Al Sharpton called out Maxine Waters and others like her (not by name, but by using her exact words)

[jenmito]

saying these same people said NOTHING when Bill Clinton had policies that were not friendly towards Black people (while complaining about a line in Obama's speech meant to get the CBC to work with him for reelection-nothing to do with policies they disagree with). He said they should not have such a double standard. It was a sight for sore eyes.

[These Eyes]

1. Glad to see someone setting the record straight.

I missed it, so I'll have to look for it online.

[Enrique]

2. "but he (Clinton) was instantly savaged by the left"

e.g. by Maxine Waters.

(bonus 1994 quote from John Boehner)

The Republicans sought tougher changes like cutting spending and shifting all welfare policy to the states by giving them block grants to spend as needed. To salvage some piece of his promise, Mr. Clinton hinted last fall that he might accept a compromise, but he was instantly savaged by the left.

Representative Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, said at the time, ''It is not plausible that Americans will stand by and watch hungry children starve because their mothers did not meet a two-year deadline.''

So Mr. Clinton wound up twice vetoing welfare-reform bills, arguing that they were too extreme and and then getting savaged from the right.

''Bill Clinton has been a non-combatant on welfare reform,'' said Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, who is the chairman of the House Republican Conference. ''He has preserved welfare as we know it.''

[ProSense]

4. Nice

"but he (Clinton) was instantly savaged by the left"

...1990s quote.

Perry's point isn't that people weren't critical of Clinton at the time, it's that some of Obama's current critics are all too willing to excuse away Clinton's actions, including his policy failures, while harshly criticizing Obama, who has in many cases reversed or moved away from some of those policies.

For example, this 2011 article by Robert Kuttner: Black and Bleak

What a terrible irony this Labor Day that under America's first African-American president, black unemployment has risen to its highest level since the early Reagan years, and decades of black progress on homeownership have been wiped out.

<...>

A rising tide does not necessarily lift all boats, but African-Americans made great economic progress in the late 1990s, when overall unemployment was low. In those years, the black-white wage gap and unemployment gap narrowed. Full employment and tight labor markets are always good medicine.

Bill Clinton was facetiously said to be the first black president, not just because of his comfort level with the black community and his appointment of African Americans to senior positions, but because of this very real material progress -- now largely reversed.

<...>

The problem is less Obama's failure to target black unemployment per se than his weakness on the jobs issue generally. Race comes into the equation because of an almost pathological aversion to conflict on Obama's part, which has been widely attributed to his wish to bridge racial and ideological gaps.

<...>

The President's race has nothing to do with African American unemployment. Kuttner credits Clinton for "very real material progress" for African Americans, and blames Obama for a situation that is a direct result of Clinton's deregulation policies.

Here's David Sirota doing the same thing, giving Clinton a pass.

[hulka38]

21. "The President's race has nothing to do with African American unemployment"

but of course his appointments and policies do.

[frazzled]

22. Black unemployment under Clinton was double that for whites

Black unemployment under Obama is still double that for whites. Exactly the same.

Unemployment is higher for everyone since the Bush-induced recession. Obama's record is not one whit worse on black unemployment than Clinton's.

[hulka38]

23. Obama's appointment and policy decisions

are at least partly to blame for the overall increase in unemployment of which black unemployment is part. More blacks are out of work. That the ratio remains the same doesn't seem relevant.

[frazzled]

24. Of course it's relevant.

Clear it's not much use talking economic theory with you.

But I ask what Clinton really ever did beyond lip service for the black community. Ending welfare? I don't want to be too hard on Clinton, because I supported him despite the fact that I was truly disappointed in many aspects of his administration--which was filled with more Citibank and Viacom and Goldman Sachs types than Obama's has been. Just because you don't know something, doesn't make it so.

[hulka38]

27. Higher overall unemployment means that

blacks are again disproportionally effected among that group. Some of that has to do with Obama's policy decisions. Nearly everybody is still paying for Clinton's terrible and short sighted decisions on NAFTA and deregulation. But Obama's decision on an inadequate stimulus for example is his and is independent of what Clinton did in the nineties.

[quakerboy]

9. Interesting.

[Supersedeas]

28. it is thus acknowledged that they both had their savage critics

and that supports Harris-Perry's argument how?

[treestar]

10. Why did Clinton even put welfare on the table?

Why didn't he veto the reform bill?

This is what they'd be saying about Obama.

[flpoljunkie]

13. Clinton ran on 'ending welfare as we know it' in 1992. Here's a recent article from The Nation.

'The Worst I've Seen by Far': Budget Cuts Meet Poverty in the Heartland

Greg Kaufmann
May 9, 2011

For Jack Frech, director of the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services in Appalachian Ohio, the fact that Congress and statehouses across the country are pushing budgets that would further cut assistance for poor people is downright frightening.

“I’ve been doing this work for thirty years, and this is the worst I’ve seen it by far,” says Frech. “And when I say the worst, I mean the absolute worst.”

Frech says when he began as a caseworker in 1973 it was far easier for Ohioans and citizens everywhere to get the help they needed.

“The presumption was if you were totally out of help everywhere else, you go on down to the welfare department, you sign up and you get help,” he says. “We’d give people a welfare check, food stamps, and they could find a place to live. It would certainly be humble—but people could have food on the table every day; they could survive.”

But the Clinton-Gingrich welfare reform deal shredded that safety net. It created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant to replace Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), which since 1935 had guaranteed cash welfare to poor families with kids. The reform deal also severely limited the funds available.

“Most people don’t realize that welfare reform froze the money for poor people at the 1995 level and has kept it there ever since,” says Frech. “With costs and demands increasing, there is far less money available for programs. And still, nobody is talking about putting one dime more into it.”

more...

http://www.thenation.com/article/160533/worst-ive-seen-far-budget-cuts-meet-poverty-heartland

[treestar]

20. Doesn't seem to matter if Obama ran on a thing or not

And here Clinton made a deal with Gringich - I'd say the equivalent today would get Obama bashed.

[elleng]

3. Good to hear.

[Tarheel_Dem]

5. It was indeed a sight to behold. (nt)

[demgrrrll]

6. It was, I love the Reverend Al.

[Ter]

7. I wonder what Obama would have to do for Al to ever say anything negative about him

It's like he can do no wrong. Stop defending him blindlessly, Al.

[Tarheel_Dem]

8. "blindlessly"?

What the hell has happened to our education system? :rofl:

[Ter]

18. I was wondering why the spell checker couldn't find anything close

I think I was trying to combine mindlessly with blindly, and after 1:00 AM anything goes. :)

[Tarheel_Dem]

19. Your spelling wasn't the only thing jacked up about your post. Not only do you make up words....

you make up your own facts as well. Must be nice. :rofl:

[PragmaticLiberal]

11. Al does criticize the president when he thinks he's wrong...

But I also listen to Al's radio show...where you get a different perspective.

[Kahuna]

12. He definately did. As Al spoke, I was thinking...he's talking to YOU Maxine.

I loved it!

[Cigar11]

14. I saw the entire 40 minute speech ...

and it’s amazing how the media can take the final 10 seconds of a speech and turn it into a 24 hour News Cycle.

[NatBurner]

15. god damn america

[TheKentuckian]

16. Al has become an establishment warrior and advocates education deform hand in hand

with the likes of Pat Robertson, Jeb Bush, Arne Duncan, and Newt Gingrich.

Like all establishment warriors his shield is spin and his sword is misdirection. He buckles on the breast plate of partisanship and dons the helm of the beltway common wisdom and battles for the ruling order, I guess in hopes of gaining their acceptance and no longer being seen as a clown with a loud mouth. If his mouth is loud for the establishment then he is spun into a straight talker with years of wisdom and the maturity that comes along with seasoning.

Al has become a pawn and finally is really the joke he was made out to be for all those years.

[demgrrrll]

25. self delete. no point in engaging.

[jenmito]

17. VIDEO FROM LAST NIGHT'S SHOW:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44677967#44677967 He talks about Waters and others in the last minute, but you should watch the whole segment.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

26. I love Maxine. Always have. Always will. But I do think that there's an old guard

of black members of Congress who believe that they owe Bill Clinton for leading the cause of women in 1992. It was the Year of the Woman. And the year that saw more blacks elected to Congress than previous sessions. They are loyal to Bill Clinton for that and *rightfully* so. I don't think it's merely a coincidence, either, that their allegiance has led them to speak out against Obama. But, they need to be careful. They represent congressional districts that will look askance at what is happening. I don't blame Maxine, per say, but I am quite bothered by the fact that they refuse to speak out so vociferously against their Republican brethren. They attack the president when he has little to do with getting those six jobs bills that have stalled in committee, out of committee and passed on the floor. Maxine should be out there screaming about the fact that these jobs proposals are being held up--not by Obama--but by her Republican peers. It bothers me to no end why Democrats attack their own FIRST and NOT the culprits: the Republican Party!!

*banging head against the wall in frustration and disgust!*

[TheKentuckian]

29. Why is it puzzling that wise folks make an effort to get what they have influence over

in hand?

What sense is it to curse the other side for what your own are joining them hand in hand to do or not to do?

How is traditional Republican policy acceptable? This isn't a personality contest or a partisan one it is about the wealthy few and their capture of government and the broke and misused masses.

Who decided to go with a phony "bipartisan" path with the very fucks we all agree are wickedly trying to scuttle the nation and steal all the resources? These TeaPubliKlans are far more toxic and dangerous than you seem to understand, their policies are wholly counter-productive not just their personalities. Their goals are destructive, they cannot be mitigated or tinkered with to be made acceptable because the poison is baked into the cake.

[chill_wind]

30. Thank you.

A thousand times, thank you!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

31. Don't patronize me and don't belittle me. I know what I'm talking about.

And I know very well how dangerous these Teabagging assholes are. Regardless of what you think about personality contests and protestations against bipartisanship, the bottom line is that there are SIX--count 'em--six fucking jobs proposals being held up in Congress by these crazy-ass Republicans. Maxine could be out there educating the people about why nothing gets done in Congress. That's where legislation begins. And that is who controls the budget. Maxine and other members of Congress have work to do. They go on five-week vacations paid for by the taxpayers and haven't done jack shit! She should be out there screaming at the top of her lungs about these jobs proposals being held up in committee. Rant all you want about Obama, but at the end of the day, it is Congress that has the 9% job approval rating. She should be concerned about that. And she should be holding the Republican Party accountable for it!