Does anyone else feel like today was a good and important day for Obama and his presidency? A lot of things on his plate and he handled them all really well.
About The Author

BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
Well, this is what I expected him to do. And the right wing still hates him, and so do factions of the left. So net gain? I doubt it.
I think he’s handling this well. But I’m still waiting for him to bring the troops home from Iraq, never mind Afghanistan for the moment.
Still waiting for Guantanamo to close, although he has taken a few steps in that direction.
Still waiting for him to end the rendition policy so we can honestly say “we don’t torture.”
Still waiting for him to penalize Wall Street for their excesses we’ve all had to pay for, although as of this story, that may be in the works: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/obama-seeks-payback-with-special-wall-street-tax/a
rticle1431595/. I hope he has the balls to see that one through.
And I want to see some follow-up on this:
http://www.kmov.com/news/national/81523947.html
Somehow I can’t see Holder following through on this. But I desperately hope I’m wrong.
From everything I’ve seen, the Marc Rich pardon wasn’t an aberration, but standard operating procedure. Holder has found a way to avoid anything that would cause trouble for either the Bush Administration or corporations. He’s just a slave to whatever the immediate short-term goals of the adminstration are – no backbone, no principles – just a patsy.
Obama owed it to us to appoint a truly independent AG in light of the disastrous violations of the last 8 years. If I weren’t so mad about health insurance, that would be my biggest complaint.
Booman Tribune ~ Serious Question
Ahah – getting at whitey again are we? Someone call Hillary Rodham Clinton…
“…the right wing still hates him, and so do factions of the left.“
I am neither right wing nor part of any faction, and I don’t hate him, but I do realize that he is just another bloody American politician, so my expectations were never high, and have fallen over time.
“I’m still waiting for him to bring the troops home from Iraq“
Good luck with that. Recommend you do not hold your breath.
“never mind Afghanistan for the moment.“
Never mind Afghanistan for the foreseeable future.
“LStill waiting for Guantanamo to close…“
When Guantanamo closes there will still be lots of American hell holes all over the world. Bagram is expanding, and it’s not the only one.
“Still waiting for him to end the rendition policy so we can honestly say ‘we don’t torture.’” Good luck with that too. America has always tortured, and always will torture. The only real question is how brazenly it will do so.
The Islamofascists, however, do not torture. They don’t saw off the heads of infidels with dull blades.
Why aren’t you concerned about Islamofascists that would kill you or convert you?
If you believe that the U.S. is such a horrible nation, then why do you live here? Why don’t you move to some other nation that you feel has a more passive and cowardly policy?
Stop attacking the military that protects you! Stop attacking the nation that you have the freedom to speak in!
This is the greatest country in the world and we’re gonna lose it because of leftists like you!
“The greatest country in the world”, surely you jest. Islamofascists killing or converting me. Just how are they going to accomplish this? We are the nation with 10,000 nuclear devices and super fast delivery systems (ICBM’s). Yes, the military protects us but do they have to kill so many innocent people (including children) in the process? Why does anyone live in this horrible nation? Because by departing we abandon any chance of changing things. If we relinquish this nation to the super nationalists, I think we may doom not only the United States but the human species as well and humanity, imo, takes preference over any nation. How about it, Jennifer, do you subscribe to this radical notion of humanity over nationalism?
What about all the innocent people (including children) that are killed in the name of Allah? Those murders don’t count, I guess those murders don’t count.
Haven’t you read the statements coming out Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s mouth about wanting to drive the Jews into the sea? Why aren’t you concerned about that? Why don’t you blog about that? Don’t you care about that kind of hatred?
I do subscribe to the radical notion of humanity, and that’s why I want our nation to be a strong nation. We need to be strong so we can protect ourselves from evil people (i.e. terrorists whose main purpose is to kill).
I’m going to assume you were against the war in Iraq. While I will admit the whole going in there for weapons of mass destruction was a bit of dubious claim, Saddam Hussein killed
The Soviet Union killed over 50,000,000 people. China has murdered over a million people. Pol Pot in Cambodia murdered over 2 million people.
The Nazi murdered millions of people.
It is for these reasons that we should be a strong nation. While we may not be a perfect nation, we should be a strong nation. If we weren’t, who would have defeated Hitler?
So sometimes war can stop even more bloodshed. We can’t talk to bloodthirsty people and cross our fingers and hope they will change their ways. Sometimes we must use force to intimidate murderous regimes into submission.
When someone wants to kill, sometimes only a bullet can stop them.
The Islamofascists…
Yes, use right-wing talking points – that will get you far…
Stop attacking the nation that you have the freedom to speak in!
You have the freedom to speak – so shut up!
This is the greatest country in the world and we’re gonna lose it because of leftists like you!
American exceptionalism at its finest; move right along – nothing to see here. You (other) folks can walk the walk – leave it to America to talk the talk.
It’s not about me not wanting you to express your left wing talking points.
It’s one thing to be critical of the establishment, but what you don’t seem to realize is…YOU ARE THE ESTABLISHMENT NOW. Your man Obama is in the White House. He espouses your political viewpoint, does he not? Therefore you are right in line with the establishment. That’s totally edgy.
Please support
http://www.actblue.com/page/rebeccabellmetereau
for reasons
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2010/1001.blake.html
Eventually people will realized there is a BIG difference between spending your time governing, fixing and building and deciding, destroying and denying.
It takes a second to wreck it – it takes time to build.”
…Vice President Palin would have been doing today?
Yes.
I have to keep reminding myself how bad McCain would have been. It’s just that Obama had me hoping for greatness instead of lesser of evils.
I found my way to this site because I was so adamant about Obama being so much better than Hillary. Now, if I could snap my fingers and go back to January 2009 with President Hillary Clinton, I’d have to think long and hard.
I kn ow Obama has disappointed many, but what has Hillary achieved in the last 12 months to make you change your mind about her?
Obama has attempted to be a bipartisan incrementalist, but with the exception of Afghanistan he has at least inched the US forward in the right direction. Sometimes it takes quite a while to turn the ship of state around from going in the wrong direction, and in the interim you appear to be going nowhere.
But which of Obama’s recent actions -again excluding Afghanistan, although even here he has attempt to articulate limited goals and an exit strategy for the first time – would you account worse than Bush?Cheny or McCain/Palin?
It’s own those who bought the cool-aid of the Auydacity of hype who are disappointed. The USA hasn’t changed overnight. It is still an extremely militaristic imperial pwoer throwing its weight around. But would Bush have rejected the coup in Honduras or initiated a comprehensive program of aid for Haiti?
There have been significant turnarounds in policy that only the tone deaf could have missed. The question is how far in a progressive direction will Obama eventually go, congress permitting, and yes – progressive activists enabling…
Very much so.
From one of the DKos “bots”…I believe when it all shakes out, it will have been a good and important presidency.
“Does anyone else feel like today was a good and important day for Obama and his presidency?”
other than the clip I saw of him talking about the bank tax, what else happened of note?
I don’t like the White House push for the Senate health care bill’s funding mechanism.
It is absolutely clear that Obama is working according to the following premise:
a) Thou shall not disturb the top 2% of this nation*.
b) If you want to implement a plan, like health care, then you look to get money from within the other 98%.
Some (e.g. Booman, Ezra) argue that within the 98%, the Senate plan is progressive. And it is! But that’s only because the top 2% are out of consideration.
Republicans are no better, but I’m very unhappy to see Obama scept this two-tiered socioeconomic system.
* – an approximation for households making a million per year.
I think that you are partially right, but that’s because President Obama is a very smart and principled politician who realized that symbolic attacks on the too-powerful to beat don’t get where he wants to go. The top 2% are too strong to take on directly. The result would be defeat. I think a lot of “liberal” critics of Obama operate from a imaginary view of America as a nation ruled by laws and where the public institutions automatically operate in the public interest, and where the voters are well informed and understand how things work. All of those things are false. Obama has to tack back and forth in the gale of reactionary power.
rootless2: You write, “I think a lot of “liberal” critics of Obama operate from a imaginary view of America as a nation ruled by laws and where the public institutions automatically operate in the public interest, and where the voters are well informed and understand how things work.”
Why vote?
Because if you don’t have millions or control of corporations/organisations, its all you got.
because its a lever that works – although nowhere near as well as it should. Electing Obama saved us from a police state. It didn’t get us a progressive government, but, shit, I think avoiding President Palin dumping Inhofe chairing the senate environment panel makes a huge positive difference.
missed an “and”
I think avoiding President Palin and
dumping Inhofe chairing the senate environment
That’s because with all the fanfare around Obama being a new kind of politician, at the end of the day, he is just another flawed politician, just like all the rest of them.
Booman Tribune ~ Serious Question
Why not just say “like the rest of us?” It seems to me the flaws of the US system pretty accurately reflect the flaws of the US people – all consuming greed, stunning political naivety, a willingness to believe any claptrap provided it’s spouted in the name of Jesus, almost total ignorance of the outside world – including “Islamofascism” – which is largely a US creation – and a conceit that Americans are somehow morally superior to everyone else. The flaws you see are minor in comparison.
Excuse me but that’s fantasy. He’s not like “all the rest”. He’s not like Bush or Cheney or Inhofe or Delay. You may not care about the difference, but I do.
He is like Bush/Cheney. He ran on a no war campaign, yet just sent more troops to Afghanistan. I guess a Democrat war is morally superior to a Republican war.
War is war. We are living in a one party system.
They are deeply disappointed. And Jane Hamsher is complaining that Fox is not crediting FDL for their oppo “research”.
Feh.
Dear Jane will just have to learn the hard way that when it comes to right-wingers, there will be a lot of wham and bam without the thank you Ma’am
Lol, I posted that on my Facebook today. She’s still failing to realize that she’s being used as a tool by the right-wing. Not only did she make a brouhaha about nothing (imo), a false controversy as it were, but now the right-wing has taken it and run with it. Not just Fox, but Senators like Chuck Grassley are running to the rescue…and Dayen is freaking posting it.
I’m still waiting for my pony. < taps foot >
And what happened to the shelter dog…
Good day?
Corruption taints our lives. No resolution on Emanuel, no resolution on Gruber, torture unresolved. Earthquakes shake the earth, caused by people worshipping the devil long ago. Policies followed to make the light skinned and dark skinned happy. And then the crime of the century … a health care bill stripped of coordination with important bloggers. No single day can wash out such stains.
All leading us inexorably, indubitably, inevitably, unavoidably,
to
our
doom.
Good day?
I think not.
Is there some hope of his demise? That would make my day.
So the happiness of your day depends on someone’s destruction? You’re negative energy vibes will just turn back on you.
I am extremely proud of our President. He is writing an article for Newsweek about Haiti that will be on the newsstands Monday.
“He” probably being one of his writers. But good job, anyway.
Maybe, maybe not. It will probably be a combination. A lot of his speeches are written mostly by him…at least the major ones.
It was. But only because folks were able to see that he was actively engaged – in healthcare, in Haiti relief, in recovering TARP funds. He has moved from the laid back, bipartisan, backroom dealing, out-of-sight president on domestic affairs that frustrated people during the past year. On foreign affairs, he’s been pitch-perfect. On national security, he’s still clawing his way out of a mess with the military still testing his loyalty (how’s that for role reversal).
I agree. Obama’s administration is the most transparent, especially his numerous promises to televise health care reform legislation on C-SPAN. Does anybody here know what time the health care reform finalization will be on C-SPAN? I looked for it in my TV listings but couldn’t find it.
Who said anything about transparency. My comments were about visibility. There is a difference.
Congress was as transparent as any body that will grandstand before a camera can be. I actually saw them working in one committtee, negotiating, Republicans looking out for how the language of the legislation would get more money for their districts, you know the stuff you suspect goes on behind closed doors. That was the first day the cameras were on in any markup session. After that the markup sessions were indistinguishable from floor sessions. The first day or two were given to opening statements — to bore ordinary Americans enough to avoid the actual work sessions even if streamed.
Having transparency and getting anything done through the grandstanding is very difficult to achieve — even if politicians really wanted to.
And where the health care reform finalization is right now, you don’t want to want as they add more weird ingredients to the sausage.
But wait for the signing to be on C-SPAN. That’s one that will be scheduled.
Yes, our president kicks ass.
this is true, Booman.
However, for the nouveau progressives it will never be good enough or pure enough.
I like the bank tax idea. he should have said it yesterday when the CEO of Goldman and the other too big to fail bankers were on C-Span. I don’t like the idea of taxing the middle class for Healthcare reform.
I would say he had an even day on domestic front and good day concerning Hati.
Good day as president and Dad…..he went to Malia’s school for an hour this pm, too.
Why are we wasting our time puffing up lecherous George W. Obama when we should be aligning with the tea party patriots to elect President David Sirota?
My god! Now it all becomes clear.