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Three card Monte
December 10, 2009 |
Back in September 2008, when the US Presidential election campaigning was in full swing and the Republican and Democratic Conventions were behind us, I commented to Bee that Barack Obama was going to be no different than other politicians. After Sarah Palin was chosen as the VP candidate, my gut told me that the move would backfire and that the Democratic ticket would win. I voted for Obama/Biden, even though I didn’t buy into many of the promises.
Cut to the chase, fast-forward a year, and folks we have all been had. There has not been one piece of significant progressive move coming out of this White House. Feels like a Three Card Monte to me. Obama is clearly the dealer ably abetted by a host of shills.
Read this excellent article from Matt Taibbi which focuses only on one of the dimensions in which this administration has failed us - Handling of the Financial Crisis.
There’s no other way to say it: Barack Obama, a once-in-a-generation political talent whose graceful conquest of America’s racial dragons en route to the White House inspired the entire world, has for some reason allowed his presidency to be hijacked by sniveling, low-rent shitheads. Instead of reining in Wall Street, Obama has allowed himself to be seduced by it, leaving even his erstwhile campaign adviser, ex-Fed chief Paul Volcker, concerned about a “moral hazard” creeping over his administration.
Some may say, its hard to reform the system so quickly and that he is doing his best. Some others may be defeatist and claim that the system would require even politicians with good intentions to forsake their principles. I say, hogwash. Reforming anything starts with putting the right people in responsible positions. Millions of us thought that that is what we did by putting Barack Obama in the Oval Office. Sadly we were wrong.
Two seemingly insignificant facts from the campaign always rankled me - (a) Obama was elected as the President of the Harvard Law Review and promptly sidelined several of the same people who made it possible for him to win. (b) He made an about face on public financing.
Reaching across the aisle for the sake of reaching across the aisle is wrong. And as long as private financing is the foundation of all elections in this country, nothing is going to change. Barack Obama seems more intent on ensuring that he gets reelected in 2012, and for that he needs all the help he can get from Wall Street, Big Pharma, Insurance and the like, but it would be a tad dangerous to overlook the hand that we played in 2008.
-Jai
2008 Presidential Election, Barack Obama, Matt Taibbi, Politics
I’m not sure I agree with you completely. I’m also probably biased. I’m a huge Obama supporter and do think he needs more time.
While things like the war decision, the Peace prize have rankled me, I’m not sure I’m willing to give up on him, completely as yet.
In my opinion everyone is biased to some extent - but few admit it. However, the process you took to reach your bias is important. I would like to share in your optimism about Obama and his administration but the trend is pointing south at the moment.
The peace prize to a large extent is a statement against Bush policies and doesn’t bother me one bit. The war decision too is not egregious considering that we haven’t yet apprehended the main masterminds behind 9/11 and Af-Pak border is still a terror breeding ground.
What bothers me is the handling of domestic policy. The bedrock of American capitalism is small business. Small business has been decimated in the last 3 decades and will take 3 more to get it back provided multiple presidents and congressional assemblies work towards it. How can we fix that with select Wall street insiders from banking and insurance crafting policy?
Jai
I don’t like politics as i think politician are a bunch of creeps,every where in the world. But then I think if i had to choose between Bush or obama i would choose obama anytime.
But the choice was never between Bush and Obama. It was between Obama and Hillary Clinton, and the latter has always done a better job of being a fierce liberal and of standing up for her constituents and for civil rights than the former has.
not so sure about hillary’s progressive record, but the choice between obama and bush is a choice between a corporatist tool and a crazy corporatist tool.
slim pickings.
- bee
I am so disappointed in Obama. It is one corporate give away after another. The healthcare “reform” (if you can call it that) is going in the same direction. A huge windfall for insurance companies and a big middle finger to the rest of us.
Precisely what Obama and many other politicians count on. Unfortunately, the better of two bad choices still leaves us with a bad choice.
-Jai
We have been had. Most definitely. With Bush, at least we knew where he stood. With this guy it is hard to tell where he stands and most people who criticize him, end up being called racists.
He was the wrong person at the right time. His refusal to see the Dalai Lama epitomizes for me what a clever but utterly fake politician he is which is to say, he is just like the rest of them.
There are many who criticize this administration without being termed racist. Hope I dont get termed racist by extension
Another great read for you (a diary by one of Jugalbandi’s readers)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/11/20/806345/-Krugman-is-wrongit-is-worse
-Jai
Jai,
I respectfully disagree. Remember President Carter few months ago writing an op-ed asking if racism had anything to do with all the criticism he has been getting. But we are safe here we don’t have the right color to be called a racist!
The article you have linked is a must read for every BHO apologist. Thanks again.
we are so screwed.
- bee
Other facts of the campaign that were clear red flags: (c) Obama saying one thing on FISA and voting another way in June-July 2008, to not stop or even take punitive action against warrantless wiretapping, (d) Obama fighting to revive the very fatally flawed bailout bill after it was DOA in the House. He, a Democrat, actually OPPOSED the HOLC and HOME, which was bailouts for individuals losing their mortgages, which even the Republican McCain supported; (e) his campaign successfully blocking the counting of delegates from Florida and Michigan during the democratic primaries - how was this different from what Bush did to Gore in 2000?; (f) he and his campaign’s complete ease with using blatant sexist framing and misogyny against any female opponent, starting from Alice Palmer, to Hillary, to Sarah Palin.
I am not sure if Palin needs any sexist framing and misogyny propaganda to expose her for what she is.
Precisely. They could’ve taken down Palin by simply opposing her, like they were opposing McCain, or any Republican. Instead, they tried painting her as a dumb blonde (Caribou Barbie?), a small-town hick (a Democrat being classist is kinda counter-productive, no?) and questioned her committment by bringing up her children, her daughter’s pregnancy, etc. And that’s now helped turn her into an Andrew Jackson-like popular figure.
actually, obama said her family should be “off limits”.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/01/
obama.palin/index.html
she was the one serenading them around and talking of her “family values”. i’ll give him credit for that. as for those who coined “caribou barbie”, well, they were being very kind while talking about the woman who winked during the VP debate and spoke of lipstick and pitbulls. also too.
- bee
I think it is a little bit too early to say we are screwed. I just finished taking a government course and I have to say, the complexities of the American legal system could make anybody’s head spin, even if he was elected to Harvard Law Review.
And IT IS difficult to change Washington, starting with trying to put the right people in office. No one expected anything from Bush for obvious reasons but there have been so many expectations from Obama, it is only fair to give him some more time. He is trying to walk a fine line between liberals and conservatives and he seems to please either one or the other party at any point of time. Like today, the Rep were happy with his Noble acceptance speech, the Democrats, not so much.
As much as I am biased towards Obama, I feel he needs to stop trying to please everyone and do what is best in the interest of the country.
And that was my two cents.
Really enjoying the comments here. I do realize a lot of things through this post, but I’m going to still wait on it.
( I hope he doesn’t let me down! :))
Great post!
Check this out.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/11/95747/934?detail=f
The article is pretty good and very well articulated. Two things stood out for me..
1.
” How could Obama let this happen? Is he just a rookie in the political big leagues, hoodwinked by Beltway old-timers? Or is the vacillating, ineffectual servant of banking interests we’ve been seeing on TV this fall who Obama really is?”
This is something I believed in..A rookie!! I was a strong supporter of Hillary just because of the experience. Obama was naive and new to this, lets face it and which was proven by the various guffaws just after he was elected.
2.
” These are the kinds of voters whom Obama’s gang of Wall Street advisers is counting on: idiots. People whose votes depend not on whether the party in power delivers them jobs or protects them from economic villains, but on what cultural markers the candidate flashes on TV. Finance reform has become to Obama what Iraq War coffins were to Bush: something to be tucked safely out of sight.”
Most of the people who vote can be easily lured by good speeches and promises. This is something that is seen in politics all over the world, not just here..
The banks get 0% loan and charge 35% for credit cards .How ridiculous can that get? I don’t think Ayn Rand expected this when she talked about capitalism….John Galt( from Atlas Shrugged) would have been disgusted.. IMHO..
I thought Obama was the lesser of the two evils at the time of the election but I didn’t jump on the Obama-bandwagon at the time. I wanted to see if he kept his promises….and his decision to send more troops to Afghanistan was a deal breaker for me. He broke his promise to end the ongoing wars……sigh.
Obama did not keep some of his promises like ending war etc. I was put off by that. On the other hand, he was handed leadership in state of ruins. 1 year is not enough time to prove and turn around things. I personally still think there is hope for a change.
I guess we need to define change. Laws are being passed as we speak. Financial and Health Care reforms bills are being worked out right now. These are part of the big changes that we want the administration to influence and currently it is a big departure from what Obama campaigned. Forsaking the needs of the common man is grave indeed.
-Jai