I wanted to post this yesterday, but we got caught up in the nether world of tiling the bathroom floor. However, the problems are solved for the moment.
I am not disappointed in Obama. First because I didn’t think he was going to be a good courageous liberal and second because I think even if we were to elect such a person the congress and the screaming reactionaries would screw it up anyway. They always have.
Yes, I’m very disappointed that we didn’t get Medicare For All, but we made a beginning that has eluded us since Roosevelt. Far from perfect but more than we’ve had before. We’re still in Afghanistan, a horrible thing but very predictable. And yes, financial reform has left some big gaps and omissions, but it is also a start. Student loans have been changed for the better. There’s more that needs to be done, but at least we’re not torturing people, enacting ever greater tax cuts for the wealthy, denying healthcare to children (remember the Rethugs wouldn’t even extend S-CHIP) and finally unemployment insurance has been extended.
The only alternative is the Republicans who are as they have always been and their empowerment is so much worse that I cannot help but support Obama and the Democrats in congress (minus some glaring exceptions.)
He took Single Payer off the table from the beginning. Why? Would we have had better reform if he’d saved it to negotiate away at a later date? I dunno, but it seems kinda dumb to start off by caving in. Unless you really never wanted to put an end to for-profit health care in the first place.
I don’t know whether we’re still torturing or not. I guess we’re at least back to pretending we don’t. We’re still using rendition though. And the Obama Administration says it has the right to detain prisoners forever without bringing charges against them. Gitmo is still open for business.
Oil? Obama wants more offshore drilling because it’s “absolutely safe.” Or he did. I think he’s keeping that one on the down-low these days. But as far as I know, he’s still up for more “safe” nuke plants. After all, what could go wrong (might wanna stock up on the potassium iodide if they put one in your neighborhood, though)?
Yeah, I know, it’s the Congress and the Blue Dogs and the DINOs and the Republicans and the teabaggers and the shitty media and you gotta do what the Generals say.
Granted, Obama isn’t as bad as Bush. But that only goes so far. I think he has been bad enough to get the next Bush elected (just hope it isn’t Palin), and not because he’s been too much of a wild and crazy liberal, but because he hasn’t been wild and crazy and liberal enough. And way too concerned about whether the Republicans are gonna be mean to him on Fux news.
Sure, if it’s a tight race in NY, I’ll vote for him again over Palin or Romney or Coleman or Pawlenty or whatever other piece-o-crap the Republicans put up. But then I’d vote for Governor Blinky over any of them, too (hell, I’d even vote for Sheldon Silver if it came down to it)
I mean, yeah, if my choice is between driving off a cliff and driving into a tree, I guess I’ll go with the tree. But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna pretend to be happy about driving into the tree.
Of course, Obama came into office at a time when everything was in the crapper. I thought he had an opportunity to rise to the occasion and be something really special (you know, like that Roosevelt guy). He didn’t. To me, that’s disappointing. Not surprising, no. But a disappointment none the less.
Of course, he’s still got time. Maybe he’ll surprise me.
Daniel Schorr died. He was 93. I feel bad – always liked him. Hell, anybody on Nixon’s enemies list is AOK in my book. Though, in his later years at NPR, I always wanted to tell him to clear the mucous out of his throat.
I have to admit, she’s pretty cute (full disclosure: she lived in Syracuse until she was 9 and graduated from SU, which at least partially mitigates her Fuxness while raising her Fuxibility), but when did “news” desks do away with the privacy panels in front?
Tancredo isn’t really taken seriously here except for certain neighborhoods in the Springs and Pueblo. Hickenlooper (DINO mayor of Denver, hugely popular with the Chamber of Commerce and looking cute in pajama’s) is a shoo-in for governor.
Both republican candidates are amusing everyone with plagarizing, being corrupt and growing mustaches and shaving them off. Tancredo is just the red rubber nose for the ass-clowns on the right. :billcat:
This is terrible Tom’s last gasp. :jerk:
The only alternative is the Republicans who are as they have always been and their empowerment is so much worse that I cannot help but support Obama and the Democrats in congress (minus some glaring exceptions.)
Gotta say, I agree with sp’s discourse. I never had delusions of Obama so I’m not at all disappointed. He wasn’t my end all. I knew he was a Blue Doggers. But in this America, he’s pretty darn good. If he would dump the prick, Geitner, I’d feel a whole lot better about things, though.
I think the problems in this country are far bigger than Obama. They are systemic. For that reason, I am not an Obama hater. At least the Supreme Court has not gone totally to the extreme right; for that, I am grateful.
As a person whose husband is heading to the war zone again very soon, I think Pakistan is more the issue than Afghanistan. I wish we could have honest an dialogue in this country about the Middle East. But I don’t see it.
I don’t hate Obama but I feel mislead and taken advantage of. Sam Seder was on The Young Turks yesterday (from the NetRoots convention) making the point that the most explict issue that Obama ran on was a change in the politics and that that is the thing that hasn’t changed at all- still deals being made behind closed doors with slimy lobbyists and bankers stealing our money.
According to Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., the House Republicans should exercise their power to subpoena and hold continuous hearings. Speaking to a gathering for the GOP Youth Convention on July 22 in Washington, D.C., she emphasized this point.
“Oh, I think that’s all we should do,†Bachmann said. “I think that all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another. And expose all the nonsense that is going on. And it’s very important when we come back that we have constitutional conservative leadership because the American people’s patience is about this big.â€
snip
And another component of her plan should the GOP win the House back – defund the programs the Obama administration has put in place or will have put in place, including health care reform, when the new Congress convenes in 2011.
“This is the year – this is it,†Bachmann continued. “All of our chips are on November. If we don’t get it back and then starve the beast – the House, we have the power of the purse – so we can starve ObamaCare. We don’t have to fund any of these programs and that’s exactly what we need to do – defund all of this nonsense and then unwind it.â€
http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae244/Travis2010_album/60d0263b.jpg
I wanted to post this yesterday, but we got caught up in the nether world of tiling the bathroom floor. However, the problems are solved for the moment.
I am not disappointed in Obama. First because I didn’t think he was going to be a good courageous liberal and second because I think even if we were to elect such a person the congress and the screaming reactionaries would screw it up anyway. They always have.
Yes, I’m very disappointed that we didn’t get Medicare For All, but we made a beginning that has eluded us since Roosevelt. Far from perfect but more than we’ve had before. We’re still in Afghanistan, a horrible thing but very predictable. And yes, financial reform has left some big gaps and omissions, but it is also a start. Student loans have been changed for the better. There’s more that needs to be done, but at least we’re not torturing people, enacting ever greater tax cuts for the wealthy, denying healthcare to children (remember the Rethugs wouldn’t even extend S-CHIP) and finally unemployment insurance has been extended.
The only alternative is the Republicans who are as they have always been and their empowerment is so much worse that I cannot help but support Obama and the Democrats in congress (minus some glaring exceptions.)
He took Single Payer off the table from the beginning. Why? Would we have had better reform if he’d saved it to negotiate away at a later date? I dunno, but it seems kinda dumb to start off by caving in. Unless you really never wanted to put an end to for-profit health care in the first place.
I don’t know whether we’re still torturing or not. I guess we’re at least back to pretending we don’t. We’re still using rendition though. And the Obama Administration says it has the right to detain prisoners forever without bringing charges against them. Gitmo is still open for business.
Oil? Obama wants more offshore drilling because it’s “absolutely safe.” Or he did. I think he’s keeping that one on the down-low these days. But as far as I know, he’s still up for more “safe” nuke plants. After all, what could go wrong (might wanna stock up on the potassium iodide if they put one in your neighborhood, though)?
Yeah, I know, it’s the Congress and the Blue Dogs and the DINOs and the Republicans and the teabaggers and the shitty media and you gotta do what the Generals say.
Granted, Obama isn’t as bad as Bush. But that only goes so far. I think he has been bad enough to get the next Bush elected (just hope it isn’t Palin), and not because he’s been too much of a wild and crazy liberal, but because he hasn’t been wild and crazy and liberal enough. And way too concerned about whether the Republicans are gonna be mean to him on Fux news.
Sure, if it’s a tight race in NY, I’ll vote for him again over Palin or Romney or Coleman or Pawlenty or whatever other piece-o-crap the Republicans put up. But then I’d vote for Governor Blinky over any of them, too (hell, I’d even vote for Sheldon Silver if it came down to it)
I mean, yeah, if my choice is between driving off a cliff and driving into a tree, I guess I’ll go with the tree. But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna pretend to be happy about driving into the tree.
Of course, Obama came into office at a time when everything was in the crapper. I thought he had an opportunity to rise to the occasion and be something really special (you know, like that Roosevelt guy). He didn’t. To me, that’s disappointing. Not surprising, no. But a disappointment none the less.
Of course, he’s still got time. Maybe he’ll surprise me.
Daniel Schorr died. He was 93. I feel bad – always liked him. Hell, anybody on Nixon’s enemies list is AOK in my book. Though, in his later years at NPR, I always wanted to tell him to clear the mucous out of his throat.
Devastating news.
Daniel Schorr, veteran broadcast reporter and news analyst, dead at 93
🙁 🙁 🙁 :gate:
Farewell, Willem Breuker.
🙁 :gate: :blues:
And Good Night, Frau Blücher.
When Megyn Kelly calls you “ridiculous” and says “it’s tough to take you seriously,” you know you have problems.
I have to admit, she’s pretty cute (full disclosure: she lived in Syracuse until she was 9 and graduated from SU, which at least partially mitigates her Fuxness while raising her Fuxibility), but when did “news” desks do away with the privacy panels in front?
Tancredo scares me. There are too many people who take him seriously and nod and cheer when he talks.
Tancredo isn’t really taken seriously here except for certain neighborhoods in the Springs and Pueblo. Hickenlooper (DINO mayor of Denver, hugely popular with the Chamber of Commerce and looking cute in pajama’s) is a shoo-in for governor.
Both republican candidates are amusing everyone with plagarizing, being corrupt and growing mustaches and shaving them off. Tancredo is just the red rubber nose for the ass-clowns on the right. :billcat:
This is terrible Tom’s last gasp. :jerk:
Gotta say, I agree with sp’s discourse. I never had delusions of Obama so I’m not at all disappointed. He wasn’t my end all. I knew he was a Blue Doggers. But in this America, he’s pretty darn good. If he would dump the prick, Geitner, I’d feel a whole lot better about things, though.
I think the problems in this country are far bigger than Obama. They are systemic. For that reason, I am not an Obama hater. At least the Supreme Court has not gone totally to the extreme right; for that, I am grateful.
As a person whose husband is heading to the war zone again very soon, I think Pakistan is more the issue than Afghanistan. I wish we could have honest an dialogue in this country about the Middle East. But I don’t see it.
:love: you guys….
I don’t hate Obama but I feel mislead and taken advantage of. Sam Seder was on The Young Turks yesterday (from the NetRoots convention) making the point that the most explict issue that Obama ran on was a change in the politics and that that is the thing that hasn’t changed at all- still deals being made behind closed doors with slimy lobbyists and bankers stealing our money.
:gate: Daniel Schorr- We’ll never see your kind again. 🙁
:love: back atcha’ OKat and Mike.
Oh my!
Nothing but the best of wishes to MrKat back into it and the likes of Daniel and the truly great journalists. May their tribe increase.
Safe passage, MrKat.
According to Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., the House Republicans should exercise their power to subpoena and hold continuous hearings. Speaking to a gathering for the GOP Youth Convention on July 22 in Washington, D.C., she emphasized this point.
“Oh, I think that’s all we should do,†Bachmann said. “I think that all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another. And expose all the nonsense that is going on. And it’s very important when we come back that we have constitutional conservative leadership because the American people’s patience is about this big.â€
snip
And another component of her plan should the GOP win the House back – defund the programs the Obama administration has put in place or will have put in place, including health care reform, when the new Congress convenes in 2011.
“This is the year – this is it,†Bachmann continued. “All of our chips are on November. If we don’t get it back and then starve the beast – the House, we have the power of the purse – so we can starve ObamaCare. We don’t have to fund any of these programs and that’s exactly what we need to do – defund all of this nonsense and then unwind it.â€
http://www.threefingersofpolitics.com/?p=1129
I’ll have some accordion music tomorrow