Replace Rahm with Me ...an open letter from Michael Moore
WBAI’s Talk Back! interview with Michael Moore - Monday March 1, 2010 5:00pm
At 56:55: “There’s so many great websites now. I mean you could just go down the whole list of them: Crooks and Liars and — If I start going down that list they’re going to get mad at me for forgetting them so I better not do that.”
Michael Moore has an offer for President Obama:
Dear President Obama,
I understand you may be looking to replace Rahm Emanuel as your chief of staff.
I would like to humbly offer myself, yours truly, as his replacement.
I will come to D.C. and clean up the mess that's been created around you. I will work for $1 a year. I will help the Dems on Capitol Hill find their spines and I will teach them how to nonviolently beat the Republicans to a pulp.
And I will help you get done what the American people sent you there to do. I don't need much, just a cot in the White House basement will do.
Now, don't get too giddy with excitement over my offer, because you and I are going to be up at 5 in the morning, 7 days a week and I am going to get you pumped up for battle every single day (see photo). Each morning you and I will do 100 jumping jacks and you will repeat after me:
"THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ELECTED ME, NOT THE REPUBLICANS, TO RUN THE COUNTRY! I AM IN CHARGE! I WILL ORDER ALL OBSTRUCTIONISTS OUTTA MY WAY! IF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DON'T LIKE WHAT I'M DOING THEY CAN THROW MY ASS OUT IN 2012. IN THE MEANTIME, I CALL THE SHOTS ON THEIR BEHALF! NOW, CONGRESS, DROP AND GIVE ME 50!!"
Then we will put on our jogging sweats and run up to Capitol Hill. We will take names, kick butts, and then take some more names. If we have to give a few noogies or half-nelson's, then so be it. In our pockets we will have a piece of paper to show the pansy Dems just how much they won by in 2008 -- and the poll results that show the majority of Americans oppose the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and want the bankers punished. Like drill sergeants, we will get right up in their faces and ask them, "WHAT PART OF THE PUBLIC MANDATE DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND, SOLDIER?!! DROP AND GIVE ME 50!"
I know this is the job Rahm Emanuel was supposed to be doing.
Now, don't get me wrong. I have always admired Rahm Emanuel (if you don't count his getting NAFTA pushed through Congress in the '90s which destroyed towns like Flint, Michigan. I know, picky-picky.). He is what we needed for a long time -- a no-apologies, take-no-prisoners fighting machine. Someone who is not afraid to get his hands dirty and pound the right wing into submission. Far from being the foul-mouthed bully he has been portrayed as, Rahm is the one who BEAT UP the bullies to protect us from them.
That's certainly what he did in 2006. After six long, miserable years of the middle-class getting slaughtered and the poor being flushed down the toilet, Rahm Emanuel took on the job of returning Congress to the Democrats. No one believed it could be done.
But he did it. Big time. He put the fear of God into the party of Rush and Newt. They had never been so scared. More importantly, though, he instilled a sense of hope in the Democrats that they could actually score the mother of all hat tricks in 2008 -- and with you, an African American no less, in the pole position!
It worked. The Darkness ended. The vast majority of nation wept with joy on the night of the election (those who weren't weeping went out and bought a record number of guns and ammo). Unlike the last president, you didn't "win" by 537 votes in Florida (although Gore won the popular vote by a half-million), you beat McCain nationally by 9,522,083 votes! The House Democrats got a walloping 79-vote margin. The Senate Dems would caucus with a supermajority of 60 votes unheard of in over 30 years. The wars would now end. America would have universal health care. Wall Street and the banks would, at the very least, be reined in. Hardworking citizens would not be thrown out of their homes. It was supposed to be the dawning of a new age.
But the Republicans were not going to go quietly into the night. You see, instead of having just one Rahm Emanuel, they are ALL Rahm Emanuels. That's why they usually win. Unlike most Democrats, they are relentless and unstoppable. When they believe in something (which is usually themselves and the K Street job they hope to be rewarded with someday), they'll fight for it till the death. They are loyal to a fault to each other (they were never able to denounce Bush, even though they knew he was destroying the party). They dig their heels in deep no matter what. If you exiled them to a lone chunk of melting polar ice cap, they would keep insisting that it was just a normal "January thaw," even as the frigid Arctic waters rose above their God-fearing necks ("See what I mean -- this water is COLD! What 'global *warming*'?! Adam and Eve rode dinos...aagghh!!... gulp gulp gulp").
We thought we were all done with this craziness, but we were mistaken. Like a beast that you just can't cage, the Republicans convinced not only the media, but YOU and your fellow Dems, that 59 votes was a *minority*! Precious time was lost trying to reach a "consensus" and trying to be "bipartisan."
Well, you and the Democrats have been in charge now for over a year and not one banking regulation has been reinstated. We don't have universal health care. The war in Afghanistan has escalated. And tens of thousands of Americans continue to lose their jobs and be thrown out of their homes. For most of us, it's just simply no longer good enough that Bush is gone. Woo hoo. Bush is gone. Yippee. That hasn't created one new friggin' job.
You're such a good guy, Mr. President. You came to Washington with your hand extended to the Republicans and they just chopped it off. You wanted to be respectful and they decided that they were going to say "no" to everything you suggested. Yet, you kept on saying you still believed in bipartisanship.
Well, if you really want bipartisanship, just go ahead and let the Republicans win in November. Then you'll get all the bipartisanship you want.
Let me be clear about one thing: The Democrats on Election Day 2010 are going to get an ass-whoopin' of biblical proportions if things don't change right now. And after the new Republican majority takes over, they, along with a few conservative Democrats in Congress, will get to bipartisanly impeach you for being a socialist and a citizen of Kenya. How nice to see both sides of the aisle working together again!
And the brief window we had to fix this country will be gone.
Gone.
Gone, baby, gone.
I don't know what your team has been up to, but they haven't served you well. And Rahm, poor Rahm, has turned into a fighter -- not of Republicans, but of the left. He called those of us who want universal health care "f***ing retarded." Look, I don't know if Rahm is the problem or if it's Gibbs or Axelrod or any of the other great people we owe a debt of thanks to for getting you elected. All I know is that whatever is fueling your White House it's now running on fumes. Time to shake things up! Time to bring me in to get you pumped up every morning! Go Barack! Yay Obama! Fight, Team, Fight!
I'm packed and ready to come to D.C. tomorrow. If it helps, you won't really be losing Rahm entirely because I'll be bringing his brother with me -- my agent, Ari Emanuel. Man, you should see HIM negotiate a deal! Have you ever wanted to see Mitch McConnell walking around Capitol Hill carrying his own head in his hands after it's just been handed to him by the infamous Ari? Oh, baby, it won't be pretty -- but boy will it be sweet!
What say you, Barack? Me and you against the world! Yes we can! It'll be fun -- and we may just get something done. Whaddaya got to lose? Hope?
Retardedly yours,
Michael Moore
P.S. Just to give you an idea of the new style I'll be bringing with me, when a cornhole like Sen. Ben Nelson tries to hold you up next time, this is what I will tell him in order to get his vote: "You've got exactly 30 seconds to rescind your demand or I will personally make sure that Nebraska doesn't get one more federal dollar for the rest of Obama's term. And then I will let everyone in your state know that you wear Sooner panties, backwards. NOW DROP AND GIVE ME 50!"
republicanism/conservatism is a mental illness that has almost totally destroied our morals and our economy! Not to even mention all the innocent people that have been killed because of their bad decisions!
He was completely(and wrongly) vilified for standing up to Bush and company, risking everything just to tell the truth when it wasn't cool.
Booing him at the Oscars a few years ago for telling the truth was disgraceful...of course none of those assholes later gave Moore credit for being correct.
as far as the comment goes. But now Moore is all wrong. Obama is barely better than Bush. (In at least one regard, worse, in that he's a complete fraud.)
Then we will put on our jogging sweats and run up to Capitol Hill.
Yeah...Obama, maybe...if he quits smoking...but Michael??? ROFLMAO!!!
what to do with anything?
"El Puerco has been doing the same old shtick....
The man... is nothing but a fat, ignorant, drug addicted, Viagra fueled, pedophilic slob....
His followers and fans are people too damned stupid to ever realize that the ignorant hate and venom running down his chin and dripping onto that huge blob of protoplasm between his neck and his belt line..."
Except Jay was laughing and a guy named Tom, who wrote what I quote, was not.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
The reason Rush's many shortcomings are constantly pointed out here is because his universal hatred of anyone who isn't a rich white man is a documented fact. Who does Moore hate, slander, and hurt?
And no, you're not the smartest guy in the room who we don't get.
"Who does Moore hate, slander, and hurt?"
Liars, for one.
A fat joke. Yeah. So we now know the level of YOUR intellect.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
At this point I'm in agreement that Rahm needs to go. But I don't think replacing him with his brother will help. Democrats do not need any more center-right advocates, begging the lying right-wing Republicans in Congress for their ideas and support that will never come.
Only someone who does not despise progressives can be an effective advocate for the progressive movement.
I'm behind you all the way, Micheal, but leave Ari at home..in fact send both Emanuels back to Israel to muck around in THEIR government.
..our country suffers enough under the influence of these Dual-Citizenship Israelis infesting our government (count 'em sometime!).
Americans are gullible indeed if they buy that schtick, that what's good for Israel is good for US.
It just ain't so, and I think we're about to find out in a big way when Israel attacks Iran and all Hell breaks loose!
(Just what we need in a recession with no healthcare, eh? the Capitalist American War economy running on hi-test, barreling towards Armageddon!)
Meanwhile, GO MM !!
Israel has way too much influence in American politics and American Jews who act more like Israeli Jews need to move back to their motherland.
I know this supposedly makes me anti-semetic or something. . . but I would say the same thing about British Americans or French Americans too if I saw them acting like the UK or France should be an extension of America in all matters except paying taxes and being governed.
Right on, Michael Moore! Thank you.
"And the brief window we had to fix this country will be gone.
Gone.
Gone, baby, gone."
The clock is ticking and we're running out of time ....
IS THE MAN.
The real example of
SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER!
Some stuff you can't make up!
He may or not be speaking the truth...
but he isn't speaking to power because they ain't listening.
He IS kidding. Right?
Right?
will be historical.
Michael Moore is a great American!
A documentary about how Obama got elected and what he ran on compared to what happened to him (or what he did) once he was elected.
If Michael Moore were serious,he would have invoked the Marine Drill Instructor instead of the weak Army drill sergeant. "Drop and give me 50" is some sad crap... when I was in Boot Camp, we got "Drop and push until I get tired"... as in "...until I get tired of watching you suffer!"
Of course, I'm half-convinced that Obama and Palin are basically the same person. They both seem to think that "president" is a symbolic title that you hold, and all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the perks. As far as I'm concerned, "president" is a big effing stick that you use to push the ideas you campaigned on as far as you can get them. Obama campaigned on a bunch of ideas that he has not fought for... if I were in his shoes I would spend every waking moment making those promises a reality.
are probably right.
The presidency has become but a symbolic title.
A face on a box of corn flakes.
The manufacturer of the flakes is corporate America.
I don't buy them anymore.
We will be there, right behind you!!
Fabulous letter!
How does this help me with my chess game?
MM is full of crap.
Rahm is doing a good job or Obama will replace him.
Obama would have to trust whomsoever he chooses and I bet he doesn't know MM well enough to trust him.
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
Yes, Rahm certainly did a bang up job negotiating HCR with the all the industry corportists. Rahm is corporate, Wall Street and a DLC type, all of which are killing the DEMs.
And, Mr. Moore, I think Howard Dean had more to do with the Democratic Congress majority than Rahm. Many of Rahms candidates lost.
And he's certainly done a GREAT job of listening to the American people on health care. "Fucking retarded," my ASS.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
Michael Moore. Maybe we should just keep editing our textbooks until they read Iraq asked us to invade, etc... He does speak truth to power. Obama could do alot worse than having him on his staff.
Rahm's loser ass "strategy". "We own those sorry ass Democrats, so let's go suck Republican dick."
On behalf of all Chicagoans, to Progressives everywhere, we are so sorry.
Or twelve dimensional space chess.
You know the saying: Give a man enough rope and he'll hang himself.
But you probably don't know the rest: Teach a man to rope and he'll hog-tie you every day until you are voted out of office.
"I understand you may be looking to replace Rahm Emanuel as your chief of staff.
"I would like to humbly offer myself, yours truly, as his replacement."
Now THIS is an idea that I would be proud to get behind and support!
There is just one small tiny problem: IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!!
But I surely would love to be proven wrong.
Anyone who considers the millions unemployed after NAFTA as a minor afterthought has no business being anywhere near a health care consulting job, much less chief of staff.
Moore's another one who should be on the maquiladora health plan.
Surely we have better choices available!
... do what he said he will do.
Campaign against all the Blue Dog Dems who may cause Healthcare to fail and make sure they lose their cushy job.
If you need funds to pay for essentials, you have a revenue problem
If you need funds to pay for frivolity, you have a spending problem
They'll just get even cushier lobbying jobs from their paymasters.
Generally speaking I don't trust anyone making over 150K a year.
Obama has the final say but who ever is deciding strategy and calling the shots ... they sure have not got it together , the usual Dems , seems they are their own worst enemy .Making deals with the devil will back fire on you every time , I just wish they'd decide who's side they are on .
Michael Moore is one of the few Americans that understands the evil of capitalism.
The evidence is all around us of the self-destruction of capitalism.
Wars for profits, overflowing prisons, ghettos, drug culture, private armies, private hit squads, imperialism, mega industrial military complex, educational institutions in disarray, open borders not out of compassion but for cheap labor but for corp America and the chamber of commerce members, mega profits off the sick and needy, corp fascism that owns congress, white house, and now even the supreme court, and of course the reelection process, need I go on.
But Americans love their capitalism even while it takes away their middle class status and turns them into have nots and disposable workers for corp fascists. It is the economic system based on survival of the fittest commonly called social Darwinism.
Make no mistake about it the capitalists are ten times smarter and greedier than the average American. Americans don’t have a clue what they are up against. All they can do is blame, blame, and blame some more and not look at the capitalist system. The capitalists are so good they have made capitalist a synonym with freedom and patriotism.
The greatest of patriots is Michael Moore but few in America understand that. Very few.
I have a simulation I did in my seminars before my retirement and in 4 hours I could show the influence the system has on human performance by having participants participate in two different systems. The first system based on capitalistic principles of competition and individualism creates chaos, infighting, backstabbing, blaming, defects, the list is long, and the second system based on a social democracy then people begin to work together for the benefit of all. The system is responsible for 85 to 95% of performance of an organization or a nation.
Few will understand my words very few.
Any nation that makes mega profits by refusing health insurance for pre-existing conditions and those that are very sick is not a nation based on spiritual values but a nation of greed and self-righteousness.
America is immoral to the core and this is one point I disagree with Michael on. We are a republic and we as Americans in our own greed have jumped right in bed with these capitalists and their greed.
Ask yourself how many times has Michael Moore been wrong with his movies as to the future of things to come in America. Ask yourself how many times has Reagan economics been right. The proof is there but American’s in their greed and conditioning refuse to see this evidence.
I don't know what the perfect system would be but one thing for sure , capitalism ain't it . Capitalism , the rich and powerful capitalize on the middle and lower classes and on their being powerless , that's what capitalism and the " free market " is . They've got Americans totally brainwashed . Take socialism for instance , your average American thinks that's the equivalent of Communism or being a Nazi , drives me nuts but "we the people" as a whole are not very bright , bottom line . Their is no cure for stupid and the corrupt more than ever before dominate and control everything so I see little hope.
..Michael Moore makes MILLIONS off of that sentiment. He has his own private plane to spread the 'working class' message. If that's not true, forgive me. But to me, owning your own plane while sending working class messages....well, it seems disingenuous at best.
Don't get me wrong - he speaks the truth in all of his movies. I like the message he sends, which is all too true. Still.
He profits insanely off of those messages. Where does the money go??
He profits from Capitalism yet promotes Socialism.
I'm all for Socialism, don't get me wrong. I believe it's the best system 'for people like you and me', meaning regular working folks.
Not everybody thinks socialism is the best system at all. It's just as vulnerable to corruption as capitalism, and once corruption enters the picture, both are nasty. Unfortunately greed is a "deadly sin" and will destroy any system originally meant to enable human commerce.
In defense of capitalism, some people earn their money honestly, and it can be a lot. Furthermore they earn it without robbing other people or through fraud. I don't begrudge those people one penny of their money -- in fact, wish I had the smarts to do the same thing.
Isn't evil because it lets people make a living. It is evil because it exploits people, whether it's a stocker at your local grocery store, the guy that changes your oil, or a sweat shop worker somewhere in India. Social democracy is the path for the world to get to that state of equilibrium where work becomes fair and exploitation will end.
Kudos to you Michael, a rare true patriot, a pride for America, and yes make them give you 50!
Is it the 21st century yet?
your hate is miss-placed: http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/wew/articles/10/Wh...
Concern, exploitation is very real. What do you suggest we do about it?
Is it the 21st century yet?
one will be successful/rich or not is whether or not you come from a wealthy family. Number One.
So much for pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
..stories are just BS, right?
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
I'm so sick of hearing how socialism is as vulnerable to corruption as capitalism. If practiced according to it's principles, socialism would represent the people, not a ruling elite, whereas free-market capitalism, when actualized, seems to create de facto feudalism.
Given that we now know the potential for corruption generally associated with socialism is no less prevalent in capitalism, couldn't a burgeoning socialist society institute the same checks and balances on power that this capitalist society is supposed to have?
If a system contains humans, it's vulnerable to corruption.
The corrupt will seek positions in the "checks and balances" areas while the rest of us are out living our real lives and pursuing other interests.
Finding the "least evil" methods of constructing business and political systems is about the only hope, and even Google's mission statement org has succumbed to organized crime seeking to prey on individual and group privacy.
Socialism doesn't mean that you can't be rich, it just means that when you are rich you are taxed accordingly to help your fellow citizens. Socialism is NOT communism.
"I could give a flying crap about the political process.... We're an entertainment company."
- Glenn Beck - Forbes interview; April 26, 2010
so I don't recall the exact numbers. But out of the 25 richest people in the world something like 20 or 21 come from socialist countries.
maybe he doesn't trust the MIC not to JFK JR. him. Can you blame him?
I'll have to read it again when I'm sober, but so far...sjeesh, Mike, this is NOT the way to get ANYONE on board!!
Come on - you can do better than that!
I agree on the sentiment, but for-crying-out-loud Dude, you can do better than that!
Go Michael!!
moore just told everyone that this is really the only blog you need
grats to john
I know this is a leftist website, but you are all clueless. Obama does not have a mandate to implement your leftist agenda. He has an agenda to be a reasonable, thoughtful President that will not crumble beneath the DC partisanship or the ideological leftist agenda you want him to pursue. I'm not a troll so don't take that road. I'm just a reasonably nonpartisan person who smells dogma on this website. Kiss me.
Bullshit! You are a rightwing troll, and a conservatard hack!
What's with the reasonable agenda bullshit? Demcocrats win by margins two to three times larger than anything the republicans ever did - despite their 95% monopoly of the media, and their is no left wing agenda? Try selling that stupidity on the corner of Idiot Blvd and Wingnut Delusion Street. The adults on C & L are far to intelligent and informed to take your childish ramblings seriously.
The main reason Obama isn't being embraced, is because he is governing as a DLC republican-lite! Get a clue!
75% of the people wanting a Public Option is not a far left idea - unless you listen to corporate owned fascist mouthpieces like Rush and Fox GOP propaganda.
People wanting banking regulations and investigations is not a left wing fantasy. Obama's "republican" approach with these guys is what has so many (not just lefties) pissed at him.
Honestly, do you even have the slightest idea of what the hell you are talking about? Do you even know what you are for, or do you need to turn on Fox for them to tell you?
Your name calling and political projection - supported by GOP talking points which have been verifiably proven to be complete bullshit for anyone with two I.Q. points, tells me you are just another brain-dead clueless corporate fool, without the slightest comprehension that the republicans you love and support are actually the far far right corporate fascists who have destroyed working people and the country.
Like all low information rightwing knuckle draggers, whenever you come here (C & L)trying to impress the adults, you get your ass handed to you, and only reinforce the fact that you are a first class dim-bulb.
Next troll please.
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
Hahahahahahaha! Your hackery and name-calling are breathtaking and prove my point. You are upset with Mr. Obama for not walking in line with YOUR far left political agenda. If he actually achieved a public option and banking regs (I don't disagree with banking regs), you would STILL be unhappy with him because he is not John Amato or Nicole Belle (who must be smoking hot; I digress). I visit this website daily and the hypocricy is endless; you are all the opposite-end-of-the-spectrum twins of the C Street cult member clowns. Ouch, that hurts doesn't it? Don't worry, I'm sure you'll maintain your insecure,yet throbbing hard on (1) in this virtual circle jerk of a blog and (2) by surrounding yourself with only those that agree with you. Enjoy the self imposed coma. But, I won't go away.
Public Option to possibly make insurance rates competitive, a left wing agenda? Troll, if you don't stop the Health Care pimps they'll eventually make the perpetual sodomizing of fools like you a pre-existing condition.
Jerk
You are a clown. I'm not saying a public option is a far left agenda. I'm saying its stupid. But, even IF the Prez got a public option, you'd still want more. Unzip. Reach. Continue jerking fellow clowns off.
..straight out of the right-wing's ass. Typical obstructionist bs. Our hypocrisy? whatever you've been smoking is probably illegal. Obama has been and is a centrist, not a liberal. If he adopted the public mandate, then he might be considered progressive. To many on the right, all they want is to be back in power so they can use the guns and missiles and bombs over in the middle east so we're less safe in this world all the while making KBR richer while they kill our troops with faulty wiring and crappy water. That strategy failed and its bankrupted this nation. And don't get me started on whether w and his band of merry neo-cons are or aren't war criminals, the health and welfare of our wounded or our dead's families. the right has nothing to offer but obstructionism and opinions about the "scary black man in the White House".
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
Dude, I voted for Obama and have no patience for the Republican hacks out there. My point is that if Mr. Obama lurched left he would be even more unpopular than he already is. Most on this site think the opposite and I say such people are clueless.
Have you been wormed and had your flea bath lately?
He isn't about a leftist agenda.
He has no agenda.
He is going day to day, doing what he is told to do.
Obama got his agenda through. His agenda was handing the Treasury's contents, or the maximum possible portion, over to the bankers and investment brokers. Face it, accept it--we were had.
Classic troll. Come in the middle of the night slamming Progressives(without solutions) of course claiming to be nonpartisan.
Obama has the mandate to do whatever the fuck he wants until 2012... That's what happens when you win an election, particularly when you win it by such a large majority...
If he'd do the stuff he campaigned on, he'd have poll numbers through the roof.
And no, I won't kiss you, I'm not entirely sure that stupid isn't a communicable disease.
"I could give a flying crap about the political process.... We're an entertainment company."
- Glenn Beck - Forbes interview; April 26, 2010
Contact me. Now YOU I would like to have a beer with!
Not only would Obama not appoint you to be his chief of staff, he would be afraid to be seen with you in public.
I see Rahm's smirk every now and then but where's the leadership coming from the WH? This is a White House that raises its hand politely in the back of the congressional classroom and asks "Would anyone like to hear my ideas for change, please?"
'Men do not go to the gallows and put their heads in a noose if they can avoid it.' - Mark Twain
If only the feudal lords would get over obsessing with immortality and realize this is what will get them re-elected in 2012...
with Anyone. But my first candidate would be Michael Moore.
NOBODY 2012
Moore can do the job if he burns his baseball cap.
based on the recommendation of that loyal friend Ralph Nader, but Al Gore could never warm to the idea.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
Moore is a great polemicist but he certainly has a bizarre idea of what constitutional powers a president has at his disposal.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
....if he thinks Obama would suddenly become more progressive without Rahm Emanuel. Obama considers Joe LIEberman his mentor, for God's sake. That should make it obvious to anyone with half a brain that he's not a progressive and is never going to support progressive policies. Unfortunately, I think the mental retardation on the left has reached the point that progressives will still be out there supporting Democrats even as Democrats support laws to jail political dissidents.
demonstrates your ignorance of it. But thank you for not using it as an epithet.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
Don't confuse Rahm Emanuel's misuse of the term with legitimate questions of mental competence. A person isn't mentally retarded simply because he or she expresses a desire for universal healthcare. On the other hand, what else would you call progressives who support Democratic politicians who dismiss and ridicule progressives?
BTW, the truly ignorant are those who continue to try and link *mental retardation* with people with Down's Syndrome.
Carroll Reece is/was former vice-chair of the Republican party.
He, and his minions, will always be "Reecetards".
Lay off Downs' syndrome. They didn't do it to themselves. Our favorite computer geek is a Down's man who found one great near-brilliance, and keeps many a country computer running out here in BFE.
Rahm's brother, is Michael Moore's agent. So somesink about this letter smells fishy to me.
Seriously? Well, there are the Baldwins.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ari_Emanuel
I didn't read the whole letter. It's right there at the end.
If it helps, you won't really be losing Rahm entirely because I'll be bringing his brother with me -- my agent, Ari Emanuel.
Michael Moore, Al Franken, Alan Grayson, Mrs. Obama, Hillary Clinton, Mr. Neiwart, Melissa McEwan (Shakesville) - these are the first group of names that occur to me when putting together a think-tank for the President.
Here in Australia, I read this site, and others, I watch as America staggers along, lurching into the waiting arms of Theocracy/Big Business, and I worry.
Is there hope?
There is still a small group of people who have hope in Obama.
In America, we have a name for such people who cling to a lame duck president in such a way...
We call them "twenty percenters" ...and president Bush had a similar group of followers...(blind as a bat and extremely partisan in all cases)
audit-prosecute-incarcerate
The sooner Progressives and Liberals come out of the Obama ether and realize Rahm is not the problem, the President is, the sooner we can move on with what we have to do to fix America. Too many of us still live with the idea that electing the "right" president will fix America. Well a big problem with that theory is we vote for chameleons like Obama. We all want to heap blame on Summer, Emanuel, and Geithner, when Obama is clearly the problem. Obama told progressives and liberals when we screamed about his selections that it didn't matter whom he selected for his cabinet and aides, that it would be his direction they would follow. Well why are we refusing to take him at his word. Why are we blaming the people he himself told us would follow his policies. Besides Obama is only part of the problem. The system of government, as many are saying, is clearly broken. Every person we elect, whether in the white house or the congress, we must assume is running for something other than helping the people. We have to come to realization that corporate america has almost complete control of our system of government, and Obama along with 90% of our elected leaders are simply players in the corrupt system, and see no reason to correct a system that so clearly enhances their power. This is why Obama seeks policy goals that have the approval of the powers that be first(thus all the meetings with health insurance execs and finance execs) and then tries to sell them to us, the people, as real reform, thus we have this disastrous health care bill.
Listen folks, we can continue looking at the people Obama directs, and not look at the person who has to power to overrule them on any policy goal. Yet the stammering, weak kneed, and conservative policies keep coming. I read a column from John Nichols about Obama using GOP talking points, and I said, yes, finally someone gets it. Obama has adopted GOP talking points from the beginning, some may say, to get more GOP support, I think he uses them because it is in his DNA. He is the conservadem we hate in the form of Lieberman, Bayh, Nelson, Landrieu, and yes Blanch Lincoln. Why is it these people consistently disavow the Democratic party and democratic policy proposals openly and publicly, and Obama embraces them with gusto. Yet he tells progressives in a closed door meeting they have to wait on his supposed "future" support for the pulic option. With this president's record for going back on his word, we would be fools to believe him. He has no credibility left with me, only his actions matter to me anymore. I am sick of the speeches, it's now time for action. And that to me is the only I will judge this guy by from this point on!
Listen I wanted this president to be the leader we elected him to be, but it is clear he is not. If we don't come out of his ether and treat him as the leader he is, and stop viewing him through rose colored glasses, and blaming his underlings, we will continue to see the failed leadership on our policy initiatives, and the continued support of conservative, middle of road policies that do not address the massive problems facing this nation, but simply attempts to convince the public they do. We simply no longer the time or luxury to do anything less.
It wouldn't bother me if there was a primary challenge for Obama in 2012.
Blah blah blah blah. Why does Moore have a voice in the media? He is proclaiming himself as one who is capable of making everyone bend to the will of the President (or at least what he thinks the will of the President should be), what a joke! I for one, still think that the balance of powers is a good thing; The Legislative Branch makes the laws,the Executive Branch enforces the laws and the Judicial Branch interprets the laws. Congress is where the people are represented as truly as possible and they should act accordingly.
Oh, and by the way, Republicans are part of "The People" too; Congress and the President represent ALL of the people, not just Democrats. I know, why don't we just forget about political parties for the next two years; we can get a few things done for the WHOLE country, then we can go back to the fighting just in time for another election. Liberals got their wish, Bush is gone and everything is the hands of a Dem President and a Dem Congress, now let's get something done or that will surely change in very short order; Obama's rating is already astonishingly low for having been in office just over a year.
Michael Moore in politics? THAT is one of the scariest things I have ever heard!
IMHO, I would abolish the Senate, and Executive (pseudo-kingship) and reconstruct the rest of government into a Parliamentary System. I would enable a No Confidence Vote and General Elections provisions. I would recycle 1/3 of Parliament with elections every year with Reps getting (3) year terms. This system of electing Kings/Presidents every (4) years is getting old.
That said, no government is going to reflect the concerns of the people until Big Money's Influence (implicit bribery) has been removed, be it Communist China or Capitalist America.
You might have wanted to make that argument when Bush, Cheney, Hastert, Delay, and Frist rammed through all of their disastrous policies. And what was it Cheney said when asked about bipartisanship, WE WON! You right wingers never amaze with your ability to spout the most nonsensical things out of your ignorant asses. I'm not surprised you can't remember anything, say past two days ago, because quite frankly, you're some of the stupidest people I have ever seen. And yes I'm a liberal whose not afraid to call you the moron you clearly are, and have done so to conservatives faces. You guys can't handle a liberal who doesn't fit your view of weak and spineless, but here I am jackass.
Yes Republicans are part of the government and have a responsibility to represent the people. Too bad the only people they represent work in the corporate boardroom and are rich investors. Now I doubt your ignorant ass is in either one of the catogories, but you see I am. Yet I am smart enough to recognize the complete failure of conservative ideology, but then gain I am an educated "liberal", but unlike you I'm proud of being educated and intellectual, and don't revel in an ignoranT and ideological worldview. LIVE FREE YOU CONSERVATIVE MORON!
I love the way you attack people like Michael Moore, but love morons like the celebrity "Sarah Palin". Bet you would love for that simpleton Limbaugh to run for office, hell, you'd probably be his campaign manager. Because he fits your model of a great leader, dumb, loud, uninformed, anti-intellectual, but loves him some money.
When Republicans take over the government, Democrats jump to support tax cuts and wars and de-regulation. When Democrats take over the government, suddenly everyone starts screaming about bipartisanship and the rights of the minority. In both cases, the only people left out are progressives.
Moore and Maher had better stop sending their "Both parties are equally bad! There is no difference between the two of them!" message this election year or they're going to succeed in shifting juuuuust enough votes to meaningless or spoiler third party candidates to help put more George W. Bushes in control like they did in 2000.
Neither party is "good", but both parties do not produce "equally bad" results. Republicans produce the worst results with regard to the economy and national security this country has ever known.
When it is going to be one or the other party in charge of the White House, The House and The Senate for the rest of our lifetimes and our great-grandchildren's lifetime, it matters which one is in charge of the levers and demonstrates an astonishing ignorance of history to suggest "Both parties are equally bad! There is no difference between the two of them!"
The Republican Party WINS...BIGTIME!...if mainstream media is empowered in their pro-Republican campaign talking point that "Both parties are equally bad! There is no difference between the two of them!"
The Democrats are actually WORSE than the GOP. Under McCain, we wouldn't have gotten a healthcare bill, but we also wouldn't have gotten a ban on imported drugs or a mandate forcing people - under penalty of law - to pay private health insurance companies. As a progressive, I would rather see the status quo maintained than allow the Democrats to hand more money and power over to corporations. Democrats have already halfway destroyed the country with NAFTA, the repeal of Glass-Steagal, and the trillions sent to Wall St millionaires. Now these scumbags want to finish the job by forcing people to become indentured servants to the healthcare industry. As bad as the Republicans are, at least they don't put the power of government directly in the hands of corporations.
"You and the Democrats have been in charge for over a year and none of the banking regulations has been reinstated. We don't have universal health care. The war in Afghanistan has expanded. And tens of thousands of Americans continue to lose their jobs and be thrown out of their homes."
Quite correct. But why is it supposedly the fault only of the Congressional Dems, but not of Obama?
It was Obama who backed Bush's Wall Street Giveaway, and came up with more of the same when he moved into the W.H. (And his choices of Geithner and Bernanke!) It was Obama who declared that single-payer was off the table - and who decided to exclude any single-payer advocate from his grand health care discussions - followed by the back-room sweetheart deal he cut with Big Pharma and the endless concessions to the insurance industry. The Afghanistan war did not expand of its own accord: it was Obama who decided to expand it. It was Obama as well as most Congressional Dems who did not fight for a real stimulus bill, who pared it down and included Republican-style tax cuts - and who refused to remove them when they failed to garner Republican support.
This he follows up with "You're such a good guy, Mr President." Really? What will it take to wake up all the Michael Moores out there? Obama is a militarist, corporatist, Wall Street fanny-kisser. (And we haven't even touched on his expansion of the un-Constitutional 'faith-based initiatives' - to which he added an advisory board of clerics! Nor his continuation of Bush's 'unitary executive.' Nor any of the many moves he's made that were palmed off as 'concessions,' although real concessions are not the first offers you make, and you are expected to demand concessions of the other party in return - or you withdraw yours.)
"Go Barack! Yay Obama! Fight, Team, Fight!" Quick! Somebody please help me find my puking bowl!!
be bold if the american voters don't like it they can vote someone else in 2012.
I appreciated Moore's suggestion of how to handle such as Ben Nelson, but I've always been a fan of the rapier over the bludgeon. This was my idea:
Obama individually meets with Congressional opponents of comprehensive health reform (yes, I know I've already gone too far, bear with me). Speaking with each, he says he understands their concerns about costs and the deficit and all and he want them to be assured he is working on that. In fact, to prove it he wants to give them a heads up about areas being considered for cuts in order to control the deficit.
He then hands them a sheet of paper listing all federally-funded projects in their state (or district).
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