I watched it last night and was impressed with his strong delivery and the high resonant pitch of his voice. Quite an oration. He seemed to be saying something too, not enough to fill the economic hole we’re in, but sufficient to create 1.9 million jobs according to Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. His hair might not be on fire, but it’s definitely smoking according to Paul Krugman. Oh I know, he’s done a lot of bad things like not closing Gitmo, not approving the new EPA standards, and many more: see Drew Westen’s NYT article What Happened to Obama?. Of course the Republicans won’t pass his Jobs bill, but at least he seems to be going down fighting. Let’s be optimistic and hope that his efforts might at least keep the senate from going Republican in 2012. Fat chance?
You are currently browsing articles tagged republicans.
Tags: drew westen, epa standards, Mark Zandi, Obama, paul krugman, republicans, senate
The NYT this morning has a scathing editorial on the pettiness of John Boehner’s refusal to allow Obama to make his jobs speech on Wednesday, Sept. 7, and they accuse Obama of caving once again by agreeing to give his speech on the following day. I think I agree that Obama caved yet again, but then I find the following reader’s comment:
Really? This delay, even seen as a concession to a request, however churlish, from another elected representative of considerable stature (i.e., the Speaker of the House) is seen as “caving” or some sort of sign of weakness? Was Lincoln’s willingness to wait patiently to meet with General George B. McClellan, the general-in-chief of the Union Army at the early stages of the Civil War (and, later, his Democratic rival for re-election as President) also “caving” or weakness?
What has happened to the notion that it is the stronger, more mature, and more self-possessed individual and leader who can overlook – much less ignore – such pettiness and posturing, keeping his (or her) eye on the more important issues and goals of good governance and the communication of one’s vision and plans for the same?
Or are virtues such as patience, restraint, and forbearance (yes, even towards the small, the petty, and, dare I say it, “those who hate you”) of no value and are no longer desired in our leaders, much less our President and Commander-in-Chief?
OK, this is all well and good. Clearly, Lincoln showed forbearance and maturity and became one of our very greatest presidents. But look what Obama is up against:
I don’t know how true this is, but on The Ed Show (granted hardly an unbiased source) it was said that the Obama people sent the request early in the morning, and that Boehner hesitated in replying to the President, until after Rush Limbaugh went on the air and on the warpath and publicly berated Boehner for not turning down the President’s request immediately. It seems the Republicans in office are so beholden (again, if this is true) to such non-elected personalities as Limbaugh, Beck and Grover Norquist that they cannot act independently on their own. In fact, if you include the astroturf groups such as The Club for Growth and Freedomworks, it seems elected Republicans are no better than lemmings marching to the drumbeat of corporate-funded advocacy groups and media individuals.Not to let Obama off the hook, because he backed down again, but the Republican have no intention of showing respect for the office of the President as long as their leadership-in-fact is a bunch of astroturf groups and rich individuals, especially Rush Limbaugh. I can’t believe so many poor and middle-class individuals are taken in by a rich man who flaunts a golden microphone, and how many politicians, including the one who is second in the line to the presidency, are beholden to him.
Is this equivalent to what Lincoln was up against? It may have been worse in Lincoln’s time but at least then there was no instant media to excite the masses.
The first quote was by William Gabriel of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the second was by r5169 of Midwestern U.S.A.
Tags: general george b mcclellan, john boehner, Lincoln, NYT, Obama, pettiness, republicans, rush limbaugh, speaker of the house
and no time to say it. I’m off at 8:45am to the Eyecare Medical Group in Portland for my left cataract removal. I sit here with no breakfast rather grumpily. And I read about Obama’s three year freeze in discretionary spending (I guess John McCain agrees — how nice) and note his lack of leadership on health care. I’ve about given up on Obama. His plans for solving the job problems in America are piddling, in addition to the budget freeze not helping jobs at all. The Republicans will take over. But I’m looking forward to getting this cataract removed and doing without glasses, although they say I’ll need them for reading. OK, now I gotta go and start taking eye drops. Kate will be over soon and the three of us, Kate, me, Cynthia will head out for Portland at 8:45am.
Tags: cataract removal, discretionary spending, eyecare medical group, glasses, Health Care, jobs, john mccain, Obama, republicans
More Juan Cole stuff this morning. He’s making a good argument that these new Obama administration airline passenger screening measures are casting too wide a net and will end up alienating people. Also, they tell al-Qaida which countries not to send bombers from. For example, Indonesia and India aren’t on the list. And why is Cuba on the list?
It’s hard to find a discussion of these issues on the American media which is so scared it might be called ‘liberal’ that it constantly bends over backwards to appease the republicans, who are mostly right wing now, with vanishing numbers of ‘moderates’. So, it was refreshing to hear, thanks to Juan Cole, a different analysis of these new screening measures brought to us by, yes, you guessed it, AlJazeeraEnglish.
Here’s a 24 minute video from AlJazeeraEnglish with the title, “Inside Story – New airline security measures: Safe or discriminatory? – 5 Jan 2009″
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIRp4qKp138[/youtube]
So, if Obama’s rhetoric is high minded and progressive, are his actions more like a continuation of George W. Bush’s policies? In other words, is Obama becoming W-ized?
Tags: airline security, al qaida, aljazeeraenglish, Cuba, george w bush, india, indonesia, juan cole, Obama, republicans, screening measures
OK, there’s a great article in the latest New Yorker magazine with the title, The State of Sarah Palin, which happens to be online. I finished reading it yesterday and it gives a fine insight into not only her but Alaska as well: Alaska, that far-out state where Mastodon teeth are no big deal. Well, over 50% of the population are Independents, 25% Republicans, 15% Democrats, and they do have running water most places.
The article is by Philip Gourevitch who spent a few weeks up in Alaska interviewing her and discovering the lay of the land. The article has the sub-title, The peculiar political landscape of the Vice-Presidential hopeful. I came away from the reading with a better grasp of her personality and also that of Alaska.
OK, now that her popularity is in decline (see the chart below), I can say this will be my last word on this distraction. From now on it should be all about Obama! I agree with Anne Lamott in her post A Call to Arms.
Thanks to Matthew Yglesias for this chart from Research 200 Tracking and Poll Data.
Tags: anne lamott, democrats, distraction, independents, mastodon teeth, matthew yglesias, new yorker magazine, philip gourevitch, republicans, sarah palin
Mudflats latest post is a storm warning! A legal blizzard is hitting Alaska. Suddenly five Republicans on the Legislative Council, consisting of eight Republicans and four Democrats, are bringing suit against the other members and the Council itself to delay the investigation until after the November 4th election, plus they are suing to remove two of the Democrats. This is the investigation of Palin’s dismissal of the Public Safety Commissioner, Walt Monegan. Originally, the Council had voted unanimously to perform the investigation. Here’s what Mudflats says about Walt Monegan:
Walt Monegan was, in a word, beloved. He was beloved by the troopers he lead, the people he served, and basically anyone who had the privilege of working with him. He cared about people, the important issues, and he was the real deal. There are many Alaskans today thinking, “Who do these people think they are to come here, and tear down the likes of Walt Monegan?” You have to remember, the rest of the country is “outside”. We are “inside”. That feeling defines Alaskans. We don’t like the government coming in here and telling us how to run things, dammit. And we don’t like outsiders ripping apart respected public servants in our town.
Read the whole thing. It’s fascinating, very well written, and humorous to boot in spite of everything, or maybe because of it. There are already 133 371 405 responses.
See the typical moose below from which Sarah makes her burgers! This great moose picture comes from a Garrison Keillor article today, A liberal in moose country.
UPDATE: For a great slide show with music of the 50 photos taken at the anti-Palin rally in Anchorage on Sunday, Sept. 14, see here.
Tags: alaska, democrats, garrison keillor, legislative council, moose, public safety commissioner, republicans
The NYT has a great editorial today, Mississippi’s Ballot Trick, and this is one of the 150 comments so far, an editor’s pick:Wow, what a shock! Republicans trying to rig an election! Since the 2000 election, which saw the Supreme Court violate the law to stop the vote counting and appoint our President, we’ve discovered voter rolls purged of legitimate (democratic) voters, voter challenges, voter caging lists, voter registrations thrown in the trash, letters sent to the homes of voters to mis-inform them of the election date, phone banks jammed to prevent voters from contacting campaign offices for rides to the polls, students told they can’t vote in the districts where they attend school, and of course the continued use of notoriously flawed touch screen, paperless, voting machines which flip votes, lose votes, crash, and were invented to throw elections to the republicans. Has there been any serious investigation of these tactics by the mainstream media? Only now you’re offended? Eight long and tragic years late, but better late than never, though not by much.
— Kenneth D. Brown, Redondo Beach, CA
Tags: Kenneth D. Brown, mainstream media, mississippi, phone banks, polls, republicans, supreme court, voter registrations, voting machines
Recent Comments