what are barack obama's flaws?

He-ram-you-well

rahmbo fuckface

lol

yeah i invented Rahmbo, right

way to focus on the scummy Obama gaming too.

honestly I don't give a shit

wait are you saying you plagiarize these nicknames? ur breakin my heart over here

I mean this is standard operating procedure for a smart political party - its not like he's disseminating misinformation a la Karl Rove or assassinating political opponents or something

x-post

There is this bit of unpleasantness.

I mean this is standard operating procedure

ding ding ding ding

what do u all make of the explanation that the moves toward photo suppression are a big favor to maliki? "baghdad will burn" etc. i don't much care, myself.

it seems, i dunno, just natural -- the executive always jealously defends any and all prerogatives of the executive, no matter who or what he is or what they are. if the GOP were to suddenly turn on Obama on these issues and hammer him as an "imperial president", it would be a feature and not a bug of the american system, but they don't have two ideals to rub together anymore. it'd be nice if the teleprompter jokes and "government motors, morelike!!" gags became uh operationalized to something constitutionally useful, but that whole corner of america is just beyond hope.

i've said this all before, but i see no compelling reason for photos to be released to the public--filed in court as part of criminal charges? absolutely.

well there's the rub though, because the ACLU clearly wants these photos so they can build a case that torture was an institutionalized practice and then they can bring criminal charges against the Bush administration.

but they can't file those charges until they get the photos, and the only way to get them released is under the FOIA

Weird pre-moustache.

on gillibrand:

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/06/new-yorks-gillibrand-has-become.html

"with very few exceptions, electoral considerations bear far more firmly on a Congressperson's voting record than any sort of deep-seated personal convictions."

So yeah, she makes me feel so good

serious question

this qualifies as a flaw. ffs.

He's taking us down for his own benefit.

I don't see how Obama benefits from this, which is why I also don't understand why he's taking this particular legal tack (also that blog post totally overstates the DOJ's legal argument being made, but that's just a rhetorical issue....)

Holy shit.

that is some serious bullshit

although seeing it is Holder and not Obama slightly lowers my urge-to-kill reflex towards Obama and redirects it towards Holder

still: serious bullshit

i'm not defending this, but AmericaBlog is lying when it says Obama is lying about what it's doing. the fact that the four previous Presidents had their DOJ oppose the law on the books does not mean that Obama has to believe that's an appropriate use of the DOJ. it's not news that the dude thinks change comes legislatively.

I'm boiling.

also, crickets from John 'n Morbs re "CHANGE" on the whole Israeli settlements thing

agree with gabbneb, which unfortunately is not lessening my urge-to-kill

Does Barack Obama care too much about his wife's clothing?!

http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/huggett/090611

crickets from John 'n Morbs re "CHANGE" on the whole Israeli settlements thing

whatever nuanced words he's issued lately, pardon me for not caring any more right now than the heavyweights running Israel do.

(you may eat the crickets)

lmao

<3 morbs

crickets! the shrimp of the air! /mark s

Woman who offers Michelle Obama fashion crit should maybe look in a mirror sometime IMO

http://www.renewamerica.com/images/columnists/huggett.jpg

eddie izzard, after a religious experience, now writing right wing screeds

Cleve Jones (you know, Emile Hirsch in the movie) confirms there'll be a gay rights march on D.C. in October:

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2009/06/cleve-jones-we-have-permit-march-on.html

We should be marching, engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience every day. We have a window, but it's already starting to close. If you think you're going to get anything out of Obama in the second half of his term, you don't know anything about political history. In a year, he'll be in full re-election mode."

Referring to today's DOJ-DOMA news, Jones closed with this: "It's so clear that Obama and the Democratic leadership are turning their backs on us. If we don't go for it now, we'll get nothing. It's beginning to smell a lot like Clinton."

whatever nuanced words he's issued lately, pardon me for not caring any more right now than the heavyweights running Israel do.

maybe if you were better at following the coverage you'd know that more than words are involved, but keep talking about "heavyweights" "running" things

andrew sullivan's got comprehensive coverage of the legalities and complexities, and the whole issue is sort of complicated. but the bottom line seems to be that even if this wasn't the right case to challenge DOMA on, the administration's brief went farther than it needed to to satisfy the justice dept's obligation. and of course the context is of a rising sense of impatience and disappointment on gay issues more generally. obama obviously is going to have to be pushed on gay rights, and maybe he's made a strategic decision that he won't move until he's really forced to. that's not an honorable position even if it's politically safe (and i'm not even sure it's politically safe). but anyway, time to see some action.

the bottom line seems to be that even if this wasn't the right case to challenge DOMA on

as Larry Tribe argues

the administration's brief went farther than it needed to to satisfy the justice dept's obligation.

so they shouldn't have made their case zealously? the brief was written by a Bush admin holdover as would be typical in the early days of a new admin

I certainly hope Obama comes out forcefully in favor of same-sex marriage soon, but perhaps it's understandable that he wouldn't want to use his political capital on this issue in his first 6 months in office. His agenda is a bit ambitious already, ya know. Considering that he is basically trying to reshape the role of government in American society and create a new social contract, perhaps he is wise to prevent wedge issues from hurting the chance of success for his MAJOR policy initiatives. This issue could hurt him politically, and in terms of actual policy, there isn't really all that much the Executive branch can do.

I can live with Obama pushing the status quo on same-sex marriage for a year if it mean passing comprehensive health care reform and universal health insurance.

But that's just me, and I'm not personally effected by this issue. I sure as hell would like to see my state do what is right.

i disagree w that logic, kinda

http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=100

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White citizens' "Councilor" or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direst action" who paternistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

i mean, this court case may have just been the wrong one, then its the wrong one. but as a rule the "take it easy, it'll happen" kinda thing is ... not true. the reason that things like civil rights 'happen' is bcuz ppl dont take it easy, they agitate for change (i.e. why i voted obama --> 'hes never going to be president' well yeah if everyone has that attitude ... u have to actually get out there & make that shit happen & that means agitating for change when you know it needs to happen)

Cleve Jones (you know, Emile Hirsch in the movie) confirms there'll be a gay rights march on D.C. in October:

SPEED RACER IS GAY?!?!?!?!?!?

cant believe it took u this long to figure that out

http://renwl.org/2009/06/13/everyone-calm-down-on-obama-doj__s-doma-brief/

oops -- http://renwl.org/2009/06/13/everyone-calm-down-on-obama-doj%e2%80%99s-doma-brief/

yeah, I thought someone would call me out on the 'just wait, it'll happen' sentiment. That's not really what I am saying though. I'm all for people going ape shit over this issue and putting all kinds of pressure on their elected officials (I wrote several politicians for what its worth). What I'm saying is that it may in fact be shrewd and wise for Obama not to push this issue. It's a political calculation aimed at getting things done.

You quote MLK, but Johnson, the ultimate political operator, got the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts passed.

You all sound like bill maher tonight, I don't want a democratic politician! I want a benevolent dictator! yeah, well, keep voting for nader or what the fuck ever. Obama bears half a resemblance to goddamn Nixon, and compared to four before him, that's fuckin high fives

johnson was also spent his whole career proving that democrats suck at foreign policy

btw (love the man, he put FOIA through, too - the job has many aspects)

You quote MLK, but Johnson, the ultimate political operator, got the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts passed.

You think this just happened with LBJ getting up in the morning and thinking, "Shit! Gotta do somethin' about civil rights today!"? He acted after a decade of consistent pushing.