Rall | Obama is good with words. But what can he possibly say for himself after this first fiddling-while-Rome-burns term?The president only has one major accomplishment to his credit: healthcare reform. However—assuming Republicans don’t repeal it—it doesn’t go into effect until 2014. Which, from Obama’s standpoint, actually helps him. After people find out how it transforms the First World’s worst healthcare system into something even crappier and more expensive, they’ll be burning him in effigy.
“Socialized” (if only!) healthcare has driven away the Reagan Democrat swing voters who formed half of Obama’s margin of victory in 2008. Unless the GOP nominates some total loon (hi Michele) or past-due retread (what up Newt) these ideological reeds in the wind will blow Republican.
The other major component of the Obama coalition, young and reenergized older liberals, see ObamaCare as a right-wing sellout to corporations. Nothing less than single-payer would have satisfied them. On other issues it seems that Obama has missed few opportunities to alienate the Democrats’ liberal base.
“The combination of Afghanistan and Libya could bring a bitter end to the romance between Democratic liberals and Obama,” Steve Chapman writes in Reason magazine. “Many of them were already disappointed with him for extending the Bush tax cuts, bailing out Wall Street, omitting a public option from the healthcare overhaul, offering to freeze domestic discretionary spending, and generally declining to go after Republicans hammer and tong.”
Chapman predicts a strong primary challenge to Obama’s left flank—someone like Russ Feingold.
Lefties are also angry about Obama’s other lies and betrayals: keeping Gitmo open, signing off on assassinations and even the torture of U.S. soldiers (PFC Bradley Manning), redefining U.S. troops in Iraq as “support personnel.” Just this week he reneged on his promise to get rid of Bush’s kangaroo courts and put 9/11 suspects on trial.
Everyone—left, middle and right—is furious about his Herbert Hoover-like lack of concern over the economy. While the multimillionaire president blithely talks about a recovery as he heads off to golf with his wealthy friends, unemployment is rising and becoming structural. Obama will surely pay for the disconnect between reality (no jobs, shrinking paychecks, hidden inflation) and the rosy rhetoric coming out of the White House and U.S. state media.
What, exactly, will be Obama’s 2012 sales pitch? I seriously want to know. Think about it: how many other presidents have been so disappointing that they had to distribute lists of their accomplishments so their supporters would have talking points?
9 comments:
Funny. All these so-called pundits and experts have one thing in common: a chimp with a dartboard does better than them in the prognostication department.
Here's MY prediction: Obama's re-election is his to lose. In other words, it's Obama in 2012. Reason #1, well, look at the choices from the Reptile Farm on the right. Could you have thrown a bomb into a crowd and picked out pieces of bigger losers and dipshits? The whole lot of the potential Republican field has all the charm of a colostomy bag. One even looks like one (Newt). Reason #2, no primary challengers from the left. Reason #3, unless the world takes a giant shit, the economy gets "better" (meaning, not even three wars, a Japanese meltdown, etc. is going to slow the last big inhale of resources that is occurring (i.e. one last morning in America moment). Reason #4: Bush II got re-elected. Let me repeat that. Bush II got re-elected. Do I really need to go on after THAT?
I like the last point. My own foolish gut reaction, from my not-very-sensible inborn political view: Obama may be as bad as Bush, but he doesn't look as bad as Bush. I.e., maybe he's evil, but at least he's not embarrassing.
Not that I'm proud to harbor those potentially lamb/slaughter feelings, but they're very real, and I don't think I'm alone.
Even though O did start a third f-ing war, which I can not f-ing believe. The one thing I thought I could count on was no new f-ing wars. That was it. But no.
With Hillary right there taking a bow, just to make sure we know we had no choice whatsoever in the matter.
Reason #3, unless the world takes a giant shit, the economy gets "better" (meaning, not even three wars, a Japanese meltdown, etc. is going to slow the last big inhale of resources that is occurring (i.e. one last morning in America moment).
John, your rants are truly without peer.
NOBODY gets that much crunch into a single paragraph.
Accept no substitutes...,
Almost everything is this article is correct... Except for probably the lines about Libya and Feingold.. But there is no way Obama loses.. All you have to do is look at the competition to see that. And no respectable Dem is going to run against him.. Every pissed off liberal is going to hold their noses and vote for him and he will get his magical middle that he has done SO much to try and hold on to. I for one won't be too excited about too much of anything he has to say. The big question for me is will he even fight for Medicare in the 2012 budget... Since the cons have already taken their first shots at it this week... I want to say yes but for some reason I doubt it. He has given NO reason to believe that he will.. He will give them 80-100% of what they want and then say he had no choice.
Wizz,
Did you peep the level of crying going on on this thread? http://subrealism.blogspot.com/2011/04/sustainable-cities-feasible-transition.html
In essence, it said "folks will need to grow victory gardens and then some, and learn how to live within their ecological means". Now, I fail to comprehend how the thought of making the effort to cultivate the way my parents and grandparents all did and took for granted provokes weeping and gnashing of teeth. Heaven forbid the article had suggested hanging the wash out to dry on a clothesline, like I helped my mother to do every saturday morning throughout my whole and entire childhood.
If lazy, ignorant slugs can't get up off their backsides to do a little self-informing, communicating, and campaigning to try and get an actual leader into office, then damn them. They will get exactly what they deserve, and as I've stated a number of times now, 2016 in America is the equivalent of 1933 in Weimar Germany.
http://www.livescience.com/8869-8-shocking-learned-stephen-hawking-book.html
btw - I can't remember names, well, but I remember what makes me passionate (romantic impulse) and that is to learn and to debate what I believe in and share. Sharing knowledge is something I love, all others things I am become very detached from. They say in Zen be careful not to detach too young, given the children I have and my love of my adapted nation, I will remain attuned. Can't even wait to 2016 to talk with and your crew
I guess you and others sit with a crystal ball, my good zealot, and we will be forced back over 160 years, into a condition you enjoy (romantic affinities, what mommy did)
rotflmbao..,
for somebody who couldn't solve a simple integral if his life depended on it, you have boundless faith in the capacity of non-existent sci-tech to save your non-productive urban bacon Levar...y
LOL - at my age, I have my children and many more gadgets around me, spoken as a true Technocratic - btw I was in honor math up to the 11 grade, left it for it got to Euro and I had other passions - love of films and its Characters is romantic too. btw I can live by my wits and skills, I have seen chaos
AND
At different times in his life, Gurdjieff formed and closed various schools around the world to teach the work. He claimed that the teachings he brought to the West from his own experiences and early travels expressed the truth found in ancient religions and wisdom teachings relating to self-awareness in people's daily lives and humanity's place in the universe...
He asserted that people in their typical state function as unconscious automatons, but that one can "wake up" and become a different sort of human being altogether.
my bold
mysticism: belief in acquisition of spiritual truth, power, and communion with ultimate reality through intuition, insight, or application of specific secret rites, sometimes expressed in romantic love of the divine (or the divine within others)
vs Rationalism
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