The Lessons of Obamamania

[stockholmer]

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/11/30/the-lessons-of-obamamania/

Ten years ago in America, War Party fervor was on the rise, the media was in tow, and many a liberal was on board. Thus began the Bush-Cheney era, one of the darkest moments in American history. Those years seem like only yesterday, probably because on matters of substance – keeping the perpetual war machine going, undermining personal freedoms and the rule of law, encouraging environmental indifference while courting ecological disaster, and making the world safe for the corporate “persons” who own our duopoly party system — the Obama administration has been more or less continuous with George W. Bush’s.

What seems unreal was that brief interlude, begun just four winters ago as the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries loomed, and lasting into the summer of 2009, when liberal hearts and minds succumbed to the belief that Barack Obama would put an end to decades of Reaganite (neolibleral) depredations, and that we could then take up where the New Deal and Great Society left off. That Obamamaniacal moment now seems a lifetime away.

Obamamania was always an illusion in Freud’s sense, an expression of an unconscious wish. Freud also spoke of delusions, illusions held in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Before Election Day 2008, Obamamania was only an ordinary illusion to which liberals, trade unionists and, of course, persons of color were especially susceptible. By Inauguration Day, as the President-elect’s choices for top positions became known, Obamamania took on a more delusional aspect.

It was in this spirit that the liberal commentariat invoked pop historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s account of Lincoln’s war cabinet, a “team of rivals.” The idea was that the administration over which Obama would preside was not what it plainly was turning out to be; that Obama’s plan was to take advantage of the expertise of the Clintonites he picked to run foreign and domestic policy, while he, the wise and competent leader, would ride herd, assuring progressive outcomes. It soon became apparent that this argument was of mainly clinical interest; that the pundits promoting it were just making Obama appear Lincolnesque by artlessly interpreting reams of evidence to the contrary. No wonder, that we heard little more about Obama’s team of rivals once his presidency got underway.


snip

[KT2000]

1. Projection of our

HOPE for the future. His campaign played to our HOPE.

[tridim]

2. So the Republicans who remain in control have nothing to do with it?

[TBF]

5. He had 2 years with majorities and squandered them. nt

[treestar]

12. Squandered is a ridiculous term to use

Even if you are to the left of Chairman Mao, how anyone can say those years were "squandered" is beyond anyone with any sense.

Too bad he didn't have the next two years to "squander."

Let's hope he gets another Dem Congress so he can do some more "squandering."

[MadMaddie]

13. Technically if you look at the numbers that is true

in reality you had approx 8-10 true blue dogs that fucked us over. President Obama cannot win without the (True)support of the House and the Senate. Nancy Pelosi did her job in the House....it was the Senate and it's Blue dogs that refused to support the bills coming out of the House.

President Obama (much to some folks dismay is not a King nor a dictator and he has to rely on a strong House and Senate to get shit done....

Has he dissapointed me? Absolutely...

But I can tell you he has had many successes and it is up to individuals to believe them or not...

The troops are coming home from Iraq and we are done...
The troops are being pulled out of Afghanastan as we speak...

Osama Bin Laden....check...

Many other accomplishments...

But hey it's a free country

[mike_c]

6. not when the democratic president serves the same masters they do....

eom

[Dawson Leery]

3. We still remember the "war party" and the "Bush-Cheney era".

[ellisonz]

4. Time to break out this goodie...

[dionysus]

22. it does have a better ring than Douchamucil

[Itchinjim]

7. Oh good fucking lord.

Unrec.

[AtomicKitten]

19. +1

[BlueIris]

8. I think it was about being able to lash out at and 'punish' his critics.

A lot of people only want to get behind supporting a politician or a leader or a celebrity if there's something to "defend" that person against.

[SidDithers]

9. Nonsense like this is OK, 'cause it's from "the left"...

:puke:

Sid

[dionysus]

21. +7

[msongs]

10. he coulda chosen liberal/progressive/democrats for his administration instead of wall street

insiders but he is not really a liberal/progressive kind of guy

[enough]

11. For the first time in 49 years, I did not vote on the last election day in my local precinct.

That is the first time in my 67 years since I have been able to vote that I did not vote. It went by and I hardly realized how significant it was. Then I started asking myself why did I not go down to the poling place and vote. How did this change come about?

The answer is that after a lifetime of following and participating in politics, and having a pretty good non-idealistic view of what electoral politics can and cannot achieve, my cynical optimism had finally met its match. Barack Obama, whom I worked for because he was going to be not-Bush, had finally convinced me that there is not much reason to vote.

I haven't yet been out on the street with OWS (I'm old and I don't like crowds), but I have no trouble understanding why people are out there.

I plan to keep voting, and I will probably vote for the lesser of two evils as always, but Barack Obama has taught me a new level of hopelessness about the entire process, which is marvelously ironic.

[SammyWinstonJack]

16. I hear you. nt

[Scurrilous]

14. Kick

:kick:

[SidDithers]

15. Hehe...

:thumbsup:

Sid

[Scurrilous]

17. ...

:P

[MisterP]

18. and of course it was the same people who said his compromising would get results

and even that he could control the laws of physics and the afterlife (I'm only sorta kidding) were the ones who forgave his every failure and right-wing policy

[dionysus]

20. counterpunch? more douchebagmania...

:rofl:

[MNBrewer]

23. We have a new ODS to reference now

Obama DELUSION Syndrome.