I mean, yeah, you have the high ground, but what are you going to do with it?
Not even 24 hours after President Obama met with senior Republican Congressional leaders and expressed hopes for a “new dialogue,” renewed partisan fury engulfed the Senate on Wednesday, as Republicans threatened to block any legislation until a deal is reached to extend the expiring Bush-era tax cuts, potentially derailing the Democrats’ busy end-of-year agenda.
The blunt threat was made in a letter to the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, and signed by all 42 Senate Republicans. And it was reiterated by the Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, in a speech in which he accused Democratic leaders and Mr. Obama of ignoring the midterm election results.
This is exactly what I and every other blogger in the universe predicted would happen. So, why invite the Republicans to the White House when you know that they’re going to turn around in less than 24 hours and put a gun to your head?
It’s a waste of time. It gives a false sense of hope to people that the two parties can work together. And it makes the president look stupid. So, let’s not play this game anymore. The president reached out his hand and McConnell slapped it away. Now it’s time to go to war.
Almost a year and a half too late, and that’s assuming he will follow your advice. I was under the assumption that after the stimulus debate, Obama would have learned. I sure as shit did. Not that contemporary Republicans should be given the benefit of the doubt, but I thought that Obama was using the stimulus as a lesson: Republicans won’t ever vote for my shit, ever, and they will punish those who do.
I was wrong; he kept going every fucking time. Even Ezra Klein is saying it.
According to Howard Fineman, the deal has been cut already. Extend all tax cuts for everyone for 2-3 years. No mention on what the dems got in return. Nothing I suspect.
So we can all move along. Nothing to see here.
Is Obama proud of the result of his toadying? Well, he must be otherwise he’d be acting differently. This will happen over and over again. In fact it already has. This is who Obama is. I leave it to others to fill in the definition. I don’t want to waste my time anymore. Interestingly the name Obama hasn’t even made it into the spellcheck yet. So it won’t need to be deleted in 2012.
Boo:
So when is your flipping point? Even Ezra Klein and Kevin Drum are questioning what is going on in the WH. So even some of the relentless cheerleaders are giving up. That’s not good.
Agreed. Booman, its looking very unlikely that Obama is going to fight this, or stop reaching out to the GOP in pathetic hopes of bipartisanship. So I read your posts and I’m kind of scratching my head- what happens when Obama doesn’t follow your advice?
For me, its really academic- one can argue (ala Matt Stoller) that (1) Obama deep down is center-right and really believes that freezing salaries for middle class federal workers is a good idea, or (2) perhaps most generously, he thinks fighting the GOP and transforming the Dems into a parliamentary party as well (see the Balkin article that’s been getting a lot of traction as of late) will basically lead to govt shutdown at best, and a constitutional crisis at worst, so best to play along or else the world really will end. What’s becoming clear though is that Obama really doesn’t have the stomach to fight politically- to find ways to divide the GOP caucus, to turn the public against the GOP obstruction, to show the public that the GOP only cares about the rich. And sadly, this would make Obama the Carter of my generation. A smart guy with good intentions who didn’t have the political chops to deal with the latest mutations of the GOP and conservative movements.
Ezra Klein and Kevin Drum?! You people really do have an exagerrated sense of self-importance. Maybe 5,000 Americans out of 300 million know who they are, so that should answer your question why the WH doesn’t give a fuck about them or any left blogger.
Well, that and all of the 2008 Obama voters who didn’t show up at the polls in 2010. A real press – which left bloggers are and the MSM are not – expresses the interests of voters who have lives outside of politics. They may not know Drum or Klein – Booman or Digby by name, but a lot more than 5,000 think and feel the way they do. Whomever the White House gives a fuck about now certainly isn’t doing it much good.
whenever i read comments about the 2008 voters who didn’t show up, I’m reminded of this exchange:
Luam was a delegate for Obama.
Yeah. Just worked an election in a district where OFA was allegedly funded and active. I saw one volunteer make a day’s worth of phone calls. African-American turnout was about 17%. Student turnout was almost non-existent.
Those are the two constituencies Obama brought to the polls for the first time in large numbers in 2008. I am in agreement with Booman’s point that African-Americans are the real numbers among progressives, and not a big fan of the DCCC/Clinton/Shrum approach of spending huge amounts of media money on the 5% in the mushy middle, and only then in “battleground states.”
I sure hope the OFA approach works long-term, because it didn’t do much that I saw in 2010.
“I am in agreement with Booman’s point that African-Americans are the real numbers among progressives…”
but only 17% turned out where you were volunteering?
that’s not exactly enthusiasm.
Do you watch the news at night? I hate those Bobbleheads as much as the next guy, but mid term voters are they type that watch that dreck. And what do they see? It’s not good. And Obama doesn’t even take asses like Williams to task when he propagates falsehoods.
If only Obama talked like Alan Grayson he’d be sure to win because all the voters are just fucking waiting for that kind of rhetoric.
The thing is, both those guys are super dishwater-types, not bomb throwers. Ezra bends over backwards for the GOP (look how he treated Paul Ryan) and Drum is a technocratic through and through. If these guys are at the breaking point then every single activist who is paying attention (that is the Dem footsoldiers) has to be near that too.
Continuing on in this manner very well could collapse the party. This is the first time since 2007 that this has made me question whether or not Clinton would have been the better choice.
I’m way down that road. She has 4x the balls that Obama has. He is a total eunuch.
I really can’t believe what I’m seeing. His only response to this hostage-taking?
Mr. Obama tried to put a positive spin on the day’s developments, saying he did not think Mr. McConnell’s threat broke the spirit of bipartisanship that the president expressed after his meeting with Republican Congressional leaders on Tuesday.
“Nobody wants to see taxes on middle-class families go up starting Jan. 1, and so there’s going to be some lingering politics that have to work themselves out in all the caucuses, Democrat and Republican,” Mr. Obama said. “But at the end of the day, I think that people of good will can come together.”
He is a very intelligent man. How can he say things that are so obviously untrue on their face– this doesn’t break the “spirit of bipartisanship”? I’m really discouraged. He gave them federal pay freezes for nothing.
The answer is here, that the other side is not composed of people of good will. The day I see Obama call anyone out for this will be a good day. But I’m not holding my breath. Right now the man looks like a fool. Yuck.
-snicker-. “time to go to war”.
yeah, like THAT’S gonna happen. Like Jan says, the fix is in.
On a not-as-unrelated-as-you-might-think note, Wikileaksvia mother jones:
what was that you were saying the other day, about having “a shred of faith left in any part of our government”? Why would you have any faith that Obama, having tipped his hand again and again, would be prepared to “go to war” with the Republicans over anything?
That one was pretty interesting. The Spaniards are pissed and rightly so.
What would anyone have Obama say or do in public? Should he be pissed off, the “ANGRY BLACK MAN”? They’re just waiting for him to do that. I’m sure they are armed to the teeth to attack on that front. Don’t you think?
He has to be Jackie Robinson at all times. He has to suck it all up. And we should admire him for that, not attack him. By attacking him we add to the attacks from the right, creating a bigger bind for him.
And where are the other heavy lifters for the Dems? Why not attack the Republicans instead of Obama? They were the ones who walked into Tuesday’s meeting with a plan to roll out this letter on Wednesday. Such duplicity! And how the hell does McConnell get all his cats rounded up to sign that thing? Collins, Snowe, Lugar? What are they so afraid of that they are now willing to sign on to blackmail (not that it’s any different than what they have been doing for years, as Rachel Maddow pointed out last night).
So who of the Dems makes a press conference to call out the Republicans? NO ONE.
I’m sympathetic to this argument, and its no doubt one that Obama’s political advisors give a lot of weight. But our politicians are supposed to be crafty, wily, resourceful sons of bit&^$s. Obama took down Clinton, went from being a complete and total nobody in 2000 to President in 2008- he has to have some skills, right? Is he really less politically savvy than Eric Cantor and John Boehner? Really? Time to get to work man, put on your thinking cap and put together a plan. There’s nobody who is more willing to fight to help you execute the plan than the netroots- just let us know and we’ll fight. In the absence of a plan, though, people get restless and will question their leader.
It’s called having proxies get frothing mad on TV and then issue statements that the White House stands by their statements. THEN Obama can be the above the fray statesman he so clearly wants to be.
They’re smart enought to know this, too. The oonly clear conclusion at the moment is that they don’t want to win.
And Biden is useless as a surrogate.
Biden does whatever Obama tells him to. Same with Hillary, Holder and the rest of his cabinet.
The only shining star is Elizabeth Warren. But she won’t last very long. She’s too good and actually cares about the crisis we are in.
Of course he does, hence my choice of the word surrogate. My point is that the VP could be out and about making statements that support and/or reinforce the goals of the administration. (see Dick Cheney) But unfortunately, Biden remains mostly unseen, for whatever reasons.
and that’s really sad. if there’s anyone in the administration that actually sounds like a normal human being, it’s Joe Biden. the guy likes to talk, he’s got sharp elbows, he knows how to make a joke, and he’s got a common touch.
YES. And he is not the only person in the world like this. The fact that there are not more people like this working at the White House and going out and making the case says quite clearly that it is not what they want to do.
Are you really that clueless? Michael Corleone and Hyman Roth were enemies, yet did Corleone ever raise his voice in Roth presence? Of course not, yet Corleone ultimately prevailed, didn’t he? The point being there are many ways Obama could take on the Pukes, which don’t involve going all Malcolm X on those assholes, and he’s not doing it. The whole “angry black man” nonsense is a red herring.
That movie is fiction. Just for your information. I love how many Americans base their ideas for politics on how their idea of how Michael Corleone or John Wayne’s or Clint Eastwood’s characters would have acted.
You obviously miss my real point. The point being that DC Democratic “strategists” suck donkey balls. When presented with obstacles, what does Obama do? For a supposedly good poker player, he hasn’t played it very well since becoming President. How many more times is he going to allow the Pukes to use him as a punching bag?
You miss my point – which is that people who cite fictional mafia kingpin characters as models for how to conduct negotiations have essentially declared themselves to be ridiculous.
That be as it may, it is a principle of negotiation that when someone bargains in bad faith that you leave the table until they are ready to bargain in good faith.
And you use what political levers you have to pressure them into good faith bargaining.
Do you leave the table? I’m not enthralled by the Obama team’s strategies – although unlike all the wizards on line I am not privy to what pressures may be on them – but I don’t think an argument built on “the guy in this movie I saw who was BAAAAADASSS did it this way” is really worth all that much.
But when the consequence of leaving the table is literally “nukes might become easier for criminals to acquire” then do you really want to leave the table and wait for the other side to start bargaining in good faith?
Glad to know that Republicans are making nukes easier for criminals to acquire.
Extemporizing is not negotiating. You can delay at the table all you want, just don’t make any deals that you know won’t be kept.
No, the point is to call people out. Hold them in contempt. Make them look as backwards and self serving as they are. Cause a ruckus and make the R’s explain why what they’re doing is not putting politics above American lives. Be LOUD enough to break through to the casual media consumer, and consistent with your argument no matter what they other side throws at you.
That’s an altogether different issue. That is the issue of creating the political environment in which the negotiating takes place. And it is the responsibility of the entire Democratic Party down to the grassroots to get out of duck-and-cover mode and do this. This is not Obama’s responsibility alone (and in fact he as President is not the best person to do this).
This is not Obama’s responsibility alone (and in fact he as President is not the best person to do this).
As President, he sets the tone. He leads the party.
Actually he doesn’t set the tone. That’s the problem. He’s letting the Republicans set the tone unchallenged.
I know what your point was. And it was stupid. People quote The Godfather(or the 2nd) because it’s one of those things that every one knows. Who doesn’t know that Michael was savy and prevailed(in his business dealings at least) over Hyman Roth at the end? The point being that when you have a formidable opponent, you need to be creative and ruthless in fighting your battles.
Let me try to explain this very simply: because some director in LA who has a romantic love of the Mafia let’s his fictional hero succeed with some theatrical tactic, it does not follow that a real President can use the same tactic.
“The Terminator” is not real either, by the way.
I am glad to see you can’t read very well. Lets try it again. Adapt. Improvise. Overcome. Do you know where that comes from(hint: it’s not the movies)? Has the President smashed the obstinacy of the Pukes yet?
Rootless, quit being so literal. Calvin’s point is that Obama needs to be more cunning, more creative. Pop culture analogies are a way for people who don’t really know each other to try to convey certain points. If you want to list the classical texts of politics and strategy that you are familiar with, I’m sure Calvin can put it in the terms of those texts.
Otherwise, I’m baffled: Is your argument that being cunning and creative has no place in modern statecraft? Or are you saying that Obama’s recent actions demonstrate that he is cunning and creative?
Obama seems to me to be exactly who he claimed to be in the primaries: smart, decent, and MODERATE. I supported Kucinich because I think moderate policies are going to mostly fail. But most voters didn’t buy my theories and the defeat of Grayson and Feingold shows that the market for that kind of progressivism is limited. So I think that people who agree with me on policy, or who claim to, would be better advised to try to build a progressive constituency than to spend year after year sullenly complaining that people in office who don’t agree with them are not championing their point of view in words they prefer.
Obama campaigned on the public option and extending the bush tax cuts for the middle class. and he never campaigned on gutting social security and obsessing about the deficit. im actually fine with more or less all of the policy positions that Obama campaigned on, and I recognize all those positions are either center or center-left, certainly none of them are true liberal positions, but rather baked-in compromises that already take into account what’s possible given systemic constraints. I think you have a better argument with respect to politics- Obama campaigned on being post-partisan and above the fray with respect to politics- he was going to do things differently. I guess supporters like myself are shocked that that sort of campaign rhetoric (which lots of candidates trade in) really does define him. And the buyer’s remorse is precisely because the person who is supposed to be the champion for the working and middle classes wants not part of such fight if it involves coming across as “partisan” or “divisive”
Obama did not campaign on ruling by decree – all those goals were in context of what he could get passed in Congress. I don’t remember his pledge to be a champion of the working class either.
To me, he’s been far to the left of what I expected and what I thought he could get away with. What do people expect- that in a nation where George W. Bush could get close enough to steal TWICE, that we’d get revolutionary change?
Reading history is more helpful in these circumstances than reading fiction. I have to agree with rootless2 on not making analogies from fiction. Dick Cheney is not Obama’s father.
I understand your analogy Calvin. The term “Red Herring” comes to mind. Sheeesh.
Gutsy move trying another analogy about poker. 😉
Booman, you used to be one of the few bloggers who understood that Obama negotiates with centrist Democrats, not with Republicans, and that the general low-information public is Obama’s audience, not bloggers. What happened? Did the election scare the wits out of you?
Also, have you noticed Obama’s historically sky-high approval ratings compared to other Presidents at similar points in their terms? The public loves it when he does stuff like this. He’s the single most popular politician in the country.
How about instead we go blame Collins, Snowe, and Brown for a bit?
What a pile of rancid shit, honestly. “historically sky-high approval ratings” ???? Are you on drugs or something?
Trust me, when he sells the Democrats down the river on this, you are going to see a collapse on the left. I certainly will NOT support him in 2012, or 2011, or 2010 for SHIT.
Yup. Even the gasbags on TV say that. It was also mentioned that Obama is pandering to the indies because he can’t win re election without them. Hate to tell him he can’t win re election WITHOUT HIS BASE.
And his base is furious with him over alot of sruff, not just this. I’m sure he figures this will blow over and dems will come back into the fold. The next year is going to suck and then around the end of 2011 he will begin throwing the base some bones to get them to vote for him in 2012.
However, the jig is up. I know I will never vote for him again. I’d never vote for a rethug–I just won’t vote at all. I’m sure Obama is counting on the fact that most of this country are low information voters and don’t even know or care what is going on in Washington.
the people who opposed Obama in the primaries have been telling us that the base is sick of Obama since before the general election.
This political view can be summarized concisely as:
It’s all about me me me me me me me me ….
Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that. Keeping telling all those who were foreclosed on their homes by the predatory banks that. Keep telling those whose UI benefits have been cut that.
I’m just not as morally pure as all you whiners. Had to come to terms with it.
You are totally in the ozone. We don’t give a crap about “me”. We care about the country, and the Democratic Party, both of which are being destroyed by Obama.
There is no 11 dimensional chess. There is, however, political incompetence, and that would be the best term for what I see coming out of the WH.
Wow “11 dimensional chess” – how fresh and illuminating.
But my criticism stands: “we’re disappointed and feel unappreciated” is the credo of people who want therapy, not politics. Grow up. Stop whining. No messiah is going to rescue you or even pat you on the head.
I never opposed Obama in the primaries.
His base is furious with him? I guess a certain percentage of loud people on the internet are furious with him. 80% of registered Democrats approve of him, though. So which base are you talking about?
And what are you going to do? Primary him? That would demonstrate nothing except how clueless you are.
He’s gonna get primaried.
OOOH! Scary.
Maybe you can nominate Allan Grayson due to his vote getting skills. After all, the “left” in the America is far more comfortable with losing.
dude, millions are out of work and their benefits just expired. the dems are arguing over extending a tax cut to the wealthiest americans. health care costs will continue to rise until 2014 (will those cost controls bring prices down to 2010 levels? i doubt it).
jane hamsher is correct that this isn’t about who’s up and who’s down, and which party is dominating the other.
people are desperate and hurting, and it makes me sick to my stomach to see people like you arguing about whether the president’s a winner or not. unemployment is officially at 10%, and lot higher than that in real numbers.
it’s like the only thing that matters to you (and to people like rootless2) is whether Obama’s getting enough love or not. it doesn’t matter what he does, it’s all about the cult of personality. THAT’s what’s clueless.
No, my point is that I don’t take net liberals seriously when they claim to speak for “the base.” They do no such thing. They speak only for themselves, and the world at large has no idea what they’re saying.
And Grover Norquist’s liberal friend in particular doesn’t speak for the Democratic base in any sense.
My last job was at a human services organization here in Philly that, among other things, runs a homeless shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence. Part of my job was doing the toys-for-tots run, as well as obtaining specific gifts requested by the moms and their kids. I will NEVER forget the gratitude in those women’s faces at something as miserable as a plastic Sponge-Bob doll, I’m getting all upset just writing about it.
for all her faults, hamsher’s right: these people ARE bastards. it’s fucking christmas (I’m not even religious), people can’t feed their kids, and they’re on the verge of losing their unemployment.
and your hero and his party can’t even get a middle class tax cut passed.
My unemployment benefits are about to be cut off next week. If it was not for my mom, I would be in the street. I can only imagine what people with kids are going through right now. It is immoral and no one seems to care about anyone anymore but themselves.
“and your hero and his party can’t even get a middle class tax cut passed.”
Setting aside the “hero” bit (seriously, are you capable of nuance?), you have hit the nail on the head here. Obama AND his party can’t get the middle class tax cut passed. So let’s get to work on Obama’s party. If Congress gives Obama a middle class tax cut, he will sign it.
obama has said he’ll sign whatever arrives on his desk.
if that means a tax cut for the wealthiest among us, he’ll sign it.
and i’m totally capable of nuance. it’s the hero-worshippers that aren’t.
Remember, Brendan, that Obama can’t veto anything because then he’ll be labeled an “angry black man,” so he has to sign any and everything that passes his desk to give the appearance of moderation. It’s all about appearance. Stop being so hard on Obama because, at the end of the day, it’s all about Him, not those dirty, lazy unemployed people.
Actually, “my hero” and “his Party” did get multiple middle class tax cuts passed. What you seem to be whining about is their failure to keep George W. Bush’s tax cuts in place. No wonder you see Grover Norquist’s favorite progressive as a hero.
And you know what that says to Democratic politicians? It tells them that self-proclaimed members of the “liberal base” like you aren’t worth catering to because you’re flakes. You can’t be counted on to put out a message in support of whatever accomplishments and progress has been made. You can’t be counted on to get off your asses to vote. So why bother doing what you want? Why not just make a play for the middle?
And his historically high approvals kept Pelosi as Speaker, right? And they helped keep Feingold in the Senate, right? And the broad support for letting the Bush tax cuts for the rich expire has broad support and they won’t get extended, right?
What exactly is your citation of Feingold supposed to prove? That being a champion of civil rigths and liberal causes will be rewarded by the liberal base? Because he lost, you know…
“Time to go to war”? What the does that mean?! Are you and a bunch of nameless and faceless bloggers going to to take up arms or some shit?! What the fuck can be done to make them cooperate? The American people damn sure don’t seem to mind the GOP saying no at everything. They rewarded them with over 60 House seats for not doing a damn thing! What exactly are you proposing be done?! You’re not calling for a damn thing but theatrics. You want the President to start yelling and pounding and to what end? The only thing it’s going to result in is the press and Republicans saying he’s demeaning the office of the presidency. So stop with all the damn drama about going to war!
It is frigging time for some left wing theatrics. With large numbers. We’ve done patience. We’ve done nice with Stewart and Colbert.
It’s time to scare the pants off these mushmouths.
Lauren Valle’s treatment by Rand Paul’s campaign should have spawned a “Don’t Tread on Me” movement on the left; it’s still not too late.
Well…I don’t see anybody stopping you…
If Dems can not fight for progressive taxes, then what is the point of being one? It is really depressing and Obama will never call out those that want to destroy him. I have never understood that strategy.
Exactly my message to my Democratic Senator.
They cross that line, I’m voting green. I hate the green shits, but will vote green in 2012, and will tell everyone I know to vote green.
When are white Democrats going to call out the Republicans for the racist double-bind they have put Obama in. If Obama gets forceful, FoxNews will call him unhinged and dangerous, the corporate media will talk about his anger, and more nutcakes will by showing up with weapons at his events. And he will be isolated in the White House security bubble, which permits FoxNews and the corporate media to completely define him.
The GOP has given him the choice of destroying the country through inaction or destroying it through another assassinated President.
It is no wonder that he is being cautious.
It is well past time to shut down Rush Limbaugh’s and FoxNews’s megaphones. This does not infringe their free speech rights; they can still shake a fist at the clouds from an urban street corner. And it will be us, the people, not the government doing it.
Oh, and someone needs to tell Obama to fire Gibbs or whoever has been leaking balloons about his capitulation to the media. We need Democrats to distance themselves from the “professional Right”. Yes we do, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Shuler. Mr. Lanny Davis.
Yes. I’ve been calling for his firing for more than a year. I don’t know what happened to the Gibbs since being in the WH, as he was amazing prior to winning, but he’s been horrible as Press Sec.
Captured and held hostage by The Village. That’s what happened.
Where have they hidden Anita Dunn?
She already left to spend time with her family.
My point was that they made a tentative effort to fight media awfulness and then quickly gave up. This White House does not play to win, in any field, in any endeavor.
I don’t get it TD. Obama doesn’t have to get mad. He just has to do the right thing. And it’s not all about Obama anyway, it’s about what the majority of people in this country want and will support. Certainly on the tax cut issue, no?
Obama has to do the right thing. White Congressional Democrats have to start calling out the racism that Obama cannot confront directly without legitimizing Glenn Beck’s and Rush Limbaugh’s “angry black man” narrative.
Notice the vote in the House. Twenty “Democrats” voted against the middle class tax cut extension. Two Republicans and one Democrat-turned-Republican (Walter Jones) voted for it.
And the the very white press secretary Robert Gibbs says:
Yes, Geithner is the cabinet member with responsibility over revenues and payments. Yes, Lew is Director of the OMB, the executive minder of the budget.
Gibbs did not need to say anything; the House just passed the bill to send to the Senate.
Stop negotiating and telling people you’re negotiating and start putting Republicans on the spot for not carrying out the policies the public wants. And the public does not want extension of tax cuts for the rich and they do want extension of unemployment benefits. And they have mixed feelings about middle class tax cuts; they are OK if they expire.
The problem is not the public. The problem is that white Democrats in Congress won’t vote for what the public wants.
It is about Obama when he allows Gibbs to speak in his name so as to yank the football away from the Senate. Either Gibbs has gone rogue or Obama wants to reward the millionaires but doesn’t want the public to know it.
Obama doesn’t have to get mad; he just has to firmly say that he will veto a bill with tax cuts for the wealthy. And stop the negotiation chatter. And then if a bill comes to his desk with tax cuts for the wealthy, veto it outright. No pocket veto. Make a big deal of it. But he doesn’t because he thinks being reasonable will keep the US Chamber of Commerce from opposing him in 2012. News flash; it won’t. He’s being played and can’t seem to break out of it by himself. The Senate Democrats need to do the right thing and kick Ben Nelson’s and other butts into a united front to block the tax cut for the rich. Or to say, “Fine. Let all of the tax cuts expire.” and introduce tax legislation in 2012, assuming there’s a frigging economy left to tax.
This is pretty much how I feel. People want him to pound on the desk and be ‘forceful’. They don’t realize what would happen to him if he did that. I have seen some video of events where the Secret Service seemed to be almost hugging the President. It takes a lot of courage just to leave the White House, at least it would for me, but he leaves the White House a lot and seems to not worry about it but you know anyone would have to worry.
Hannity is already trying to make it seem like the President is losing it. They will stop at nothing and this talking point is what you will see a lot more in the near future!!
Shut down Limbaugh & Fox? That would be nice but the righties would consider it war. There would be even more calls to kill the liberals who are destroying America!
Anyone who thinks that nothing has been done in the last 22 months should review the actual accomplishments big and small…
http://obamaachievements.org/list Click on ‘expand’ for the detail. I think, especially considering the opposition party of NO, that there have been a lot of accomplishments.
Please, everyone, think twice about wanting the President to be more forceful(whatever is meant by that) or passionate (whatever is meant by that) because I for one would like for him to survive his Presidency!
But, yes, a Press Secretary who doesn’t always speak so softly would be nice. It would also be nice if he didn’t think that it was funny to put people down. The deputy press secretary should take a step up. At least I think that he does a better job.
And lastly, I don’t think that trying to be bipartisan makes the President look dumb (people might start to think that way just because they hear it over and over on the left), it makes him look reasonable and McConnell look stupid, coniving and unreasonable.
I hope it’s not too controversial to say but I’m surprised there hasn’t been an attempt yet. People seem to forget about the history of race in this country. Like it or not this is not just another president. This is why I would tend to cut as much slack as possible. I’m just a run of the mill middle class straight white guy and I can’t even imagine the position that he’s in.
Poor Obama. He’s forced to be a chump and the biggest p*ssy EVER to sit his selfish, social-climbing @$$ in the WH. He only asked for the job and lied again and again and again to get the votes. It’s not his fault that he became president during such an awful time for the country. We must–MUST!–believe–BELIEVE!–that he really–REALLY!–wants to do the right–RIGHT!–thing but he can’t because there are too many obstacles, such as racists. He can’t–he just CAN’T!–do anything strong or bold or decisive because that would disrupt their applecarts, as if they aren’t crowing constantly that he’s socialist anyway. It’s the biggest Catch-22 to ever befall the Victim Obama and we must be sympathetic and empathetic.
What’s the poor guy to do?
You are an idiot! I don’t say that lightly nor do I call people idiots often but you are one!
I think Obama may be playing this very smart for 2012.
He has the one thing the other side can’t have and that is his office. He can and should be “presidential”
What that means today is not exactly clear.
I do think it means letting Congress, Dems and GOP alike, get ick on themselves if they must. I think that’s why getting HC through in the first two years was key, because no matter when it was done it was going to be ugly and in the meanwhile the GOP was going to be a pain regardless. Might as well put all the stink in one pot and put the pot on congress as much as possible.
For the next two years he can battle them or be seen as the calm voice of vision, reason and compromise. When it comes time to actually vote for a president I think most Americans are again not going to want to vote for a future of bickering along red and blue lines.
The GOP no matter what Obama does are going to show up in 2012 with a message of anger and division (perhaps even still within their own party). Obama can show up equally angry or be the candidate many voted for in 2008 who doesn’t play that crap. They may not love him and they may be angry that he did too much or too little but he will be a safer choice the the current GOP game will produce.
“Presidential” in public and presidential in private are two very different things. A president – any president – has lots and lots of levers of power that are not seen by the public: appointments, prosecutions, regulations, executive orders etc. FDR, LBJ, Nixon, Reagan, and Bush Jr. all knew this and practiced it. If Obama is throwing elbows at Dem and GOP electeds in private, it sure isn’t having much effect, probably because he isn’t doing much of it. A president needs to look solemn and presidential to voters, but he has to look powerful and a little scary to the other electeds of both parties. Do you see anyone who is scared of Obama?
How would we know that Obama is throwing elbows in private? It seems to me that by definition we won’t know about it. I’d really like to have an inside look at his conversations with other people, but I’m not getting it.
Do you see anyone who is scared of Obama?
I think the answer is obvious. No!!
“Being presidential” means finding out what you believe in (Obama doesn’t believe in SHIT, AFAIK), and standing up for it.
He’s a fucking coward, a pussy, as much backbone as a piece of fucking spaghetti.
Do you feel strong and “progressive” calling people “pussies”? It’s remarkable how the language that we choose to express ourselves can betray us.
I use an accurate term. In this case, pussy is the most accurate term I can think of. He has no manhood. He is weak, and has nothing of value to give.
He’s a lame duck already, and has 2 years to go.
Bet you miss old W and his bulging flight suit.
A man’s man, not a girl, if you know what I mean.
I’d appreciate it if you left the sexist jargon out of your criticisms. Thanks!
It’s already a war. Every democrat, not just the president, has a responsibility to speak the truth. We can all say plenty about the president, but it’s very far from being just about him. If there was ever a time when democrats needed a consistent and single message, it is right now.
Maybe, Obama appears stupid because he really is stupid, at least politically. The Republicans are defining the issues and appear to have momentum going their way as they head toward 2012. Sure their approach is a tissue of lies but since when is that anything new? More and more Americans are hurting as their homes are foreclosed and their unemployment insurance runs out. I think they will blame the White House incumbent for their current woe. Unless the President changes his tack and begins to provide some decisive leadership, I fear he will be a one term president. It’s ok to get angry once in a while, especially if it is a good cause. Keeping the Republicans out of the White House is the best cause in the world.
Yup. I really begin to think that the guy is truly not very smart about politics. When you say “bipartisanshit”, what the right hears is “I’m a fucking coward, and you can roll me wherever you want”.
And you know, they are right. He’s a total pussy. He has no backbone. There is not one single thing he is willing to go to the mat for. Not a single thing.
The perception that Obama will not fight and folds instead has been out there for awhile but now this tax cut battle along with his obsession of playing nice with enemies that hate him is starting to gain traction among his diehard supporters and mainstream media types. Saying he will veto bills and calling out Republicans for hurting Americans is not being an angry black man no matter what Fox News says.
Mainstream media people have been peddling this line since the Iowa primaries.
It’s not my fault if “progressives” enjoy being bamboozled.
It’s a wonder you can even type at all, being so busy servicing the Member of the One. Your obeisance and Obama-derangement is kind of nauseating.
It’s great to see all the hallmarks of true netroots progressivism
Give yourself a Luntz Star!
A little lube with that sandwich?
incisive!
Dataguy, your arguments are singularly substanceless.
I am pretty sure the mainstream media types were trying to say Obama was weak on defense because Dems have to be weak unlike their GOP daddies. I am biggest Obama defender out there and recognize the limitations of the executive branch and the obscene super majority requirements in the Senate that prevented large parts of his agenda from getting votes. However, he rarely calls out his opponents, allows Fox News to destroy him, throws allies like Van Jones/Sherrod/ACORN over board and playing footsie with Republicans in the Health Care debate was a disaster.
Wanting him to say, “hey, I want this to help Americans but had to take this deal because Republicans care more about this instead” is not too much to ask for. It is much better than the usual, this deal is awesome and just feel how awesome this deal is when any average schmo knows its not.
I’d like him to combine the politics of Dennis Kucinich with the deft political touch of fictional characters in West Wing. However, I don’t confuse what I want with what we have and don’t share the popular netroots fantasy that by whining hard enough I can change the entire political system.
I admire your slavish devotion. It’s been a long time since I have run into a genuine Obama worshipper. Do you pray on your knees to him 5x daily?
Are you capable of any rhetoric beyond coupling together stupid cliches and slurs crafted by other people? Because I see no evidence of that in what you have contributed here.
The stupid macho posing the Keyboard Kommandos Left Wing just does not impress me. Maybe if you went to all caps or something.
Most Obama’s issues are structural of Congress sucking and Senate’s archaic rules and representation that guarantees small red states great say. I do not even mind the pragmatic approach and if the votes are not there, the votes are not there. I get that but I can not comprehend is why he never makes his opponents or allies come to him or calls them by name. Just once, make them come to him and the leads of stories will read, “President Obama wanted this, was denied and he held his ground.”
Campaign Obama was a fighter that slayed the Clintons and GOP attack machine. President Obama is a ham sandwhich is fine all the time and I will never let anyone know that I really wanted the whole hog because let me tell you how awesome that ham sandwhich is going to be 4 years from now, although you are starving now.
I do not know if that makes sense but that is my assessment of him and I am as Obot as they come. His communication team sucks too.
I’m not as confident as you that the headlines will run that way when Obama stands his ground. Remember when he and Harry Reid forced the Republicans to filibuster the entire defense authorization bill over Don’t Ask Don’t Tell? What did the headlines say? “Democrats fail to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” Who did the netroots base blame? Obama.
The media is not on his side, and I don’t think they will write any kind of story that makes him look strong because it would go against the narrative.
I wish President Obama and his group were more able to articulate a progressive vision for the country and discredit the Republicans. But, you know what? They are not progressives. They ran for office on a mushy moderate platform and they are governing that way. What’s infuriating about the “progressive” netroots drivel is that they are in continual tantrum mode that their MINORITY point of view which can’t even keep Grayson and Fiengold in office is not being championed by someone who never signed up for it.
You are right about the media unwilling to frame who is obstructing who but I do not remember Obama calling anyone out or his surrogates. I just want Obama to pass what he ran on and my expectations are already lowered. It would be nice if he would just declare that he is vetoing any bill that includes tax cuts for the richest people in America. I remember him repeatedly saying he did not need a tax cut. Maybe tax cuts for the rich are the only way to get unemployment extended then he better be sure to tell everyone that alot better than he communicated his previous deals.
He has mastered the Swift Grovel, the Slow Grovel, and the Total Grovel. He is the Grovelator.
What he has not done if 1) find an issue that he is willing to actually stick with and 2) find a way to get a good result on it.
He’s a one-termer.
You are a TOUGH GUY! Smoke marlboros? Got a cowboy hat and chaps?
House Democrats: no tax cut extension over $250,000
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/12/02/tax.vote/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1
Now lets see what the Senate does.
My question is, since this is a bill involving taxes, doesn’t it HAVE to start in the House? How can the Senate do anything? They can stop it from moving forward, but cannot add by filibuster, unless the Dems help them.
And also:
Congress Approves Child Nutrition Bill
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/us/politics/03child.html?hp
Any complaints?
All this Carter/primarying Obama talk makes me wanna share this comment from a commenter at another blog I frequent. He says what I wanna say much more articulating I think
While there are some valid points here – no national Democrat is going to win anything without African-American support – the initial contention – “A Primary Challenge of Obama from the left will be the Biggest Display of Liberal Racism Ever” – is just plain ridiculous. I’m not furious at Obama because of his race. I’m furious at him because of his politics.
Did you feel the same about Bill Clinton?
The thing is that I don’t remember this amount of vitriol on the “left” towards Clinton when he was president and he actively campaigned and triangulated against it his whole career. I don’t recall any primary challenge in 1996. This primary talk is just pure insanity. I really thought this whole progressive blogosphere thing back around in 2002 was not to have another Nader situation. Here we are eight to ten years later actively looking for another Nader. I agree Obama is not as liberal as I would like him to be but he’s miles ahead of Carter and Clinton and for my lifetime that’s progress of a sort. It just sucks to be a liberal in this country in the late 20th and early 21st century.
Clinton’s major triangulation came after 1996 and mostly during and after the period of his investigation.
The main thing about Clinton was that he did fight for his policies aggressively.
And the lack of fight is what a lot of folks find exasperating about Obama. The unwillingness to say that he wants this or that legislation and bend all of the Democratic caucus into support of that legislation. “I know you have tough votes” is a cop-out that enables Blue Dogs. Obama makes no such apologies to the Congressional progressives who have sucked it up every time–on energy in the House, on health care reform, on financial services reform (they got lucky in the Blanche Lincoln was running in a runoff and strengthened the bill).
People are sick and tired of the Republican glee every time they win a victory as the minority.
Welfare reform was not triangulation?
Indeed I did. Eight years of punishing your friends and rewarding your enemies.