...
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling and Sperling’s deputy, Jason Furman — leading figures in the president’s economic team — are pressing Obama to cut Social Security benefits if necessary, say sources familiar with their positions.
But Obama’s political team, led by David Axelrod, David Plouffe and Jim Messina, are urging the president to understand that backing benefit cuts could prove disastrous to his 2012 reelection hopes, sources say.
...
Count on it: if Obama agrees to or actually initiates Social Security cuts, he will see me not only voting for someone else, but rounding up 10 voters who will do the same. Fuck this nonsense; I'm not having any!
H/T Avedon.
You know Steve, I have to confess to something, I'm a dick. Because it's taken every ounce of restraint I posses (granted, not much) not to tell all my friends who were big Obama supporters during the campaign "I told you so." I wanted to be wrong about him, I really, really wanted to be wrong about him. I wanted to be proven cynical, alarmist and wrong. I was swept up in the same euphoria as everyone else on Inauguration Day, which was the first time I'd actually heard his voice.
ReplyDeleteBut I was right. More wrong than even I anticipated. And it sucks big wampum.
Constance, I think you know I hold a similar position. I've known for well over a year that I will not vote for Obama in 2012. If necessary (and it probably will be), I will go through the ballot, marking most Democrats (and no GOPers) except Obama. As someone whose signature issue is civil liberties, I cannot vote for a man whose record on imprisonment, torture and due process rights is WORSE than the record of GeeDubya Bush. It's that simple. I won't do it, no matter who runs against him.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Obama is the reason I renamed my blog. And it's true: after a dedicated 30+ years in the Democratic Party, I am no longer a member.
I stopped identifying as a democrat when they allowed that gobsmackingly corrupt bankruptcy bill get passed. I know that I will be voting for a write-in presidential candidate in 2012.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I should mourn the fact that Molly Ivins didn't live to see this shit to read her commentary, or be thankful that she didn't see what became of the party and values that she loved and supported with all her ability. I'm certainly glad that Paul Wellstone, Ted Kennedy and Patrick Moynihan didn't live to see it; this president that leads their party is negating and criminalizing everything they stood for.
OMG, Steve, can you even imagine Barbara Jordan going to the White House for a Come-to-Jesus meeting with Obama??
ReplyDeleteConstance, last things first... I had the great privilege of living in Barbara Jordan's district for a few years, and she is one of the few politicians with whom I have ever been genuinely impressed. She was one-of-a-kind; they didn't make any more like her, before or since her time. And my own political surroundings have gone downhill ever since. But I suppose, with my disabilities, I would have had to give up block-walking even if I hadn't bailed out of the local Democratic Party. I do miss having a political context among real people, but I've been pushed past my limit by Obama.
ReplyDeleteConstance, since Molly's death, I've gone back and (re)read some of her books of columns. I miss her. There is no real equivalent today of what she brought to the debate. Greenwald? He's probably as liberal as Molly, but the folksy writing style is replaced by a fairly astringent tone. It feels as if Molly died because there was no longer a place in the American press or media for a liberal voice. I no longer watch TV news except during hurricanes (for as long as I have power), because the for-profit media simply omits so much. And once the GOPers succeed in killing NPR and PBS, or (if it doesn't simply defund them) drives them to an excess of caution, broadcast news will be worthless. And I'm not willing to spring for cable service just for MSNBC or CNN (Conservative News Network).
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think I've outlived my time...
Constance... check this out. Listen to Barbara Jordan reading her statement on the Articles of Impeachment of Richard Nixon.
ReplyDelete