Charles Pierce: President Obama Cracked an Amazing Joke About Debbie Wasserman Schultz

[phantom power]

Pierce, being his usual bad-ass self...

It's a pretty slow news day, what with the Supreme Court validating the Unwritten Rule that a tie goes to the labor union, and what with Scott Walker sending up endorsement signals from the bathysphere in which he's searching for his approval ratings, so what do y'all say? Let's all laugh at the president's joke!

Debbie has been a strong, progressive leader in Congress and a hardworking, committed Chair of our national Party since I proudly nominated her to the role in 2011," Obama said. "She always stands up and fights for what is right for her district while passionately supporting middle class families."

Oh, what a card Mr. President is! Right now, Debbie is passionately supporting middle-class families by trying to deregulate the payday loan industry, which is probably the least excusable business in America until someone finds a way to franchise drive-thru anthrax dispensaries. She's also fighting for what's right by taking gobs of money from the private prison industry, which is probably the third- or fourth-least excusable industry in America. And, of course, in the past, DWS worked hard and was committed to the election of two of the most egregious Republican congresscritters rather than their Democratic opponents. And the simple empirical fact is that, ever since she was appointed DNC chair in 2011, as near as I can tell, strong and progressive DWS did fck all to prevent the election of the worst Congress in the history of the Republic, which has dedicated itself heart and soul to making the president's life as miserable as possible.

As it happens, DWS has a terrific primary opponent named Tim Canova, who used to work for the late Paul Tsongas, which is recommendation enough in my book. Here's a challenge for you people in Florida who are feeling the Bern. Want to strike a real blow that will resonate all the way to Washington? Work to get Tim Canova elected. Then we can all laugh at the president again because he is so funny.

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a43438/obama-debbie-wasserman-schultz-praise/

[grasswire]

1. Love Charlie....nt

[geek tragedy]

2. Canova probably prompted Obama to endorse DWS when he accused

Hillary of stealing the vote in AZ.

[daleanime]

13. Because that's the only thing that matters?

[geek tragedy]

16. It's disqualifying in a Democratic primary nt

[Jack Rabbit]

21. I agree

Stealing votes is definitely disqualifying.

Simply watching fascists roll back democracy and saying or doing nothing about it is also disqualifying.

[geek tragedy]

23. Good thing neither Clinton nor Sanders stole votes.

We sane people can agree on that.

[Jack Rabbit]

27. Yes, I'm glad we can

Now, has DWS going to say something about the way the Democratic Primary was handled in Maricopa County, or is the outcome the only thing that was important to her?

[cui bono]

42. Is it sane to pretend you support someone and then chastise the real supporters

pretending all the while that it is coming from one of their own? Perhaps.

But it is extremely dishonest and pretty slimy.

.

[rhett o rick]

55. It's one of the tactics that gets dreamed up at the Cave Think Tank. Trying to get the first

response in pro-Sanders threads is another.

[bvar22]

60. ...and then tag teaming with mutual masterbation for a number of posts...

...whose entire purpose is to derail the thread and change the topic.
Fortunately, I have the worst offenders on ignore. Many Sanders posts I read now start with post # 7 or #8 (or higher), so I know who has been shitting on the thread, but no longer have to smell it.

A legendary long term DU poster who has left for greener and more intllectually stimulating pastures said it better than I could:

[font size=3]The goal of the assaults across the internet is not to convince anyone of anything.[/font]

It is to thoroughly hijack, pollute and therefore eliminate public spaces where real discussion and organization can occur. Occupy is disbanded with clubs and pepper spray. Dissent and organization online are disrupted with surveillance and propaganda.

It is no accident that propaganda brigades post new threads on discussion boards far out of proportion to their presence in the community, and that they nearly *always* demand the last word in any interchange.

The goal is to disrupt the important public space for liberal thought, discussion, and organization that these boards offer, and to keep the participants busy instead batting off the corporate lies and talking points.

woo me with science Sun Jul 28, 2013

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023359801

[rhett o rick]

62. A lot of it is just plain bullying. They justify it because they bully for goodness, or a perceived

goodness. Self-righteous bullying is what happened to WillyT. They feel proud that they saved DU from badness. They got a posse together and screamed "racist, racist, ban him, ban him." Self-righteousness can be a terrible weapon.

They have a number of groups that they have carefully screened to eliminate the possibility of badness and they should be happy there, but the drive to "clean up the neighborhood" sees them trying to clean up and make GD and GD: P into duplicates of their ideologically pure groups. They meet outside DU to conspire and come up with tactics to aid in their fight to eliminate badness here in River City. And to think they think of themselves as politically liberal Democrats. The behavior to alert, lock, hide, ban and the lowest of the low, grave-dance, is not liberal or Democratic. When confronted they will claim "he/she deserved it", that's exactly the number one line that all bullies use. "I only bully people that deserve it."

[Old Codger]

3. Our entire

Government and political system is one huge fucking joke...

[FlatBaroque]

4. I blame the enablers much more than I blame the "opposition"

The enablers ARE the opposition.

[Duppers]

11. Zactly! nt

[whereisjustice]

22. +1

[Dustlawyer]

40. Americans in general have bought in to the propaganda just like little kids think the Harlem

Globetrotters and the Washington Generals are playing a real game. The problem is coming as more and more are realizing the truth! We have a movement going on now in this country regardless of this election. Bernie's winning would just speed things up!

[Rex]

5. Been that way for decades, you think we will ever transform away from a militant plutocracy?

I doubt it, money is too powerful a drug for humans to resist.

[Hydra]

7. We'll "transform" in one way or another

Either we'll stop, or we'll end up as a bankrupt set of ruins.

[abelenkpe]

8. Seems that way.

[840high]

9. Yes it is.

[Gregorian]

6. Thank you Esquire

He's just got a bit more publicity.

[billhicks76]

10. What's NSA Got On You, Obama?

You are now live in Tom Tommorow's alternative universe like the Republicans. We are grown ups here...you can't just make stuff up.

[SammyWinstonJack]

30. I vote he was not that liberal to begin with and he just said

what he needed to say to get elected, exactly like HRC is doing, including co-opting Bernie's messages.

[questionseverything]

54. i remember when he flipped..one night he was going to filibuster it

next day he voted for it

at my house we say...opps they showed him the aliens

just joking of course but the change was dramatic from the guy we had watched and loved for years

[billhicks76]

65. Yes Before The 2008 Election

And after he and Clinton met donors in Europe right? I knew then deals were made and they got to him.

[Fast Walker 52]

34. a lot, probably

bottom line is that he's a great tool for the PTB.

[rhett o rick]

64. I don't necessarily think they have anything on him, I think they've made it clear that they run

the intelligence system (read Dark State) and they will keep America safe for him. However, if he tries to mess with them, all bets are off. They were all heavily entrenched when he got there. Presidents come and go, the NSA/CIA Dark State continues on and on. They can bring down people and corporations.

[w4rma]

12. The term "progressive" isn't just a buzz word. Neoliberals don't get to be progressives, also. nt

[appalachiablue]

17. +5

[GoneFishin]

24. +1000

[cui bono]

43. Seriously, first the right wing makes liberal a bad word, then the centrists water down progressive.

Words have meaning people. DWS is no where near progressive.

.

[Thespian2]

14. Thanks, Charles and phantom power...

DWS is a cruelty joke to the Democratic Party...

[SHRED]

15. Her supporters must be factually challenged

Or they would not support her (DWS).

[ish of the hammer]

18. Obama is real funny - he spent a lot more time and energy fighting for the TPP than he did

for single payer... hah hah let's hear it for Mr. Progressive!

[SammyWinstonJack]

33. Isn't that the truth.

[passiveporcupine]

19. Righteous Rant

Deb has got to go.

[TeamPooka]

20. K&R!

[GoneFishin]

25. She is a frickin' disgrace.

[GoneOffShore]

26. Time to dump DWS.

In fact that's good hashtag.

[zentrum]

28. Preach it Charles!

[florida08]

31. What a disappointment

He has become the lesser of two evils.

[emsimon33]

32. K&R

[Dont call me Shirley]

35. That's the kind of joke that's not funny.

[thebeautifulstruggle]

36. Do Clinton Supporters Actually Like DWS

or is it just a reflexive response to defend her because of her ties to Clinton?

[Peace Patriot]

37. Obama's endorsement of DWS makes me think he WON'T protect Hillary Clinton from...

...indictment, if the FBI decides that indictment is warranted. I was thinking that he might NOT protect her. I think there's A LOT of bad blood there.

There is her sneaking around to use Sydney Blumenthal as an adviser, after Obama explicitly said he didn't want Blumenthal in the State Department. Clinton hired Blumenthal for big bucks at the Clinton Foundation and then communicated with him about foreign policy using her private server, in defiance of this Obama order.

There is her sabotage of Obama's intention to improve U.S. relations with Latin America, by her support of the fascist coup in Honduras. He seems to be trying to UNDO that damage now, with his trip to Cuba and his and Kerry's support for the Colombia/FARC peace talks. (The coup occurred in June '09, six months into his first term, when Obama was preoccupied with global financial meltdown and two wars. The blowback in Latin America was universal. And it's still going on. That coup unleashed rightwing death squads who have been murdering peaceful anti-coup activists in Honduras, many of them women, including earlier this month the murder of Berta Caceres, winner of the Goldman Environment Prize. There is also a plague of rapes in Honduras, and other brutality against women and against gays.)

There is her pivotal role in the horrendous destabilization of the Middle East, that is occurring right now, at the cost of many lives, a huge displacement crisis and yet more rapes of women. What Obama is doing now--his opening to Iran, and efforts to re-stabilize the ME--seem also to be moves to UNDO Clinton damage.

Adding all this up--and also what Clinton was likely using the insecure server FOR (pay-to-play with the Clinton Foundation)--made me think that, a) the FBI investigation is not about sloppy security measures and mistakes--it's about corruption, and b) Obama won't risk his own reputation by trying to protect her from it, if they recommend indictment.

Then, I thought, naw. What about Obama's statement that "we must look forward not backward" on the many crimes of Bush, Cheney & Rumsfeld? He'll protect her, or try to. He's a Corporatist. He's pro-TPP. He doesn't want a reformer in the White House. But would Comey go along with that? Hard to say.

Anyway, his UNNECESSARY, gratuitous endorsement of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, possibly the worst example of corrupt corporate Democrats in the country--the jerk that helped Clinton rig the whole system for Clinton's nomination--tells me that Obama will try to get a whitewash of Clinton. It's possible that that's what the FBI is doing anyway. But it sure as heck looks like they're doing something serious.

Obama is a hard man to read. It took me many years to become 99% certain that the Honduran coup was Clinton, not Obama.

[IdaBriggs]

38. I think he is playing Chicago politics with her.

He gave her rope. She hung herself. I think part of his legacy will be going after corruption (and I think the FBI is investigating the "pay to play" with the Foundation - messing with one President by another is Big No No, if I understand the game correctly).

[Peace Patriot]

46. It does look like that, doesn't it? I agree.

But hard to fathom Obama. Not sure what he's up to with Clinton. I just feel he's got some reasons to loathe her --rather like most Americans do, in so many polls, but with more at stake for him personally.

If she's indicted and his administration ends in scandal, not good for him.

If the FBI wants to indict, and he interferes--and it becomes known (which it probably would)--not good for him. ("Saturday Night Massacre," etc.) (He himself could be impeached in that case, late in his term.)

If he's arranged for a whitewash of Clinton by the FBI (if it's a protective rather than a real investigation) and the Pukes find out, not good for him. (He'll be out of it, but his legacy would be tainted. His legacy is in peril almost no matter what he does.)

In the unlikely event that the FBI, doing a real investigation, finds the pay-to-play okay, and finds the insecure server okay, and finds whatever else they're looking into okay, he can relax and look forward to a very nice retirement with the occasional lucrative speech. He'll be known as a peacemaker, but no one will ever know why he did the things he did--for instance, the visit to Cuba. (So unusual, so dramatic, so offensive to the Miami mafia.) Or won't ever know the real reason: Honduras.

Oh, wanted to ask you: Do you mean, by "messing with one President by another is a Big No No," Bill Clinton messing with Obama via the Clinton Foundation? I'm not sure what you meant.

Chicago politics. Hm-m-m. Maybe we'll end up thinking of Obama as our savior. It is VERY weird having a candidate for president, in the middle of an election, being investigated by the FBI. It is as unprecedented as having a candidate running a quite successful presidential campaign on small money. I don't think that's happened before either. (And presidential candidates comparing their dicks--that's new, too.)

Still, the FBI investigation--even with 150 agents getting cataracts studying all those emails--could be just a ploy to outwit the morons in Congress.

Stay tuned.

[Skwmom]

57. Hmmm. A legacy that you supported corruption vs. a legacy that you didn't.

I know which one I would choose.

IMO, what happens with Clinton IS his legacy...

[MisterP]

39. so it's two rival personalist, neolib power blocs

[LarryNM]

45. Could All This lead to Clinton being Elected and then Impeached? n/t

[bemildred]

49. I thought he was pretty clear in the interview with Goldberg.

I think Obama picks his fights, and neither DWS or Clinton are one of them.

The thing about Honduras is that it is clearly "stupid stuff", and the "stupid stuff" argument was clearly connected with Clinton.

[phantom power]

52. I think you are right about that.

On the other hand, there's "not picking a fight with somebody" and then there's "explicitly praising them."

It puzzles me, in the same way that Clinton going out of her way to remind everybody how much she likes Kissinger puzzles me. The way I see it, there is a set of people who probably don't care much, and/or aren't aware of who people like DWS or Kissinger are, and then there are people who do know, and are pretty offended by it. There's just no up-side to it, but plenty of possible down-side.

[bemildred]

53. I think you're right.

I don't think he cares that much. No skin in that game.

It doesn't puzzle me that much, those are not people who I would annoy casually either. But I do see your point, why bother?

But it's not hard to think up scenarios where he had to say something and he said the expected to be polite, or like that. Maybe he really likes her? Like Scalia and Ginsburg?

I think Clinton really likes and respects Kissinger and thinks he has the right of it in foreign policy too.

[Zen Democrat]

41. I think I'm falling in love with Charlie Pierce.

[avaistheone1]

44. K&R

[Jeffersons Ghost]

47. "cracked" what?

[myrna minx]

48. K&R!

[countryken]

50. Tim Canova has my support!

I've given up donating to the DSCC or DNC or any of those umbrella groups that decide where my money is to go. Now I select those candidates who meet my criteria and donate to them directly. Tim Canova is one such candidate in this cycle. Look him up; he is a most worthy opponent to DWS.

[jomin41]

51. Likewise!

[lark]

56. Tim Canova all the way!

DWS must go and go NOW!!

[So Far From Heaven]

58. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz IS a joke, so it must have been easy.

[Doctor_J]

59. Oh gawd. Now when someone calls "payday loan Debbie" a dino, all of the rest of the

Conservadems will say, "you're calling the president a liar".

[bvar22]

61. This is not the first time Obama has gone to bat for Wasserman-Schultz:

"I want to thank Debbie Wasserman-Schultz for being an outstanding chair of our party. (Applause.) She is a great partner."--President Obama

With "partners" like this, we don't need Republicans!

[rhett o rick]

63. Soon Pres Obama will be deciding to pardon some people. Will he show Gov Siegelman a loyal

Democrat that was railroaded by Karl Rove, some empathy? Or will he pardon war criminals and torturers?