Robin08's Comments (93)

“I was also troubled by Summers and Geithner overseeing this financial crisis. But something in this piece made me think again about Obama's strategy here.

Johnson writes, "Stories of Treasury Secretary Geithner dining with Pete Peterson in New York, or consulting with Robert Rubin in the halls of the Treasury were REASSURING signals to the inside players of too big to fail finance."

I think that may be precisely what Obama INTENDED to do in the INITIAL phase of this crisis. Understanding the "emotional" volatility of the markets he probably felt too great a jolt at the outset -- in the midst of the crisis was too risky. I doubt the market could have handled such a jolt at that time and likely would have continued to plummet. To keep the nervous Nelly’s at bay he had to reassure them in order to stablelize the market. It’s like the roof just got blown-off your house by a hurricane because you did a slipshod job installing it. Your only concern now is quickly covering the hole so everything in your house isn’t ruined. Once you get the quick fix in place, then you can step back to sort out the details for a proper replacement job.

I think that may be what Obama is doing – calm Wall Street, stop the market plunge, get them feeling comfortable about the Obama administration and gradually lower the boom (in terms of philosophi­cal/policy changes to prevent reoccurrence of such a crisis).”

“Lvm,

Giving him time is not the issue.

I and I think the majority of progressives are perfectly willing to give President Obama all the time he needs and then some. What concerns me is some of the key people around him, advising him, advising him on critical issues for the country and for the success of his presidency, do not share the vision he represented during the campaign. I fear that President Obama is all too willing to give Rahm Emanuel, Larry Summers and Tim Geithner too much time to prove themselves when what we did do is get them out of the inner circle before irreparable damage is done. That's only time issue I see. How much more time is he going to give Summers, Geithner and Emanuel before he sees the light.”

“I totally agree that President Obama needs to get the military officials in line. If they cannot accept his authority and abide by his policies as commander-in-chief they need to get the boot, precisely because we are in the midst of two wars and ain't got time for no bullshi*&. Both this guy and McCrystal are rubbing me the wrong way.”

“Makes me think back on MSM coverage of the lead-up, build-up and finally the execution of the Iraq war. Mainstream press hasn't been worth a shi% in quite some time. They do more of a disservice to the public debate than fulfulling their role to inform the masses, IMHO.

You have to go to independent media and the blogsphere for serious content.”

“The Librarian,

I see you missed the subtlety and nuance of my post as well as ignoring the long history of offensive blackface characterization of African Americans.

My white face comment was a twofold sarcastic point 1) that we never see this kind of thing done to any group other than African Americans and 2) there's always an attempt to justify it (in this instance as artistic expression).

Dave Chappelle and the Wayans brothers are comedians.”

“I am so tired of this bullshi%. When are white people going to get over their obession with blackness and their insensitivity to the historic offense of blackface? I wish they would GTF off our backs. Powder up with chalky white makeup and do some artist mockery of whiteness for a change.

I am really sick of this sh*%. What would be said if they painted themselves red and came out in Native American garb, yellow and came out in traditional Asian outfits or brown with a Latino theme?

Will we never be free of this type of distasteful dumb ass ignorance perpetrated against black people?”

“Once we get healthcare with a ROBUST public option (and the Wyden amendment extending choice to those who already have employer based insurance) passed, I think economic policy should be the next priority for grassroots pressure on the president. It will be a monumental missed opportunity if we do not make the real changes we need on Wall Street and throughout the banking industry. I think it's going to be up to the grassroots to make Obama do it.”

“Michelle and Barack are not an appropriate analogy because Barack (the underling) is the one who was pursuing Michelle (his boss). Moreover Michelle rebuffed his advances for quite some time precisely because she was his boss, however his persistence ultimately paid off.”

“I don't know if it's as simple as your example. I think you're discounting the power positions of the players involved.

Take a young 20 something female in her 1st or 2nd job out of college -- the big star of the show, head honcho boss man is kind of flirting with her. Even if she's not interested in his advances, she might nevertheless worry about getting on his bad side if she rebuffs his flirtations or goes to HR to complain. It can make for an uncomfortable work environment when your boss is flirting with you but you're not interested.

I'm inclined to think the low level staffers were just easy pickings for Dave.”

“I agree that we need to take Beck seriously, but not because Beck himself is a "serious" person, more so because he is a dangerous person (i.e., he has a national platform from which he is spreading outlandish lies).

We need to take Beck seriously in the same way we'd need to take a child wielding a machete seriously -- because of the serious danger they pose and the serious harm they could do if adult supervision does not step in and take control of the situation.”

“Please.

This is the ummteenth time I've heard the "nobody knows that for certain" argument on this topic. Why is it when it comes to racism the normal criteria for assessing character no longer applies?

How do we know anything we profess to know about anyone's beliefs or character or attitudes? As with all things concerning attitude, belief and general character, we surmise who an individual is based on what they say and what they do -- most importantly what they do because actions always speak louder than words.

Here's what we "know" about Mr. Wilson:
1. One of only 7 members of SC Senate to vote to keep Confederate flag over state house.

2. Member of Sons of Confederate Veterans, organization of radical neo-Confederates who favor secession and defend slavery as a benign institution.

3. Protege of renown segregationist Strom Thurmond.

4. Castigated Thurmond's 1/2 black daughter for "smearing" Thurmond's name by revealing she was indeed his daughter.

5. Heckler the 1st black POTUS during a speech before joint session of Congress.

What we can surmise from what we know:
Joe Wilson harbors racist views/is racist.


As for Joe Wilson”

“I hope this article makes it up the chain to the/in the Obama administration.”

“We can't every deal with racism if we pretend it does not exist.”

“I am adamant about the inclusion of a public option and I see no problem with this ad.”

“I can agree that now is not the time to attempt to tackle race while we're trying to pass healthcare reform. I can't agree that a president, with the ultimate bully-pulpit, is powerless to affect racial attitudes in our country.”

“Kudos!

As far as I'm concerned this is Waterloo #2 for President Obama. For me #1 is fighting for the public option and #2 is acknowledging race is an element in the white uproar we've witnessed this summer.

I fully understand this is not an opportune time to tackle race. By the same token I do not see the necessity to totally deny any racial component to what we've seen this summer. Obama is articulate enough to say, 'Yes there is an element race fueling some of the protest. I don't believe the majority of it is race but certainly race is an element for some. That said, I don't want to get sidetracked on a debate about race at this time. Right now I'm focused on healthcare. Race is too complicated and too volatile an issue to attempt to simultaneously tackle healthcare reform and race.'

Obama is hitting all the Sunday talk shows this weekend and Letterman for the full hour on Monday. I'm sure he'll be asked about both race and the public option. In the face of witchdoctor signs, go back to Africa signs, show us your birth certificate signs, and parents preventing children from hearing his back to school speech, Obama will look like a steppin-fetch-it fool if he goes on TV and says race is not factor. I know I'll lose major respect for him if he does not acknowledge the racial component in the uproar we have seen.”

“"UPDATE: Just got the print edition. In editor's note, Richard Stengel actually writes, "One of our jobs as journalists is to be the referee, the honest broker who sorts through the accusations and says, This is fact, and this is fantasy." Then explains that's why they put Von Drehle on Beck."

So does that mean Von Drehle is not a "journalist?" Whatever that means nowadays.”

“Do you think Wilson would have done such a thing (one lone voice yelling out to insult the POTUS in the midst of a speech before a joint session of Congress) if the president were white? Maybe you do.

Personally I don't. It strikes me as racist because of the unprecedented public disrespect it shows by a member of Congress toward the POTUS. I don't think Wilson would have done such a thing had the president been white. IMO you also have to look at this in the context of all the other crap being thrown at President Obama.”

“Mr. Bohrer,

I’m afraid you got it wrong and President Carter got it right.

You need to connect the dots because they definitely spell out white supremacist racism.

Just 8 months into his presidency and Obama has to face down:
1. the birthers challenging his citizenship
2. radio talk show host hoping he fails
3. so-called preachers praying for his death
4. so-called preachers proclaiming their hatred of the president
5. parents refusing to allow their children to hear a back to school message from the POTUS
6. an entire cable network dedicated to his demise
7. accusations that he’s a secret Muslim intent on destroying the country
8. accusations that he’s a secret socialist/communist intent on destroying the country
9. accusations that healthcare reform is a guise for reparations for blacks
10. accusations that he’s building a secret army answerable only to him using Americore
11. accusations that he wants to kill your grandmother
12. accusations that he lacks respect for the office by failing to wear a coat and tie in the Oval Office (i.e., Andy Card’s complaint)
13. citizens brandishing loaded weapons at presidential townhall events
14. heckled with a personal insult during a speech before joint session of Congress

The level of disrespect shown this president is unprecedented and rooted in race hate. I don’t believe this would have happened to Hillary, Edwards or any other white president.”

“Lavrion,

I think one thing you're overlooking is the complete irrationality of racism. It's absurd to believe people are superior by virtue of skin color. That's what racism is -- a belief in the racial superiority of one group over all others based solely on the color of their skin. For these folks that's all they have -- their white skin and the belief that it makes them better than a whole world of people of color. Republicans have used this irrational belief to rally supporters from time immemorial.

However, this time around, with Obama's ascension to the presidency, white supremacist probably feel they have nothing left to lose. Couple that with a chorus of right-wing media outlets and Republican elected officials fomenting that sentiment and they're ready to go for broke. The presidency is the last American institution to be de-segregated. These folks don't intend to share the last bastion of white male supremacy with minorities, especially black folk. They couldn't stop Obama from being duly elected so they damn well better make sure his presidency fails to disabuse any other minority of thinking he or she can run the country and of course protect their position of white supremacy in the world.”

“In light of the fact that Senator Kennedy asked that the letter only be read after his death, not to mention the very sensitive and personal nature of a letter written by a dying person, I'm certain they didn't just drop it in the mail addressed to President Obama at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. There's certainly an elaborate screening process for opening all mail coming from the postal service to the WH. I presume and would expect that Kennedy's letter was hand delivered sometime shortly after the Senator's death (which was just a couple of weeks ago). When Obama said the WH just received the letter I wouldn't take that to literally mean just that day or the day before -- I'd give that some "recently" latitude.”

“My sentiments exactly. I thought Teddy's letter helped Obama crystalize the mission of his presidency. Obama is the new standard bearer for the social justice movements passed down from MLK, to JFK, to RFK. The torch has been passed and we're looking to Obama to lead the Democratic Party back to its progressive roots. I think he will do it.

However, as you say, we had decades of proof that Teddy was on our side. With Obama we have taken a leap of faith. I think that's why the public option and wanting Obama to really FIGHT for it is so important to us -- we need proof. In some ways I think progressive dems are like the woman who keeps getting burned by the men in her life. As a consequence she's become overly skiddish about any new relationship. For us Clinton didn't come through, Gore refused to fight, Kerry wimped out, Edwards let us down, but we still believe that this time Obama is Mr. Right. We're just waiting for that showdown that happens in every relationship when you know that you know that he's got your back. In this relationship healthcare reform and the public option appears to be our showdown. We need to know that the President is prepared to pull out all the stops, go the distance, fight to the death to get this (reform with a public option) for the American people.”

“I fully support a public option and will urge progressive dems not to vote for any bill that does not include a public option. At the same time it does not trouble me that Obama will not draw a line in the sand in his speech tonight. So long as he states STRONG UNEQUIVOCAL support for the public option during the speech I don't think it's necessary to draw a line in the sand. IMO it's not necessarily a good negotiating tactic to forecast your bottom line "IF" you're still trying to convince a few people to come around to your way of thinking on the public option. I'm hoping he's still trying to win over whoever he needs to win over to vote for the public option.

It's so ridiculous because we have the better argument if someone would just make it.”

“PlaceboStudman,

Don't throw in the towel yet on Obama. He's only been President for 7 months. I say give it at least 1.5 - 2 years before we make an assessment.”

“Agreed.

Personally I think the relationship is just bent. I don't think it will ever be broken because in his heart of hearts Obama is a progressive.

The thing I fear most about Obama's presidency is the difference between the team he had around him during the campaign and those advising him now in the WH -- Rahm Emanuel in particular. I think Rahm is more of a DLC'er than a progressive and I worry about his power and influence in the WH. In my estimation Rahm is from the school of thought that sees politics as too much of a game -- not sufficiently focused on the impact policy decisions have on real people's lives. Consequently IMO he is more prone to sacrifice principle in favor of the superficial political win. I'm hoping Axelrod is our one saving grace as I believe Axelrod is a true progressive. I suspect Rahm and Axelrod are often at odds.

In my view it's up to us to keep Obama honest. If the progressive community keeps his feet to the fire and let's him know we signed on for "real" change and he cannot count on us unless we in turn can count on him. In truth I think we have the power to make Obama's presidency great or lack luster by the level of "organized" pressure we put on him. By that I mean no compromising on the public option.”