"Obama Refuses to Lead"

[amborin]

by Drew Western (psych prof, who wrote "The Political Brain")

Consider the president’s leadership style, which has now become clear: deliver a moving speech, move on, and when push comes to shove, leave it to others to decide what to do if there’s a conflict, because if there’s a conflict, he doesn’t want to be anywhere near it.

Health care is a paradigm case. When the president went to speak to the Democrats last week on Capitol Hill, he exhorted them to pass the bill. According to reports, though, he didn’t mention the two issues in the way of doing that, the efforts of Senators like Ben Nelson to use this as an opportunity to turn back the clock on abortion by 25 years, and the efforts of conservative and industry-owned Democrats to eliminate any competition for the insurance companies that pay their campaign bills. He simply ignored both controversies and exhorted.

Leadership means heading into the eye of the storm and bringing the vessel of state home safely, not going as far inland as you can because it’s uncomfortable on the high seas. This president has a particular aversion to battling back gusting winds from his starboard side (the right, for the nautically challenged) and tends to give in to them. He just can’t tolerate conflict, and the result is that he refuses to lead.

snip

<http://seminal.firedoglake.com/>

[maxsolomon]

1. What happend in Copenhagen, again?

oh, that's right, he led.

[jonnyblitz]

2. i keep reading how Copenhagen was a flop because of him.

you need to read something other than Whitehouse press releases.

[HuckleB]

5. Really?

What would have been accomplished without him doing what he did?

Try again.

[DJ13]

10. Yes he did, those non-binding agreements always work

[FrenchieCat]

45. He can't do a Binding Agreement unless the Congress approves it.

You knew that, right?

[EFerrari]

15. No, he didn't lead. He went there to declare victory.

It's completely meaningless except for how most of the rest of the world is now pissed at us again.

[amborin]

31. Copenhagen is a sham! disgraceful!

[ThomCat]

51. No. Clinton worked her butt off. He showed up at the end

took credit for her work, and they still failed to implement anything workable.

They exaggerate the results of the conference and have PR firms and the media spin it as a great and glorious victory, when leaked documents show that they had to overstate the potential results of their best case scenario by 50% to make themselves look successful.

They didn't even get commitments. Everything is Voluntary targets.

They had to railroad the smaller countries because they didn't want to give the smaller countries any real voice in the decision making. The smaller countries are criticizing this conference as a total failure for this and many other reasons.

The only way you think this conference succeeded, and believe that Obama was a leader there, is if you get all your news from American Media Soundbites and believe everything the soundbites tell you.

[girl gone mad]

54. Do you think you have better information than Greenpeace..

or Friends of the Earth? Because I'd be interested in seeing it. Both groups said the agreement was a sham.

[maxsolomon]

59. Yes. I have better information that Greenpeace & FOTE.

:eyes:

[Mira]

60. He solved global warming. Did you notice the snow storm in Washington?

( I'm paraphrasing Jay Leno)

[babylonsister]

3. FDL? What a surprise. This guy has no clue what Obama has or

hasn't done. :eyes:

[DJ13]

4. Ever notice how your world keeps getting smaller

trying to read articles on sites that only post positive things about Obama?

[babylonsister]

6. No, dear. I visit plenty of sites with different opinions expressed. But

is this man privy to everything Obama has been involved with regarding health care? We both know he hasn't, so it's just another crappy opinion I don't feel compelled to agree with.

But enjoy. I'm also not going to stop expressing mine. :hi:

[DJ13]

8. No one is "privy to everything Obama has been involved with regarding health care"

Unless Rahm writes the article.

[HuckleB]

11. The author/psychologist hasn't been privy to any of it.

And fdl's self-serving selling routine lost me a long time ago.

[amborin]

28. he's an award winning psych, who studies pols' behaviors

and texts of their speeches and meetings....

why are you so hostile toward fire dog lake?

[HuckleB]

42. Because fdl has been offering a whole lot of ranting without substance for a long time.

And this guy is a book seller. Don't be fooled.

[amborin]

46. he's not

a "book seller"

he's a highly respected cognitive neuroscientist

[HuckleB]

47. That's what you want to believe.

He doesn't publish anything of a serious nature, so keep trying.

[amborin]

48. he's a highly respected prof w/ many, many peer-reviewed articles & bks

[amborin]

49. Western has published oodles of scholarly works: see some here:

Westen, D., & Weinberger, J. (2004). When clinical description becomes statistical prediction. American Psychologist, 59, 595�613.

Westen, D., Novotny, C., and Thompson-Brenner, H. (2004). The empirical status of empirically supported therapies: Assumptions, methods, and findings. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 631�663.

Westen, D., Novotny, C., and Thompson-Brenner, H. (2004). The next generation of psychotherapy research. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 677�683.

Shedler, J., & Westen, D. (2004). Refining personality disorder diagnoses: Integrating science and practice. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 1-16.

Shedler, J., & Westen, D. (2004). Dimensions of personality pathology: An alternative to the Five Factor Model. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161,1743-1754.

Eddy, K., Dutra, L., Bradley, R., & Westen, D. (2004). A multidimensional meta-analysis of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 24, 1011-1030.

Eddy, K., Novotny, C., & Westen, D. (2004). Sexuality, personality, and eating disorders. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, 12, 198-208.

Dutra, L., Campbell, L., & Westen, D. (2004). Quantifying clinical judgment in the assessment of adolescent psychopathology: Reliability, validity, and factor structure of the Child Behavior Checklist for clinician-report. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 60, 65-85.

Kowalski, R., & Westen, D. (2004). Psychology: Brain, behavior, and culture, 4th edition. NY: Wiley.


Westen, D., & Rosenthal, R. (2003). Quantifying construct validity: Two simple measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 608-618.

Westen, D., Shedler, J., Durrett, C., Glass, S., & Martens, A. (2003). Personality diagnoses in adolescence: DSM-IV Axis II diagnoses and an empirically derived alternative American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 952-966.

Thompson-Brenner, H., Glass, S., & Westen, D. (2003). A multidimensional meta-analysis of psychotherapy for bulimia nervosa. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10, 269-287.

Westen, D., & Muderrisoglu, S. (2003). Reliability and validity of personality disorder assessment using a systematic clinical interview: Evaluating an alternative to structured interviews. Journal of Personality Disorders, 17, 350-368.

Westen, D., & Heim, A.K. (2003). Self and identity in personality disorders. In M. Leary & J. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity (pp. 643-664). New York: Guilford Press.

Westen, D. (2003). Unresolved issues in the classification, diagnosis, and comorbidity of eating disorders. In M. Maj, K. Halmi, J.J Lopez-Ibor, and N. Sartorius, World Psychiatric Association, Evidence and experience and experience in psychiatry, Volume 6, pp.34-37), Eating Disorders. New York: Wiley.

Morrison, C., Westen, D., and Bradley, R. (2003). The external validity of efficacy trials for depression and anxiety: A naturalistic study. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 76, 109-132.

Russ, E., Heim, A., & Westen, D. (2003). Parental bonding and personality pathology assessed by clinician report. Journal of Personality Disorders, 17, 522-536.

Gabbard, G., & Westen, D. (2003). On therapeutic action. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 84, 823-841.

Westen, D., Shedler, J., Lingiardi, V. (2003). La valutazione della personalit� con la SWAP-200. Milan, Italy: Raffaello Cortina.

Westen, D. (2002). Psychology: Brain, behavior, and culture (3rd ed.). New York: Wiley.

Nakash-Eisikovits, O., Dutra, L., & Westen, D. (2002). The relationship between attachment patterns and personality pathology in adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 41, 1111-1123.


Nakash-Eisikovits, O., Dierberger, A., & Westen, D. (2002). A multidimensional meta-analysis of pharmacotherapy for bulimia nervosa: Meaning and measurement of outcome in controlled clinical trials. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 10, 193-111.

Westen, D., Heim, A.K., Morrison, K., Patterson, M., & Campbell, L. (2002). Classifying and diagnosing psychopathology: A prototype matching approach. In L. Beutler and M. Malik (Eds.), Rethinking the DSM: Psychological perspectives (pp.221-250). Washington, D.C.: APA Press.


Westen, D. (2002). Implications of developments in cognitive neuroscience for psychodynamic psychotherapy. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 10, 369-373.

Westen, D. (2002). Manualizing manual development. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 9, 416-418.

Westen, D. (2002). The language of psychoanalytic discourse. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 12, 857-898.

Westen, D. (2002). The search for objectivity in the study of subjectivity. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 12, 915-920.

Westen, D., and Gabbard, G. (2002). Developments in cognitive neuroscience, 1: Conflict, compromise, and connectionism. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 50, 54-98.

Westen, D., & Gabbard, G. (2002). Developments in cognitive neuroscience, 2: Implications for the concept of transference. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 50, 99-133.

Westen, D. (2002). Bridging science and practice in psychoanalytic psychotherapy: Review of Enrico Jones, Therapeutic Action. Psychotherapy Research.

Westen, D., & Morrison, K. (2001). A multidimensional meta-analysis of treatments for depression, panic, and generalized anxiety disorder: An empirical examination of the status of empirically supported therapies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Westen, D., & Harnden-Fischer, J. (2001). Classifying eating disorders by personality profiles: Bridging the chasm between Axis I and Axis II. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 547-562.


Westen, D., & Shedler, J. (2001). Diagnosing personality disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 324-325.

Westen, D. (2001). Implicit and emotional processes in cognitive-behavioral therapy. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 7, 386- 390.

Buss, D., Larsen, R., Westen, D., & Semmelroth, J. (2001). Sex differences in jealousy: Evolution, physiology, and psychology. In W.G. Parrott (Ed.), Emotions in social psychology: Essential readings (pp. 143-149). Philadelphia: Psychology Press/Taylor and Francis.

Weinberger, J., & Westen, D. (2001). Science and psychodynamics: From arguments about Freud to arguments about data. Psychological Inquiry, 12, 129-166.

Westen, D. (2001). Beyond the binary opposition in psychological anthropology: Integrating contemporary psychoanalysis and cognitive science. In H. Mathews and C. Moore (Ed.), The psychology of cultural experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Conklin, A., & Westen, D. (2001). Clinical uses of the TAT. In W. Dorfman & M. Hersen (Eds.). Understanding psychological assessment: Perspectives on individual differences (pp. 107-133). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.

Westen, D. (2000). Integrative psychotherapy: Integrating psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral theory and technique. In C.R. Snyder & R. Ingram (Eds.), Handbook of psychological change: Psychotherapy processes and practices for the 21st century (pp. 217-242). New York: Wiley.

Westen, D., & Chang, C.M. (2000). Adolescent personality pathology: A review. Adolescent Psychiatry, 25, 61-100.

Wilkinson-Ryan, T., & Westen, D. (2000). Identity disturbance in borderline personality disorder: An empirical investigation. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 528-541.

Westen, D., & Shedler, J. (2000). A prototype matching approach to personality disorders: Toward DSM-V. Journal of Personality Disorders, 14, 109-126.

Westen, D. (2000). The efficacy of dialectical behavior therapy for borderline personality disorder. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 7, 92-94.

Westen, D. (2000). Psychoanalysis: Theories. In Encyclopedia of Psychology, A. Kazdin (Ed.). New York: Oxford University Press/American Psychological Association Press.

Westen, D. (1999). Psychology: Mind, brain, and culture, 2nd ed. New York: Wiley.


Westen, D., & Shedler, J. (1999). Revising and assessing Axis II, Part 1: Developing a clinically and empirically valid assessment method. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 258-272.

Westen, D., & Shedler, J. (1999). Revising and assessing Axis II, Part 2: Toward an empirically based and clinically useful classification of personality disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 273-285.

Westen, D., & Gabbard, G. (1999). Psychoanalytic approaches to personality. In L. Pervin & O. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 57-101). New York: Guilford Press.

Westen, D. (1999). Psychodynamic theory and technique in relation to research on cognition and emotion: Mutual implications. In T.Dalgleish & M.Power (Eds.), Handbook of cognition and emotion (pp.727-746). New York: Wiley.

Westen, D., Feit, A., & Zittel, C. (1999). Methodological issues in research using projective techniques. In P.C. Kendall, J.N. Butcher, & G. Holmbeck (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in clinical psychology, 2nd ed. (pp.224-240). New York: Wiley.

Westen, D. (1999). The scientific status of unconscious processes: Is Freud really dead? Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 49 supplement, 1-30.

Westen, D. (1998). The scientific legacy of Sigmund Freud. Toward a psychodynamically informed psychological science. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 333�371.

Westen, D., & Arkowitz-Westen, L. (1998). Limitations of Axis II in diagnosing personality pathology in clinical practice. American Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 1767-1771.

Westen, D. (1998). Case formulation and personality diagnosis: Two processes or one? In James Barron (Ed.), Making diagnosis meaningful (pp.111-138). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association Press.

Shedler, J., & Westen, D. (1998). Refining the measurement of Axis II: A Q-sort procedure for assessing personality pathology. Assessment, 5, 335-355.

Zittel, C., & Westen, D. (1998). Conceptual issues and research findings on borderline personality disorder: What every clinician should know. In Session, 4, 5-20.

Westen, D. (1998). Affect regulation and psychopathology: Applications to depression and borderline personality disorder. In W. Flack, Jr., & J. Laird (Eds.), Emotions in psychopathology: Theory and research (pp.394-406). New York: Oxford University Press.

Westen, D. (1998). Loevinger�s theory in the context of contemporary psychoanalytic theory. In P.M. Westenberg, A. Blasi, & L.D. Cohn (Eds.), Personality development: Theoretical, empirical, and clinical investigations of Loevinger�s conception of ego development (pp.59-70). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Westen, D. (1998). Implicit cognition, affect, and motivation: The end of a century-long debate. In R. Bornstein & J. Masling (Eds.), Empirical studies of psychoanalytic theories, Vol. 7, The psychoanalytic unconscious. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association Press.

Westen, D. (1998). Culture on the ground and in the brain. Review of Culture in Mind by Bradd Shore. Contemporary Psychology, 43, 364-365.

Westen, D. (1998). The empirical verdict on classical Freudian theory: Review of Seymour Fisher and Roger Greenberg�s Freud Scientifically Appraised: Testing the theories and therapy. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 46, 970-974.

Westen, D. (1997). Divergences between clinical and research methods for assessing personality disorders: Implications for research and the evolution of Axis II. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 895-903.

Westen, D., Muderrisoglu, S., Fowler, C., Shedler, J., & Koren, D. (1997). Affect regulation and affective experience: Individual differences, group differences, and measurement using a Q-sort procedure. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65, 429-439.

Westen, D. (1997). Toward an empirically and clinically sound theory of motivation. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 78, 521-548.

Silk, K., Lohr, N., Westen, D., & Nigg, J. (1997). Severity of childhood sexual abuse, borderline symptoms, and familial environment. In M. Zanarini (Ed.), The role of sexual abuse in the etiology of borderline personality disorder. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association Press.

Westen, D. (1997). The grammar of therapeutic communication: Review of Paul Wachtel�s Therapeutic communication: Principles and effective practice. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration.

Buss, D., Larsen, R., & Westen, D. (1996). Commentary: Sex differences in jealousy: Not gone, not forgotten, and not explained by alternative hypotheses. Psychological Science, 7, 373-375.

Westen, D. (1996). A model and a method for uncovering the nomothetic from the idiographic: A comparison with the Five Factor Model. Journal of Research in Personality, 30, 400-413.

Westen, D. (1996). Psychology: Mind, brain, and culture. New York: Wiley.

Westen, D. (1995). A clinical-empirical model of personality: Life after the Mischelian ice age and the NEO-lithic era. Journal of Personality, 63, 495-524.

Westen, D. (1994). Toward an integrative model of affect regulation: Applications to social-psychological research. Journal of Personality, 62, 641-647.

Westen, D. (1994). Implications of cognitive science for psychotherapy: Promise and limitations. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 4, 387-399.

Westen, D. (1994). The impact of sexual abuse on aspects of self. In D. Cicchetti & S. Toth (Eds.), Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psychopathology, Vol.5 (pp.641-667). Rochester: University of Rochester Press.

Golomb, A., Ludolph, P., Westen, D., Block, M.J., Maurer, P., & Wiss, F.C. (1994). Maternal empathy, family chaos, and the etiology of borderline personality disorder. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 42, 525-548.

Westen, D. (1994). Transference and information processing. In G.P. Bauer (Ed.), Essential papers on transference analysis (pp. 19-51). Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson.

Wixom, J., Ludolph, P., & Westen, D. (1993). Quality of depression in borderline adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 1172-1177.

Segal, H., Westen, D., Lohr, N.E., & Silk, K.R. (1993). Assessment of object relations and social cognition using stories told to the Picture Arrangement subtest of the WAIS-R. Journal of Personality Assessment, 61, 58-80.

Leigh, J., Westen, D., Barends, A., & Mendel, M. (1992). Assessing complexity of representations of people from TAT and interview data. Journal of Personality, 60, 809-837.

Buss, D.M., Larsen, R.J., Westen, D., & Semmelroth, J. (1992). Sex differences in jealousy: Evolution, physiology, and psychology. Psychological Science, 3, 251-255.

Nigg, J., Lohr, N.E., Westen, D., Gold, L., & Silk, K.R. (1992). Malevolent object representations in borderline personality disorder and major depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101, 61-67.

Westen, D. (1992). The cognitive self and the psychoanalytic self: Can we put our selves together? Psychological Inquiry, 3, 1-13.

Westen, D. (1992). Personality, culture, and science: Contexts for understanding the self. Psychological Inquiry, 3, 74-81.

Westen, D., Moses, M.J., Silk, K.R., Lohr, N.E., Cohen, R., & Segal, H. (1992). Quality of depressive experience in borderline personality disorder and major depression: When depression is not just depression. Journal of Personality Disorders, 6, 382-393.

Baker, L., Silk, K.R., Westen, D., Nigg, J.T., & Lohr, N.E. (1992). Malevolence, splitting, and parental ratings by borderlines. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 180, 258-264.

Westen, D., & Cohen, R. (1992). "The self" in borderline personality disorder. In Z. Segal and S. Blatt (Eds.), The self in emotional distress: Cognitive and psychodynamic perspectives (pp.334-360). N.Y.: Guilford Press.

[HuckleB]

57. Of course he has.

He's an author.

Now pay attention to those titles. Where's the research?

Do you know anything about personality disorders? Now how about projection?

That's a list of articles. He's selling books.

Oh, and it doesn't matter. He's not in a position to make any more of a judgment on Obama's leadership than anyone else.

Hello!? Remember that part of the equation. The real world creeps in again

Stop fooling yourself.

[amborin]

58. Sounds as if you believe the media hype & spin, but don't see the reality

In any case, those are articles AND books.

But it doesn't matter.

Trying to reason with someone who refuses to acknowledge hard evidence is futile.

[babylonsister]

14. Lame, even coming from you, but nice try at trying to change the

subject.

As for Rahm, you're right, he knows a helluva lot more than the clown who wrote this opinion piece.

[amborin]

19. He's a respected prof, who studies politicians' behaviors; his analysis is based on facts

[tblue]

21. I have heard Harkin, Feingold, Weiner and Wyden each say he did not lead on healthcare.

Are they all wrong?

I also heard that Rahm was pushing to water down the po with a trigger some weeks before he told Reid to give in to Lieberman and take out the po and Medicare 55. (That's when Howard Dean's head exploded.)

I don't call that leadership.

[HuckleB]

9. Ever notice how incredibly small the world at fdl is?

:shrug:

[HuckleB]

7. Exactly.

He's not sitting in meetings with the President. He's just spouting off, trying to make a name for himself and sell books.

[NYCGirl]

12. Perhaps he's from the Bill Frist School of Medicine. NT

[HuckleB]

41. That's about it. -nt-

[amborin]

50. he's a Dem, former huge O supporter; highly published & respected researcher

[amborin]

25. not true! he studies politicians' behaviors & texts of their speeches and meetings

[HuckleB]

40. Yeah, to sell books.

No one in the profession is going to say that his nonsense is worth any more than anyone else who "studies politicians' behaviors, etc..."

:rofl:

[amborin]

43. no prof makes $ from books! you are dissing research!

[girl gone mad]

56. I'm sure he's a millionaire from all the textbooks he's authored.

:sarcasm:

If you have any experience working in academia, I'm sure you've hear this 'inside' joke before. Textbooks make money for the publishers. The authors do it for prestige. In math and science, grad students often contribute heavily.

[amborin]

17. Not true; this guy studies politicians' every move

[EFerrari]

23. Westen is particularly known for a study on political bias

which found that people don't use the reasoning areas of their brain when defending their candidate:

"None of the circuits involved in conscious reasoning were particularly engaged... Essentially, it appears as if partisans twirl the cognitive kaleidoscope until they get the conclusions they want... Everyone... may reason to emotionally biased judgments when they have a vested interest in how to interpret 'the facts"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drew_Westen

lol

[amborin]

26. like the studies on

the oracle....

people who believed in the oracle would hold onto this belief even in the face of overwhelming evidence showing the inaccuracy of its predictions....they would interpret all the neg evidence as supporting evidence!

[glitch]

34. Ouch, that should leave a mark on the frontal lobe

assuming it's engaged.

[EFerrari]

35. I hereby give babylonsister a coupon to bring this study up to me

in the Latin America thread of her choice. :)

[glitch]

37. I applaud your optimism. :) nt

[girl gone mad]

55. Interesting.

That certainly matches up with my observations through the years.

[Windy]

29. FDL is the "free republic" of the left.... she has gone off the deep end.

I unsubscribed from her emails today...

[EFerrari]

39. Um, this article was only posted at FDL. As you might know

from reading it, it was written at HuffPo.

We're going to need a bigger bus.

[sabrina 1]

52. No, she hasn't. But thanks for bringing the DFL's latest

propaganda against a very effective fighter for Real Health Care Reform to us. I haven't always agreed with Jane Hamsher, but when she's right she's right and she's to be admired for taking a stand against the vicious attacks from the apologists for this Bill. They cannot defend it, so they go after those who can defend their position.

I see the operatives are out in force now against her. Same old story. Any progressive voice that stands up for a progressive issue, ends up being vilified more by the pretend 'left' than they do by the right.

This issue affects every single American. And the attacks on Jane Hamsher, having sunk to one of the lowest levels I've seen, and I've seen low before from the same people, have only strengthened her support. I for one, have no interest in hearing from people who viciously and personally attack someone they disagree with. I assume that anyone who can defend their postions doesn't have to stoop to that level. And if Jane Hamsher fights back using the same methods, I won't blame her. She became a target of the apologists because she is effective. She does her homework. As I said, she's not one of my favorite people, but on this she's right.

[glitch]

33. This article has been picked up by quite a few portals, not just FDL.

Although I think he is actually wrong on Obama (diametrically opposed to the way you think he's wrong) attempting to shoot down the message forum (I suppose that is a step up from shooting the messenger) is not an effective rebuttal.

[NRaleighLiberal]

13. I think Obama is trying a different approach and learned from the past on HCR.

The approach the Clintons tried didn't work. Obama paved the way and left it to the legislators. Anyway, that was in theory the approach.

In my view, he certainly could have (or at least possibly could have) done more for the elements that appear to have been thrown under the bus. But I am just someone sitting on the sofa typing this and haven't ever dipped into the serpentine world of politics.

But I think it is fine for us to be disappointed as long as we realize we will never know all of the elements of actually serving.

[treestar]

20. He admitted he did this

He had learned from the Clinton mistakes.

We'll never know - he could be right in the long run - perhaps had be been confrontational, it would not have worked at all. There are times when "leading" does not involve pounding the table.

[tblue]

27. One thing Obama is not is a table pounder.

I think he doesn't gave it in him.

[tblue]

24. Yeah, I heard that, too.

Can't realiy blame him for trying a different approach. My worry is that he'll think this approach worked. I think it was largely a disaster. But I think he probably likes the way this convoluted, compromised, flawed, punishing bill is turning out.

Obama is a brilliant man and a quick study. But, for me, it remains to be seen whether he is truly a fighter for the working and middle class. So far, I'm not convinced.

[laughingliberal]

16. I would welcome any evidence that suggests that President Obama

engaged in one conflict during the health care reform debate that did not involve protecting is deal with Pharma and the insurance lobby. Any report, whisper, suggestion anywhere from any source that he fought the right to advance any progressive proposals in this entire debate. Even as milquetoast as Harry Reid is he asked for some support from the President to help save the public option, any sliver of it, in the Senate. He didn't get it. The evidence is the president and his representatives engaged only in beating back any left leaning proposals and actively worked to kill the reimportation amendment.

It is all well and good to bash the source of the infomation but a little evidence proving it wrong would be welcome, here.

[Mojorabbit]

32. +100 nt

[treestar]

18. I don't know

I think these people are bitter and not objective, so I reserve judgment until I've heard more.

[1776Forever]

22. I can't help but thing of the Don Ho song - "Ain't no big thing!" when I think of Obama now.

The Hawaiian influence on President Obama is so typical of the laid back cool even keel personality he shows to the world that that saying says a lot about what he is about. It seems nothing is a "big thing" to him. But it sure is to a lot of us out here.

I would love to see some passion Mr. President! Shake it up more! Give 'em hell Harry knew how to do it.

[Windy]

30. Hamsher et al just want a BUSH ! I actually had one person here tell he O should have used the FBI

to get dirt on the repubs and the conservadems....

Unbelievable. Winning at all costs by any means necessary is not what democracy is about

[laughingliberal]

36. Jane Hamsher wanted Obama to use the FBI to get dirt on Republicans?

Winning at all costs. Would fighting to pass a horrible bill so you can call it a win qualify?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

38. Uh, no.

Leadership means heading into the eye of the storm and bringing the vessel of state home safely

This is such a rubbish statement. Not only is it nonsensical (heading into the storm always brings the vessel home safe?) but it's kindergarten simplistic. Sometimes heading into the eye of the storm means certain destruction. Sometimes leadership means looking into the eye of the storm and running like hell in the other direction (See: Dunkirk Evacuation.) By this definition of leadership, Pickett's Charge was an example of good leadership. It wasn't. It was a tactical and strategic disaster. In that case, heading into the eye of the storm was a complete failure of leadership.

This president has a particular aversion to battling back gusting winds from his starboard side (the right, for the nautically challenged)

Apparently the author is also nautically challenged, otherwise he'd know that "battling" wind in such a manner is a fool's errand. But that has nothing to do with politics, and it's a stupid analogy.

He just can’t tolerate conflict, and the result is that he refuses to lead.

I'm not sure which health care debate he's been watching, but "conflict" is probably a better word than "debate" for what's been going on recently. He could have easily given up on the whole enterprise months ago, and probably saved a lot of political capital in the process. He didn't. And now it looks like he's going to get his bill.

[sabrina 1]

53. Well, he gave up on any meaningful reform and flip-flopped

on positions he took in the primaries. But has been very involved in making sure Big Pharma and Private Ins. get everything they wanted. Like 'No Single Payer' so much did he agree with them, that single payer advocates were not given a place at his table. This after he said everyone would get a chance to participate. So that tells you what he thinks of the base of his party. They are nobody.

Then he gave up the PO. He is against it. He just said it is nothing more than 'symbolic'. He was passionate when he responded to Conyers and Dean or had his spokespeople do it. He has no problem having conflicts with Progressives at all.

And then he gave up expanded Medicare. So, he was working hard at making sure the people who paid him so much money, got everything they wanted. Once they got all that, the vote was cast and Private Ins. won. The people did not even get a chance to be a part of this 'historic moment'. Something he seems more concerned about than anything else.

He doesn't realize how this will go down in history. He missed the chance to make history. He proved he's just another politician. But laid back or not, he was busy helping Big Business, just as he did last Fall. And now his honeymoon is over. He told us to get lost, he uses less inflamatory words than Rahm, but there was no mistaking it. So I guess a lot of people now see him as about as relevant as he sees them. That's how it works. You don't insult your base unless you don't care about being a one term president.

[Karmadillo]

44. Not true. I bet the MIC, Wall Street, and the Insurance Industry think he's leading just fine.

nt