Axelrod-O-nomics: Please call out conservatism for the disaster it is
I never understood why the Obama campaign and even his administration refused to call out Reagan and conservatism, ever. Is David Axelrod that daffy? I hated his campaign approach during the summer because he allowed conservatives to define Obama without putting up much of a fight until the end of September, and he also allowed them to define the health-care debate and kept Obama on the sidelines for the most part. What is wrong with him? I'd like to say that they are novices, but he's been in politics a very long time.
Digby and I were screaming the last two years that the word "conservatism" should have been called out for being the manifest cause of the destruction wreaked on the American people and the world during eight years of Bush-Cheney-GOP congressional rule. But did you hear a peep out of President Obama? He actually brought up Reagan's name in the election in a positive fashion.
I've been toying with an idea to bring back Bush because his administration laid waste to our land except for the very wealthy. There's a reason why he has disappeared for almost an entire year. His visage still causes a lot of distress in America, even when deployed for a worthy cause such as the Haiti earthquake disaster -- even Bush himself looked like annoyed that he had been roped into helping. Well, we do need someone to look after those Shysters.
Paul Krugman's column addressed this point quite succinctly.
Finally, about that narrative: It’s instructive to compare Mr. Obama’s rhetorical stance on the economy with that of Ronald Reagan. It’s often forgotten now, but unemployment actually soared after Reagan’s 1981 tax cut. Reagan, however, had a ready answer for critics: everything going wrong was the result of the failed policies of the past. In effect, Reagan spent his first few years in office continuing to run against Jimmy Carter.
Mr. Obama could have done the same — with, I’d argue, considerably more justice. He could have pointed out, repeatedly, that the continuing troubles of America’s economy are the result of a financial crisis that developed under the Bush administration, and was at least in part the result of the Bush administration’s refusal to regulate the banks.
But he didn’t. Maybe he still dreams of bridging the partisan divide; maybe he fears the ire of pundits who consider blaming your predecessor for current problems uncouth — if you’re a Democrat. (It’s O.K. if you’re a Republican.) Whatever the reason, Mr. Obama has allowed the public to forget, with remarkable speed, that the economy’s troubles didn’t start on his watch.
I remember there was a poll done in the beginning of his term which said that Americans were willing to give the new president at least eighteen months to get it together because we recognized the failure of Bush and Cheney as a nation, but as economic conditions get worse, patience is the first to go. And then Axelrod allowed the populist anger to get away from them, when it was legitimate for his administration to have gone after the Wall Street fat cats right from the beginning of his presidency. And it should have been critical to included conservative principles in their critiques, rather than let the Tea Parties resurrect them as somehow a solution to the very problems they caused in the first place.
It was clear during the campaign that Obama was reluctant to confront the Reagan legacy on its basic terms, preferring to dryly characterize his governing philosophy as technocratic and competent. I think that was a mistake, since people really have no other framework within which to understand their problems, when things go badly, they have no other way of understanding it except for blaming "big government" for either causing it or failing to fix it.
Today, they may be angry at the banks, but they see the problem being that the government gave these institutions preferential treatment over them rather than that they caused this worldwide economic crisis with their irresponsible, swashbuckling, gambling culture --- which now must be regulated by the government. I think most people see the recession, the banking crisis, unemployment and the rest as only a failure of government --- and they are assuming that the way to fix it is by making government smaller. After all, both Democrats and Republicans keep telling them that it's so.
I'm very glad to see that Obama is finally taking some action against the banks. It is the Democrats' best hope of reframing the debate, although I think it's awfully late in the game. Today, he seemed to sideline Geithner and Summers publicly, but the question is whether or not he's finally figured out that they are part of the problem, not the solution.
I don't think Obama's words alone have enough credibility anymore to fix this. He's going to have to take some concrete action.
And Democrats are going to have to accept that need to attack the Reagan legacy more directly and make an affirmative case for government. I would have thought that was obvious, but the Democratic party and Obama himself seem to have believed otherwise. If they persist with merely tweaking the Reagan legacy, they will find themselves in this same situation over and over again. As long as people see government as the problem, progressivism, liberalism, whatever you want to call it, will fail.
As usual it will remain the job of us bloggers to remind America how bad conservatism has been for the country. Maybe someday there will be a few more politicians who will state the obvious and not be afraid of the Broders in the Village, who only hold Democrats to their standard of "bipartisanship."
Obama clearly bought into the Village idea that "bipartisanship" was an ideal end unto itself. He's been disabused by the reality that the Village version of it permits conservatives to lie with impunity while punishing liberals for having the temerity to point that ugly fact out, and forces liberals to compromise on each and every one of their principles in order to prove their "seriousness" (a quality always defined by how far to the right it is). We'll see if the lesson sinks in.
Methinks he threw out his axel.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
.
Emanuel , Obama & the Clinton group has created by the wall of censorship and protection they set in place for Bush/Cheney and their administration.. Bill Clinton has taking tours with Bush Jr. on a national level to build up his criminal image.... Obama has censored and stop any / all prosecution to Bush and his criminals from the previous administration. Instead of these criminals being prosecuted and serving time for their criminals Obama, Emanuel & Clinton's are trying to restore their character in the world and US.
Emanuel , Obama and their group which are controlling / making our policies are phonies...
No way in h... can they be real democrats which have our traditional values to pass legislation for the welfare and benefit of real citizens of this country. Emanuel & Obama are trying to give citizenship to the 20 plus million illegal immigrants as Emanuel did for the Clinton administration to receive their votes in the coming elections...
This global empire movement is nothing more than the overthrow of our country , destroying our democracy and freedom while taking full control of our government. They have place on the Supreme court all the corporate Judges necessary to rule for Corporations..
I can not believe than Obama , Emanuel and their group of centrists democrats are that naive to pass the legislation which they have and are trying to.
They have continue the policies of transferring our wealth and power to these Global Empire monopolies and put us at their mercy..
The American citizen gets the s... beat out of them , arrested on phony charges while demonstrating for their rights to be heard while the elected officials meet and create corporate and criminal policies behind closed doors.
The average citizen can be picked up off the street for any reason the police or government wishes..
Yet we have persons in our government which has committed treason , Torture , giving false information to wage a illegal war on another country , steal (which they call transferring) trillions of our wealth to these corporate empires for their pleasure /wealth and power and corporation which are killing us daily with their poisonous / toxic waste and they are rewarded with our wealth and power...
None
Paralysis through Analysis
:^)
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
Obama needs to move to the left.
If he does so seriously, HE MIGHT EVEN GET TO THE CENTER.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
Try to face the fact that I ain't that young no more
Hair's short again and a suit is in,
Better brush up on how to tie a Windsor knot
I will only tie a half Windsor.. :)
Can't stand the others.
Krugman sums it up thus:
"Maybe he still dreams of bridging the partisan divide"
The question is, WHY???
Take Two:
Dude: he praised Reagan.
Remember the Reagan Democrats, the working class dupes of the Republicans.
The Democrats have their own working class dupes, thank you very much.
If Obama were to move seriously to the left, HE MIGHT EVEN GET TO THE CENTER.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
don't get re-elected.
Obama is one of them.
he wouldn't be president now. Reagan despite being a lack luster president actually is remembered fondly by too many Americans. The middle of the road would have been turned off and Obama would have lost.
Goodnight, Frau Blücher
terrorist weapon selling, government overthrowing, union busting Reagan. He's my role model.
Three of the biggest criminals in the world in charge of collecting money for helping disaster victims...dumb,scum and bum, the three little pigs. CEO,citizens,eyes,open
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYIC0eZYEtI
After that, I feel like crying.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. ~ Abraham Lincoln
So sad it's true. Pretty much republican voters in a nutshell. Also, one of the reasons I voted for Kucinich - someone who's had to sleep in his car because of poverty - knows more about how the world works than those who have never suffered.
That's why. Clinton was another perfect corporate minion. Obama is shaping up to be the same.
wanted to be president.
At least I am old enough to remember when the country associated Republicans with bad economy and Hoover. There needs to be a drum beat about the current situation. It needs not to be aimed at Obama like so many of the comments are, but supportive of Obama in contrast to the disasters the Republicans wrought on us. The nit picking of Obama does not good. It hurts.
Supportive of exactly what? What good things has he done that we Liberals haven't supported?
I don't nitpick
one comment from Alice the Marxist is here
then in praise (tentative) on Volcker's Rule because he seems to have listened here
IF YOU DON'T COMPLAIN, YOU DON'T GET ANYWHERE, BUT WHERE YOU ALREADY ARE, or worse.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
BHO is Obaminable
to be both weak and stupid. I think you can estimate the age of a Democratic voter, by how cynical he is.
The American public continues to believe what it sees on TV and reads in the newspapers. So they believe the lies that tax cuts for the rich are good for the country, that oil is the way forward, that the media is "liberal" and that liberal=bad. That universal health care is socialism, but bank bail outs are okay.
I don't know who the bigger fools are. The poor people who vote Republican because they think they share the same values, or the people who want change and vote Democrat, refusing to learn that the Democrats will never provide it.
"Obama clearly bought into the Village idea that "bipartisanship" was an ideal end unto itself."
After two terms of Bush, Obama ran his campaign on bipartisanship. Not as an ideal but as a way to govern.
Do you really expect him to ignore the GOP or their ilk?
He is the president of both sides and unlike Bush he makes an effort to serve both sides - with or without their support.
I guess calling him too fair is a valid complaint but do we really want another Bush?
Obama is not and never will be a "draw the line in the sand" kind of a guy. That isn't who we elected.
Find and run a better candidate and if that candidate wins on a message of "my way or the highway" we'll surely have another Bush in office.
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
Bush is getting all the blame for destroying America when the real culprit is "conservatism"!!!
The only thing Bush did right was to implement a near perfect (failed) Conservative Agenda.
It is simple and true that "Conservatism" is the evil and damaging agenda and should be exposed as the real villain.
"Conservatism" is founded on self centered fear and greed.
work out for ya?
.."As usual it will remain the job of us bloggers to remind America how bad conservatism has been for the country. "..
Its no use, the people with conservative views REFUSE to see the light. You can tell them until you are blue in the face that reagan raised taxes and OH NO HE DIDN"T is the first thing out of their mouths. You can say a lot about reagan and if it isn't in the conservative manual as being the gospel according to st. ronnie, you can forget trying to convince them otherwise. Their minds are so closed you need a twenty mule team to get them open.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
"Its no use"
I agree.
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
“Hi, I’m a hard-working, god-fearing Christian. I take care of my family, I go to church, I, you know, do everything ‘right’. And I’m getting shafted. I did everything you’re supposed to do, but something’s going wrong to me."
“Good question my friend, I feel your pain, and my answer to that, is, what’s wrong is the rich liberals own everything, run everything, they don’t care about you, therefore, distrust them.”
a 6th grade education believes him.
45,000 Conservatives die every year for the lack of wealth care.
Something must be done.
Conservatives follow Regan--too bad it's Nancy jusayno not Ronnie
Did you hear their new slogan? Yes we Klan.
The failure of the Obama Administration to call out the Republicans for
destroying this Country Economically, is becoming a pattern with this Administration. They have this Tendency to let others do there Fighting for them aka.HCR. Hope is running out for this Administration
and so is Time. The word competent is not a word that i would associate with this Administration,at least not Yet.
There are a lot of independents who may listen. We gotta keep the message out there, but this non-stop Obama bashing does not help him get the job done. It drives down his numbers and leads to elections like what happened in Virginia and Massachusetts. It was non-stop Obama bashing in VA before the election. This is is complicated and it takes time to fix a destroued economy. He did want to do things differently. You can give him credit for trying and now its time to move on, but we got to have his back, if not, we get George Bush. The Republicans have each other's back. Finally, get rid of Kaine and bring in someone with some vision on poitics. Kaine is a great guy, but give him a different job. He came in on the coat tails of John Warner and disasterous Republican policies.
such as the Haiti earthquake disaster -- even Bush himself looked like annoyed that he had been roped into helping. Well, we do need someone to look after those Shysters."
You forgot, Bush Hates Black People.
But don't blame him, he only inherited it from his mother.
Remember he fawned all over Condi. It's POOR people he hates.
Returning to Conservative ways is like taking up smoking again.
Democrats are a group of people with different ideas.
Republicans are a group of people with the same idea.
He was not popular at all. He was received much the same way as Bush, but for the stolen initial election that seated the mighty dwarf.
Reagan was seen as a puppet to his VEEP G. Bush Sr. Really.
And the nation didn't like him or trust him until an attempt was made on his life by the son of Bush Family friends and dinner companions. Although those who realized who the attempted assassin was, there was a lot of animosity remaining in the majority of the public regarding the murder of JFK, MLK, AND RFK.
The nation rallied around Reagan because they were INCENSED at the assassination attempt and the pain it brought to Nancy Reagan.
If it weren't for that mistake by the powers to come, Reagan would have gone down in flames, a one term president.
I believe the shock of the injury (which was a major thing) caused Mr. Reagan to slip into dementia. This is a common thing in elderly people. If you're injured or become terribly ill, whatever genetic underlying weakness comes to the fore and you are struck by it. It (Alzheimer's) may have stayed dormant and never affected the man had he not been shot.
But then again, who knows what was fed to him in the kitchens with easy access to the veep, a well known CIA SPOOK trained in the black arts of the secret government?
If we liberals could lay down our disdain of Reagan's destructive economic policy, realizing it was Bush's economic policy and that it was put into place by Reagan as his puppet, we might be able to forgive the big dummy from California and move on to more progressive activities. Like making sure no Bush ever makes it in office again.
Or have you been watching the Bush cousin on TV doing gossip?
If he rightfully blamed the mess he inherited on the GOP he might lose the support of the entire GOP delegation in both houses of Congress. Worst-case, they might even start block-voting against his programs. ;-)
even Bush himself looked like annoyed that he had been roped into helping.
Did you ever consider the thought that that was WHY Obama picked him.
Putting Bush back in front of the cameras reminds America just how bad things were and who did it without SAYING it.
It wasn't about Haiti, it was political strategy.
Nuances are sometimes hard to see.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
Sitting Presidents just love to rehabilitate ex-pres. The way I see it, any platform that allows Bush to show his face in ANY kind of positive light simply confers legitimacy on him and helps to shore up his base.
That *&%$*& belongs in PRISON, instead Obama fogs over Katrina and allows him atonement.
SICKENING
Nuance in America, really now?
3-D CHESS MY ASS !!!
Amato writes:
"But did you hear a peep out of President Obama? He actually brought up Reagan's name in the election in a positive fashion."
There it is...TPTB are telling you who they really are but you just refuse believe it, preferring to think that it must be some strange kind of political miscalculation.
It's not. It's who they are. It's want they want.
My name is Big John and remember, I tried to tell you so.
They are not who many want to believe they are.
The Obama administration is nothing more than the Democratic Wing of the Republican party.
Why would ANYONE believe the Republicans would NOT infiltrate our party?
????
So why do the politicians try to use them?
There is a time and a place for everything.
And this is the time for obvious stands.
The dumbing down of America has been achieved.
How long before the next generation looses virtually all the skills of the past? No mentors exist anymore. It used to be that mentoring was done on the job, with pay. Now they want you to come out of retirement and do it for free so the corporations won't have to. Why should they? They can bring in cheap labor from other lands.
When scrolling down to this story, the first thing I saw, of course, was the shrub. Does his image make anyone else sick. Or is it just me?
After eight years I have seen enough of that human.
'His visage still causes a lot of distress in America'...boy that sure describes my feelings. Every once in awhile I will run across old clips of him when he was playing President. All the outrage, disgust and repulsion I felt about him literally comes rushing back like a repressed horrible memory. 'We need someone to look after those shysters', yeah that's the pot bad-mouthing the kettle. Well Chimpy you might want to sniff out the IPOA, I guess they didn't waste any time getting down to Haiti. I understand they are like little BlackWater or Halliburton Jr's. Maybe Clinton figures it takes one to know one. Apparently a Professor of Law at University of Illinois has filed a formal complaint recently with The Hague against Bush&Co for their criminal policies and practices of Extraordinary Rendition perpetrated against some 1OO people. I wonder how far that will go?
Government + the Federal Reserve = organized crime
He's an elder statesman for disaster relief.
No kidding. Katrina man himself. Validated by Obama on disaster relief (and torture, and economics, and government secrecy, and backroom deals with PhRMA and AHIP, and....).
Obama can't call out conservatism as a disaster; he's validated way too many of their policies. Sure he'll cynically spout rhetoric like "torture is bad" yet he still lawlessly protects war criminals and maintains he has the "right" to imprison people without cause. He gives soaring speeches on controlling bankers, yet Goldman Sachs still tells him what to in running the economy. He pays lip service to progressive health care reform yet insists we must strengthen for-profit health insurance because "that is what we have."
Obama can't call out conservatism as a disaster; conservatism is his framework for policy.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
Obama and company need a big shot of testosterone , other than not upsetting any one and straddling the fence I'm not even sure what the hell they are doing or trying to do at this point . It's all just bizarre . Evidently Obama isn't cut out to be a politician , you cannot be an effective president and be Mr. Nice guy or Mother Teresa , the Repugs will chew you up and that's what's happening . Having seen Bush a couple times lately after dropping off the radar screen ... Man , I am so freaking glad this dumb bastard is out of office , can't stand to look at or hear the guy .
Insanity , it is what it is , there is no understanding it .
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