Obama VS. Warren – The Battle Over TPP

[GoLeft TV]

President Obama has doubled down on his support of the Trans Pacific Partnership, and he’s using this trade deal to attack true progressives. His support of this job-busting trade deal is going to shape his entire legacy.

Ring of Fire's Mike Papantonio and author Richard Eskow discuss why the President won’t let this go.

[cantbeserious]

1. The Truth Smarts - TPP Is Bad - Obama Is Bad For Pushing It

eom

[Populist_Prole]

2. Yes, you're right, and it really IS that simple

Suck on it, corporatist jerkweeds!

[Enthusiast]

13. It is that simple.

We don't want it. This is a democracy. Or it's supposed to be.

[George II]

3. Maybe I missed it, but what has Obama actually done to attack "true progressives"? Does....

...having a difference of opinion and expressing that disagreement now consitute an "attack"?

[rhett o rick]

5. Yep you missed it. nm

[George II]

7. So what specifically did I miss, or are you going to play the "google it yourself" game again?

[rhett o rick]

8. The last time I played the "I will google it for you" routine, it was a waste of time. There is

always a reason to intentionally "miss" something. No amount of proof will convince some that Obama doesn't like progressives. And they won't take the word of progressives, of course.

[cascadiance]

10. Well, he started his administration appointing Rahm Emanuel in building his cabinet...

... who called progressives "f'ing retards"! That wasn't a very good start with us! Over the years there have been a lot of other broken promises too. TPP and his stances on Free Trade is another broken promise of his that he campaigned on then.

[George II]

11. No, Emmanuel didn't "call progressives fucking retards"....that's a brief excerpt of his comment.

[magical thyme]

20. that's true. He said they were "fucking retarded," not "fucking retards."

At a closed-door meeting in the White House with liberal activists, Emanuel called them "fucking retarded" for planning to run TV ads attacking conservative Democrats who didn't support Obama's health-care overhaul. In February 2010, Emanuel apologized to organizations for the mentally handicapped for using the word "retarded." He expressed his regret to Tim Shriver, the chief executive of the Special Olympics after the remark was reported in an article by The Wall Street Journal about growing liberal angst at Emanuel. The apology came as former Alaska Governor and conservative activist Sarah Palin, on her Facebook page, called on President Obama to fire Emanuel.[79][80]

79. Zeleny, Jeff and Stolberg, Sheryl, "Emanuel Apologizes, in Wake of Palin Slam", The New York Times, February 2, 2010. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
80. Tapper, Jake, "Rahm Apologizes for Privately Calling Liberal Activists 'Retarded'", ABC News, February 2, 2010. Retrieved February 19, 2010.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahm_Emanuel#cite_note-79


"White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel apologized to the head of the Special Olympics today after the Wall Street Journal reported the fiery Chicagoan privately called a group of liberal activists "f---ing retarded."

A White House official confirms that Emanuel made the remark and reports that Emanuel called Tim Shriver last week when the Journal story first appeared to apologize to the disabled community and the apology was accepted.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/02/rahm-apologizes-for-privately-calling-liberal-activists-retarded.html

[George II]

22. Aha, so now we're getting a better picture of what he said. Using the word "retard" or "retarded"..

....was totally wrong, but again he did NOT call "progressives" either of those words, which I originally pointed out.

What he actually did, as we can see above, is called "a group of liberal activists" fucking xxxxxxx. BIG difference. The implication was that he called "liberal activists" as a whole that insult, but it was only those who were planning to run television ads against FELLOW Democrats. For that, I'd probably call them fucking idiots too considering the timing of those ads at a very sensitive time in the ACA debate.

It's like, if I called bush and Cheney "fucking idiots", someone claiming that I called all Texans "fucking idiots", or even all republicans "fucking idiots", all MEN "fucking idiots", or maybe even all caucasion people "fucking idiots".

So, the bottom line is that he called a group of liberal activists "fucking xxxxxxx" - the noun was totally improper, but certainly not what was claimed earlier.

But, all of this has absolutely nothing to do with the premise of the overriding discussion.

[Enthusiast]

14. +1 an entire shit load.

[LiberalLovinLug]

4. There's only one explanation

For Obama's stubbornness to lavish the top multinationals and make this such a personal fight.

Some backroom promise to him, some kickback that will take care of his family for generations. Plus the ongoing rewards of invitations on the corporate speaker circuit ala Clintons. There has to be something in it for him and his family's well being.

[swilton]

12. Seems like the backroom promises

are the sum total of his legacy.....That pretty much characterizes the debate about the single payer and resulted in to put it mildly our less than perfect (gift to health insurance/pharmaceutical industry) Obama care.

Always though he came in with a thin resume.

[FlatBaroque]

6. This TPP/TTIP was his final (maybe) assignment

It's worth like 50% of his grade.

[rhett o rick]

9. I think pardoning our war criminals is his last assignment. nm

[raindaddy]

15. "All he wants is admiration and submission from the left"

He hasn't had to defend this bill with a whole lot of facts.. His argument is basically, trust me and Warren is a liar. I guess that goes for, Stiglitz, Sanders, Krugman, Grayson, Reid, etc as well.

[turbinetree]

17. You nailed it

I would like to mention Robert Reich
And Pap, he's very much a straight shooter when it comes what is not seen by the lay people in this country

[raindaddy]

21. I Forgot about Robert Reich.

You're right he's been very vocal in opposing the TPP.

[polichick]

16. What a sad state of affairs - Obama just spits in the faces of...

the millions who gathered around the world to cheer him on.

[Demeter]

18. It's Obama vs. The Rest of Us 99%ers, and the Nation and the Constitution

[MissDeeds]

19. I stand with Elizabeth Warren on this n/t

[Thespian2]

23. K & R !!!

Who would have thought that Obama would shamelessly push the TPP & TTIP knowing the damage that would be done to America by those "trade" deals?

He is no better than Stephen Harper, i.e. George W. Bush, Jr.

[panfluteman]

24. It's the Secrecy, Stupid!

That's the dead giveaway that this shady trade deal would never fly in a functioning democracy, were it ever to see the light of day. How many more jobs would we lose to outsourcing? How much of our national sovereignty would we have to give away to foreign multinational corporations? How about NONE of it??? That's all we need to do - to turn it down out of hand, sight unseen, if Obama and its promoters are being so secretive about it. What can't be seen and discussed freely and out in the open in a democracy isn't worth even considering. How far do we need to peer down the dark and dirty rabbit hole that is the TTP, and the TTIP? We don't even need to go there. As Nancy Reagan famously said, "Just say NO!"