Barney Frank on Larry O's show teaching about governance, Civics 101!!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

It would do some here on DU and other folks disappointed in the president/Democrats a hell of a lot of good to listen to what this statesman has to say. It's so easy to whine, write articles, and talk shit about what has and has not been accomplished in less than four years than it is to know and understand about how government actually works! It takes merely one person to halt progress and that is exactly what has happened. I'm not at all suggesting that Democrats/Obama are free from blame. To the contrary, they all too often allowed the Republicans to set the narrative and get away with lies. The Democrats--as a whole--cowardly ran away from all of their accomplishments under Pelosi's leadership while conceding defeat in the Senate without enough fight...

HOWEVER, despite unprecedented obstruction, accompanied by pure hatred and contempt for the American people on behalf of the Repubican party, the Democrats GOVERN!! Republicans are brilliant at politicking; the Democrats are expected to govern. And Republicans bank on the fact that average Americans know little about governing such that when things go wrong or nothing get done, people will blame the Democrats/Obama. Sad to see that some here on DU and other Democrats have fallen prey to this tactic, which has worked in favor of the Republicans now for 30, 40 years!!

[tabatha]

1. Yes, I was SO glad to hear Barney Frank say what I could not say myself

in answer to the people who are "tired of excuses for Obama".

Thank you, Barney Frank!

I hope there is a video clip of it - my online feed was very intermittent.

I would like to extract a sentence for my signature.

[mazzarro]

2. On Barney Frank's comment

Last edited Tue Jan 3, 2012, 01:17 AM - Edit history (1)

"Sad to see that some here on DU and other Democrats have fallen prey to this tactic, which has worked in favor of the Republicans now for 30, 40 years!!"

Well, since that has been the case for a long time, I wonder why democrats have still yet been unable to try to educate Americans about this! I don't accept that this is a media problem - being against democrats. I think it is partly a messaging problem; and partly a conflict problem - democratic leadership being of divided loyalty. Americans maybe as dumb as nail in regards to politics, but democrats have not made concerted and long term efforts to clarify things for them - why?

[tabatha]

3. I do agree about the messaging.

It should be better. I hope it is a case of timing, because I heard that Obama's strategy will be to attack congress.

[AdHocSolver]

4. A better strategy for Obama would be to attack the Republican Party.

This would help elect Democrats to Congress.

The Republicans can still win elections because, even though they fight ferociously among themselves, they stick together when attacking Democratic candidates.

The Republican "win" in 2010 occurred because the Democrats, including President Obama, failed to attack Republicans.

Merely criticizing Congress helped Republicans because the voters merely replaced then current Congress persons with "anyone" else. Since Democrats had an edge in numbers, more incumbent Democrats lost their seats than Republicans.

Republicans believe that their putting up roadblocks to governing is their Party's strength come election time. This Republican strategy needs to be criticized for the extortion that it is, and forcefully pointed out that it is really an all out attack against the middle class.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

6. There was a discussion about this on Ed's show tonight. Ed Randell made this point...

Democrats in Congress, particularly the Senate, are getting very tired of Obama pointing to Congress as a whole and not putting the word "Republican" in front of Congress. Because the Democrats still control the Senate, for Obama to go after Congress will hurt the Democrats in the Senate.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

5. Messaging is key and Democrats suck at it!!

[KharmaTrain]

7. The Difference Between Campaigning And Governing...

You are spot on here!

The damn thing about a representative form of government...you get different representatives with different interests. The Democratic party is a big tent that covers many constituencies...and in many cases they can be in conflict with one another. This leads to raw feelings as the leadership gets stuck in the middle. But as you properly point out, the executive, as powerful as it may be, is still only one part of a bigger machine that not only moves slowly but also in unpredictable ways. I find it ironic that some of this President's critics will blame him for not operating under the "unitary executive" concept of the last regime.

This President has faced a lot of obstructionism...from the rushpublicans and within his own party. A lot of this relates to how politicians now view what they do. With the large amounts needed to run for office, that's the real job vs. doing the actual legislating...the compromising and negotiating to work toward the "common good". The rushpublicans have long been stuck in this non-stop campaign mode to the point of detaching from reality...making all sorts of outlandish claims that are solely meant to placate their "base". Or we see the endless pandering to those who write the big checks...the ones who pay for teevee commercials and other necessary evils for them to keep their jobs.

To those who think a "stronger" leader would make things difference through force of will...I'd like to know how that works in light of the corruption that dominates the legislative today and they've been the real problem.