I predict that what we're seeing with the administration is part of a pattern

[depakid]

that will repeat itself time and again on every piece of major legislation coming down the pipeline.

Pander to the corporate right- scold and strong arm progressives in order to pass enfeebled policy or puny half measures that are not only bound to fail from the outset, but may in some cases make matters worse.

Sad (pathetic might be the better word) given the unprecedented opportunity....

It didn't have to be this way.

[LWolf]

1. I think you are correct. nt

[villager]

2. certainly no reason to believe otherwise..

n/t

[Jamastiene]

3. They are destroying the Democratic Party for generations to come.

It's a lose/lose situation and they are ramming it through anyhow.

[depakid]

7. Impressive, isn't it?

Not only does the failure to use reconciliation (failure to stand up and fight) set a dysfunctional precedent- but in 10 short months, the administration and the Senate have managed to coopt Republicans and create the growing perception that they're in it to protect the banksters, health insurers and torturers at the expense of ordinary Americans.

Wow.

[tbyg52]

33. It almost makes me physically ill. nt

[DutchLiberal]

58. I don't think so. Clinton didn't ruïn the party "for generations to come"...

Obama just is a second Clinton.

[polichick]

4. Pretty much. nt

[abq e streeter]

5. your last sentence just about breaks my heart...and is so true

[msongs]

6. aim as low as possible, blow republicans and right wing dems, settle for practically nothing. ok nt

[Jackpine Radical]

8. Right on all counts.

[depakid]

9. This essentially gives the green light to every corrupt, two bit extortionist in the Senate

Not exactly the most practical (or manageable) message to have sent.

[Jackpine Radical]

18. Not EVERY two-bit extortionist, just the ones owned by the correct corporations.

[ProSense]

10. Yeah, here's a summary of your pattern:

progressives are weak.

Whining doesn't look good on anyone.

[depakid]

13. Sycophantry rarely leads to responsible and effective public policy

though it's often associated with increasingly strained rationalization (in response to rising levels of cognitive dissonance).

[ProSense]

14. Fact-less whining rarely changes reality. n/t

[asdjrocky]

15. "Whining"

Don't you understand that when you use words like that it makes it impossible for a thinking person to engage you in a conversation of any consequence?

It's sad that is all you have.

[niceypoo]

27. You need to find a new fallacy

You've worn that one out

Person A makes claim, X
Person B attacks person A
Therefore X is false

[Milo_Bloom]

11. This administration is far worse than I fear it could be.

I supported and voted for Obama in the primary, mainly out of hope.

Became very concerned in the general election campaign, especially with the selection of his VP. I fear that if he could select someone who voted for the war and was so deep in the pocket of credit card companies and the banking industry, he couldn't be sincere in his beliefs.

Then a few moments of hope after the election.

And pretty much head shaking pity since then for what this party has become.

[slipslidingaway]

12. FISA was a big clue as were his comments on impeachement ...

then we had the economic team.

:(

[asdjrocky]

16. Capitulater in Chief.

That keeps running through my mind.

[FrenchieCat]

17. I predict that you will be wrong.

Just like before. I've seen the pattern.


depakid (1000+ posts) Sat Jan-19-08 02:03 AM
Response to Reply #2
6. Sorry- but this is a serious weakness of Obama's
He makes these sorts of off the cuff remarks because he's both inexperienced and grandious. At first, you could chalk it up to rookie mistakes, but the more he doesit- the more it seems ingrained.

As I've predicted many times before, eventually these will be his downfall. Hopefully sooner than the general election...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=4113883



depakid (1000+ posts) Mon Jul-21-08 05:58 PM
Response to Reply #13
15. Cheap (as in inexpensive) polling during the campaign isn't predictive
Especially this year- where they've been all over the mark- to the point of being useless.

Looking at the actual results and figuring out how many Kerry voters Obama has to retain (he won't retain them all) plus how many Bush voters he has to convert, along with whatever percentage of new voters that are likely to vote Obama give us a much better gauge of what'll likely happen on election day.

Historically, a 10% swing is huge- unlikely, but not unheard of in a state with demographics like Virgina. A 20% swing in a state like Indiana would require such a massive shift that unless there's an utter and complete meltdown on McCain's side as perceived by ordinary, generally uniformed voters- it's not going to happen.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=6522522


depakid (1000+ posts) Mon Aug-18-08 01:48 PM
Response to Original message
25. Obama's NOT going to win Indiana and doesn't need to
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=6657712#6658846



depakid (1000+ posts) Fri Sep-05-08 05:30 PM
Response to Original message
8. McCain can win by tearing down Obama
and Obama can lose by returning to the defensive and failing to go after McCain and Palin with negative ads.

The've been squandered golden opportunities in this regard time and time again, and with their money advantage, there's really no excuse.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=6955942#6956188


depakid (1000+ posts) Thu Aug-21-08 07:22 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. "after he crushed his opponent in the debate. "
Therein lies the problem. Obama has shown no evidence of knowing how to go for the jugular.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=6692279


depakid (1000+ posts) Tue Aug-19-08 02:03 PM
Response to Original message
6. This is why is it was STUPID to give McCain a pass for most of the summer
Edited on Tue Aug-19-08 02:04 PM by depakid
and why every single sycophant who rationalized or argued against going after McCain et al from June on out was wrong.


Thermodynamics trumps economics
Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top
book_worm (1000+ posts) Tue Aug-19-08 02:05 PM
Response to Reply #6
9. Nobody gave McCain a pass for the summer.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top
depakid (1000+ posts) Tue Aug-19-08 02:13 PM
Response to Reply #9
26. Bullshit
Edited on Tue Aug-19-08 02:13 PM by depakid
Obama spent June and the first week of July going after his own base, while McCain & Co. made stupid and outrageous statement and action after statement and action with impunity.

I didn't see anything remotely tough in terms of ads defining McCain in no uncertain terms until about two or three weeks ago- while McCain's been hammering away in the battleground states with the usual Republican garbage.

Garbage that- in this country- wins elections.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=6667616#6667648

[depakid]

19. Let's see- who lost his lead by repeatedly scolding the base and giving the right a pass

when not pandering to them? Who allowed themselves to be defined- as opposed to defining the opposition? Even though they were handed astonishing statement- after astonishing statement to use against the McCain campaign?

Who was ahead in the polls in mid-September- to be overtaken only after a bizarre performance in the middle of the financial meltdown?

Lucky, that. Though eventually, luck runs out.

A campaign that performed that poorly over the summer against the weakest and most inept Republican campaign in almost 50 years- with the most unpopular sitting pResident in modern history- in what should have been a blowout, proves my- and Dr. Lakoff's and Dr. Westen's points rather handily to any objective observer.

BTW: the proof of the emerging pattern will be seen in upcoming legislation- (and can also be seen retrospectively with the weak credit card regulations, mortgage cramdown that wasn't, and in the half measure stimulus- where slashing revenue sharing to the states will come back to haunt state and local candidates downticket in 2010).

[cliffordu]

28. I think she just drank your milkshake....

:rofl:

[girl gone mad]

50. You have a low bar for achievement.

[Cha]

62. I think your bar is really

HIGH.:bounce:

[okieinpain]

20. pawned!!!!! n/t.

[cliffordu]

29. Well, THAT'S gonna leave a mark.....

:rofl:


Well played, FrenchieCat, well played....

[inna]

38. LOL! Do you keep files like this on everyone, or just on Depakid??

It's more than a litlle creepy, you know. :spray:

[FrenchieCat]

42. It's not creepy; it's called the search function that we have when we donate.

It's handy when folks start threads with "I Predict" about the future,
to see if they have a track record,
or if they suck at it.

From what I can see, whatever Depakid foresees,
think opposite, and you have a much greater chance of being correct.

[Bluenorthwest]

47. It is fun to look up usernames + McClurkin as well

We find who always defends the most vile of invective, attacks against their neighbors, and we can see the creepy, excuses they use for standing with hate speakers and candidates that had to use them to win.

[Cha]

60. DU keeps the files..you just have to know when to

use the search function which I'm guessing you don't like bc it calls out the OP for not always being accurate in his predictions on President Obama.

[girl gone mad]

49. Cheap, lazy shot.

Why not address the substance of the post?

[Cha]

61. It's okay for lazy cheap shots on our president but someone

calls out the OP for his less than stellar predictions and then whoa.."cheap shot".

[arcadian]

65. I can't believe you are actually posting that.

Do you think things through before you type them?

[ClarkUSA]

52. Thanks for showing how the OP has a long pattern of miserably failing in her many "predictions"

The quotes and links are very interesting and show a clear history of doomsday remarks about Obama going back almost two years.

Bookmarked for future reference.

[arcadian]

53. That is creepy. How long did it take you to do that?

It's also a call out and against DU rules.

[FrenchieCat]

64. Didn't take long, and you can always alert on it.

I think the search function is quite user friendly,
and DU rules are there for you to alert on those
you believe are breaking such. Please, be my guest....

When I predict stuff, I'm called a fearmonger.
I don't cry about it......
I just go on with my day.

I've made my point on this "I predict what I pull out of my ass
and even if I'm wrong, so what? I won't be held accountable" OP.

[high density]

21. "The administration" is to blame for assholes like Lieberman, Nelson, and Snowe?

No, sorry.

[depakid]

22. What's sorry is to meekly let them hold effective legislation hostage

when there's a clear path to dealing with them- and/or making them irrelevant.

One of those "things that make ya go hmmmm."

[Laelth]

23. I hope you are wrong. I fear you are right. n/t

Kill the bill.

Forcing people to buy insurance is no more the answer to a failed health care system than forcing people to buy houses is the solution to homelessness.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Ildem09]

24. the pattern i see

is that the base will continue to divide itself along group identity
the progressive movement has two diametric camps
Camp A) Upper-Middle Class White people who have either a Masters or better, the stereotypical Deaniac the Volvo Driving Latte sipping types and the Gay Community (I include myself in both of these groups

Labor folks fluctuate between these two groups

Camp B) are groups and minorities that associate with the lower socioeconomic statuses.

these groups identify with different aspects of either a person or policy but it seems that something gets lost in translation between the two groups and fighting ensues
*not flame material just what i've observed as going on

[pissedoff01]

25. Past Performance IS An Indication Of Future Results

with this administration.

[lunatica]

26. Reality isn't too bad. It's having to face it that hurts

They're just not that into us.

[Raine]

30. Yup, we saw it again in Copenhagen

where once again we got screwed. :-(

[Blasphemer]

31. There can be no doubt anymore. nt

[shadesofgray]

32. K&R.

[Armstead]

34. Waitr until Employee Free Choice Act hits the fan -- It will wind up wakening unions

There will be a dramatic turnaround in which Obama decides that barriers to unionization really aren't so bad after all.

And while we're at it, let make it MORE difficult for a union to get certification. That wold be a "good start" towards strengthening the position of workers.

[depakid]

48. Not sure which will be worse- this or the upcoming financial "regulation"

at some point, even the more ardent supporters of the administration will tire of the rationalizations and excuses for "why we can't...."

[Hawkowl]

35. I HATE to agree with you

But you are absolutely right. What is astonishing is the hubris of unprecedented historical proportions of the Obama team. They think that they are actually succeeding.

[glitch]

36. They are succeeding, just not for us.

Let go of the idea they are failures, they are not. They're simply not working for us.

[Odin2005]

37. I deluded myself otherwise for a long time, but I agree.

[w4rma]

39. Look at who Obama and Rahm hired for his team: He avoided progressives to get DLCers.

Despite Obama's BS rhetoric he is a very pro-Wall Street President.

And it is impossible to be both pro-Wall Street and pro-Main Street.

Wall Street and Main Street need opposite things.

[Romulox]

40. Thank GAWD it passed, eh OP?

:eyes:

[depakid]

45. Unlike some in the let it burn crowd, I was willing to give the new administration a chance

to hold the banksters accountable, even if I thought it likely that we'd see something of a repeat of the Clinton era.

I admit, however, to not anticipating they (and the new Congress) would be nearly as irresponsible, enfeebled (and in Congress' case corrupted) as they have been thus far.

[mix]

41. K & R nt

[bvar22]

43. I agree...AND

"Entitlement Reform" (Social Security and Medicare) is NEXT on the DLC Hit List.

The seeds for the destruction of Medicare are planted in the HC Bill.
Transferring $500 Billion Dollars from Medicare to the For Profit Health Insurance Cartel.

It is NO SECRET that the Privatization (destruction) of Social Security and Medicare has been a goal of the DLC.



The DLC New Team

(Screen Capped from the DLC Website)

[inna]

44. Hear, hear.

Now, how do we stop/prevent this atrocity??

[Greyhound]

46. K&R.

And what bvar22 said.

[KoKo]

51. You've been around here a long while...so you know this isn't what we expected..

but, we will deal with it.

Feel like stabbed in the back...but the push back is so strong now that Dean has confronted Obama that we have to hope there will be some "shake ups" in Obama's inner circle come the new year.

[xxqqqzme]

63. There will be no 'shake-ups' in the inner circle.

Obama has exactly the people he wants, where he wants them. The dlc is in charge and they are not friends of the left. WE are now the third party and have been shoved back out to the fringe zone. They will be looking for money and volunteers to walk/phone for the dlc/rethuglican lite candidates they want re-elected in November. I will be staying local because that is change I know can happen.

[PurityOfEssence]

54. Don't forget the "claim momentous victory" part

It didn't have to be this way if people had looked at his voting record, seen him with Colin Powell, heard the repeated praisings of Ronald Reagan and looked at his staff picks.

This is the worst-kept secret in modern politics.

[Land Shark]

55. All with preachy reminders "don't let perfect be the enemy of the good." A scam. nt

[DutchLiberal]

56. And in three years, they'll blame progressives for voting third party again...

[glinda]

57. Well apparently it will always be this way as long as there are Republicans and moderate Dems in

Government.

[valerief]

59. As long as we give them soldiers, they'll threaten to turn them against us if we get rowdy. nt

[KoKo]

66. Well...there's that...which was set up before..so I see your point..but still

how can Obama Keep On when he loses those who worked to elect him? :shrug: I don't see how he can end up with any constituency ....and he could be Johnson who realized with "conscience" that he couldn't run again. :shrug:

[valerief]

68. We are not an issue with any of them. They don't care about us except at election time.

They are all our enemy. All of them.

[WT Fuheck]

67. How much more obvious does it need to be that our government is a sham?

[goodgd_yall]

69. "unprecedented opportunity"

you got that right. Just frittering it away...

[EmeraldCityGrl]

70. There wouldn't be a party without us. I think we really

underestimate our power. What we lack is, organization to reform it rather than working within the parameters they dictate.
They wouldn't spend so much time manipulating us and lying to us if they weren't afraid or thought we were irrelevant.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

71. I had this Cassandra-like premonition that Obama would be another Tony Blair

(not undoing the damage done by conservatives and adding some more of his own), but I didn't know quite how Blair-like he'd be.

[workinclasszero]

72. Sad to say you are probably right.

***It didn't have to be this way.***

And yet it is. WHY?

Why do the rich, the greedy and the corporations win every damn time?!

Why we have the best government that money can buy! Silly me....

I am so sick of politics in this country. its a no win situation for the average american. The game is fixed. We ain't got a chance!