Indefinite Detention? But I Have Soccer Practice at 4: U.S. Politics 2012

oh boy, the "long game" - this will be great

lolng game

As I read Sullivan, he basically says the critics on the right are mostly peddling nonsenscial crap. True enough. And like shooting fish in a barrel, once you look at the facts.

Then he goes on to Obama's critics on the left, agrees with a fair number of their criticisms on civil liberties issues, emphasizes the repeal of DADT at length (which his left wing critics are NOT criticizing, either), and ignores liberal criticisms of Obama's more conservative policies that he most likes, such as keeping all the Bush tax cuts in place. As a criticism of these critics, it is pretty thin stuff. But then, most op-ed is small beer.

And what have we seen? A recurring pattern. To use the terms Obama first employed in his inaugural address: the president begins by extending a hand to his opponents; when they respond by raising a fist, he demonstrates that they are the source of the problem; then, finally, he moves to his preferred position of moderate liberalism and fights for it without being effectively tarred as an ideologue or a divider. This kind of strategy takes time. And it means there are long stretches when Obama seems incapable of defending himself, or willing to let others to define him, or simply weak. I remember those stretches during the campaign against Hillary Clinton. I also remember whose strategy won out in the end.

This is OTM. My issue I have is that I want him to be to the left of some of the positions he champions. I agree with him enough to vote for him again without any regret.

Not surprisingly--something you should almost take as a given--Sullivan says on his site that the cover headline was not his.

sullivan's willingness to relegate civil liberties to a couple of sentences is baffling to me. under bush, the executive branch's power-tripping threatened the future of the country. under obama, pushing (for the most part) the exact same policies, it's a fringe issue that only a few 'unrealistic,' 'deluded' leftists care about.

it's almost like he trusts the motives of one over the other

right, it's the thought that counts.

When your only safeguard is the good will of the current president, you have no safeguards at all.

i'm just glad niall ferguson ended class warfare, that was going on for too long

fuckin hate that guy

what sort of warfare did he substitute in its place? a first person shooter, I hope

I wonder what schtick the GOP will pull to block this

sullivan's willingness to relegate civil liberties to a couple of sentences is baffling to me. under bush, the executive branch's power-tripping threatened the future of the country. under obama, pushing (for the most part) the exact same policies, it's a fringe issue that only a few 'unrealistic,' 'deluded' leftists care about.

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, January 16, 2012 1:41 PM (2 hours ago)

as everyone here knows i think obama's done some truly evil and unforgivable things in this realm, but i've got bigger gripes with him than his civil liberties record. why sullivan's piece fails (as it was doomed to do) is because he tactfully elides these other parts of his record - when he's not agreeing with them

the 'radical middle' will find this to be a good essay, and it might even be useful to show the first half of it to some of the more noxious conservative blowhards we all know, but the entire thing is basically middlebrow nonsense, which is why it's in newsweek

the truly weird part is figuring out how sullivan squares his admiration for a president he sees as 'moderate' and 'pragmatic' with his wobbly on-and-off support of ron 'kill em all and let the states sort em out' paul.

http://www.bongsbay.com/weed_leaf.jpg

lolololol

hi, guys!! What'd I miss??

Under Obama, support for marriage equality and marijuana legalization has crested to record levels.

i'll have what this sullivan guy's smoking

I'll read the article tonight, but I can't fathom how any critic of Bush administration's civil liberties abuses and abuse of executive authority can now treat them as secondary because Obama is so cool. I would rather Sullivan just said, "Look, these things don't really matter much to me tbh."

Under Obama, support for marriage equality and marijuana legalization has crested to record levels.

i'll have what this sullivan guy's smoking

― river, Monday, January 16, 2012 5:23 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

um actually i wouldn't necessarily disagree with that claim

i have no idea what obama has done to make either of those things happen, though, particularly the latter. a strange point

well yeah i just mean that since Obama has been President, support for those two things have been bigger than they've ever been. I'd believe that.

when Calvin Coolidge was president, Scott Fitzgerald published his best novel.

well I mean yeah, though to imply that Mr. "The business of America is business" had nothing at all to do with The Great gatsby or its themes seems a little silly

Sully's statement is well-meaning gas though. How can Obama get credit for increased support for marijuana legalization?

those raids he authorizes hurt him more than they hurt us, you'll just never know

Yeah ok Sully's full of hot air. I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that claim.

Pretty sure pot busts have increased since Obama took office, and people still hate gays everywhere

Anyway, sullivan has untrustworthy facial hair

well, if he's going to have a Time Magazine cover let it be for his slavish devotion to obama's long game and not an impassioned defense of the bell curve

worse - newsweek :(

you know, i actually read the whole article earlier today. i just have trouble distinguishing between the two

i'm sure many dads will find enlightening the half of this they read while they wait in the dentist's office

Boy, I consider Ike the least dangerous of modern presidents but Sully's carrying his idolatry too far (i.e. Ike's not the prez to go to for enlightenment and patience re democratically elected foreign leaders, especially Iranian ones).

John Foster Dulles and Richard Nixon both graced Ike's administration.

Both kept on leashes, Nixon's a bit tighter.

i want to say that sully is the dumbest "public intellectual" but there is so much competition for that role that i'll just say he's a very very dim "public intellectual"

'I'm a conservative but I'm not 100% batshit insane' is the best way for some average shmoe to get a lot of attention

sully is kind of batshit insane tho

yeah but only like 94%

well, if he's going to have a Time Magazine cover let it be for his slavish devotion to obama's long game and not an impassioned defense of the bell curve

― Mordy, Monday, January 16, 2012 8:16 PM (34 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

"why are obama's critics so dumb?" vastly preferable to "why are black people so dumb?"

life's too short to read that guy, including his personal ads

'm just glad niall ferguson ended class warfare, that was going on for too long

― human trash (buzza), Monday, January 16, 2012 7:32 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

Did I miss something he wrote recently? Dude is good for lolz. Though his ethnic warfare stuff is interesting.

It's time soon for this again(from tpm). Fun, fun, fun:

With Congress set to return to town this week, staff-level bipartisan discussions are underway over how to pay for extensions of the payroll tax cut, unemployment insurance and the so-called Medicare "doc fix" beyond the end of February, when they're set to expire. The private meetings are a continuation of the December showdown, which ended with two-month extensions of the three provisions and a guarantee that the House and Senate would negotiate a year-long measure.

Ike's not the prez to go to for enlightenment and patience re democratically elected foreign leaders, especially Iranian ones).

To his credit, he's posted readers pushing back on this.

Dem convention cut to 3 days! Bank of America Stadium lol

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/01/17/democrats-trim-convention-to-3-days/

Over 1m signatures to recall Walker in WI:

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/wis-dems-make-it-official-one-million-signatures-collected-to-recall-walker.php

has this been posted:

Mrs. Santorum, 51, apparently wasn’t always committed to the cause. In fact, her live-in partner through most of her 20s was Tom Allen, a Pittsburgh obstetrician and abortion provider 40 years older than she, who remains an outspoken crusader for reproductive rights and liberal ideals. Dr. Allen has known Mrs. Santorum, born Karen Garver, her entire life: he delivered her in 1960.