I'm genuinely confused. Yesterday, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel told America he sees the use of taxpayer money to pay AIG million-dollar bonuses as an unimportant distraction. Then President Obama said, no, the country is angry, and has every right to be, and his assertion was supported by new polls showing an outraged American public. Now today, White House adviser David Axelrod insists nobody cares about AIG ripping off taxpayers. "People are not sitting around their kitchen tables thinking about AIG," he told the Washington Post.
Look, I get that nobody in Establishment Washington genuinely cares that taxpayers are being ripped off, and I get that the super-wealthy political class from millionaire investment banker Emanuel to millionaire consultant Axelrod to millionaire banker Tim Geithner gives much of a shit that our taxpayer dollars are being used to make new millionaires on Wall Street. But their boss, President Obama, is right: A huge majority of Americans, most of whom are not millionaires, are really angry and has a right to be angry. And we're not talking sorta angry, we're talking about Gallup's new poll showing a whopping 84% of Americans saying they are "outraged" or "bothered" by the AIG mess.
The only question, then, is why the president is letting his aides contradict him and disparage the majority of the country?
These latest mixed messages are yet another indication that a the White House is creating a major economic credibility gap for itself. On the biggest economic issues of the day, the administration is saying contradictory things, raising questions about who is really in charge in the administration.
If the White House doesn't get out of the tone deaf D.C. echo chamber and get back on message, my bet is that very soon Republicans' faux populism that portrays Democrats as part of the problem is going to start getting traction.
Echo chamber speaks again. The administration is getting away from the President and it needs to stop. They did a much better job when they were campaigning than they are doing now. President Obama needs to round them up and tell them to stay on task, just like they do in elementary school. They are all acting like spoiled brats. Each one thinks he knows what is going on when really, they are only there to brief the President, we didn't elect them, we elected him. What they say is meaningless.
* [[[Full-Spectrum Dominance / Our Commonweal///[[[{{{DISSENT}}}]]]]]]
"Full spectrum dominance/over our Commonweal/powered by suppression of dissent"
* [[[Full-Spectrum Dominance / Our Common Weal///[[[{{{Chris Dodd}}}]]]]]]
See the bus?
* [[[Full-Spectrum Dominance / Our Common Weal///[[[{{{Rachel Corrie}}}]]]]]]
Now the brackets are Caterpillar tractor treads.
It's our updated, upgraded, nuclear-powered Goering Method: declare an attack and denounce opponents on psycho-spiritual grounds, e.g., he’s a Muslim! No, he’s The One! (ie, MCain’s campaign.) Shazam! A skinny guy from Illinois now looks like a Messiah or Anti-Christ. That's how we power social-engineering projects. Between those poles flows the power of myth.
Mechanists make the fundamental mistake of trying to use mechanical tools on a mythosociopsychical problem: Justice. You can't machine Justice. But that's what Rove tried to do with our Justice Department.
Scott Horton tells us, Rove “calls himself ‘Grendel,’ ‘Moby Dick,’ and ‘Lord Voldemort.’ He is the man ever behind the scenes, manipulating and driving the events on the surface without being seen.”[http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/02/hbc-90002498]
Coincidence?
Who’s using the power of myth to power weapons-grade domestic propaganda for Dems?
Lao-Tzu: "When right Way is used by Wrong-headed, Way still works, now for wrong reasons."
You were wrong about this yesterday when you claimed Geithner knew about the bonuses earlier than last week. And you're wrong again today. No one cares what Emanuel says about this. No one is paying attention to what Axelrod says -- but you, apparently. They care what Obama says, and he got it right. That's enough said. Stop trying to make something out of nothing.
Blaming Dodd for AIG-Gate Misses the Mark
Mike Lillis
The Washington Independent
http://washingtonindependent.com/34688/blaming-dodd-for-aig-gate-misses-the-mark
So for the administration’s industry-friendly stand on executive pay, Dodd is taking the heat.
Not that the Connecticut senator, who’s facing a tough reelection contest in 2010, didn’t invite some of the criticism. When TARP was passed last fall, for example, the Banking Committee chairman hailed the “very concrete” limits on executive pay, even as experts and some other Democrats were quick to point out gaping loopholes in the law. And his amendment, which restricts bonuses for only the top 25 executives of the largest bailed-out companies, wouldn’t have done much to rein in AIG, where 73 employees recently received bonuses in excess of $1 million.
Also, Dodd’s carefully worded statement Tuesday can be easily interpreted as an indication that he wasn’t a part of the negotiations that led to the changes to his amendment. “Because of negotiations with the Treasury Department and the bill Conferees,” the statement reads, “several modifications were made, including adding the exemption.” Dodd was not a conferee.
The passive voice strikes again.
In addition, who do you think the American people listen to? Obama or Axelrod? Do you think the majority of Americans are listening to Axelrod? Most likely they are like Axelrod who?
If I may suggest, consider your question to be rhetorical. Ask it of yourself, then use the Web to find that out.
So sorry, but your suggestion sounds like, "Shut up, Sirota! Or solve it all before you speak again."