what are barack obama's flaws?

Oh no! Even WORSE! First Lady wears dress more than once SHOCK

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/05/06/2009-05-06_michelle_obama.html

why is there any controversy at all about where the Guantanamo detainees should go? I can understand navigating the legal complexities regarding TRYING them (under what charges, with what evidence, etc.) but seriously - Reps/Senators are complaining about sending detainees to prisons in their states? What the fuck is wrong with their prisons that they can't hold violent criminals? Was federal prison not good enough for Timothy McVeigh? Or Manson? Or whoever? I don't get it. Our prisons already house people just as (if not more) dangerous than these guys (including that blind sheikh from the OG WTC bombing), why doesn't the Obama administration just point this out. It is really not that big a deal.

enjoy your FANCY BURGER

president poop on

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/07/arabic-linguist-dadt/

I cannot believe I live in a world massively threatened by environmental catastrophe, and my government is barely even talking about half-measures, let alone moving heaven and earth with fierce urgency to save the planet. And the oil guys aren’t even in the White House anymore.

I cannot believe I live in a world where the economy is imploding and the guy in charge of the country where the recession is rooted has hired agents of the very criminal crowd responsible for the problem to produce a solution, and that, shockingly, the ‘solution’ once again benefits wealthy elites while doing little for the rest of us.

I cannot believe that I live in a country with a crumbling healthcare system, and the solution being offered by the “change” candidate-now-president – to the extent we will see one at all – will forego the obvious model of universal coverage adopted by all other developed countries in the world, and will instead slap Scotch Tape on the train wreck of the existing for-profit healthcare disaster, in an attempt to hold it together a little longer.

I cannot believe that I live in a world where the Taliban is within spitting distance of capturing nuclear-armed Pakistan, and my government can’t even get serious enough about peace in the Middle East to show some real security guarantee carrots and foreign aid sticks to its client state in the region, forcing it to end an illegal and deeply antagonizing annexation masquerading as a forty year occupation.

I cannot believe I live in a country where individuals who knowingly broke the law and ruined the national reputation by torturing are exposed by the president, only for him to then turn around and deploy magical powers which supposedly allow him to exonerate them in advance.

This is Obama’s America? This is Obama’s America....

For a year now I’ve wondered what Obama would turn out to be – a Bill Clinton or an FDR. I think we have a pretty good answer at this point. Indeed, ironically, Obama now seems to be out-Clintoning Clinton. He not only has the very national crisis that Wild Bill craved, he’s got about six of them. But always the response seems to be incredibly tepid and conventional and, well, conservative – as the above examples show.

Even when it’s a slam-dunk policy choice, he is still the Cautious Kid to a fault....

The biggest irony may just be this: That Barack Obama’s instinct for the capillary could be the one thing that has the capability of reaching deep down into the toilet bowl, down through the pipes and into the sewer system, and dragging the shit-encrusted Republican Party back to the surface, miraculously offering it a magical elixir of renewed viability despite its own immensely successful attempt at party suicide.

http://www.counterpunch.org/green05112009.html

This belongs in the "What are Counterpunch's flaws?" thread.

I cannot believe that I live in a world where the Taliban is within spitting distance of capturing nuclear-armed Pakistan, and my government can’t even get serious enough about peace in the Middle East to show some real security guarantee carrots and foreign aid sticks to its client state in the region, forcing it to end an illegal and deeply antagonizing annexation masquerading as a forty year occupation.

ha ha ha

I mean, you can't argue that Obama's policies might trigger a Republican resurgence when the post implies (and in places explicitly argues) that Obama's political moves are deeply conservative and thus Clinton-esque.

I cannot believe that I live in a world where people post ridiculous stuff they find on blogs.

counterpunch is a 'website'

can he really not believe any of that stuff, because some of those things seem pretty believable to me, if only because, they actually are true

good thing a shit-encrusted Republican Party resurgence won't matter since there's no difference between Republicans and Democrats.

my taste for old-school lefty ranting died out after being too well-acquainted with certain cadres of the Nader 2000 campaign ...

i really can't believe so many leftists think that kicking israel to the curb will magically make the whole "middle east" (here including pakistan? uh...) sort itself out towards "peace".

and dude needs to get a history book, too -- i'm down w/ bashing Geithner and folks who want to sweep the Justice Department's torture memos under the rug and i heart the New Deal and shit, but if he thinks that the New Deal was some Sacred Project administered solely by the Angels of Light then he's more ignorant than Limbaugh on one of his bad days.

i mean, JOE FUCKING KENNEDY was the first Chairman of the SEC for God's sake!

but the public BELIEVES there are significant differences between the duopolies, those who bother to vote at least (or can't abide not pretending there are). Those fantasists are amply rep'd here.

In which policy areas that Green lists has he misrepresented Obama's actions?

if he thinks that the New Deal was some Sacred Project administered solely by the Angels of Light

Christ, i'd tell you to stop inventing arguments that don't exist here, but it's the only way you win.

In which policy areas that Green lists has he misrepresented Obama's actions?

Green stated that Obama deployed "magical powers" when, in fact, Obama is not even a magician.

In which policy areas that Green lists has he misrepresented Obama's actions?

um, all of them?

I cannot believe I live in a world where the economy is imploding and the guy in charge of the country where the recession is rooted has hired agents of the very criminal crowd responsible for the problem to produce a solution

Timmy G has never worked in the private sector

That Barack Obama’s instinct for the capillary could be the one thing that has the capability of reaching deep down into the toilet bowl, down through the pipes and into the sewer system, and dragging the shit-encrusted Republican Party back to the surface, miraculously offering it a magical elixir of renewed viability despite its own immensely successful attempt at party suicide.

mixed metaphor--pick either the circulatory system or digestive system, not both

I cannot believe I live in a world massively threatened by environmental catastrophe, and my government is barely even talking about half-measures, let alone moving heaven and earth with fierce urgency to save the planet. And the oil guys aren’t even in the White House anymore.

to take the one example that I am most personally acquainted with, talking about the climate change/cap-and-trade bill, the Obama administration's active engagement with global initiatives, the federal money being invested in transmission infrastructure and green technology applications, the increase in federally funded scientific research, etc. - all within the first few months of an administration - as "barely even talking about half measures" is totally blatant misrepresentation.

I cannot believe that I live in a world where the Taliban is within spitting distance of capturing nuclear-armed Pakistan, and my government can’t even get serious enough about peace in the Middle East to show some real security guarantee carrots and foreign aid sticks to its client state in the region, forcing it to end an illegal and deeply antagonizing annexation masquerading as a forty year occupation.

as has already been pointed out, this is near-total nonsense. The Taliban's military adventures in Pakistan have pretty much nothing to do with Israel. Almost a completely separate set of issues and dynamics at play - plz to get one history/geography book k thx

well like i said it's pretty stupid to link up israel/m.e. policy and afghan/pakistan policy up on a 1-to-1 causal basis, but since you asked: rahm immanuel has been quoted as saying the US wants two states, now, and doesn't care who the PM of israel is.

the real crazy thing about pakistan is that, in general, the US is more freaked out about the taliban controlling more and more territory than the pakistanis appear to be. if david michael green has some bright ideas about how to get a country to fight its internal enemies when its military basically doesn't want to, i'd love to hear them. only, if that bright idea is "tell bibi netanyahu & avigdor lieberman to go fuck theirselves" then a) lol and b) we did that? pakistan is still a mess, go figure.

i don't think he's "misinterpreted" obama's actions so much as he has not interpreted them in the first place.

the real crazy thing about pakistan is that, in general, the US is more freaked out about the taliban controlling more and more territory than the pakistanis appear to be.

otm

well, as various commentators have pointed out, Pakistan has been fixated on India as its mortal enemy for pretty much its entire existence, pivoting to address an internal problem has them a bit befuddled.

especially when that internal problem has been actively helping them annoy india for decades

the alliance between the pakistani army and various mujahadeen sub-factions might be stupid, but it's not crazy

I cannot believe that I live in a world where the Taliban is within spitting distance of capturing nuclear-armed Pakistan, and my government can’t even get serious enough about peace in the Middle East to show some real security guarantee carrots and foreign aid sticks to its client state in the region, forcing it to end an illegal and deeply antagonizing annexation masquerading as a forty year occupation.

this is a really fucking funny paragraph. its like pacifist colonialism or something. how exactly do carrots and sticks 'force' things to happen? isnt that the opposite of the idea behind 'carrots and sticks'?

When you understand the amount of money the USA sends to Israel each year, you will understand how the author you quoted might believe that the USA has sufficient leverage to "force" Israel to change its policies. This could be a mistaken belief, but it is not entirely unrealistic.

btw, a stick is very much a symbol of force.

force as a verb not as a noun, deej

I cannot believe it took 4 paragraphs to blame Israel.

a carrot is a symbol of force too, inasmuch as the carrot bequeather has the power to withhold it; that this particular metaphor construes the subject of these blandishments to be a donkey has lessened its appeal somewhat amongst people who give a shit about such things

isn't the carrot ON the stick? like you're holding out the stick and the carrot is hanging off a string at the end?

s1ocki = Fudd

fudd on the low

if you want a donkey to find its giddyup you've got two basic tools: a carrot to entice it forward or a stick with which to smack its ass from behind

but you're right, if you yourself are riding the donkey then yeah, a stick and a piece of string would be a good system of carrotage. you'd need two sticks in that case because it could get tedious untying the string each time you wanted to use the stick as a whip. though i guess you wouldn't need to. you could just whip the donkey with string, carrot and all, running the (slight) risk that the force of your whipping caused the carrot to slip out of its probably not-too-well-tied knot. it would get messy. two sticks would be far better.

Kneecapping Party Boss Obama helps clear the NY senatorial decks for Appointee Gillibrand:

http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-05-27/columns/obama-the-political-fixer-works-new-york-s-senate-primary

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0509/Obama_clears_field_for_Gillibrand_in_New_York.html

Prior to Obama's intervention, at least five veteran public officials were actively considering running against Gillibrand. Most, like Long Island congressman Steve Israel, who got the warning message directly from the White House, thought they could present themselves to voters in a state primary as a viable alternative to Gillibrand on several issues that Obama himself championed in his own race: gun safety, fairness to immigrants, the economy. That was the plan, that is, until the president told them not to bother.

...His heavy-handed politicking is a surprise only to those of us who know him solely from his inspiring campaign. It is old news to those in Chicago who watched Obama's steady rise. I admit to warnings received from Windy City friends who said Obama had taken lessons in kneecapping from his ward-heeler pals in City Hall and the state legislature. This complaint sounded like a petty gripe resulting from a family squabble. Even if true, it was a tiny blemish on a magnificent canvas. This notion held right up until the moment when the White House invoked Chicago rules—one of ours to the hospital, one of yours to the morgue—on any Democrat seeking to challenge Gillibrand.

why do you think he prefers gillibrand

That he can't lock up people like the ones in this video is a pretty big flaw of his job, IMHO.

http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/06/max-blumenthal-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-on-eve-of-obamas-cairo-address.html?

yah its pretty flawed that we cant imprison people we disagree with

We need another Wilson.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/125/415992114_f67c203d6c_o.jpg

BLACK POWER!

http://ryanpez86.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/woodrow-wilson-008.jpg

why do you think he prefers gillibrand

because she's an appointed incumbent, ie might as well use our funds try to buy a Dem Senate seat somewhere else in the country. ie, democracy-for-sale as usual, the Schmuck Schumer-Rahmbo Emanuel way.

morbs id vote for you if you ran

rahmbo emmanuel << next level name-gaming

dunno, leaving "emmanuel" untouched is pretty lazy

rahmbo escamuel