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Edited on Wed Dec-08-10 12:04 AM by LuckyTheDog
Regarding the tax cut deal…
Can you really say that you understand the pressure Obama is under and that you would have acted differently in his shoes? I don’t think any of us can honestly say that.
The question we have to ask ourselves now is this: Do we trust President Obama or not?
Whether or not we think Obama did or did not make the right call… whether or not any of us think he is being naive or even weak in this instance… do we trust him? And by that I really mean: Do we still believe Obama has good intentions? Do we think he is on our side or do we think he has a secret agenda?
Based on what I have seen – and I have been observing Obama since his days in Chicago, long before he was a national figure – I think his heart is in the right place. I don’t think he betrayed us. Maybe he could have handled the negotiations better. Maybe he could have gotten more concessions. Maybe he let himself be cornered. Those are things I can’t say for sure. But, once push came to shove, I think Obama did what he thought was right. I don’t see this deal as a betrayal. At worst, it was bad deal-making.
The rhetoric about this deal has become a bit hyperbolic. A lot of people on the left have used some pretty strong words (and here, I am talking about the left in general and trying my best not to direct my comments at DU in particular). Some act as if this compromise undermines everything we believe in. And, maybe, looked at in a vacuum, disconnected from everything around it and Obama’s broader intentions, one might see it that way. In context, however, I don’t think that idea stands up to scrutiny.
I described it this way in another DU thread: I think handing my wallet over to an armed robber is hostile to everything I have ever stood for. But if the criminal had a gun to the head of my son, I'd hand it over in a second and would not apologize for doing it. Why? Because there is such a thing as a tactical retreat -- it's about living to fight another day, protecting others from being victimized in order to save your own pride and keeping your bigger priorities in mind.
Is it criminal that the Republicans pushed things this far? Yes. But look at it this way: In six months, anything an armed robber is likely to take from you can be replaced. Likewise, this whole thing will be ancient history to the public in even less time than that.
On the other hand, had unemployment benefits been cut off, had taxes gone up for the middle class, if the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,000 points, had the economy started to move into a double-dip recession -- and all of that COULD have happened -- the impact could have been felt for years.
And let there be no doubt about it, the Republicans would have gladly taken things that far. They would have pulled the trigger. There would have been blood on the pavement. The GOP is the political party equivalent of a sociopath.
What do you do in a case like that? Let the bastards have the wallet. Live to fight another day. I think that’s what Obama did. He let he bastards have the wallet – for now – in order to avoid what could have been a catastrophe.
We do not have to like what Obama did. We don’t have to agree with it. However, I categorically reject any implication that Obama betrayed us or is secretly working against us. To me, that’s as ludicrous as saying that he was born in Kenya.
(edited for a minor punctuation fix)
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