Why Obama is Not Wall Street

Obama's bow to Wall Street had two causesHe genuinely believed a mega-depression was at handNo one has proved him wrongHe was also a centrist who had no hostility to Wall StreetEvents proved him wrongObama is a pragmaticist - spelled correctly - different than pragmatistHe thinks in threes not twosWhen something proves wrong he moves forward taking what he can takeFrom his first reaction and from his subsequent experienceAnd he puts it into a hypothesis for the futureThe hypothesis for the future has always been his idea number oneIt is change Save the middle classChallenge povertyReform prisonsMinimize nuclear dangersAnd other sensible thingsHe has experienced the sad and racist underside of the GOPWho can't stand the idea of him in the White HouseHe has been silent about thisIf you look back to key juncturesYou should know that just when Obama looks as though he is being too nice Or tooWall Street Or too anythingHe will fool youHe has fooled the whole nation into thinking he cannot winAnd for the next year or so he will do what he needs to do to winAnd Wall Street will be chastized and wiserAnd he will be our first Human Rights PresidentIn his second termAnd people will flash back to Berlin in the 2008 campaignBecause he will be remembered not as an American leader primarilyBut as a pivotal figure in world historyAll because he thinks like Charles Sanders Peirce
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Tea Party Founder Hearts Hank Williams, Jr.

Newsvine - Tea Party Founder Stands By Hank Williams' 'Hitler' Comment About President Obama: "Most Americans were shocked by the disgusting comments made by the radical Williams but not everyone was. The Founder of the Tea Party, Judson Philips, has commented that he stands by Williams and if ESPN keeps Williams off of the opening permanently he will not watch ESPN any longer."

And Hank, daddy's in his grave too blue to cry.



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34 Percent of the country are neocon or worse

Majority Rates Obama Same or Worse Compared With Bush:

This is how I would headline this latest offering from the sages at Gallup. 34 percent think Bush was better than Obama. In 2012 we will see how much or little reason can prevail among us all. Anyone who thinks we can have another face off on keeping the government going without creating a worse economic situation is probably part of the 34 percent.


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Obama needs a coach identity

We need to see from Obama the sort of human aura we associate with a good coach. When people start calling him coach we will know he is connecting. Until then he will seem distant and faintly indistinct.
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Obama Got Bucket of Intelligence, GOP Empty Thimble

Why President Obama was smart to reschedule his jobs speech - The Fix - The Washington Post: "Reaction was swift — with Republicans crowing that the president had caved and some Democrats grumbling privately about the mishandling of such a basic piece of political planning.

But Obama and his political team were smart to reschedule the event for (at least) three reasons."


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Could we speak of Neolibs?

Could we speak of neolibsAnd democratic neo fibsShhh this is a secret warTo win what we are fighting for
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Obama's Passion is Krugman on Steroids

What Happened to Obama’s Passion? - NYTimes.com: "But the arc of history does not bend toward justice through capitulation cast as compromise." This long and tendentious piece probably should have been edited by David Brooks. It is the conventional progressive rap on the President. It demeans his past with faint praise and worn-out reporting. And it fails with practically everyone else to perceive the rope-a-dope at the heart of the Obama methodology which proceeds in Peircean Threes. That is to say, he never does not have a goal which he announces with such clarity that the progressives take it to be an unkept promise rather than something he genuinely intends to achieve. The narrative that the writer puts into Obama's mouth as a salient riposte is laughable. Were there any fresh fish left to wrap, this multi page zinger would be ideal. There is more here that elucidates the President's actual MO.

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What if Obama Had Been A Republican All Along?

He would win the Senate in Illinois and become the darling if Republicans who then were at least borderline sane. He would win the nomination for the Presidency in 2008 in a walk. He would win the Presidential  election in a Reagan-like sweep. He would have gotten most of his program through with relative ease citing Republican history and appealing to progressive instincts. Instead of bashing Bush as a Democrat he would simply bided his time as a Republican and done what needed to be done. All told, he might have been smarter to take that route. The result of his being a Democrat who is actually a moderate Republican centrist creates such a ballistic dynamic that the GOP is destroying itself in response. Meanwhile, the Democrats threaten his political future because of their tepid support. None of this has traction in the media because the media accepts the phony GOP rap on the President and thus misses who he actually is and how he actually governs. The whole thing is, on one level, a laugh riot. I am hoping it is not also a crying shame. 
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Obama is keeping his powder dry

What I mean is that the President operates this way. If he doesn't have to, he doesn't. You would have thought he should have treated Boehner's little scene as an occasion for a second Philadelphia speech exposing GOP perfidy. If you do not believe that Obama understands what has been going on, you are as deluded as Boehner and company. He will not use the tell all option unless he has to. And then it will be a game changer. That is, if he needs one. As of now things are going his way on Capitol Hill so he doesn't have to do anything but wait for the victory he will eventually declare. This is by way of apology for my own violation of this rule.
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Pelosi has it right. Obama has it right. We the electorate? Not so much.

Newsvine - Nancy Pelosi on the the 200th Day of the GOP House Majority: Where are the jobs bills?: "'Republicans have spent 200 days ignoring jobs and pushing an ideological agenda to end Medicare and protect tax breaks for special interests, Big Oil, and corporations that ship American jobs overseas, as Democrats work to create jobs through our Make It In America agenda."

We can and will make it right in 2012 and between now and then.


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The Problem with Obama's Angry Press Conference

Obama Hits The Ceiling: Scenes From An Angry Presser (VIDEO) | TPMDC

The president made a profound error in his angry Press Conference. He said that the Republicans have consistently called for deficit reduction. What they have consistently called for is his removal from office. Until he can act to deal with this fact, a political fact, he falls into their trap. His narrative needs to be about himself and them. On that basis he can win. He can expose their criminal hypocrisy. And he can shame them into submission. As long as he refuses this challenge he loses and the country loses.

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The people understand Obama better than the GOP ever did

Gallup Pollster: Obama's Ratings Higher Than You'd Expect | TPMDC: "That's according to Gallup Editor In Chief Frank Newport, who spoke to reporters Tuesday at a breakfast meeting sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. Newport says he's crunched the numbers as far back as they go in Gallup's polling archive and found that no one's done as well as Obama when the public is as unhappy with the economy." Right. He is Kevlar. Because the people now know exactly what the problem is and it is not the President. It is the noxious GOP and its failure to step up to the Patriotism bar.

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Know your opponent (Video)

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There's more than one way to skin a wingnut

Poster of the Day: Having Their Way With Obama? — BagNews: "With the frustration with Obama these days for playing Salomon, this wire photo of the right-wing Iowan making off with him seems to strike a chord. But then, looking all cool like that, is the floating more tactical, Obama playing this better than progressive’s think?" I have always assumed Obama was playing better than progressives think. A true progressive has faith in the process we are in and does not self-destruct every time things are delayed. Chronology wins eventually. But I would not want to be in this sneakered guy's skin, for sure. Click to view


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