"Obama Was Used, and Is Now Used Up"

[amborin]

Obama Was Used, And Is Now Used Up

by Robert Freeman

Barack Obama was used. Of course, he knew he was being used when he made the deal. But what he didn't know was how quickly he would be used up. Now he has to face two years of humiliation knowing that he betrayed the people and the country he claimed to champion - and knowing that everyone else knows it as well - but also knowing that he's gotten what's coming to him.
Obama made a deal to get the job in the first place. The deal was that he would carry on with Bush's bailout of the banks, with Bush's two wars, with Bush's suppression of civil liberties, that he wouldn't prosecute or even investigate any of the enormous fraud that had brought down the country, or the lies that had railroaded it into war.

Even before he took office, he began fulfilling his end of the bargain. He appointed Larry Summers head of the National Economic Council. It was Summers, more than any other person, who was responsible for dismantling the Glass-Steagall regulations that had acted as a firebreak against banks looting the country since the Great Depression. Summers had made millions consulting for hedge funds before taking the office.
Obama appointed Timothy Geithner Secretary of the Treasury. Geithner had been head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, another central actor in the hear-no-evil-see-no-evil-speak-no-evil dereliction that passed for financial oversight in the Bush administration. He had been a major architect under Bush of the financial bailout that passed trillions of dollars to his former banking cohorts on the pretext of saving the system.

snip

He put together a "stimulus package" of $787 billion when reputable economists were screaming that the collapse in demand from the Great Recession was at least four times that amount. Then, in an attempt to appease the Republicans, he made one third of it business tax cuts, despite the notorious ineffectiveness of such policies in generating jobs. When states cut back their payrolls and spending in the slump, it effectively neutralized the impact of Obama's program. Yet he never seriously attempted to get more.

snip

The owners of the banks don't need him. They got their buddies, Obama's appointees Geithner and Bernanke, to buy their trillions of dollars of toxic sludge with taxpayer money, saving them from imminent bankruptcy. They've got the Fed loaning them money at zero percent interest so they can loan it back to the government at three percent and to payday borrowers at hundreds of percent. It is literally a free, no-risk license to print money.

snip


http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/11/07

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I saw this the other day, and I thought about posting it...

But I thought I did not need the shit storm that would be sure to follow.

Good luck!

It's an excellent article, IMHO, but oh boy. You are either brave or incredibly foolish.......or maybe both?

[nashville_brook]

5. me too -- it's just too bad that it's so spot on.

[amborin]

26. it is too bad

and sad for most everyone

[amborin]

24. thanks,

and probably both

it seems to sum things up so perfectly, given the evidence so far

[bobbolink]

91. How sad it has come to this... people not posting good articles for fear of a "shit storm".

Somehow I don't think self-censoring is exactly a democratic characteristic.

Sad... :cry:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

93. My dear bobbolink...

I am very thin-skinned, and the rough and tumble of this forum can be too much for me...

I don't normally self-censor, but this time I felt it was the better course.

[bobbolink]

94. I am VERY glad you are taking good care of yourself! YOU are the one who knows your limits, and

I applaud you for doing so.

I am just very sad that it has come to this.

Neither you nor I deserve this kind of insensitivity.

:yourock:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

96. Aw, thanks, sweetie...

:hug:

[bobbolink]

97. And thank you. It is sensitive people who keep the "human" in humanity.

:hug:

[sendero]

114. All's well that ends well Peggy..

.... and nobody here is going to give you trouble or they will be in a world of hurt themselves :)

[xxqqqzme]

146. It is, indeed, sad commentary

on the state of DU today. I suspect the shit storm creators will even find this little sub thread an 'outrage'.

Many of us can remember when an article like this was an opportunity for discussion not an excuse to vent, attack and create a 'shit storm'.

[bobbolink]

154. And they are the first ones to yell "Free Speech!"

What is truly sad is that it apes the behavior of the RWers we say we deplore.... Yet, we don't want to look at our *own* behavior in that respect.... which the RW doesn't, either.

What a sad, sad mess. :(

[SusanaMontana41]

Sad but true. n/t

What a mess.

[Jackpine Radical]

189. You can say that again.

[SusanaMontana41]

184. Sad but true. n/t

What a mess.

[Name removed]

201. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DeSwiss]

170. That makes 3 of us.

K&R

[yurbud]

2. it's hard to argue with any of this.

[Occam Bandage]

8. Yes, but only in the same sense that it's hard to argue with creationists or Randroids.

People who declare conspiracies as articles of faith are generally difficult to argue with.

[yurbud]

101. it fits the evidence. And some conspiracies do exist, like selling us on the Iraq War

[Raster]

140. Ah, but it's much easier to shut down facts and opinions you don't like simply by...

...smearing them with the "conspiracy theorist" label. Because as we all know, ain't no conspiracies here! Uh,uh, no way. No conspiracies in the good ol' U-S-of-A!

[sendero]

115. Whether it is an agree-upon conspiracy or not..

... the end result is the same. The day Obama appointed Summers and Geithner I knew it was over. Those that did not are not paying attention.

[DeSwiss]

171. Exacty. n/t

[amborin]

28. it is

[gateley]

3. With whom did he make that deal? Over half the voters who voted for him?

I don't remember getting the memo. :shrug:

[arcane1]

9. Indeed, surely McCain made the same "deal", no?

:shrug:

[RaleighNCDUer]

141. That would be the way to do it -

like somebody giving two rival news reporters the same 'exclusive'.

"You promise to do X for us and we will GUARANTEE you the election - and if you don't, we guarantee you will lose." That way, no matter who wins, the purchaser gets what he wants.

[sabrina 1]

178. I think the deal IS made with all those who look like they have

chance to make it to the nomination. And if they look like the kind of person who might not make such a deal, they will be smeared, trashed and minimized, marginalized, mocked, lied about and made fun of as in the case of Dean, have the media deceptively play over and over again, something that will make them look crazy.

Does anyone really think, having gone through the past decade, that the President actually has any power and that this country has not been taken over by Big Business?

I don't think that is a conspiracy THEORY. I think it was definitely a conspiracy but no longer a theory, it is now a fact.

[laundry_queen]

198. As in the case of Kerry as well, I think. nt

[grasswire]

213. and Al Gore

Never forget what they did to Al Gore.

[laundry_queen]

223. I did

forget that is, I wasn't as into US politics back then. But yeah, you're right, Al too.

[arcane1]

4. "Obama made a deal to get the job in the first place"

I'm not sure I understand that part...

[Occam Bandage]

12. He promised the Lizard People that he'd replace paper money with live crickets.

We're well on the way.

[Bonobo]

33. Good to see you again, Occam Bandage.

You are a great poster and I miss reading more of your posts.

What happened? Have you tossed in the towel? Been overwhelmed by the depths of America's problems or did you just get sick of DU?

[cliffordu]

75. I got a paper mache pony filled with crickets, does that count??

[Edweird]

134. Worst pinata EVER.

[cliffordu]

193. Well...

:rofl:

nice!

[w4rma]

16. You meet with high level Wall Street con-artists and Billionaires and make promises to them for

their support and money.

[Capn Sunshine]

52. Ah yes, I remember it well.

I remember during the beginning days of the campaign, back at the Democratic Convention in San Diego, I suggested to David Axelrod " let's get a meeting with all the guys I trade with every day, so we can make them a bunch of promises in exchange for money".

because the last thing we wanted was for everything to go well and the economy to recover.

It was all for you, people on this thread! NOW you have your raison d'etre! The world conspires against you at this very moment.

[jaysunb]

165. Hey, I was at that convention, and

if I recall correctly, you were also trying to flirt w/ Dennis Kucinich's new wife.

So , lets get together for a few drinks and laughs to see if we can get this all straightened out ! :rofl:

[Name removed]

64. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[GreenArrow]

65. Ooops...

Dupes...

[firedupdem]

72. You have the color of the presidents skin heavy on your mind

huh? How many times are you going to post that he's the first black president or he's a minority? What's up?

[SidDithers]

6. Unrec...nt

Sid

[girl gone mad]

34. Rec. n/t

[Exilednight]

67. rec...n/t

[SammyWinstonJack]

83. rec.

[bobbolink]

95. Recommend. Thank you for reminding me.

[Gold Metal Flake]

99. Rec. n/t

[Greyhound]

108. A real pleasure to rec this. n/t

[Greyhound]

109. Non-reply to mark the persistent DU posting bug, again. n/t

[meow mix]

113. +rec, ty sid for helping to generate more recs

very helpful of you

[racaulk]

159. K&R...nt

[de novo]

191. Rec, for you.

[janewin]

221. K & R

I just hope Obama can turn this around bcos if a repubs defeats him in 2012, they will take it as a mandate and would use it to enact RW policies and wars.

[David__77]

7. Sadly, this is true. I was so wrong.

The question is how did this happen? Was it foreseeable? Where do we go from here?

[Tesha]

17. Next time, we *DON'T* let "them" bounce all the non-Corporate candidates in the first ten minutes.NT

[FiveGoodMen]

27. Like the one they literally cut out of the picture?

(Kucinich at the Dem debate)

[Tesha]

43. For example. (NT)

[whathehell]

120. I don't know if you noticed but

they did the same thing to Edwards before he imploded...I remember because he WAS my first choice.

[SammyWinstonJack]

85. +1. nt

[LiberalArkie]

22. It was the same deal with Bill Walmart-Stevens-Clinton

[Oceansaway]

10. K&R...n/t

[DURHAM D]

11. Oh OUCH...

[elehhhhna]

13. If true, HE wasn't used. WE WERE

[truedelphi]

168. Very good point.

And made much more concisely than the remarks I was about to make.

So I will let your point doing the talking.

[msongs]

14. never too late to change to change we can believe in - just say NO to republicans nt

[TwilightGardener]

15. Paranoid ramblings. Obama was elected, there was no "deal" made--

everything else is just the usual crap.

[w4rma]

19. Just like no deal was made to kill the public option with the insurance companies? (nt)

[TwilightGardener]

25. Maybe there was--we got the bill we got...the one that would pass.

No point in proclaiming a big conspiracy about it. Insurance interests had their say and influence (as did drug co's and the AMA), because the bill used the system in place, and had to get green-lighted by insurance guys like Ben Nelson. That said, I'm glad HCR passed--came in at the finish line all beaten up, with one eye and a limp, but it's there.

[w4rma]

44. Maybe we should have just passed Nixon's bill and let the Republicans take the hit.

Nixon's bill was apparently a better bill than this one.

[TwilightGardener]

47. Who knows. There's all sorts of good things that one could come up with--

but it has to go through the sausage machine of Congress, and they have to repay their big donors.

[liberation]

145. Wow, so we went from "Hope, change, and yes we can"

to "What are you gonna do? it is what it is, otherwise it wouldn't be, and that is that."

It is impossible to lose a game where one gets to move the goal posts with the same fluidity as the ball... but don't act surprised when people get bored of watching a rigged game and change the channel.

[DeSwiss]

172. Touche'!!! n/t

[TwilightGardener]

183. Got a bill passed. Modest improvement. Heaven and earth not moved,

all our dreams not realized, but some people will have insurance coverage that they would not have had either through lack of money (soon will be subsidized) or because of health. My kids can stay on our policy until 26. I'll take modest improvement--especially when only one party wants to pass any beneficial legislation AT ALL. That is hope and change to me. Suggest the rest of you maybe just stay out of politics, it's too upsetting to your delicate sensibilities.

[DeSwiss]

194. Stay out of politics??? Upsetting our delicate sensibilities, eh???

Well Ms. Politically Sophisticated, you can tell that to my two employees whom I've provided with health insurance since 1991, because the insurance company I've used for the past 11 years, just damn-near doubled the premiums from $12,958 per year to $22,954. That was definitely not the kind of change we believe in. And not the kind of change we voted for either.

But these blood-sucking insurance companies have been given carte blanche and they're damn sure gonna use it. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703720004575478200948908976.html">They're http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2010/September/20/State-Round-Up.aspx">raising http://blogs.courant.com/connecticut_insurance/2010/10/anthem-approved-for-health-ins.html">rates http://www.seattlepi.com/health/428310_insurance.html?source=mypi">all http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/14/health/policy/14health.html">over http://www.infowars.com/health-insurance-companies-dramatically-increase-premiums-due-to-the-new-health-care-law-and-there-is-not-much-we-can-do-about-it/">the http://blog.al.com/sweethome/2010/09/health_insurers_raising_rates.html">country!!!! And who the hell's gonna stop them? Obama? Don't make me laugh!

Might I suggest that those of you who are prepared to walk in lockstep with blinders on, and accept any BS that's handed to them as an improvement in life, and who will never question or disagree with people they've voted for are in fact the one's who should stay out of politics. Because if you don't question and disagree with your leaders, then you're not really in politics in the first place.

- Or maybe it just hasn't hit you yet......

[TwilightGardener]

197. OK, guy.

[Joe Fields]

203. Bored? How about mad as hell?

Although I predicted this more than two and a half years ago, it still galls the fuck out of me that someone representing the dem party, and finally the entire United States is seemingly cozy in bed with the corporate muthafuckas who bought his way in. Yes that's right; bought his way in.

He made the deal alright. It's as plain as the nose on Jimmy Durante's face, and ANYONE who can't see that he has done little but serve his corporate masters is fucking stupid.

[gardentoad]

139. Blue Dog Democrats

killed the public option.

[liberation]

148. Does that mean this admin is Blue Dog in persuasion?

Since they had no problem with the deal to strike the public option.

[robdogbucky]

123. Okay, so who benefits from campaign contributions if it is all paranoid ramblings?

Remember OpenSecrets? Or this page that was subsequently scrubbed? (http://dirtyenergymoney.com/oilydollars.php?zip=94598)

That data indicate that the current president was bested only by McCain in receiving cash from oil companies. Of course this is just dealing with the disclosed, per the current regs information. We end up with stuff like this:


Report: White House altered drilling safety report
Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Interior Department's inspector general says the White House edited a drilling safety report in a way that made it falsely appear that scientists and experts supported the idea of the administration's six-month ban on new drilling.

The inspector general says the editing changes resulted "in the implication that the moratorium recommendation had been peer reviewed." But it hadn't been. The scientists were only asked to review new safety measures for offshore drilling.

"There was no intent to mislead the public," said Kendra Barkoff, a spokeswoman for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who also recommended in the May 27 safety report that a moratorium be placed on deepwater oil and gas exploration. "The decision to impose a temporary moratorium on deepwater drilling was made by the secretary, following consultation with colleagues including the White House."

The Interior Department, after one of the reviewers complained about the inference, promptly issued an apology to the reviewers during a conference call, with a letter and personal meeting in June.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hRwfh...





Just one blatant example my friend, and this is not a paranoid rambling, eh?


Our precious democracy sacrificed on the altar of profits.


Bring in the clowns from DLCU



Hands off my Social Security!
Hands off Latin America!




rdb

[TheMadMonk]

202. Once is happenstance..."eleventy seven" times goes way beyond conspiracy.

The "kindest" explanation for Obama's behaviour since his inauguration is that someone demonstrated the ability and the will to go after his kids.

Almost ANYTHING else demands active, willful and knowledgable cooperation on his part.

I can understand a man throwing an entire nation/the world to the dogs to save his kids. (I still think it's contemptible, but I can understand it. (And yes like many I would probably behave the same way in similar circumstance.)) However, if it were done for nothing more than political gain, there are no words permissible here to express my thoughts on such an individual, when he secures that position by fulfilling the letter of promises by absolutely violating the spirit of those promises.


Obama did not save the US/world ecconomy: The policies enacted under him have delayed the inevitable collapes and ensured that when it finally comes, the outcome will be an even greater consolidation of wealth into the hands of the few.

Obama did not give you healthcare reform: He delivered yet another scheme to move money from the pockets of the less well off into the pockets of the wealthy. One which guarantees to those wealthy "persons" (corporate included) profit off the misfortune of others, by allowing them to continue to deny coverage above and below certain pricepoints and to place the greatest burden on those least able to bear it.

Obama has not put an end to extrajudicial processes. At every turn, he/his administration has fought rulings to curb those processes AND allowed those processes to expand unchecked in a multitude of circumstances. (Full body scan OR enhanced patdown being simply a more egregious recent example.)

Given a multitude of opportunities to address matters of manifestly unfair discrimination, he/his administration and, with very few exceptions, The Party of The People, have sided foursquare with the discriminators AGAINST the victims.

Given the opportunity to simply do nothing and allow a fair outcome, he/his administration has chosen to persue a path of active opposition.

And when faced with high level criminal activity (corporate and political) he and his administration have both refused to prosecute and colaborated in the active obfuscation of evidence.

[blindpig]

220. Well said n/t

[patrice]

18. which leaves The People.

But nevermind them; they're too busy being enslaved by proving that Obama is not the boss of them either to actually come together in the name of authentic Freedom.

[SeattleGirl]

20. Wow, this site is just overrun with negative crap like this.

If I had never been here before, my first impression of DU would be that it is dedicated to taking down the President.

Unrec!

[Starbucks Anarchist]

29. It's like Free Republic but with better grammar.

[patrice]

35. Bingo. Base-builders out working the margins with those who still have any and fuck anyone

who doesn't when the shit hits the fan.

[treestar]

56. Heck, someone ought to count

Free Republic may well have fewer Down-with-Obama threads!

[treestar]

57. Heck, someone ought to count

Free Republic may well have fewer Down-with-Obama threads!

[countrydad58]

150. well he shows them more love & respect

than he does us!

[readmoreoften]

88. God forbid anyone point out the obvious.

Not a damn thing has changed. Except that which has gotten worse. Holder and the Obama Administration are as bad, if not worse, on civil liberties than the Bush/Ashcroft administration was, but hey who cares, right?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

98. I've never claimed Obama should be free from criticism.

What I object to is the over-the-top hyperbole that frequently displays itself on this site. The other day, a poster claimed (and was supported by several other posters) that Obama was "one of the worst things that happened to America," and just below slavery and genocide. When people display or support such weapons-grade stupidity, yes, I'm going to object to it. Unfortunately, any attempt to defend Obama (or the concept of logic or reading comprehension) results in the "cheerleader" label. In fact, any remote approval of anything he does -- even regarding policies that were a 180 from Bush -- is shouted down by the professional complainers here.

[jonnyblitz]

112. "even regarding policies that are 180 from Bush".

I bet that's a long list. :sarcasm:

[robdogbucky]

125. Link please?

thanks in advance

[Starbucks Anarchist]

130. The post in question was deleted, along with my first response to it.

[pezDispenser]

158. and on free republic it would have 300 replies

here it gets deleted. See any difference?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

167. Free Republic is supposed to constantly bash our side.

See the difference?

And several people agreed with that poster before the post was deleted.

[pezDispenser]

157. its done by 'our guy' so it's all good now.

:sarcasm:

[pezDispenser]

156. bullshit

there isn't 1 thread from a birther here, no threads about how low Obama just bowed, no Hamas loves Obama thread. There is however honest and factual discussion about the policies of the current administration - for both the good and the bad.

nice false equivalency.

[TwilightGardener]

31. The verdict last week was "Obama has no balls!" This week it's "Obama is

the Manchurian candidate, who made a deal with the devil to ruin us!" DU is going down the shitter, truly.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

37. He's some sort of brilliant dumbass, apparently.

[TwilightGardener]

42. I'm not sure how they top themselves after this one--basically saying Obama

is doing a suicide run for the RW and business interests. Maybe the birth certificate thing will start making its appearance next week?

[Name removed]

104. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

117. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[grahamhgreen]

121. OMFG!!!! Brilliant!

[amborin]

39. principles over personality

[southern_belle]

50. Exactly!

Thank you SeattleGirl. Me too!!!

[bigtree]

53. 'impression that it's dedicated to taking down the President'

I've had that said to me by folks I've directed here. This is a tough crowd.

[NYC Liberal]

68. You said it. But I think it's more than an impression.

Look at all the "primary Obama in 2012" bullshit threads. "Taking down the President" indeed.

[Scurrilous]

74. Ain't it swill!

Ooops..I meant swell. :blush:

[grahamhgreen]

103. What does he stand for?

[Wednesdays]

118. You mean, besides killing puppy dogs?

I got nuthin'. :shrug:

[grahamhgreen]

122. Besides war, outsourcing, gutting SS, rendition, propping up the rich?

[robdogbucky]

124. Well, hon, we don't make up these headlines....

Deficit panel leaders' plan curbs Social Security
By ANDREW TAYLOR
The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 10, 2010; 1:24 PM

WASHINGTON -- Leaders of President Barack Obama's bipartisan deficit commission on Wednesday proposed reducing the annual cost-of-living increases in Social Security, part of a bold plan to control $1 trillion-plus budget deficits.

The proposal also would set a tough target for curbing the growth of Medicare and recommends looking at eliminating popular tax breaks, such as mortgage interest deduction.

As proposed, the plan by Chairman Erskine Bowles and former Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., doesn't look like it can win support from 14 of the commission's 18 members to force a debate in Congress. Bowles is a Democrat and was former President Bill Clinton's White House chief of staff.

Cuts to Social Security and Medicare are making some liberals on the panel recoil. And conservative Republicans are having difficulty with options on how to raise tax revenue. The plan also calls for cuts in farm subsidies, foreign aid and the Pentagon's budget.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/10/AR2010111004029.html?hpid=topnews




November 8, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: [phone]; [e-mail]

Obama Administration Claims Unchecked Authority to Kill Americans Outside Combat Zones
ACLU and CCR Statement

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration today argued before a federal court that it should have unreviewable authority to kill Americans the executive branch has unilaterally determined to pose a threat. Government lawyers made that claim in response to a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) charging that the administration's asserted targeted killing authority violates the Constitution and international law. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia heard arguments from both sides today.

"Not only does the administration claim to have sweeping power to target and kill U.S. citizens anywhere in the world, but it makes the extraordinary claim that the court has no role in reviewing that power or the legal standards that apply," said CCR Staff Attorney Pardiss Kebriaei, who presented arguments in the case. "The Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected the government's claim to an unchecked system of global detention, and the district court should similarly reject the administration's claim here to an unchecked system of global targeted killing."

The ACLU and CCR were retained by Nasser Al-Aulaqi to bring a lawsuit in connection with the government's decision to authorize the targeted killing of his son, U.S. citizen Anwar Al-Aulaqi. The lawsuit asks the court to rule that, outside the context of armed conflict, the government can carry out the targeted killing of an American citizen only as a last resort to address an imminent threat to life or physical safety. The lawsuit also asks the court to order the government to disclose the legal standard it uses to place U.S. citizens on government kill lists.



Middle class tax-cut issue backfiring on Democrats
By Matt Viser

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s urgent call for Congress to immediately extend tax breaks for the middle class was supposed to create a defining Democratic issue and cast Republicans as defenders of the rich on the eve of crucial midterm elections. Now, three weeks later, Democrats are further divided and Republicans are using the tax cut issue to their advantage.


The House and Senate adjourned last night, leaving the central pocketbook issue to be decided after the Nov. 2 midterm elections — and just weeks before the tax cuts are set to expire. That indecision injects more uncertainty into whose taxes will go up, and by how much.
...
The tax cut extension is expected to remain a political issue over the next few weeks, but not in the way Democrats had initially intended. Rather than using it on the campaign trail against Republicans, Democrats could find themselves on the defensive as the GOP yesterday began framing the vote delay as an example of government ineptitude and cowardice.
...
A national GOP group has sent out press releases targeting Democrats in key races, including Representative Niki Tsongas of Lowell, contending they put their own interests over those of taxpayers by avoiding a vote that could be perceived as a tax increase on the wealthy.
...
The Senate was expected to weigh in first. During a Senate caucus meeting last week, Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts was among those urging his colleagues to push forward with a vote before the elections, but others in tough reelection campaigns demurred and Senate majority leader Harry Reid postponed the vote.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/09/30/m... /



White House moves away from 2011 Afghanistan withdrawal timeline

The Obama administration is walking away from what it once touted as key deadlines in the Afghanistan war in an effort to de-emphasize the president's pledge that he would begin withdrawing U.S. forces in July 2011.
By Nancy A. Youssef
McClatchy Newspapers
Related developments

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has decided to walk away from what it once touted as key deadlines in the Afghanistan war in an effort to de-emphasize the president's pledge that he would begin withdrawing U.S. forces in July 2011, administration and military officials said Tuesday.

The new policy will be on display next week during a NATO conference in Lisbon, Portugal, where the administration hopes to introduce a timeline that calls for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan by 2014, according to three senior officials and others speaking anonymously as a matter of policy. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said Afghan troops could provide their security by then.

The Pentagon also has decided not to announce specific dates for handing security responsibility for several Afghan provinces to local officials and instead intends to work out a more vague definition of transition when it meets with its NATO allies, the officials said.

What a year ago had been touted as an extensive December review of the strategy now will be less expansive and will offer no major changes in strategy, the officials said. U.S. Central Command, the military division that oversees Afghanistan operations, hasn't submitted a withdrawal order for forces for the July deadline, two of those officials said…

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2013389298_afghanplan10.html



See? Still want to kill the messenger? Want to go on sticking your head in the proverbial sand?

How 'bout the clowns stop drinking the Kool-Aid for just one minute and ponder the enormity of the situation.


Hands off my Social Security!
Hands off Latin America!


rdb

[countrydad58]

144. The president

is bringing hisself down with his deeds! EOM!

[liberation]

149. Wow, and I thought it was republicans the ones who create their own reality...

... when the real reality does not fit their narrative.

I can't think of any thing more positive than perennial war, corporate-friendly healthcare reforms, and the possibility of having to work until I am past 70. I mean, thank goodness they are looking out for my interests, imagine how "bored" I could get if I could retire while I can still enjoy a little bit of my life. I am ecstatic about that!

[rosesaylavee]

162. Thank you

Agreed.

[DeSwiss]

174. Silence is consent. n/t

[ProgressiveLiberal]

188. I think it's dedicated to real democrats and real Democratic principles.....

hence the problem so many real democrats are having with current policies.

[Joe Fields]

204. If he were in corporate America, he'd have been fired long ago for

INCOMPETENCE!

[uponit7771]

217. Yeap, the paid folk are back

[rug]

21. "knowing that he betrayed the people and the country he claimed to champion"

It's hard to give another explanation, given the past two years.

[glitch]

23. Used up just as Social Security is about to get "reformed"? I don't think so... nt

[tularetom]

30. I'm not sure how this "deal" made 60 million voters select him

Look, I'm as disappointed as the next Democrat that Obama has turned out to be just another "centrist", but this is just doo doo.

He listened too much to the beltway punditry and misunderestimated the support he had for middle class, populist economic proposals, yes, but I find it hard to believe that anybody could be selected president by some shady group of wealthy plutocrats without some serious election fraud, especially when the margin is as great as the one that Obama received.

Somebody needs to grab him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him, but he wasn't "installed" as president to be a stooge.

And it's bordering on tin foil territory to suggest otherwise.

[amborin]

36. a "deal" didn't get voters to elect him; surely, knowledge of any

"deal" would have repelled many;

fraud wasn't required; the ad campaign to elect Obama was top notch and many voters responded to the empty campaign slogans; plus, we were confronted with corporatist choices from both sides;

[Joe Fields]

205. "Oh, look at the shiny new object. We think we'll buy it"

Give me a fucking break. This man was as slick as Bill Clinton, when wooing the voters.

I said many times throughout the democratic primaries that he was smoke and mirrors. No substance. Reminded me of Robert Redford in the movie "The Candidate." Took a lot of heat for it, but I was right.

"Nuff said. Point proven.

[newtothegame]

32. 2.5 yrs ago we viciously attacked any notion that Candidate Obama...

was not qualified. Now we're saying he was a lost puppy that was used by evil masters? WTF?

[Exilednight]

70. I wouldn't say he's being used by evil masters, but he certainly is a lost puppy ...............

I want the Obama who, while campaigning to become president, had a heart full of fire and challenged the American people to fight for what is right.

Maybe the nest SOTU should be held at Wrigley Field with congress sitting in the infield and filling the stands with his supporters. He seems to thrive in that environment.

[somone]

38. Thanks for a great post

[southern_belle]

40. Unrec

pfft...here we go with the conspiracy theories. geez

[AndrewP]

41. Who are the ultimate "Powers that be" in this scenario?

[TexasObserver]

45. recommend

[sarcasmo]

46. One and Done.

[lib2DaBone]

48. Hate to say it.. Obama is done... 2 yrs as al ame duck and he is gone...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

49. The new boss met the real bosses and decided to play it their way. K&R

[Joe Fields]

206. Yep. Sums it up.

[ShamelessHussy]

51. a damn shame, HE had a golden opportunity to FIGHT for the people

and he pissed it away.

a huge FAILURE, and they won't even accept responsibility for it... LOSERS.

things will get worse for 98% of us, while the big boys will get all that they want.

[MissDeeds]

54. K&R

But I doubt this will remain up for long. Today, anything that even hints at criticism is getting deleted.

[NYC Liberal]

55. Unrec for bullshit.

A choice quote from this crap: "he betrayed the people and the country he claimed to champion - and knowing that everyone else knows it as well"

No, actually not everyone "knows" this. In fact, a fuckload of people feel the exact opposite.

From the article:

-Obama is a "tilt-up dummy sustaining the illusion of democracy"
-Obama "betrayed the people and the country he claimed to champion"
-Obama is "a duplicitous executive and a feckless 'leader'"
-Obama is "used up" and "Good riddance"

"Constructive criticism" ... :eyes:

[ProgressiveLiberal]

187. Rec for Truth !

... even if it hurts it's still the truh and needs to be faced - not denied!

[Joe Fields]

207. Rec. here.

[mix]

58. Like most of our political class,

Obama is not up to the task.

[Name removed]

59. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LAGC]

66. What part of the article was inaccurate?

I'm still kind of on the fence with Obama. I think he's done some good things, but in other areas (such as his cabinet picks) he's sorely lacking.

Do you believe Summers and Geithner are good for America right now? Is it not a case of putting the fox in control of the hen-house?

Indeed, I think the best thing Obama could do to salvage his legacy and get people behind him again in 2012 is to fire his cabinet (Summers, Geithner, and Duncan) and bring some fresh blood and new (progressive) ideas to the table. Because the Bush status quo is just another disaster waiting to happen.

[girl gone mad]

82. The time for courtesy and respect has passed.

Millions go to bed hungry, won't be able to heat their homes this winter.. millions more live in virtual debt slavery, ineluctable peonage to a powerful, rapacious communist class. Our fates are in the hands of some deeply incompetent individuals, who gleefully pimp us out to every parasite that tosses a few bucks in the coffers or promises personal riches and an easy future. Your compatriots are literally dying across the globe solely to protect the interests of a very privileged few.

When the guillotines are rolled out - maybe then we'll have gone too far. Some unpleasant words in service of our dying national promise should bring cause for reflection, not demand for consequence.

[Catherina]

92. Wish I could recommend your post. n/t

[bobbolink]

100. Thank you. Its not very often that I feel like a poster at DU includes me, but I think you have.

Homeless rather than hungry, but the same category.

Thank you. :yourock:

[Name removed]

209. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[niyad]

215. you know, I am reminded of the outcry against ward churchill, who pointed out that "nobody is ever

asked to prove that he is white, and yet, native americans have to prove to whites who they are".

[True_Blue]

105. Excellent Post!

[BrklynLiberal]

136. Superb post! ++++++++++++

[Doctor_J]

175. Your glass is half full

Our fates are in the hands of some deeply incompetent individuals

I would replace incompetent with malevolent, or evil

[Bobbie Jo]

89. + infinity.

Every word.

[mix]

60. Oh

K&R

[lovuian]

61. his worst promise was allowing the Justice Department

not to prosecute the banksters and the Bush administration for Iraq war 911 and Guatanomo

because the World will

[grahamhgreen]

106. And then they pardoned Ted Stevens

[LostInAnomie]

62. Unrecced for crap content.

[Name removed]

63. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[firedupdem]

69. and that's evidently weighing heavily on your mind............sucks for you n/t

[ProSense]

71. Obviously, his being black has been weighing on your mind. n/t

[GreenArrow]

77. You miss the point,

as usual.

[Occam Bandage]

76. Wait, what? He's black? Why didn't anyone tell me? nt

[Jackpine Radical]

190. I love Richard Pryor-Gene Wilder movies.

[unkachuck]

73. K&R....n/t

[Better Believe It]

78. President Obama could go down in American history known as "The Great Compromiser"

It's beginning to look more and more like he'll be a one term President and will decide to not run again if his approval numbers drop below 40% by the end of 2011 and going into early 2012.

It's too bad.

He could have been a great American president.

[ProSense]

80. Since that how most legislative victories are won

Not a bad thing

Off to a good start.

[Joe Fields]

210. Jesus. You are too far gone, buddy.

And no, I don't mean buddy, as in friend.

You make a deal with the devil, ya gotta pay the price.

[Poll_Blind]

81. My bet is he'll continue to feed the sharks until Jan 1, then he climbs into the tank.

End of story. No Lame Duck revolution and then Jan 1, no nothing, period.

PB

[ProSense]

79. Here

rebuttal

[rug]

84. Surrebuttal.

http://whatinthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/

[ProSense]

86. Here

say anything

[rug]

87. Ok, I'll give him Cash For Clunkers.

But I wouldn't build a presidency on it.

[Tesha]

116. Cash for clunkers was a terrible program.

Instead of helping move people to truly-efficient transportation,
it merely accelerated a few months worth of car-buying
decisions. Essentially, it transferred a large pile of tax
revenues to the to the car companies for very little benefit.

A typical program for Obama's dud of an economic team.

Tesha

[readmoreoften]

90. For all those who don't like the article, there's always the other side...

That Obama never had any intention of doing anything except shilling for a neoliberal agenda. Heck, in my opinion, this is a kindness.

[ipaint]

107. Most people who didn't fall for the award winning ad campaign

that put him in the white house understand this. He consistently advances neoliberal goals. Always has.

[Laelth]

135. Absolutely. This article is generous.

It gives Obama the benefit of the doubt, and he may not deserve it.

-Laelth

[nofurylike]

102. unrec

[xchrom]

110. recommend

[Fruittree]

111. And meanwhile he continues working his heart out trying to bring

jobs home. We live in the society we live in...Any reasonable person was going to know that change was only going to go so far and was going to be tiny step by tiny step because there are too many entrenched interests who love and benefit from the status quo. Further, there are a lot of varying valid opinions in the country and the president has to be a president to all. There is nothing to be gained from open contentiousness at the governmental level. On our level on the other hand....Where was everyone when the so called Tea Parties took over the narrative on healthcare? To me articles like this are pointless in that they further weaken the progressive cause with no real alternative. What needs to happen is people need to take their good ideas public - not on the internet but on the streets and in houses because the concerns are well thought out and legitimate but they need to lead to action if they're going to lead to change. And, guess what? I still trust Obama - I just see a good man buried in a rotten system.

[robdogbucky]

128. But didn't this really happen this way?

"...the so called Tea Parties took over the narrative on healthcare?"

And the prez along with a majority in the senate, could have passed a PO healthcar plan before they even adjourned in August, 2009. But no, he curiously and unfathomably decided to give them the time and opportunity they needed to shoot down all the benefits of a public option, by declaring a recess to "debate," healthcare. Why? Look what we got. PO was not even on the table and the nurses' union was barred from the Baucus hearings. Why? Why did this man, who way back in 2003 gave us this rhetoric about healtcare reform and the public option?

Here is State Senator Barack Obama’s response:

Dear Black Commentator:

...I favor universal health care for all Americans, and intend to introduce or sponsor legislation toward that end in the U.S. Senate, just as I have at the state level. My campaign is also developing a series of interim proposals – such as an expansion of the successful SCHIP program – so that we can immediately provide more coverage to uninsured children and their families...

...A second part of that strategy - and again, I think we agree here - is to stake out clear positions on issues that put those values into action (e.g. the need for universal health care), and to stand up for those values when they are under assault (e.g. opposition to the Patriot Act)...

...In other words, I believe that politics in any democracy is a game of addition, not subtraction. And I believe deeply enough in the decency of the American people to think that progressives can build a winning majority in this country, so long as we’re not afraid to speak the truth, and so long as we don’t write off big chunks of the electorate just because they don’t agree with us on every issue...

...To some, this approach may appear naïve; to others, it may appear that I’m headed down a path of dangerous compromise. All I can tell you is that in my twenty years as an organizer, civil rights lawyer, and state senator, I’ve always trusted my moral compass, and have thus far avoided compromising my core values for the sake of ambition or expedience. Hopefully, by listening to the people I seek to serve, and with the occasional jab from friendly critics like The Black Commentator, I can stay on that course, and ultimately do some good as the next U.S. Senator from the state of Illinois.

Sincerely,
State Senator Barack Obama
Candidate for the U.S. Senate

http://www.blackcommentator.com/48/48_cover.html


Yes, this is from 2003, but it contains the rhetoric he campaigned upon, and upon which I gave him my vote. I did not expect him to do such an about face so easily on so many of the critical issues.

I don't think apologies or excuses are in order, as we are seeing this same pattern (give an apparent legistlative/political advantage away) in the surge doctrine and reclassification of state dept personnel and mercenaries to perpetuate the endless wars, and the current do something/do nothing on DADT and the current delay on the tax cut vote until after elections. If this is all complicated, calculated three-dimensional chess, then he needs to change strategy, as none of it benefits the people.


Just my dos centavos


robdogbucky

[Fruittree]

142. I think what happened is that difference between what you

want and what you can get. It just always seems to me that although the Republicans govern horribly they "politic" masterfully. What I think we have to keep in mind is that if getting healthcare reform is so easy and just a matter of calling for a vote - why have so many failed at making it a reality before now? And I also wonder, if we had shown up in numbers as the tea partiers did at the town halls, might we have a bill more like so many of us want?

[robdogbucky]

151. Please

don't attempt to tell me what I want or can get. I believed the man. He didn't have to make the deals he did, but he did. Why do you think we remain the only industrialized nation without any national health care? It is because of pols that promise one thing, with no real intention of delivering on that promise. He could have rammed a public option down their throat, we had the votes, but he didn't. And the clowns want to tell me that this is the best we can do?

I see no excuse that is sufficient. Just more political Kabuki and lame excuses.

What a waste.


I, for one, won't be fooled again.





Our precious democracy sacrificed on the altar of profits.

[Fruittree]

181. I meant you not in the sense of you personally - maybe I

should have used the term "one" instead. What do you mean by he could have "rammed" the public option down their throat? How? If an individual legislator chooses not to vote for something, what can he do to change their mind? Offer facts? Incentives? Special deals? What exactly?

[countrydad58]

147. WTF?

He is overseas to countries that have stolen the most jobs! Pray tell what fucking jobs India,Indonesia,or S. Korea are going to create?

[Fruittree]

192. I don't believe those countries stole any jobs..

people in those countries who needed work (like us) simply took jobs that were offered. Given their position, would you have done differently? Further, I don't believe demeaning other people and demanding "our" jobs back is going to get us anywhere. What we have to do is develop a manufacturing base which makes things other countries want to buy - either because we can make them for less (not likely) or because we can make them better (I think we can). In other words, we're not looking for India, Indonesia, Japan or S. Korea to create jobs for us - we're looking for markets for our goods.
Do you have any better ideas?

[Joe Fields]

211. The chickens are coming home to roost.

He made a deal with the devil, pure and simple, and now he is paying the price, as well he should, the sellout that he is.

[Fruittree]

214. Is everything really that simple?

We must be living in a different world.

[The Uncola]

119. K&R

[earth mom]

126. Great article, but Obama knew what the score was. Being president was worth the price.

A deal with the devil...

[durkermaker]

127. I haven't been surprised by him - at all

I read his positions on h-1b visa in 2007 - told me all i need to know

any time someone talks in glowing generalities, but is short on specifics, you have to ask 'why'

[Vidar]

129. Sadly, it's all too true.

[Swamp Rat]

131. k&r

[Laelth]

132. k&r for the truth, however depressing. n/t

-Laelth

[indepat]

133. What a damning indictment I wish could be factually refuted

:patriot:

[Doctor_J]

137. Patsy or accomplice?

I hope we find out some day

[durkermaker]

152. my 'benefit of the doubt' has already been spent by other politicians

and in my mind now, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it's a duck

[truedelphi]

166. Same here.

Even if the quacking duck says I need to wait until after 2012 to understand what its intentions REALLY are.

[defendandprotect]

138. K&R --

[Name removed]

143. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[NorthCarolina]

153. K&R

[impik]

155. Hilarious crap, and more than 100 rec. Hilarious

Then you're suprise why no one takes ״progressives" seriously. Paranoia of the highest level. Too funny to even waste any unrec on this crap.

[Scurrilous]

163. Yep.

And they wonder why people point and laugh and call them disparaging names.

[DeSwiss]

196. No. We know why they call us names.

- But my grandfather taught me as a child upon his knee, that an empty wagon makes a lot of noise.....

"Ignorance is the soil in which belief in miracles grows." ~ Robert G. Ingersoll

[Better Believe It]

179. Actually over 200 recommendations.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

160. I'm back to the damage control mode I was in before Bush's term ended.

The hope and change is inevitably against my best interests. No more cheering from the sidelines
for Obama to change anything. Privatizing the Dept. of Education and Social Security, escalation of
the wars, protecting the tax cuts for the rich are only the most obvious.

I have a feeling we're in for a few more surprises before the end of the next two years.

[Freetradesucks]

161. They are all the same...

They are all chosen.....we are puppets.

[callous taoboy]

164. To teachers he said, "Carry on in your role as the one-legged man in the ass-kicking contest."

[TNLib]

169. I think the the thing that pisses me off the press and general public keep saying hes a liberal

Now the left gets blamed for all of this crapola because the general public consensus is his policies are leftist and socialist. Seriously WTF?

At least with bush it was pretty clear to the American public and the press that these policies were pro-corporate.

[upi402]

173. Exactly! +1,000^ n/t

[DeSwiss]

176. K&R n/t

[Better Believe It]

177. Progressives like and appreciate your post. It's # 1 in recommendations!

With 211.

[DailyGrind51]

180. The guy just didn't have the leadership experience, like Hillary said during the campaign.

[Michigan-Arizona]

182. K & R n/t

[merkins]

185. Hard to argue against this with what we've seen

K&R

[me b zola]

186. recommended

[flamingdem]

195. This article is a pile of garbage nt

[democracy1st]

200. help me out where did the article go wrong?

[uponit7771]

218. Contrived speculation all throughout with VERY little sourced proof, you know....the type of shit

...the people who hate Obama in the first place gravitate towards.

[JoseGaspar]

199. What difference does it make?

"Used" tool or true "New Democrat" who absolutely believes in what he does - what difference does it make?

This is just more of the cult of "individual intent"... as if everything would be OK if Obama were sincere.

Objectively speaking, nothing is OK. The policy summary is that Obama did just enough to enable and energize the "Right", while simultaneously disabling and draining the "Left".

Jackpot. You can't do "better" than that.

Sin of omission or commission - who cares?

[Rex]

208. It is not just one persons fault, this is a symptom of a larger problem

namely that the people that run Washington D.C. (not just the current ones, but the ones that have pulled the strings behind the scenes for generations) have decided that as an entire entity, they are above the law and all decisions are FINAL. They never admit to any wrong doing or the fact that our govt might possibly be wrong or do the wrong things. If it is done by our govt, then it was RIGHT and cannot be questioned logically. It is a mindset that will end up ruining the nation (like when the Pentagon 'investigates' war crimes and never find fault). Nothing is going to change, because the key elements have decided We the People can be wrong, but not our govt.

[orleans]

212. crap! too late to recommend. (but i tried anyway) n/t

[Doctor_J]

216. The comments after the article are extremely lucid too

Kick

[quinnox]

219. I have to give this a kick just because of the brilliant title

:kick:


I'm not sure if the article has a lot of truth in it or if the main argument is weak, but the title of it is so brilliant, and a sad commentary on what the Obama administration may well be on its way to become.

[KoKo]

222. Kick... It lays out a lot of information in an informative narrative..