Obama and Politics
Commentary By Ron Beasley
Obama ran a brilliant campaign and played the game of politics like a pro. Since he actually became president it's a different story. Perhaps he's naive and didn't think he would have to do politics as president. If so he had not been paying attention to history. If/when he does not get a health care reform he will have no one to blame but himself.
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* Advancing policy of "indefinite preventive detention" - more accurately called "permanent incarceration", even when no proof of crime exists.
* Betraying workers by ignoring campaign pledges to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and pass labor reform (the Employee Free Choice Act).
*Choosing Monsanto hacks Michael Taylor & Dennis Wolff to be in charge of food safety.
* Continuing Bush's illegal spying programs.
* Continuing torture policies.
* Despite campaign promises to the contrary, beginning to signal an intent to roll back and partially privatize Social Security and Medicare benefits.
* Escalating wars in South Asia and continuation of war crimes, crimes against humanity (depleted uranium weapons, wholesale slaughter of innocent civilians)
* Hiding behind rhetoric of withdrawl while actually maintaining and increasing war crimes in Iraq.
* Increasing funding of the military-industrial complex.
* Installing war criminal Lt. General Stanley A McChrystal, George Bush's Commanding General, Joint Special Operations Command, as Commander of U.S. Forces, stepping up wars in South Asia.
* Invoking the "state secrets" and refusing to release information or respond to lawsuits emerging from Bush era policies.
* Justifying treason, war crimes, and crimes against humanity with a faux and manufactured ""global war on terror".
* Maintaining secret prisons.
* Promoting public funds for the auto industry that will be used to cut U jobs, wages and benefits while subsidizing GM's continuing shifting of jobs overseas.
*Promoting the lie of a "jobless recovery", that somehow we have "put out the fire" even though the assault against middle class and working American jobs is increasing.
* Refusing to hold anyone in previous administration accountable for crimes, treason, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
* Reviving military commissions and supporting indefinite detentions without due process.
* Spending trillions of federal dollars on taxpayer handouts to benefit Wall Street firms and not "main street" - directly contradicting his campaign rhetoric.
* Suppressing of U.S. torture practices.
* Sustaining Bush's abrogation of habeas corpus rights.
* Taking the only option that even he admits provides universal coverage, single payer, out of the debate.
* Watering down healthcare reform to the point where it approaches little more than public give-aways to insurance companies and providers instead of promoting universal access and cost controls.
So where is the change?
Update II
Steve's post above explains how the netroots are enabling Obama's failure
>> And he will not get one of his signature issues - meaningful health care reform.
Oh, it's going to be "meaningful" alright. Business Week's recent article articulated this meaning:
The health insurers have "succeeded in redefining the terms of the reform debate to such a degree that no matter what specifics emerge in the voluminous bill Congress may send to President Obama this fall, the insurance industry will emerge more profitable."
And where will those increased profits come from?
According to today's DemocracyNow, the public is going to get less coverage, and more out-of-pocket expenses.
Apparently Obama's only real goal was to get his name on the list in the history books - because, so far, that's the only thing he's actually fought for.
Posted by: Kat | August 18, 2009 at 01:37 AM
While not ready to call Obama a failure yet, I think you have laid out my reasons for being disappointed quite well.
"He has selected the wrong people to advise him. As a result he has marched into his very own quagmire in Afghanistan. He has supported the status quo when it comes to the financial industry and Wall Street. And he will not get one of his signature issues - meaningful health care reform."
Posted by: Kirkrrt | August 18, 2009 at 05:51 AM
Call me a dreamer, but I'm still on the wagon. Labor Day is two weeks off and a lot can happen in two weeks. Giving the crazies more rope is a risky tactic but not bad strategy under the circumstances.
What circumstances? Elected representatives from both parties are bought with insurance and PhRMA money to vote however their paymasters say. That includes a despicable list of Democrats called Blue Dogs. Republicans by definition (loyal opposition and all that) can't allow anyone of the other party to succeed in anything by definition. A growing coalition of opponents is inviting the most ignorant and insulting of voices to join them. US Senators speak openly of death panels and criticize Britain's NHS, making totally stupid claims about how people like Stephen Hawking and Ted Kennedy would be allowed to die under that system. Yhe threshold of public ignorance is swelling like a zit about to be popped.
The debate has now boiled over borders to the North and across the pond. I expect the next week or two to hear credible, articulate voices from both Canada and the UK joining this public debate, not taking sides politically but countering the claims of the crazies in America. I imagine something along the lines of "If you Yanks want to go to hell with health care, that's your business, but that's no reason to malign other successful systems well ahead of you compared with the rest of the world."
The president defined the problem clearly. We are caught between fear and hope. I'm still on board with hope. The challenge is to reassure the fearful.
Posted by: John Ballard | August 18, 2009 at 06:56 AM
Kirkrrt - your right, "lots" of time until labor day. This is what your guy obama has given us so far:
* Advancing policy of "indefinite preventive detention" - more accurately called "permanent incarceration", even when no proof of crime exists.
* Betraying workers by ignoring campaign pledges to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and pass labor reform (the Employee Free Choice Act).
*Choosing Monsanto hacks Michael Taylor & Dennis Wolff to be in charge of food safety.
* Continuing Bush's illegal spying programs.
* Continuing torture policies.
* Despite campaign promises to the contrary, beginning to signal an intent to roll back and partially privatize Social Security and Medicare benefits.
* Escalating wars in South Asia and continuation of war crimes, crimes against humanity (depleted uranium weapons, wholesale slaughter of innocent civilians)
* Hiding behind rhetoric of withdrawl while actually maintaining and increasing war crimes in Iraq.
* Increasing funding of the military-industrial complex.
* Installing war criminal Lt. General Stanley A McChrystal, George Bush's Commanding General, Joint Special Operations Command, as Commander of U.S. Forces, stepping up wars in South Asia.
* Invoking the "state secrets" and refusing to release information or respond to lawsuits emerging from Bush era policies.
* Justifying treason, war crimes, and crimes against humanity with a faux and manufactured ""global war on terror".
* Maintaining secret prisons.
* Promoting public funds for the auto industry that will be used to cut U jobs, wages and benefits while subsidizing GM's continuing shifting of jobs overseas.
*Promoting the lie of a "jobless recovery", that somehow we have "put out the fire" even though the assault against middle class and working American jobs is increasing.
* Refusing to hold anyone in previous administration accountable for crimes, treason, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
* Reviving military commissions and supporting indefinite detentions without due process.
* Spending trillions of federal dollars on taxpayer handouts to benefit Wall Street firms and not "main street" - directly contradicting his campaign rhetoric.
* Suppressing of U.S. torture practices.
* Sustaining Bush's abrogation of habeas corpus rights.
* Taking the only option that even he admits provides universal coverage, single payer, out of the debate.
* Watering down healthcare reform to the point where it approaches little more than public give-aways to insurance companies and providers instead of promoting universal access and cost controls.
Yup - plenty of time to sell us completely out on healthcare and entirely consistent with EVERYTHING else he has done.
Posted by: joe | August 18, 2009 at 08:35 AM
To continue with your theme Ron: I watched parts of Obama's speech to your VFWs group yesterday and could barely keep from moaning out loud. It was nothing much but stale, recycled half truths or complete lies mixed with large douses of military sentimentally that can only come from someone who has never had the misfortune or misguide ambition to be in the forces. Sandy Levinson at Balkanization has a nice little post vacation note on it. Though he concludes that Obama is better than any of the alternatives offered last November I'm prone to disagree. McCain/Palin would have ensured 4 years of not stop laughs and maybe for 2012 a voting population that really wanted something different. As it is, Obama, 6 months in, seems hopelessly compromised and, I think, weak.
Re healthcare and any clear voices coming out of Canada and the UK over the remaining time in the - sorry it's hard not to laugh - debate I don't think so. Here to the north of you it's better if your system stays a complete dogs-breakfast as it keeps in place a nice competitive advantage for our small open economy. If you happen to stumble on any real innovations we'll be sure to copy it in our own muddled way. Essentially we and the UK take for granted that healthcare is a basic right and should be universal for all citizens. Within this assumption we all do have problems with our systems and delivery but unless their is some catastrophic change, gov't, at their peril, only look for improvements built on the basic assumption.
Posted by: geoff | August 18, 2009 at 11:31 AM
He has selected the wrong people to advise him. As a result he has marched into his very own quagmire in Afghanistan. He has supported the status quo when it comes to the financial industry and Wall Street.
The Afghanistan War is a true disaster-in-progress. Pat Lang, whose military credentials and resume are impeccable, always has very incisive politico-military observations over at "Sic Semper Tyrannis" (http://turcopolier.typepad.com/). He has done a great job critiquing this growing mess.
My most bitter disappointments about Obama center on his cowardice in not going after the prevous Administration's war crimes and constitutional violations, and hiring the likes of Summers and Geithner to let Wall Street continue to rape the American people in the name of "stabilizing" the financial system.
Obama came in with such promise, but is f*cking up royally. It's most depressing.
Posted by: Redhand | August 18, 2009 at 11:53 AM
Stop judging things prematurely for the sake of a chatter-worthy blogpost. Nothing about Obama's presidency is "dead." A presidency lasts 4 years, not 7 months. Christ.
Posted by: Andres | August 18, 2009 at 04:35 PM
Let's see is it 12 or 24 months of the Obama 48 month term that will be piddled away campaigning for the next 48. So 48 - 7 - 12/24 = 29 or 17 months left for him to do something even close to what he promised. I'd think he maybe better get cracking, eh if he is to deliver anything.
Posted by: geoff | August 18, 2009 at 08:27 PM
Buncha kooks.
Posted by: JB | August 21, 2009 at 12:12 PM