Obama at One - Howard Zinn/The Nation

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

"..people ought to begin to understand that Obama is going to be a mediocre president"

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100201/forum/6#zinn

I' ve been searching hard for a highlight. The only thing that comes close is some of Obama's rhetoric; I don't see any kind of a highlight in his actions and policies.

As far as disappointments, I wasn't terribly disappointed because I didn't expect that much. I expected him to be a traditional Democratic president. On foreign policy, that's hardly any different from a Republican--as nationalist, expansionist, imperial and warlike. So in that sense, there's no expectation and no disappointment. On domestic policy, traditionally Democratic presidents are more reformist, closer to the labor movement, more willing to pass legislation on behalf of ordinary people--and that's been true of Obama. But Democratic reforms have also been limited, cautious. Obama's no exception. On healthcare, for example, he starts out with a compromise, and when you start out with a compromise, you end with a compromise of a compromise, which is where we are now.

I thought that in the area of constitutional rights he would be better than he has been. That's the greatest disappointment, because Obama went to Harvard Law School and is presumably dedicated to constitutional rights. But he becomes president, and he's not making any significant step away from Bush policies. Sure, he keeps talking about closing Guantánamo, but he still treats the prisoners there as "suspected terrorists." They have not been tried and have not been found guilty. So when Obama proposes taking people out of Guantánamo and putting them into other prisons, he's not advancing the cause of constitutional rights very far. And then he's gone into court arguing for preventive detention, and he's continued the policy of sending suspects to countries where they very well may be tortured.

I think people are dazzled by Obama's rhetoric, and that people ought to begin to understand that Obama is going to be a mediocre president--which means, in our time, a dangerous president--unless there is some national movement to push him in a better direction.

[tavalon]

1. We needed FDR, we got Clinton

[cali]

2. Not saying it will be true of Obama but

FDR didn't start out as FDR either.

[tavalon]

4. I need to remember that

but a domestic spending freeze will likely make him a Hoover.

[FiveGoodMen]

3. I recall life being a LOT better under Clinton than it is right now.

Granted, Clinton set us up for some of the current problems.

[TexasObserver]

6. I wish he could be as good as Clinton was, but see no reason to think that.

He seems more like Jimmy Carter. Well intentioned but just not very good at leading.

He might still turn it around, but until he fires Geithner, Summers, Bernanke, and Emanuel, we'll know he's not headed in the right direction.

[Lorien]

22. I had to start wondering about his intentions as soon as he surrounded himself with

Geithner, Summers, Bernanke, and Emanuel. You can know a man by the friends he keeps, and with friends like those.....

[closeupready]

11. We should have been that lucky.

n/t

[leftstreet]

5. "unless there is some national movement to push him in a better direction"

:thumbsup:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

7. Spot on, for my take on O.

We had a shot at a truly tranformative Presidency and, so far, we are left with only more of the same and not much hope for an improvement.

[bigtree]

8. I think this 'bipartisan' muddle he's engaged in so far

. . . is both calculated to achieve whatever can be readily agreed to by both parties and a function of his response to the need expressed by economists to secure the credit markets with an influx of billions of taxpayer cash . . . those, and his decision to linger in Iraq and escalate the occupation in Afghanistan to 'end' it.

The efforts have required so much political capital that I have doubts that the president will need much 'pushing' to move to a more progressive, populist agenda in the future beyond these 'stabilizing' compromises. That may well be just wishful thinking on my part, but hope is both our bane and promise in this emerging presidency.

[cilla4progress]

12. Gawd I hope your right

I do NOT believe we were sold a bill of goods. I just think his inexperience is really showing - trusting those he shouldn't; and bringing in those to his admin who he mistakenly thought could give him credibility and know-how (Rahm, Geithner, Summers).

[juajen]

20. Gee, golly, I don't think anyone ever said that his inexperience could possibly

be a problem, did they? I'm flummoxed, honestly.

[bvar22]

9. Unless you are a Wall Street Banker or CEO of Health Insurance Corporation,

or a War Profiteer,

...then Obama is the BEST. PRESIDENT. EVER!!!

[amborin]

10. K&R

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7532806&mesg_id=7533662

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. We wanted change and got the status quo and politics-as-usual.

And, a continuation of Bush's policies.

[amborin]

14. Krugman, on progressives' delusion:

re: Obama

"There was a lot of delusion among progressives who convinced themselves, in the face of clear evidence to the contrary, that Obama was a strong champion of their values. He wasn’t and isn’t.

That doesn’t mean that there’s no difference between the parties, that everything would have been the same if McCain had won. But progressives are in the process of losing a big chance to change the narrative, and that’s largely because they have a leader who never had any inclination to do so."

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/

[jimlup]

15. We lost Howard Zinn today

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/01/howard_zinn_his.html

RIP

[EFerrari]

16. .

:cry:

[Dinger]

17. K & R

[Thrill]

18. Well cool. Vote for Mittens

.

[Mithreal]

21. -1

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

19. A kick for the late Howard Zinn.