iPhone app iPad app Android phone app Android tablet app More

Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors

Arianna Says Frustration With Obama Goes Beyond Left And Right On 'Fareed Zakaria GPS' (VIDEO)

What's Your Reaction:

Arianna appeared as a guest on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" on Sunday, along with Eliot Spitzer, Ross Douthat and Katrina vanden Heuvel . The roundtable discussed the growing frustration with Obama over his handling of the economy and the Gulf oil spill.

"President Obama is front and center in the news again this week," Zakaria began. "This time it's for the firing of Stanley McChrystal. Before that he was being criticized for his handling of the oil spill. His approval levels are down, and the nattering nabobs of negativism have been hammering him around the clock. Even some of the most left leaning of the commentary have turned on Barack Obama. So what does all this mean?"

Spitzer said that Obama needs to do more to take charge of the oil spill response. "He trusts people too much," Spitzer said. "He trusted Wall Street. He trusted the Republicans to engage in a meaningful way. He trusted BP. He's 0 for three."

"What Eliot said is absolutely critical," Arianna continued. "It's not just trust. I think there is almost like a reverence that the president has for authority. You know, a reverence for establishments. You know, the Wall Street establishment. The military establishment. The BP establishment, you know? Even his own admiral in charge of the BP oil spill a few weeks ago said that 'I trust that what Tony Hayward is telling me.' He actually used those words. So that is really very fundamental problem that is affecting his whole presidency."

"Liberals are dismayed. They're angry. They're abandoning him," Zakaria said.

Arianna replied that "This whole framing as a right versus left debate -- a liberal verse conservative debate is completely flawed. It's obsolete. It's making it much harder for us to solve our problems as a country."

"Wall Street reform is a classic example," she continued, "where some of the best conservative minds, and some of the best liberal minds agree that if you don't have the end of too big to fail, if you don't have fundamental derivatives reform, everything else is ultimately cosmetic."

"But the two parties are now ideologically polarized," Zakaria argued.

"You know what? I think Arianna is right," vanden Heuvel responded. "Because the left-right construct is artificial. And I think too much of it is the establishment media."

"The point here is that there is something really important about this left and right obsession that the media has," Arianna continued. "I mean, at the Huffington Post we have a tag line called, 'Beyond Left and Right.' And we use it a lot. ... When you have Mayor Bloomberg coming together with Fox News to push for real immigration reform. On drug reform. There is a huge left-right coalition on Afghanistan, and Wall Street reform. This is not really the easy division that the media likes to present."

WATCH:

 
Arianna appeared as a guest on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" on Sunday, along with Eliot Spitzer, Ross Douthat and Katrina vanden Heuvel . The roundtable discussed the growing frustration with Obama over...
Arianna appeared as a guest on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" on Sunday, along with Eliot Spitzer, Ross Douthat and Katrina vanden Heuvel . The roundtable discussed the growing frustration with Obama over...
 
 
  • Comments
  • 9,326
  • Pending Comments
  • 0
  • View FAQ
Comments are closed for this entry
View All
Favorites
Bloggers
Recency  | 
Popularity
Page: 1 2 3 4 5  Next ›  Last »  (119 total)
10:57 AM on 06/30/2010
I don't even blame Obama completely for his ineptitude. He got into office by pulling the wool over the eyes of a public that wanted anything that wasn't George Bush. Unfortunately, his complete lack of experience is showing and he's doing nothing right. The only thing I can hope is that people learn from this and realize that just because a candidate is completely different from someone you hate, it doesn't mean he's going to do a good job.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
electra10
06:34 PM on 06/30/2010
president obama hasn't been 'inept' nor did he pull the 'wool' over anyone's eyes.

this is simply part of your republican smear campaign of unsubstantiated hype, hyperbole, hysteria & hypocrisy. until you can bring a specific facts, save your bashing for the gullible & easily manipulated.

oh wait, your party already has those people, huh?

i LOVE the job the president has done. go! go! o! :)
09:10 AM on 07/01/2010
I hope you're joking. What has he done that isn't inept? He's a complete failure. You "love" the job he's done? He hasn't done anything!
08:30 AM on 07/04/2010
LOL! You're one heck of a jester!
You think maybe if you and your ilk say and write it enough times you might actually begin to believe this dribble?

p.s: I'm moving full speed ahead to 2012 with the wool still pulled and firmly in place over my eyes! Viva President Obama!
10:55 AM on 06/30/2010
President Obama should inspire everyone around the world that a foreign born citizen with a muslim background carrying citizenship from another country with virtually no experience could be elected to the greatest democracy the world has ever known and practically succeed in destroying it, juries still out on that one, should give hope to them. I have no frustration with Obama as I was certain all along his Presidency would be an unmitigated disaster for this country. Its bankrupt and he did it. As we roll along with the Afganistan disaster and now the gulf in the middle of the biggest economic disaster since the 30's, Obama wants to add to the massive deficit with healthcare, Tax and destroy whats left of American business with Cap and TAX. Give amnesty to 30 million Mexicans and he doesn't understand why Americans don't trust him. Congratulation Regressives/liberals you've finally managed to kill the golden goose.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
electra10
07:30 PM on 06/30/2010
The crazy conspiracy theory birthers believe:
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/765c7d6147/what-birthers-believe

the simple truth:
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html
10:31 AM on 06/30/2010
Let’s put right or left aside for a moment, regardless of how brilliant he is supposed to be or how much “hope” he may have inspired, there was absolutely nothing in his history, experience or background to prepare him for the big job that he now has and it shows. Quite painfully shows I am afraid.
No matter how you feel about his objectives or goals it is very hard to say he has done anything but stumble through his time in office. Gaffs, questionable personnel and appointment decisions, having to rely on congressional leaders to use parliamentary tricks to pass his so called health care bill which we were told Americans wanted so much when he had over whelming majorities in both houses should have been a sign from the start the he is in over his head.
Now we see him struggling with the mess in the gulf and his war is not going so well either while all the time the economy is sputtering along even after the massive spending enacted at his direction. People are not happy because his inabilities are out shining his charisma. The luster has worn off and the reality of having a chief executive that is not quite up to the job is settling in.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
electra10
06:30 PM on 06/30/2010
sorry, but you've done nothing but give your mentally rightarded pov.

bring specifics & facts or check your republican't rhetoric at the door.

i LOVE the job this president has done. :) go! go! o!
10:19 AM on 06/30/2010
He has!!! He has been so effective at creating partisanship and proving what many Americans were suspicious of- that he desires to obliterate democracy and create a Socialist environment!!!!!!
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
electra10
06:27 PM on 06/30/2010
psst! your abuse of the explanation point doesn't make you more right.

m'kay????????????????????????????? (it doesn't work w/question marks either!)

you're nothing but a wingnut with hype, hysteria, hyperbole & hysteria.

supply FACTS if you want to be taken seriously.
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
photo
09:53 AM on 06/30/2010
I do not believe that the argument between the liberal/progressive views vs. that of the conservative view is flawed in anyway. It is a legitimate argument and one that we should be having. It boils down to some fundamental ideals on the role of the federal government and the sovereignty of the people’s right to self-governance. To understand the purpose of a federal bureaucracy I had to re-read several of our founding documents and the supportive writings that outlined their intent. Conservatives tend to believe that those founding documents reflect a set of principles that should be ‘conserved’ and the liberal ideas seem to find those same principles as restrictive. As an example, in order to ‘equalize’ everything, the Supreme Court is now being used (FDR started this notion I believe) to offset legislation that interfered with the liberal/progressive agenda. The 9th Circuit Court is an example of this activity as they are frequently ‘overturned’ because of their propensity to rule against many of the statutes secured by California voters.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
StevieRae
Neutralize "being primaried" by voting
09:38 AM on 06/30/2010
Arianna - Long time fan and supporter but lately you seem to be the one calling for "fire your weapons at each other" to those in this complex circle of competing interests made up of progressives/moderates/independents and democrats.

You need to realize. you're being effective. The Republicans love you and the building malaise toward Obama is becoming an issue effecting his presidency.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
electra10
06:49 PM on 06/30/2010
THANK YOU for stating what should be obvious to the talking heads. :)
08:02 AM on 07/04/2010
Thank God others have caught on!
I too was a huge fan, but have been scratching my head lately wondering what the heck?!
Could it possibly have something to do with her new radio gig with Mrs Carville?
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
lstl4
08:19 AM on 06/30/2010
I am tired of democrats criticizing Obama. He has done more in the 1 1/2 years he has been in office than Clinton and Carter did in 12 years of office. This is not me saying this; this was reported on the news, and yet Chris Matthews and Arianna continually go after him unnecessarily. Look at the mess this country is in. He cant fix it all in a day. Come on people, give him the credit he deserves. He is really trying to get things done even with the determination of republicans to ruin him. My biggest complaint with Obama is that he spent a whole year trying to work with republicans. Now with the elections coming up and ignorant people willing to vote for some really crazy conservative candidates, he is really going to be challenged in the coming years.
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
photo
08:55 AM on 06/30/2010
"...he spent a whole year trying to wrok with republicans." Please detail this for me. I saw no Republican inclusion in any of the major legislation that was debated/implemented since BHO took office. The 'transparancy' thing didn't happen but once and it certainly didn't help BHO's image all that much.
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
electra10
10:21 PM on 06/30/2010
why don't you look it up for yourself?

oh yeah, that's right, you just want to make it LOOK LIKE it didn't happen, raight.

the truth is, they have bent over backwards trying to work w/the republican'ts in congress to no avail. just recently, the REPUBLICANS KILLED THE BILL to help americans everywhere, even though every effort was made to work with them.

"Democratic leaders said they bent over backwards to accommodate demands by Republicans for a smaller measure. Among the cuts revealed Wednesday was a more than $10 billion cut from last year's stimulus bill, mostly by paring back food stamp benefits by about $11 a month per beneficiary."

"They asked to have it reduced; we did it," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). "They asked to have it paid for; we did it."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128092037&ft=1&f=1001

WAHH! WAHH! WAHH! i'm so tired of disingenuous crybaby lies.
09:07 AM on 06/30/2010
WOW - major delusional.

Obama is a far worse president than I could have imagined. But I'm supposed to be quiet about it so I don't ruin his golf game?

Wrong
08:15 AM on 06/30/2010
Mr. Obama is not qualified to be the President of the United States. If he had gone to the U.S senate and served a full term learning the procedural art of law making, then he would have the foundation of being a great president. The President enforces the laws passed by congress that requires understanding the law making process that comes with experience form service. The great Presidents come from the US Senate or were Governors of states. So now that it is to late the hard questions start.
08:13 AM on 07/04/2010
Please spare us the unintelligible, spoon fed dribble!
08:14 AM on 07/04/2010
LOL! You're one heck of a jester!
05:43 AM on 06/30/2010
I totally agree with what she is saying with the emphasis on how Washington,the media, and political yacking-head addicts try to divide an America into one camp or the other with each issue. They are clueless who think anti-war or anti-unlawful immigrant are one party or the other.
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
01:44 AM on 06/30/2010
Elliot Spitzer who shamed his family and his state has no place in this debate.
03:32 AM on 06/30/2010
Oh please.. he is a smart guy and can add a lot to the debate.. and his private life should be just that, private..
06:38 AM on 06/30/2010
What did Spitzer do?
01:32 AM on 06/30/2010
The below comments ARE NOT MINE. they're a sample from a blog named Blogs for Victory.
http://blogsforvictory.com/2010/06/25/100-americans-most-hated-by-the-left/
01:26 AM on 06/30/2010
All these things, Communism, Political correctness, multiculturalism, socialism, Post-modernism…all rooted in atheism are all directly from Satan…they are all, in one way or another designed to do one thing to create unbelief, and as a result of that, they look to the State or Man as the arbiter of all that is.

Now when we Conservatives expose these sorts of things, we are hated for them, naturally.

The Christian is hated even more…strangely enough, people who come here from other countries that have differing “religious” affiliations or beliefs are “offended” by our Christian faith, and why is this? Because of the politically correct notions of left-wing ideologues who have conditioned a majority of our youth for the past 47 years into believing that the Christian faith only should be kept as a strictly “private matter.” But how do they come up with this when there are companies supporting the Jihadist movement and Al Qaeda? Their hypocrisy is exposed instantaneously. And the left are supposed to be the party of “tolerance” … don’t yank my chain.

The Christian is hated because the Christian loves Christ, and that Christ loves us, His people!

Signs of the last days, friends. Lots of wick trimming to do, and getting prepared.
His kingdom has come and it is within you, His servant. Let us now tell others about His wonderful plan of salvation before His final return!
01:50 AM on 06/30/2010
I am a moderate liberal, believe in God, go to church on Sunday's, earn an income in the top 3% of all Americans, LOVE my country, volunteer in my community, push my kids to learn in school and from others, tolerate and respect others, believe we should do what is needed to reform our financial markets and fight terrorism....and one of the things I really love about our country is the it is a "melting pot" of different people of different race, religious beliefs, looks, life styles.....and I see that all Americans belong. What is sad are wacked out nuts like you that stir up hate, fear, and have no tolerance for anything but their own. What a sad world you live in. We need less of you in this amazing country.
photo
Neets101
politely asking for mod squad approval
06:43 AM on 06/30/2010
The same religious freedoms given to an atheist are the same freedoms you enjoy in the practice of your religion. Start outlawing religions and the right to one's beliefs and one day they will come for yours as well.

I don't see where Christ is advocated the use of a hammer to bend the knee of another in order to make that person worship my idea of God. There is no spiritual value in doing so.

I do not support the conservative idea of ushering in a state that will enable Armageddon to start.
It seems a dirty effort to try manipulate God, at the expense of the right of others to life.

Those who embrace hate are bound to be embraced by it.

I'm considered a lefty. I don't think Christ would endorse a health care system that no one can afford, due to greed, but no one can afford to do without.

I don't think Christ would condone all the blood let upon the streets and holy places in Israel. I consider it to be an abomination to all that is sacred.

America became rich from the blood sweat and tears of slaves. America gained lands taken from native Americans by force, murder and broken treaties. There is no Christian dogma that embraces this.

It's not the bible, but WHO is reading it. When the teachings of Christ are manipulated to embrace these atrocities, I know I'm in the wrong church.
photo
Neets101
politely asking for mod squad approval
08:04 AM on 06/30/2010
Sorry bozdemorealist,
I meant to reply to mouseketer's post.
My mistake.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
BBLOND
Anyone but Obama
07:14 AM on 06/30/2010
mouseketer- you are 100% correct!
02:27 PM on 06/30/2010
Correct in that you actually believe this insane garbage, or correct in that I was right to expose this insane garbage? If it's teh former, you might want to go to blogsforvictory.com and converse to your own kind. If it's teh latter, which I have a feeling it's not, thank you for actually getting that I'm in the awkward business of exposing garbage. I checked out your profile... it's the former. Have fun chatting with your crazy friends!
01:25 AM on 06/30/2010
"My answer was, “As far as I know, there have been none.
But there has been many people murdered in the name of atheism. Joseph Stalin was an atheist, and he had many millions murdered. Mao Tse Tung was an atheist, and he had anywhere between 50 and 70 million people murdered.”
Now, atheism is an ideology from Satan, so I’m pretty sure that all those people were murdered in the name of Satan, beings that unbelief is Satan’s philosophy. Communism has its basis in unbelief, so it would also be a philosophy of Satan. Post-modernism, which detracts meaning from words by conveying to the individual that he or she has the right to reserve his or her own meaning to words is also rooted in unbelief…they think it more “intellectual,” or “artistic” to play with the meaning of words to suit their evil, sinful leanings. Multiculturalism, which has served to weaken our nation, by breaking down our customary Christian underpinnings and creating anonymity or hiding of the Truth is also an atheistic philosophy…so multiculturalism is also from Satan. Even worse, the philosophy of PC (or political correctness) used in order to defend multiculturalism such as we saw in Dearborn, Michigan very recently with the policemen arresting some Christian witnesses is another means by which the PC crowd seeks to hinder the truth, and instead, defend lies."
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
paparandy
Power to the People! Right On!
02:49 AM on 06/30/2010
And just how many people have died at the hands of "good Christians"? How convenient that you look over the murderous acts that have taken place in the name of Jesus. I'm sure he is proud. Atheism is not from Satan. Satan is a fallen angel, so he KNOWS there is a God. He rebelled against God. You need to go on back to the middle ages and burn a few "witches", maybe you'll feel better.

"I like your Christ, I do not like yor Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ" - Mohandas Gandhi
05:47 AM on 06/30/2010
My dad was a satanist and an athiest....They are totally compatible with each other.
02:13 PM on 06/30/2010
*sigh* this wasn't me. I was quoting someone on a blog whose arrogance bugged me so much I felt like I had to publicize it. You should find the link if you scroll up. He thinks everything he disagrees with comes from Satan. Isn't that insane? Maybe I should've let them lie in their own filth, but it bugged me so much, I had to publicize it. Gandhi is right 100%.
01:21 AM on 06/30/2010
We need to expose this BS. I think it's wrong to single out an anon person on the web, but this kind of stuff shouldn't be tolerated. I don't want anyone I don't know to hate me. I'm not a hateable person. That though kind of frightens me.

"Ain’t that an awful thing…to have hate in the world?" Really?

The Bible describes hate as the equivalent to murder, as hate, is “murder in the heart already,” what Jesus said." Pot meets kettle.
Me personally, I see the left as hating all Conservatives, no matter if they are politically affiliated or not.

I just wonder how many of the 100 that have received death threats? I know Glenn Beck has, the left has a burning hatred for him. And I’m sure they would do him harm if given the chance."
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
paparandy
Power to the People! Right On!
03:02 AM on 06/30/2010
If I believed that Glenn Beck believed half the BS he spews, I would hate him. But he is just another entertainer out to become famous and make a buck off the most gullible among you. When a man calls " Social Justice" evil, you have to wonder. Wasn't that what Jesus was all about? Social justice, tolerance, helping the sick and poor, sharing your good fortune with others, treat others as you would want to be treated. That is what the Jesus I read about in the Bible taught me. Maybe he reads a different Bible than I do. Jesus, to me anyway, was the first true Socialist. We on the left don't hate ALL conservatives, just the wrapped in the flag, Bible misinterpreting, put down everyone who doesn't believe as I believe ones. Unfortunately that is a lot of conservatives.
02:01 PM on 06/30/2010
I clarify in this post I'm just exposing a nut. I'm not a beckerhead, dittohead, or any other kind of brainwashed conned person. Can you believe this person has the nerve to say hate comes from the devil and then say all that hateful BS they spew? They're so full of crap.
05:53 AM on 06/30/2010
Many on the left have left the teaching of Martin Luther King. Their preverted into thinking a gay is not a sinner and a Christian is a hater. Watch how they post egaul rights to blacks and gays. They leave out religion on purpose and ignore the fact that Martin Luther Kings' widow has come out publicly to correct them twice on this issue............God Bless her. Don't forget it was Jimmy Carter that made the term BORN AGAIN popular. Reagan never used it once.
01:54 PM on 06/30/2010
Gays aren't sinners. I guess shellfish would be too, quoting from leviticus. I don't have a problem with Christians at all, but the ones who think I'm not normal, like James Dobson and other perverters of the scripture who try actively to make me a 2nd class citizen bug me quite a bit. I'm sure you don't, though. Coretta King spoke out in favor of gay rights. Her daughter, not so much. Isn't she a republican, though?
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
photo
01:16 AM on 06/30/2010
For the life of me I can't understand why Arienna is spending so much time trying to undermine the President.

I stopped listening to her when she ran around the country saying that VP Biden should resign because the President chose a different path than the one Arienna wanted.

Why doesn't she ever talk about how the republicans have done everything in their power, along with the so-called main-stream media, to undermine the President. Is she even aware of the republican obstructructionism? Does she know what is happening in the Congress even as we speak?

BTW, just what does she suggesting that the President with the oil spil, put on a wet suit and dive down into the water to stick his finger in the hole?
07:53 AM on 06/30/2010
Well, no, we don't really want Obama in a wetsuit. But how about calling in all the resources we have around the country to clean this up? How about suspending the Jones Act so all those countries that have huge skimmers can come in and help us with this? How about checking up on BP's clean up efforts, since the normal people in the Gulf States are telling us the clean up crews aren't doing the job? He could start with those things, and those are well within his power.
02:17 PM on 06/30/2010
When did she say Biden should resign? That would seem like a pretty strong statement, IMO. Like it would make the news or something.