The Rude Awakening of 2010

The heyday of the Bush-Obama bailout frenzy is coming to an end. The bailout’s base of public support, tenuous from the outset, is collapsing. Its chief architects — Treasury Secretary Geithner and Fed Chairman Bernanke — are politically dead or dying; its loyal opposition — Obama adviser Paul Volcker and FDIC Chairman Bair — is gaining rapidly in influence. Suddenly and with growing momentum, America is shifting into a brand new phase of the crisis …The Rude Awakening of 2010You and I knew all along; we were not among those sleepwalking through the storm. Nor did we ever support those…

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Great Moments in Wingnut Welfare

Those of you who followed the intelligence controversies leading up to the Iraq War will know the name Laurie Mylroie, the crankish "terrorism expert" best known for claiming that Saddam Hussein was the mastermind of 9/11. Our Justin Elliott has[...]

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Dear Media, don't just let people like Ben Nelson
spout off about Obama's 'liberal agenda' without asking them for examples

Senator Ben Nelson (D-FL) joins Lieberman and Bayh in claiming today that Obama's problems arise from him being beholden to the far left of the Democratic party.

?I think the President is going to have to scale back his agenda after we pass health care reform," Nelson said during an appearance on "Good Morning America."

"I think he?s allowed the left wing pull him too much in that direction," Nelson said. "But he always comes back into the center.?

Okay, I'm game - give us some examples of Obama's death-kiss with the liberal left of the Democratic party? Name one issue on which President Obama has gone further to the left than what he promised during the campaign, a campaign he won resoundingly? I can give you lots of examples of Obama moving away from promises and issue he highlighted during the campaign - health care, gay rights, civil liberties (FISA and Gitmo), Afghanistan, Wall Street reform, global warming, immigration. The list goes on.

If people like Ben Nelson, Evan Bayh and Joe Lieberman are going to talk to the national media and outright lie about what we've all been through the past year, then reporters can at least ask them to detail examples of how President Obama has succumbed to the left wing pull.

Of course, Joe Lieberman's idea of being a centrist is endorsing the other party.

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The Sunday Gasbag shows paint President Obama as
a "Lame Duck"

I watch many of the Sunday talk shows, and have been doing so for over five years. My brain is developing soft tissue on my frontal lobe, and after viewing this week's installment, the damaged tissue is spreading fast.

If you tuned in to the Villagers, they practically called for Obama's resignation.

Digby and Heather noticed the same thing.

In case you were wondering, the consensus on all the Sunday gasbag shows is that Obama is an abject failure because of his radical leftist ideology and that his only hope of even maintaining the presidency, much less winning a second term is to take a sharp turn to the right and enact the Republican agenda. Several commentators, including such luminaries as political cross dresser Matthew Dowd on ABC, insisted that the first thing the president has to do is pick a huge fight with the Democrats to show the country that he isn't one of them. Cokie said he should have asked John McCain from the beginning what he was allowed to do.

The historians and expert political observers on Fareed Zakaria's CNN show all agreed that Obama is no Reagan, a president who never governed ideologically and always worked across party lines. Oh, and he needs to be a president or a prime minister, but nobody could agree on exactly what that means except that he should try to be more like Scott Brown, the white Barack Obama, except without all the liberalism.

Oddly, the Republicans weren't mentioned, although Robert Caro did note that Obama inherited something of a mess. Peggy Noonan said he ran to win not to govern and they all agreed that was a brilliant observation. Zakaria did point out that Obama had a higher approval rating at this stage than both Reagan and Clinton and that the two Bush's were higher at this point because of wars and they all stared for a moment and then went on about centrism and prime ministers again.

The Village has officially turned. I'm guessing they'll be calling for his resignation by July.

The Republicans can do no wrong. I'm not saying Axelrod has done a good job, but the conservatives filibustered everything they could. And then they lie about it. Mr. Waterloo shouldn't be allowed back on TV until he admits he lied.

OK, here's what he said:

video details and more

And now he lies:

video details and more

I'm waiting for the Beltway media elites to tell Obama that he must appoint a Republican to the White House so Obama can learn how to govern.

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The Path We Must Take

If Dr. King hadn't been assassinated for speaking truth to power, if he was here today, if he was at the Lincoln Memorial again, looking out at that corporate capital of deceit and corruption, what would he say, what would he ask us to do?He'd ask us to[...]

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Midday Open Thread

• If you've enjoyed Devilstower's Sunday essays on science, evolution, politics and the cross-currents that run between them, his book The Evolution of Everything: How Selection Shapes Culture, Commerce, and Nature is now available for pre-order.
• What will Wednesday's State of the Union Address include? According to an anonymous source:

  ... main themes would include "creating good jobs, addressing the deficit, helping the middle class and changing Washington."

  No word on how health care reform will be addressed.

• Is DADT getting kicked down the road ... again?
• The health care industry seemed to do pretty well for themselves even without help from the SCOTUS:

  The Hill reports today that insurance companies — who have fought hard against health reforms like the creation of a new public health insurance plan — spent $38 million in 2009 to influence the direction of the health care debate.

• Spend ten minutes with the director of the 2010 census.
• Howard Kurtz is an idiot:

  Knoxville, Tenn.: Why do so many media outlets, when mentioning "Fox News", say "which some say has conservative views"? This seems to be the equivalent of saying "The Washington Post, which some say is a newspaper..."

  Why is the rest of the press corp afraid to call a spade a spade, particularly when (as in this case) it is so virulently blatant?

  Howard Kurtz: Because some say a distinction must be made between Fox’s opinion shows (O’Reilly, Beck, Hannity) and its news programming. Just as you have to make a distinction between The Post’s news pages and its left-leaning editorial page.

• Various teabagging factions continue to denounce the teabagging convention.
• Fifty-two percent to go:

  Halliburton Co.'s fourth-quarter earnings fell 48% as the world's second-largest oilfield-services company behind Schlumberger Ltd. reported weaker revenue.

• "Chemical Ali" has been executed.
• See what it would look like if the Senate was based on population.
• Talk about reserving a room for yourself in Hell:

  More than 100 Russian Orthodox believers have been hospitalized after drinking holy water during Epiphany celebrations in the eastern city of Irkutsk, an official said Monday.

• It took forty-three years, but the New Orleans Saints are finally going to the Super Bowl. Watch some of the Bourbon Street celebration following their NFC Championship win over the Minnesota Vikings.

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Bring on the Foreign Money!

In all the discussion of last week's landmark Supreme Court ruling allowing more or less unfettered spending in US election campaigns, one issue has received strikingly little notice: the ruling puts a big 'open for business' sign on the US election[...]

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He Works. We Wait

video details and more

"White House to Main Street" Town Hall: Elyria, OH

copyright ? 2010 Betsy L. Angert.  BeThink.org

A recent change of the guard in the Massachusetts Senate race force the President to reveal he is working.  We, the American people, are waiting, just as we have been for months and months.  For a full year, countless citizens have felt as though they were patient.  Yet, the President did not seem to have their interests at heart.  True change has not come.  Countless constituents anticipate none is forthcoming.  Three hundred and sixty five plus have gone by and the American people are tired of being patient.
The circumstances in their personal lives have proven to be critical, worse now than in 2009.  Oh, some remain hopeful. They continue to believe.  Several are waiting for Godot, who as we all know, never comes.  Millions await the Messiah.  Many thought Barack Obama was the great liberator.  This human was perchance, a deity, devotees continue to declare.  He is a divine being, or was in the eyes of the electorate before he entered the Oval Office.  Now, Americans are wasted, wanting.  They trusted and waited for him to transform the nation.  Today, the people wonder; is it too late.  

Senator Obama was and is suave, sensitive, and a sensational orator.  Surely, words would become action.  Progressives suspended disbelief.  The Left listened to a man advocate for more war in Afghanistan. Then, they decided he was the profound peacemaker.  Conservatives too saw themselves in this gentleman.  He was polished, polite, and predominately known for his prestigious credentials. Hence, the fiscally traditional believed the wait was over.  Today, each of these exclaim, as President he is not the one.

In contrast, the markedly Independent did not pause.  These mavericks need no intervals. The detractors, decidedly cynical, opinionated opponents, and the perpetually free from Party politics, never waited for what they wanted.  They did as they always have.  Raging Republicans and "free" thinking Independents gathered the reigns, took to the streets and stood firm.  They rallied the troops of discontented Americans.  They stood their ground.  These lovers of self-governing principles never grew weary.  Self-directed voters shouted; they screamed.  They garnered strength and swayed some from the Right and some from the Left to take their position.  We will kill the Obama agenda, shrieked crowds of "concerned" citizens.

The Religious Right also does not hesitate.  Indeed, they never doubted that the person known as Barack Obama was not a savior.  He was, or so these individuals said, a "socialist."  Committed Conservatives cringed at the notion that Mister Obama might be thought of as the embodiment of a second coming.  They would chortle in distress; perchance this President would be another Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

It was not difficult to persuade those who had previously adopted a wait and see approach.   Numerous issues have not been attended to.  The pledge to end "Don't Ask. Don't tell," frustrated a few.  Gay or straight families and friends have become impatient.  The thought that Health Care For All was left for Congress to ponder, plan, and present was seen as folly. The President, who belatedly cajoled the House and the Senate, was thought ineffective or just not truly interested in the welfare of the people.  Then there were the financial woes the President promised to address and did not adequately do so.  Indeed, millions of citizens muse; Obama sold out.  Our Chief Executive appointed Wall Street insiders to serve as his economic team.  Each of these individuals held a singular intent.  With bailout bucks, they would buy friends, influence enemies, and reward former colleagues.

Common citizens cried out in economic pain.  Rather than enact policies that might relieve the people's plight, billions were bestowed upon wealthy bankers.

Americans have been waiting for his audacity to bring more than hope for bipartisan approval on program after program.  Most of the electorate wanted Mister Obama to exit Iraq fully, not to leave tens of thousands of troops behind.   Numerous waited for him to assertively enact a renewable energy policy.  However, as was evident at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, the President, does not plan to authentically regulate or reduce greenhouse gas  emissions.

Since Mister Obama took office, small businessmen and women applied for loans, only to have their applications rejected.  Granted, he pressed bankers to respond to the needs of the little people.  Still, calls for cash went unheeded.  Underwater homeowners also pleaded.  Refinance my mortgage please.  Requests were denied.  Ultimately, days before voters in the Bay State cast a ballot for Scott Brown, a banner headline appeared in the local paper; Obama's foreclosure relief program called a failure.  Most borrowers have not been helped.

Credit card companies were allowed to go wild.  As the President observed, Credit has become "less of a lifeline and more of an anchor."  Interest rates rose drastically, although not on personal savings accounts.  While the President proposed and [assed legislation to curb the crunch, The Credit Card Industry found other ways to avoid a pinch.  They will Profit From Sterling Payers.  Unemployed and underemployed, well, they were neglected just as they had been before the Messiah came.

These troubles are not unique to any one region.  Trials and tribulations exist throughout the United States.

While some may prefer to wait for the day when the President's plans bear fruit, doubters do not.  For millions, the results in Massachusetts speak volumes.   These persons proclaim, this election, just as the two held months earlier, were not a reflection of a poorly run campaign by Martha Coakley, Virginia's Creigh Deeds, or the New Jersey incumbent Democratic Governor, Jon Corzine.  All were sure signs of voter discontent.   The Republican wins were a blow for the Obama Administration.   Now, perhaps, the President will hear the message.

Certainly, Obama enthusiasts have come to accept what cannot be avoided.  Americans lack confidence in the Commander-In-Chief.  The tidal wave of resentment has generated much concern. Loyalists, know not what to do.  They gather round cyberspace chat rooms.  Some seek solace in the acumen of broadcasters.  What will Keith, Rachel, or Jon Stewart say?  How might these masterful commentators direct the stalwart?  A few hop onto another bandwagon.  The theory is a populist philosophy will turn folks around.

This is the position the White House adopts.  Shortly, after the special election results were released, Mister Obama answered without hesitation.  He stood before an audience in Elyria, Ohio, a community devastated by what some suggest is an economic Depression.  There the President enthusiastically proclaimed he is working for us.  For emphasis, Mister Obama forcefully opined, "Let me tell you - so long as I have the privilege of serving as your President, I'll never stop fighting for you."  The Nation's Chief Executive then assured average Americans, "(T)his isn't about me. It's about you." Yet, this novel appearance calls Mister Obama's assertion into question.

Several observers stated Obama was back.  Fire was, once again, in his belly.  His campaigner style will certainly help his poll numbers to soar.  His persuasive presence would ensure a Democratic win.  However, the familiar rationale proved to be erroneous.

The President had attempted to coax a Massachusetts crowd days before the dire voter decision.  At the behest of Martha Coakley, the nation's Chief Executive rallied round the Democratic candidate.  Still his rhetoric could not reverse the momentum.  Indeed, what would be an overwhelming demise was delivered.

Possibly, more than a mere Senate seat was lost.  Patience amongst Obama supporters has waned. The reality that American Independents and Republicans never looked back became more clear.  Scott Brown was but the amplification of the incensed mantra.  Stop health care. Do not provide civil trials for terrorists.  Rather than raise taxes; cut them. Secret backroom deals will not stand.  Special interests are not ours.  

Average American Joe and Jane are jollied.  Unlike the blindly faithful, they knew not to wait for Barack Obama or Godot.  The energized, eager, and enraged took the government back.

The hurt and hurting citizens saw that Barack Obama made the office his own, or perchance, he preserved the Clinton presidency.  The incensed did not trust the followers who point to the progress made in the effort to exit Iraq.  Instead, those outraged by slight concessions sympathized with the soldiers who struggle to survive on foreign soil.  

Disheartened, even early supporters squeal at the reality this President has increased America's involvement in the Middle Eastern affairs. The Obama Administration authorized targeted assassinations.

Today, the once hopeful also speak out.  "He Wasn't The One We've Been Waiting For."  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan did not foretell what was to come. Devotees did not expect the President to defend the latest unemployment numbers as the he did.   "The jobs numbers are reminder that the road to recovery is never straight." This thought was not what disciples hoped for.  No, the devoted Obama aficionados did not expect him to  apolitically offer an axiom, the path towards peace. is a rough road to travel.  Nor did the dedicated expect that support of the Messianic President would equate to justification for a mixed record on Counterterrorism Reform.  

Few from the Left thought they would help elect a Republican.  Dutiful Democrats could not imagine the day that they would declare I will wait no more.  For decades, people trusted, a President from their Party was, as Mister Obama opined, working for them.  Yet, this time, perhaps in the previous two elections, and in the next go round, the public will proclaim as Boston area Waitress Vitoria Vigna, did. "I am a Democrat and to say I voted Republican was, I was like, oh, my god, I'm voting Republican."  However, as Ms Vigna expounded, the sentiment is, "people are more agitated and anxious and a lot of people's attitude is what has really changed? Really?"  What has changed?  Possibly, the population has given up on Godot and on Presidents who they believe have not fully perform as promised.

He Works. We Wait, or did . . .

• Obama works on health care compromise with Hill Democrats. Cable News Network. January 13, 2010
• Obama Has Made the Oval Office His Own.  CBS News. January 5, 2010
• Obama's cabinet -- change or Clinton era retreads?  By Agence France-Presse.  Raw Story. November 28, 2009
• Targeted Assassinations in the War Against Al Qaeda, By James Kitfield.  Excerpts from "Wanted Dead."  National Journal. January 9, 2010
• Counterterrorism and Human Rights: A Report Card on President Obama's First Year.  Human Rights Watch.  January 14, 2010
• Obama's First Year Record on Counterterrorism Reform; Mixed  Human Rights Watch.  January 14,  2010
• Obama Details Recovery Plan, By Philip Rucker.  Washington Post. January 28, 2009
• Obama: 'Road to recovery is never straight'. Associated Press. MSNBC. January 8, 2010
• Obama Gives Troops Timeline for Iraq War's End, By Yochi J. Dreazen.  The Wall Street Journal. February 28, 2009
• Obama's jobs speech in Elyria, Ohio: The prepared text.  Washington Post. January 22, 2010
• With Pledges to Troops and Iraqis, Obama Details Pullout, By Peter Baker.  The New York Times. February 27, 2009
• Exclusive: White House to host members of Congress to build support for keeping 50,000 in Iraq,  By Rachel Oswald.  Raw Story.Thursday February 26, 2009
• Obama HRC Speech: "I Will End Don't Ask, Don't Tell," Says President Obama, By Christine Simmons.  Huffington Post. October 10, 2009
• Ask Obama About Don't Ask, Don't Tell, By Richard Socarides.  The Wall Street Journal. January 24, 2010
• Side-by-Side Comparison of Major Health Care Reform Proposals.  The Kaiser Foundation. January 13, 2010
• Obama calls for Congress to face health care challenge.  Cable News Network. September 10, 2009
• Obama's Big Sellout, By Matt Taibbi.  Rolling Stone.  December  9, 2009
• Obama presses banks on small business loans, Reuters. October 24, 2009
• Obama's foreclosure relief program called a failure.  Associated Press. The Boston Globe. January 16, 2010
• Obama Signs Credit Card Bill. CBS News. May 22, 2009
• Credit Card Industry Aims to Profit From Sterling Payers, By Andrew Martin.  The New York Times. May 24, 2009
• Double blow for Obama as Republicans win Virginia and New Jersey, By Ewen MacAskill.  The Guardian. November 4, 2009
• Scott Brown won on substance, By Charles Krauthammer.  The Orange County Register. January 21, 2010
• He Wasn't The One We've Been Waiting For, By Paul Krugman.  The New York Times. January 20, 2010
• Transcript; Sound of Sunday.  State of the Un ion with John King.  Cable News Network. January 24, 2010

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Call Reports: Rep. Raúl Grijalva Keeps His Word,
Will Oppose Senate Bill

More than 400 people have reported their calls to Democratic members of Congress since Friday, and another 30,000 have signed our petition to House progressives. We're delivering the petition to Rep. Grijalva's office tomorrow, so sign now if you[...]

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Should Haitis Former Leader Return -- Verse-Case
Scenario by Tony Peyser

Would another round of Aristede work?
Maybe --- or it could be a fright show.
That would be a big mistake liking bringing
Leno back to host "The Tonight Show."

VERSE CASE SCENARIO

read more

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