at 04/24/2009 @ 09:59am
The best way to eliminate terrorism is to downsize poverty. If people are happy with their lives, devoid of want and scarcity, then they're less likely to feel oppressed, and the vocal minority that advocates violent tactics will fall out of favor.
The Borgen Project (www.borgenproject.org) has some interesting insight into addressing the issues of global poverty, something we can remedy easily and sustainably.
Some interesting figures to ponder: $30 billion USD: The annual shortfall to end global poverty. $550 billion USD: The annual US defense budget.
Posted by MotivatedCitizen at 04/24/2009 @ 1:50pm
From The Weekly Standard:
The Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel Gives Credit to Tea Partiers
In a shocking turn of events, The Nation magazine's liberal editor has joined nefarious corporate backers and Fox News' dishonest trumpeters in giving credence to the utterly inauthentic, "Astroturf" Tax Day Tea Parties....around the country.
At the Nation's assessment of Obama's first 100 days, held at the Washington Hilton Wednesday,....vanden Heuvel.....gave a nod to the idea that the media....unduly promoted the events, but added this:
"I think we need to think hard about these tea parties. You had people in the streets. You had thousands of people in the streets."
She likened these "glimpses of discontent" to the "politics on the street" of another economic downturn-- the Great Depression......as she told progressive activists,......that they still have to "find sources of power outside Washington to bring to bear on Washington," implying that the tea parties had done just that.
(John) Nichols echoed her muted concern later in the panel as he voiced annoyance that "conservatives are now considered the populists," and editorial board member Deepak Bhargava went farther in his assessment of the progressive posture in the age of Obama power:
"I think we have an organizing problem... We will get exactly what we organize for and not an iota more," he said, decrying both the tendency to act as cheerleaders for Obama or to make the progressively perfect the enemy of Obama's good.
if even Nation editors are conceding the basic authenticity and potential power of the tea parties, and using them to remind progressives of their responsibility to organize effectively, isn't the case closed on whether the movement matters?
Posted by Mary Katharine Ham on April 24, 2009 01:10 PM
Posted by Happy at 04/24/2009 @ 5:28pm
I know this: nothing about Obama's race made me vote against McCain/Palin.
Posted by snowball666 at 04/23/2009 @ 11:21pm
Precisely. I voted for him.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/24/2009 @ 7:08pm
A REALISTIC RECIPE FOR CHANGE IN WASHINGTON
Consider this: If principled progressives supported the Greens, and principled conservatives the Libertarians, we could change things. Here's how.
The two parties agree upon a common agenda, whilst agreeing to disagree on other issues. Agree not to compete, whereby Greens run against undesirable (i.e., the vast majority of) incumbent Democrats and Libertarians against incumbent Republicans in the 2010 House races.
It would take a lot of grassroots support to overcome the tremendous financial advantages of incumbency, but it could be done. If all of the rapidly increasing numbers of disaffected voters turned out, many seats could be won; remember, in a 3 way race it takes only a plurality.
If the new coalition got enough seats to deny either of the two major parties a majority, it would have tremendous influence.
Best to focus on the House, because only a third of the Senate seats would be on the ballot, but even there 9 or 10 seats taken from the Democrats could deny them a majority.
It's better than the crazy ideas in the air of armed rebellion, riots and nationwide strikes.
Posted by DrBrian at 04/24/2009 @ 11:32pm
Obama taught me that politics and politicians are owned by the rich. The REAL differences in Obama and Bush are tiny, their skin tone being the biggest.
The top 1% create diversions like gay marriage, abortion, and other insignificant quarrels while they rape and pillage unencumbered.
Wars are profitable for the rich. Is Obama going to stop them? HHEELLL NO. Patriot Act, it's only going to become more intrusive.
The change we need is not coming from either party. The rich, the Democrats, and the Republicans are one in the same. It's been that way since the late 19th century.
Posted by bleedingheart at 04/25/2009 @ 05:33am
Suave Katrina, in these times of peril Obama scrapes the bottom of the barrel
Posted by chinpoko at 04/25/2009 @ 5:09pm
Posted by DrBrian at 04/24/2009 @ 11:32pm | ignore this person | warn this person
thass a whole lotta IFs, doc. get real.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/25/2009 @ 7:04pm
The best way to eliminate terrorism is to downsize poverty.
this is good but it doesn't go far enough. many suicide bombers come from prosperous middle class families, and have had extensive education.
what counts more than even poverty is having some control over one's political situation. that is where the third world peoples have been given short shrift. especially in the mid east, they have not been in control of their destiny.
one salient point of "the eastern question" is that the big decisions were and are made by the western powers, France and Britain before, the US now.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/25/2009 @ 7:10pm
I'm thinking the stock market just bumping along a decent bottom... Keeps purging the poisons, keeps attracting the more stable medium/long term investors, and overall is less mushy, spooky than I thought it'd at this stage. Expected this same time next year. So we'll see. Glad we got out, wished we gotten back in.
I too second guess the massive $ dumped on the crooks, and I do think it's basically an understandable error given the timing and prevalent views of doing less. I really hope we move on the precursor to single payer. That'll be such a palpable, on the ground positive. Happ, LV, etc., are signed sealed delivered dreamers for the Ayn Rand fantasy. Read about her own fantasy by the way. She was a great artist, in terms of painting the literary superhero, precursor of Bruce Willis and Schwarznegger celluloid. And because she was so great with words/images, the libertarians can't see reality for the fog of their grandiosity. Anyway, no amount of reality day in and day out on the world and politics alters a smidgen their canned hate retorts... They're marginalized and hell we need them anyway. Bile has an important role in the overall body politic.
Posted by winyahn at 04/26/2009 @ 9:51pm
Ayn Rand? high school seniors, college sophomores at best. not a good writer.
Posted by emile duBois at 04/26/2009 @ 10:53pm