Obummer on the campaign trail

[bigbadwolf]

I see Obummer is up to his old tricks:

After two years of right-wing rule, in which he has followed in the footsteps of his Republican predecessor, bailing out Wall Street, escalating the war in Afghanistan, and intensifying the onslaught on democratic rights at home, Obama sought to revive the tired and vacuous slogans of “hope” and “change” that he employed in the 2008 presidential campaign.

In his Madison speech, and in a lengthy interview with Rolling Stone magazine, posted on the Internet the same day, Obama blamed his former supporters, not his own policies, for the poor political standing of his party and administration. Those who fail to turn out November 2 to support Democratic congressional candidates will be “irresponsible” and their actions “inexcusable,” he charged.

(source)

 

[darmanad]

Former Harper’s Magazine editor Roger D. Hodge has just published what may well be the definitive critique of the Obama presidency from the left: The Mendacity of Hope: Barack Obama and the Betrayal of American Liberalism. Harper's Scott Horton put six questions to him about his new book.

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2010/10/hbc-90007615

 

[SaraSara]

I see Obummer is up to his old tricks:

(source)

Interesting piece but hardly a surprising evaluation, considering the source.

SOURCE:
"World Socialist Web Site - Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International"

I read the full piece and noticed how cleverly the "irresponsible" label was taken out of context, for extra shock value.

--- This is the World Socialist Web Site's version of what Obama said:

"In his Madison speech, and in a lengthy interview with Rolling Stone magazine, posted on the Internet the same day, Obama blamed his former supporters, not his own policies, for the poor political standing of his party and administration. Those who fail to turn out November 2 to support Democratic congressional candidates will be “irresponsible” and their actions “inexcusable,” he charged."

-- This is the paragraph that inflammatory "irresponsible" word was lifted from - it has quite a different meaning when put back in context.

“It is inexcusable for any Democrat or progressive right now to stand on the sidelines in this midterm election,” he said. “There may be complaints about us not having gotten certain things done, not fast enough, making certain legislative compromises. But right now, we’ve got a choice between a Republican Party that has moved to the right of George Bush and is looking to lock in the same policies that got us into these disasters in the first place, versus an administration that, with some admitted warts, has been the most successful administration in a generation in moving progressive agendas forward. The idea that we’ve got a lack of enthusiasm in the Democratic base, that people are sitting on their hands complaining, is just irresponsible.”

IMHO, the piece could have been written by a left-wing Rush Limbaugh. Frankly, I expected a much higher standard of journalism from the Socialists - one thing they do have is brains.

The Palin virus must be spreading.

 

[bigbadwolf]

Then what meaning is to be ascribed to: "The idea that we’ve got a lack of enthusiasm in the Democratic base, that people are sitting on their hands complaining, is just irresponsible” ? Admittedly, it's not a very clear statement. Is the idea someow irresponsible? Or, more plausibly, is the meaning of the statement that people who sit on their hands complaining (and hence don't vote for the bum Democrats) are irresponsible?

Obummer is up to the usual Democratic trick of raising the spectre of a Republican victory to rouse some support for the equally worthless Democrats. I doubt it will work. Most people -- except the rabid right -- don't see any difference between the two parties. Use some white paint on Obummer's face and he will look like GWB.

 

[SaraSara]

Then what meaning is to be ascribed to: "The idea that we’ve got a lack of enthusiasm in the Democratic base, that people are sitting on their hands complaining, is just irresponsible” ? Admittedly, it's not a very clear statement. Is the idea someow irresponsible? Or, more plausibly, is the meaning of the statement that people who sit on their hands complaining are irresponsible?

From what I understand, it means that people circulating those rumors are irresponsible. Probably Tea Partiers, Palin supporters, Karl Rove's people and the like. By creating and atmosphere of doom and impending defeat, they keep the "wrong" people from going to the polls.

The Socialists demean themselves by distorting facts as they do in that article. They sound every bit as dishonest as Karl Rove. Besides, there's no need to lie to discredit Obama - he's in plenty of trouble as it is.

One last point - it is counterproductive to call him "Obummer". Name-calling has a nasty way of backfiring and discrediting the caller instead of the target - makes the caller sound childish, bigoted, and biased. Your posts are interesting and well thought-out - monikers only detract from them.

Just saying...

 

[bigbadwolf]

One last point - it is counterproductive to call him "Obummer". Name-calling has a nasty way of backfiring and discrediting the caller instead of the target - makes the caller sound childish, bigoted, and biased. Your posts are interesting and well thought-out - monikers only detract from them.

A valid point but it expresses the withering contempt I hold for this worthless mendacious bum. On every front his policy has been either identical to that of GWB, or gone even further. For one stray example:

The targeted Minneapolis activists have openly protested US military policy since the 1980s. The FBI certainly knows they have nothing to do with terrorism. These activists simply have the audacity to challenge bi-partisan US invasions, occupations and support for dictatorships and human rights abusers. Dissent on the left has long been seen as ‘criminal behavior’. Where once “the communist threat" was the argument for such repression, now, “terrorism” is.

President Bill Clinton’s 1996 Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act made “material aid" a crime, was expanded under George W. Bush’s PATRIOT Act and is broadening to Orwellian vagueness under the President Obama.

Whether it's domestic human rights, the Palestinian "peace talks," economic policy, health care "reform," the quagmire in Afghanistan, it's the same story. It has to be said that Obummer -- "Obama" if you insist -- is the most pathetic figurehead, the most sorry excuse for a president, in living memory. I never thought it could get worse than GWB.