A few scattered thoughts about Triage.

[cliffordu]

The thing that makes me madder than just about anything is the "I hate Obama because he said he'd do this, or that or the other thing" rants is that the ranter THEN comes to the conclusion that HE LIED!!!


That whole line of 'reasoning' assumes he can just attack what he wants to, not react to the equivalent of a choking patient with an artery pumping blood....


It's about Triage.

When he walked through the door the economy worldwide was collapsing - and as odious as it seems, the banks needed bailing out as did the car companies (which looks to be turning out to be pretty good for the taxpayers if what I read about the money coming back is correct....)

So he took care of that first. Can't let the country bleed out...

Further.....

He understands that whatever he focuses his public energy on is going to be the point of the spear in the "Stop Obama at all costs" portion of the US....and the ONLY thing the press is going to want to obsess over 24/7


If he had ordered Cheney and Rummy jailed on January 22 last year, that is all anyone would be talking (ranting) about - the R's could be more insane than they are now and Congress would have done LESS than they have done so far this year - and that story that would completely dominate the news, like the Clinton sex thingy, 24/7, for as long as Obama is in office.

As much as I'd like to see Cheney frogmarched into prison it might not happen, Maybe not right away..... maybe never, but that is a long ways off....


Look at how the Health Care roller coaster/sellout/big business giveaway has been blamed almost entirely on him - The most inflammatory charge is that he did 'secret deals' with the Pharm industry.

(Maybe he did. Big deal. Everyone does business with them. Maybe what he was really doing was peeling them off from their lobbying partnership with the Insurance racket so Congress would only have to fight that one huge special interest instead of both of them......And it looks like it might work.)

And the news cycle - 24/7 of "...Is the prez going to ask for a public option? is the Prez going to make people have abortions? Death panels??"

The Prez can handle more than one thing at a time...Unfortunately the peeple and the media cannot. Andrea Mitchell asking some drone if the death panels were real were a real breaking point for me....

We are all aware of the rest of the charges leveled at him by some of the bigmouths on other forums here, and in the press and in the teabagger sites, so I'll leave them for others to illuminate.....

But back to my point:

Triage.

So now the world's economy is sorta stabilized...mostly...and the health care bill is almost done - (I know, I know...it is a far cry from what we need and it will have to get a lot better...)

But it IS the signature issue of his first term, and as a value-add he has just ground the republicans to a fine paste, just by ignoring them.


What's next?? What is the current pressing issue for the Country??

Well, we need Jobs, Lots of freaking jobs....

And I heard the other day he is working on that....And he was considering using the money coming back from the bailouts to fund that....

At this point I don't know if they are going to do it or not, but I wasn't surprised to hear he was considering something as elegant as using the money from bailouts for job creation....



I'll bet that money shows up for a major jobs bill.....Maybe, like the money that was magically, and at the last minute was inserted into that "terrible insurance giveaway" for FOURTEEN THOUSAND COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE CENTERS - sliding scale community health care centers (with dental)....14,000 of them?


Did I read that right??..??? fourteen thousand sliding scale clinics!!!!! SOUNDS LIKE PUBLIC HEALTH CARE For 45 million people, or so....

But I digress.



Triage.

When the bleeding has stopped and the patient is breathing again...Then move on and do the next dumb fucking thing.


What now? Three years left and health care almost out of the way......Not finished but off the front page....

I hope there is now time for DADT, and DOMA, and a date for Cheney and Wolfowitz and Rummy and the justice system.


I know, I know...The Prez has been making statements to the contrary about Cheney and the crew - but again, whatever he says is what the press and the Congressional complainers obsess over......

Triage, talk ONLY about what needs done NOW....

And I know that the Justice Department has had to defend DOMA in court - they are required to under the law, - sick as it is - the law of the land.....

I expect that to change when he tells congress to work on it...He has said he will, and I have to trust that.


So Here we are, just under a full year since he took the oath.....Feels like a full term already.

You know what?

I just wanna know what's next.

[chris8372]

1. In the vein of triage

I don't think your gonna see much in the area of prosecution when it comes to Cheney and the rest of those evil bastards.And it goes back to your triage.Even with health care reform basically done yes I know they'll improve it as time goes on but essentially the issue is over for now,I don't think you'll see prosecutions once again because of political realities.
Yes Obama could pursue that and yes in a perfect world all those people would be made to pay for their crimes.This isn't a perfect world and if he were to do that he won't get much else accomplished in his term for the reasons you've already stated.And if you want one way more than any other to motivate the conservative base that would be it.I think President Obama's best course of action is just move on to the next issue that needs working on so he can actually be a president that for once will get a lot accomplished in his term.

[NJmaverick]

2. Good anology. In emergency medicine triage is defined as a time when the medical needs

out weigh the medical resources. As a result some people are forced to weight (here at DU, anyone forced to weight screams that the system is out to get them), others are treated right away (because there is a good chance of saving them) and others are unfortunately left to die (because chances of surviving are so small and others would die if they are given the extensive attention they need). In the end it's summed up as the greatest good for the greatest numbers.

[gratefultobelib]

3. I appreciate your posts more than you can imagine!

[cliffordu]

5. Well....

:blush:

Thanks!!

[KittyWampus]

4. Clifford, I've used the Triage analogy many times. Actually, it isn't analogy. It's exactly

what is being done.

Just because you can't treat everyone at once doesn't mean you don't start with the worst and keep going.

[cliffordu]

6. Yep - and I am AMAZED that people think he can

snap his fingers and get everything done at once....

And it worries me that people can actually go into a rage and toss him under the bus over it....

[firedupdem]

7. Excellent Post!

Thank You!

I'm hoping jobs is next myself! I've been displaced for quite a while now. I worry for the kids graduating from college, owing a gazillion dollars in student loans with no opportunities, as well as everybody else out there.

[Undercurrent]

8. Stellar post!

Thank you so much.

You actually presented many of my thoughts in a wonderfully cogent way.

[cliffordu]

10. Thank you so much -

But I think calling my post cogent is pushing it....

[Undercurrent]

12. That's very funny,

because I was actually thinking "coherent", but my fingers typed "cogent". So maybe your coherent post spoke to me in a more powerful way than I consciously realized!

[treestar]

9. That "my issue should be first" thing is stupid

The economy comes first, along with ending the wars, which the President is doing.

Putting Bush and Cheney behind bars - how possible is that really? If we'd been bogged down in that for the past year where would we be?

[dcsmart]

11. I really do not like your picture

That was a sad day. I was sad to see and hear that. Nothing against you. just the picture

:hi:

[treestar]

14. I look at it as them being there, Dems in all three chairs

Maybe there's a better one somewhere. Dem President, Dem House Leader, Dem President of Senate!

[dcsmart]

19. i get it...yeah that makes sense

to be honest i watch it sometimes just to see biden's and pelosi's reactions. that was great. i am glad they were pissed. actually, you could hear the groans throughout the chamber. Many of them were angered by it.

[Cha]

13. Had to look up that word..

it's not something I've ever used in my vocabulary but a good word it is and how very applicable to use with the country's situation when Obama took over.

And, this is the very key to any success they're able to achieve..

"He understands that whatever he focuses his public energy on is going to be the point of the spear in the "Stop Obama at all costs" portion of the US....and the ONLY thing the press is going to want to obsess over 24/7

If he had ordered Cheney and Rummy jailed on January 22 last year, that is all anyone would be talking (ranting) about - the R's could be more insane than they are now and Congress would have done LESS than they have done so far this year - and that story that would completely dominate the news, like the Clinton sex thingy, 24/7, for as long as Obama is in office.

As much as I'd like to see Cheney frogmarched into prison it might not happen, Maybe not right away..... maybe never, but that is a long ways off...."

Obama and the White House have to be a thousand times more "media" and politically savvy with the force of the current crop of enemies surrounding them.


Thanks, clifford..I really enjoyed reading about the Triage.

[cliffordu]

15. You are welcome, my good friend.

:hi:

Next week we learn what grantcart's real name means in Sanskrit...

[Cha]

18. Look forward to your

weekly revelations.. :smirk:

:hi:

[LiberalAndProud]

16. Some stuff won't get done.

Cheney and Bush will not be prosecuted. Congress failed to hold them accountable. When Pelosi took impeachment off the table, that was the last word, sadly. One could call that deriliction of duty. But to pretend that by electing Obama (or any other man or woman to the office, for that matter) would then bring retribution, is crazy thinking. There is no legal precedent for it, and most of America has no stomach for it.

In the end, our laws are weaker because they were ignored and twisted and the perpetrators were not held accountable. That is the sad truth. But I really can't see a legal path for Obama to seek redress. Bush HARMED us deeply. Some of the scars are permanent.

[Cary]

17. The best redress is keeping Republicans out of office unless and until

they learn the right lesson. So many of our fellow DUers fail to understand or appreciate how critical that is.

[cliffordu]

20. Both you and the post above you are exactly right.

[Arkana]

21. Some folks here get high on outrage like it's an addictive drug.

They have to be ANGRY WITH RAGE about at least one thing a day or they get the shakes.

[grantcart]

22. What's next? It will be like the great Ice Damns that broke in the northwest

a gazillion years ago.

They are holding back a lot of stuff so that they can get this passed.