I believe Obama is doing what he thinks is right. Seriously.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

I don't know him personally but I reject all conspiracy theorizing about his motivations.

I think that Obama is well-intended... that he thinks he does what is best for ordinary people and for the common good.

All of which makes watching the whole enterprise a head-shaking experience.

I refuse to give into the anxiety of cognitive dissonance and fall into the, "He's helping his friends the corporations" sort of thinking.

It's more complicated than that...

Mystifying.

[Chan790]

1. If that's true...

it would seem self-evident that he's as witless a clunker-head as his predecessor. I cannot believe that so I'm going to continue to assume "enemy action."

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

6. But that's just the thing... very smart people can do ridiculous things

All other things being equal smart is always better than dumb but one must admit that very smart people have been behind a lot of the worst stuff that's ever happened.

Al Gore picked Lieberman, for goodness sake!

[metapunditedgy]

20. Not if they're actually *listening* to the people affected by their decisions.

I'm starting to think that Obama is just not getting feedback from mainstream America, for some reason.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. No consolation there.

[indepat]

3. What is right and, sadly imo, pretty far right, for by one's works one shall be known

:)

[Curmudgeoness]

4. I also think that he is doing what is right. So did Carter.....

apparently both either will not listen to advise from others, or have made poor choices in advisors. Maybe if you have a time table of ten years or so, the policies they want in place will work, but we don't have ten years. Everyone knows that if you do not move in the right direction early, you will not have the opportunity to continue because your party will lose power.

I am disappointed, but will not accept that he is intentionally destroying the working and middle classes.

[theoldman]

8. I agree that the time table is short.

Obama may learn too late that he must act faster. He also must learn to bipass the Republicans. It may be too late after November.

[RandomThoughts]

5. If it is more complicate.

Then why arn't those complications discussed on the news?

It is not complicated, it is hidden, or made complicated to hide.


The banks have been allowed to decide the economic policies of the nation, and they have shown they care first about their power to make decision, and are willing to dumb people down to do that.


I figure President Obama is mostly good person, as are many other people in many other sectors, they are just trapped by a system they can not see out of.

Same with the bankers, and the CEO's and for that matter many poor.


Find who traps you and knock them down, if they will not listen to reasoned arguments.

It is completely possible problems within my observation could have been corrected, they have not been corrected, so unless I am not in same reality as other people, there is someone to blame for that, and it isn't me, so someone is going to have to pay. And the first group would be those that say it is because of my issues, when they don't know a thing about me. They hit every trip wire set, ping every time needed. They see, so they should correct the issues.

It is not that complicated.


Side note, if I was in a different reality, then not accepting a different reality is the simple concept of not accepting that I am more or less then I am. So from that, and not accepting being in a different reality, either fix it, or anything but me has no reason to exist. Note if they could not fix my situation by reality constraints, then reality would have to be removed. If they could not fix it by some mental or thought limitation, then those things would have to be removed. If they could not fix it by choice, then either education, or their existence would have to be removed.

It is not that complicated.

And if it is from filters or censorship, then those things would have to be removed. It is not that difficult to understand.

[pocoloco]

7. Are you saying he is piss fucking ignorant like

the last dipfuck we had??

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

10. No, not that. He's a smart man.

Very smart.

It is tempting to attribute a host of bad things to a lack of intelligence but it often isn't literally true.

I drive every day amid people who drive like morons. The worst drivers are probably not actually the dumbest, though. They are just *bad drivers.*

One would hope that being smart would make one a good driver, but it obviously doesn't. I know so geniuses I'd prefer not to drive with.

Cheney and Scalia are probably smarter than a lot of people who would make better policy and legal decisions than Cheney and Scalia have.

Their worldview is defective and our worldview isn't something we entirely cook up intellectually.

[emilyg]

9. Doesn't make me feel better.

[Desertrose]

11. I think he's between a rock & a very hard place and....

doesn't have a whole lot of latitude in his decision making.

Bad advice & advisers and a lot of agendas swirling about him IMO.

(Plus a family to take care of....)

Take that fwiw.

(Not an excuse...I feel the decisions that have been made are not in the people's best interests...oh wait, corporations ARE people now.)

[david13]

12. I still feel this way. We all ... assume ... that any president can

just waltz into Washington and change this that and another thing, but can they?
I don't believe it.
For one thing, I think he considers himself the president of all the people, not just Dems or dems, or professional liberals, or amateur liberals, or what have you.
Complications are never discussed on the news, as the news can only sell simple stuff. They can't sell complicated ideas.
And selling is the only thing that keeps them on the air. I don't know if you know, but it costs money to put stuff on tv. It ain't free.
There is free tv out there, and I can tell you nobody, nobody watches it.
It's called community access.
None of us got the job. None of us could have got the job. He did. So he is the one what gets to decide what he does or does not do.
I trust him more than the other guy. I would like to see better results also. But it's clear I ain't going to.
Hey, he has provided jobs for all the soldiers, hasn't he? He didn't lay off any soldiers, did he?
dc

[kentuck]

13. I agree...

I believe he is putting country over politics and Party. Unfortunately, there is a price to pay for such disloyalty. In the end, you lose both politics and Party and become a one-term President.

It is difficult to fight a war without your best soldiers. There is no loyalty oath. You must win their loyalty. It is not a given.

[readmoreoften]

14. So, he's hopelessly oppressed by a broken system or he's a political fool.

Either way, I have no confidence in him or our system.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

15. A political genius can be a political fool

It's all about the circumstances. Dukakis and Carter were both seemingly terrible politicians at times, but both pulled off dazzling political coups in winning the nomination, comparable to what Obama did.

More-so than most jobs, the Presidency seems to come down to personality and intangible judgment. At least as far as policy goes there are a zillion advisers so the right answer is usually available... the president doesn't have to think up the right answer, just chose it. It's a matter of choices.

[Poll_Blind]

22. +1 That about wraps it up.

PB

[RKP5637]

16. In about two more years we'll all know better, I do think the next two years

well might be even more frustrating for most of us.

[MannyGoldstein]

17. Everyone thinks they're doing the right thing

Even Cheney.

[xchrom]

18. He is an honest neo-liberal.

That is what you're trying to say - he has fundamental agreements
With the Reagan-Thatcherite view.
Seen through a clintonesque lens.

[RKP5637]

24. Excellent description IMO! n/t

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

25. well stated

[mix]

33. Excellent post: a man trapped by a failed ideology. nt

[dkf]

19. I do too.

[ShamelessHussy]

21. that's scary

because thats the very same argument i used to hear all the time from confused republicans in regard to W's policies that did the opposite of what he preached. (AKA: Faith)

However, when you consider that most of our government institutions have been captured by corporate elites, things start to make a lot more sense.

having a model that holds true to what you observe is called science. anything else, which only seems to make it more mystifying is called, FAITH.

It's as simple as that...

[Kermitt Gribble]

23. To me, there are only 2 explanations for what is happening.

Either Obama is in bed with his campaign-donor corporate buddies, or he's just a puppet in a horribly corrupt system.

The HCR joke points to one of these 2 explanations, as does his appointing of the Catfood Commission, his assault on public education and the teachers unions, his escalation of Afghanistan, his letting BP call all of the shots in the Gulf, and on, and on. The corporations make out like bandits on every issue - what have the people really gotten out of all this?? Proposed cuts on Social Security and Medicare? Forced to purchase shitty health insurance?? A polluted Gulf of Mexico???

I don't know the man, personally, but I like to think he's a decent human being, so I tend to lean toward the second explanation.

[TBF]

34. Puppet in a horribly corrupt system would be the correct choice -

and there is no way it would go any differently with capitalism. The system rewards this ridiculous behavior. Profits over people - every single time.

[CrispyQ]

39. "...or he's just a puppet in a horribly corrupt system."

This is what I believe & it is the root of my hopelessness.

[H2O Man]

26. I agree.

I think that includes choices made in the context of the best of bad options.

Recommended.

[Lasher]

27. I think so too.

But I'm sure the same is true of George Bush. I have no doubt that to this day he believes everything he did was right. Sometimes good intentions just make pavement.

[area51]

28. Flip-flopping is the right thing?

A couple of examples: he was for single-payer, then was for a strong public option, then was for a weak public option, then was for no public option, and in favor of enslaving the American public to unregulated for-profit insurance companies that kill and bankrupt people. And he was in favor of closing Gitmo, and now wants to keep it open. What conclusion can one draw, except that he's morphed into Bush-lite?

[kenny blankenship]

29. He thinks he can act on his good intentions by letting corporations have their way

and then they will allow some reform at the margins. He is deluded. This is a long standing, well known, latter day liberal rationalization for cowardice that rewards the coward with political and social advancement (since having neutered himself he can be no threat to the system).

It's not really any more complicated than that.

The rich and powerful having their way unconditionally, or as a condition to negotiations on any issues, is THE CAUSE of the problems which cry out for reform, and not the necessary precondition for reform. Eggs have to be broken, bulls are gored and toes must be stepped on - hard. Anyone aiming at reform in this country had better understand he's in for a vicious fight in which lives could be at risk, and he had better address his allies AS his allies, and his enemies as his enemies, so everyone knows who's who and which side he is on. Reforms at the margin, in periods of crises such as this one, are swallowed up in the general ruin and their very marginal nature perversely becomes an argument for empowering the opponents of the ineffectual reformers.

[stillwaiting]

30. Disagree. He campainged saying certain things and has gone back on so many of the big issues

that won him the Democratic nomination and the Presidency.

He knows what will benefit the average American and what will benefit the top 1%.

We're at a time where if the top 1% benefit the rest of us will continue to lose ground. He's still playing to the barons of Wall Street.

[depakid]

31. I think he's an idealist NOT a pragmatist

and his ideal is to work with Republicans and "find middle ground" with them- in part because he buys into a lot of what their polices were back in the 1980's.

A political pragmatist wouldn't have spent the first 18 months of his presidency alienating (or gratuitously insulting) Democratic constituencies while "reaching out" to enabling and legitimizing Republicans and their constituencies.

[ClassWarrior]

32. I agree. That's why we need to TELL HIM what WE think he's doing wrong. Heck...

...he INVITED us to criticize him. I'm not going to pass up the opportunity to speak up to a President who actually WANTS to hear me.

NGU.

[Kalun D]

35. Obama is Sold Out

I adhere to the "he's helping his friends the corporations"

The Bush admin put forward the $700 Billion crooked banker bailout. You know the one, for the crooked bankers that intentionally caused the problem in the first place. Stealing $Billions and then asking for more $Billions to fix the problem.

Obama gets $996,000 from Goldman Sachs

Obama is front center in the Senate pushing through the bailout, of which Goldman is a large beneficiary

After campaigning on not appointing insiders/lobbyists, Obama appoints the felony criminal banker insider/lobbyists to the top positions of banking oversight. Everywhere you look in the Obama admin there's insider/lobbyists. Corporate and corporate friendly appointees. The results are obvious, more for the corporations, less for the working class.

BP, another large campaign contributor. First Obama promotes more offshore drilling. Then when the largest environmental disaster ever hits the fan the government runs interference for the criminal perpetrators. Low balling the spill amount, keeping the press away and generally just repeating company propaganda talking points. Obama personally lends a hand, photo ops, swimming in the gulf (oh wait it was just a bay). Allowing the felony criminal perpetrators to continually use toxic dispersants. Dumping toxins on top of toxins. The original catastrophe wasn't bad enough, let's make it magnitudes worse by sinking the oil so it can't be seen and it can't be skimmed. Then the White House comes out and says 75% of the oil is gone, when the real scientists say 75% remains. In other words the White House lies straight faced about the largest environmental disaster in the history of the earth.

Corporations pay money, Obama appoints corporate people to positions of control and helps corporations any way he can.

How is that "cognitive dissonance? It's not complicated or mystifying, it's very simple.

Obama is sold out to the people/corporations that paid to put him in office, the people that allowed him to be where he is.

[Chicago dyke]

36. reality is often hard and unforgiving.

i feel sorry for you. i'm sorry that Hope is more important to you than reason, and fact and reality. this is a syndrome that a lot of american voters seemingly suffer.

just like on threads where people are unabashed atheists, i'm sure someone will say i'm being "mean" and "getting personal," but i'd like to make it clear that there are many people who share your views, and i'm speaking of a phenom in the american political landscape and not making a personal attack. the agent i blame is television.

anyway, it's very interesting to me, as a person who never perceived obama for anything other than what he is (a republican, and a reaganite republican at that) to watch people let the scales of hope fall from their eyes. i have developed two theories about it. one is ugly to say but i believe it: the fact that obama is black is what made it hard for many white voters to understand that he was not a liberal. and i'm talking about white liberal voters. people who consider themselves not to be racist. and mostly aren't. but in this way the media construct of race was more important to them than the words on the page, so to speak. critical review of obama's history as a politician was not favorable, if one was a progressive. treating him like every other politician, he measures up pretty short, in a lot of ways. but he looked good on TV, and sounded good giving campaign speeches, and everybody was so tired of that idiot fake texan.

don't get me wrong. i didn't vote for nader, i didn't vote for mcStain, i will never vote for a republican. i held my nose and pulled the lever, again and again, hoping that some democrat would rise to the ranks and battle for progressive policy that this country so desperately needs. but as i think you understand, the system itself is horribly broken, and even smart and decent people can't function as they should within it. is obama a good person? i don't know. his wife is; i know her and she's as sincere as a person can be and still work for big entities. but i am so tired of celebrity worship of politicians, and that's what else i see people *finally* letting go of, in the face of all this disappointment. just because the guy in the WH has a D behind his name, doesn't mean that reality will be like "the west wing."

i don't care if obama is a good, bad, religious, perverted sexually, or bong hitting person. i do care about how well he can do the job of preznit. it would be nice if he could try a bit harder, but it's been clear to me for a very long time that he has no interest in people like me, our struggles, our concerns. i lived in the Village for a while, and i'm telling you: it's a difference universe. what matters there vs in the rest of the world is like kryptonite to superman. turn off the TV. stop listening to even NPR. KISS. follow the money. it's all right there out in the open, and for a while longer, we will have the free internet in which you can research the facts. there is very little point to Little People participating in national politics, unless it's for an indie candidate. there are some very good progressive dems still worth working for, and it is for that reason i will still pull the D lever. but they are few and far between. remember also that the republican/fascist rise to power began at the local level. school boards and muni govts and suchlike. that's where real progressive liberals should focus their attention, and the nice thing about it is that it's cheap. it's pretty easy to win a local office, and the impact that can have is in fact as great or greater than working hard for a Kabuki actor to go to the Village for a few years before moving on to a highly paid sex work, i mean lobbying job.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

38. We are actually in agreement

I was all over DU in the primaries arguing that Obama was a reagnophilic centrist. I never had much hope.

But he isn't a cartoon villain. He doesn't sit around thinking, "This will totally fuck poor people... heh, heh."

Dick Cheney did that.

Obama has some complex but childish ideology that leads to some of the same results for what Obama thinks are wise reasons.

For instance, I do not think Obama ever literally thinks, "corporate profits are more important than the welfare of some trivial poor people who the system would be better off without anyway."

He thinks he has a more nuanced and (gak) "chess-like" view of these things.

[NJmaverick]

37. You're correct he is doing what he thinks is right

the problem is that many people fail to realize what is and isn't possible and how quickly things can be changed.

[Canuckistanian]

40. Obama used to be a lecturer on Consitutional Law

He knows what's right and wrong. So we know ignorance is not his defence.

But what's his motivation?

Did he actually see that movie of the Kennedy assassination from an angle nobody's seen before?

[undeterred]

41. I believe Bush did what he thought was right. Seriously.