My thoughts on Barack Obama and his Charlie Rose appearance last night

Most telling was his quick renunciation of "protectionist" trade policies. In what has become an almost de rigeur line for Democratic politicians, when discussing what the Democrats would try to accomplish over the coming years, he mentioned a re-evaluation of trade in general, but of course he made the de riguer disclaimer --"but not protectionist!" Meaning he does favor letting the MegaCorps bleed America dry.

Problem is that most democratic voters and most Americans FAVOR protectionist policies. So who was Obama so eager to convince that he did not favor protectionist trae policies? His bosses, that's who. And that don't mean the voters!

Do not forget that Obama taught at the U of Chicago, which is known to be the ultimate stronghold and birthplace of neoliberalism, the evil science of laissez faire economics that is bleeding us dry.

To be fair, Obama did make a comment indicating he did not favor making the tax brackets any more regressive. Thanks for small favors, Obama.

Just watch out for this guy. There is bound to be a reason why both the DLC and the Wall St journal have been pumping him up and boosting him.

Black Commentator magazine warned that he may be a "Black Trojan Horse" like Cory Booker, i.e., a neoliberal in sheep's clothing, a cryptoRepublican. The corporate media pumped up Clinton, too, and for good reason. They know he was one of them!

It's also the ultimate stronghold and a birthplace of a real education.

I had some pretty radical professors when I was there.

Your point might be true, but I don't think that teaching at U of C is particular evidence of it.

Chicago is one of those strange paradoxes where even though it is a pretty conservative place, the method of learning they teach is somewhat value neutral and one can come out of there either a confirmed leftist or a confirmed rightist or somewhere in between. This is a product of them having you read so much original source material and training you to form your own opinion and defend it.

He wrote the DLC and requested that he be taken out of their catalog of "ones to watch" because it mistakenly gave the impression that he was a member or subscribed to their way of thinking.

The DLC and the rest of the rightwing propaganda machine has been doing this sort of thing for decades--promoting and pumping up conservatives/neoliberal Democrats in the media so that those Democrats can promote neoliberal policies once they get into office.

The DLC was instrumental in bringing Clinton to power, and they came within 80K Ohio voters of getting Kerry into power, who by the way is one of the founding MEMBERS of the DLC.

If they promoted Obama as someone special, you had better believe they know something about him--that he is a neoliberal. THey do not waste the money of their zillionaire backers on the promoting of progressives.

They know that Obama is by far the most charismatic figure in the party. Even if he doesn't fully represent their interests, he's a lot better than anybody the GOP has got. Unlike ideologically pure whiners, they understand that compromise is necessary to succeed in politics.

of the Republican agenda. Well, that omnibus spending bill went through pretty easily with half the Dems voting for it.

Barak may be in for a rude awakening when he gets there....by the way, the joke all during the evening was that he was "99th" in terms of seniority....

Chicago, a conservative place? Do you live here?

...there's nothing more you can do.

They may have very local concerns that require them to vote the way they do.

I save my criticisms for primary battles, and if there isn't one...well, I'd rather have Tom Daschle in the Senate than John Thune, so I like to be strategic about criticizing Democrats.

I was hoping this guy will do good. But since you support him, I realize what kind of democrat he is...The "get over it' kind.

Obama has breakfast with Bush, Cheney and Rove, then later speaks out against voter fraud theories? Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. And to think I actually *believed* and was inspired by his DNC speech! Did he really mean a word of it?

Sigh. Democracy is dead. We are doomed.

Sold out already. I would have never ever guessed it.

Bush, Cheney and Rove. Obama was not singleed out for that "honor."

I don't know why people are freaking out about that.

And maybe he has an understanding of economics beyond that of the average 6th grader.

One never knows, do one?

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Some of us must really like going through the emotional drama of a campaign just to be crushed in the end.

until I see what he does with his job. I think he deserves a chance to build an actual record.

But if anyone has any evidence from his tenure as a state sneator that supports your arguements, please tell.

Seems like Obama is a sliver of light in an otherwise dark situation. I'm hopeful.

said on the Senate Floor that Obama would surprise many people. He was more moderate than people think.

The DLC may like him, but we haven't seen him totally in bed with the corporatist backers of the DLC, have we? They probably see him as someone rising pretty fast and are trying to co-opt his energy for their own purposes and try to convince him the DLC way is the Democratic way.

I'm gonna reserve judgment and wait for his voting record to develop to show who he really is as a person. We should not be jumping into the arms of anyone based on appearance. What's needed is caution and measured thought before action. We have to see what he does before we act. I think that'd be the prudent thing.

The ball is in his court. HE has to EARN our SUPPORT, not the other way around. Remember that.

be protectionist?

I'll say what I want...

Watch what I want....

Sleep with who I want


and


Buy what I want...

I don't understand, I thought Obama was this great liberal?

I actually don't really know. But I'm just giving an example of a DU post that is unsuported by evidence. It's not the only one in this thread.

He has a great progressive record on all issues. Fair Trade is not protectionism. When you make posts like this one you play into the Republican word game. The corporations are the ones who want people to associate fair trade with protectionism. That's why Obama had to say that he isn't protectionist.

Is there any rational reason for your dislike of Obama? Are you hoping he'll turn out bad? Are you so radical that you don't want any Democrat to do well?

Too many people not waiting for the facts on a lot of issues here on DU.

Sure, he's in favor of capitalism, but he is also in favor of social welfare.

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Flame-bait post started by a disruptor.