After the 2000 decision on Dec. 12, and Gore conceded, I was at a gathering that included conservative guru Richard Viguerie.
Now, Richard is a very charming guy, and I actually think of him as a friend (Washington works in strange ways, so sue me),
but on a political level, he's the Prince of Darkness (google him if his name is not familiar, and you'll see why), and he
thinks the same of me.

Before Clinton left office, Richard was asked what advice he would give the incoming president, given his narrow (at best!)
mandate for the job. Richard came right out with both fists swinging: he said he would tell Bush to move hard to the right,
and please his core base, and ignore moderates and opposition from the left. Richard got some flak for his suggestion, as
Bush did not exactly win a thundering majority of the votes in 2000. But what Richard recommended was exactly what Bush did.
He appointed obedient hardliners from the right right to every cabinet position that mattered, and pushed through far rightist
policies on every front from the economy to defense (or, offense, to be more accurate), and appointed (or tried to) one rightist
judge after another, incompetence was no object. The country went to hell in a basket, but the far right was jubilant. I'm
sure most of them still think that if only W had been given another 20 years in office, that things would have been just ducky.

When Barack Obama took office, he was conciliatory, opening his doors to the opposition, conspicuously consulting with them
on all sorts of issues, inviting McCain for chats, etc. etc. He did everything Richard advised Bush NOT to do. It was a gamble
to see if they could indeed be worked with, something Cheneybush never gave a second thought. Noble in spirit, I suppose.

BUT...........

It just hasn't worked, and a goodly portion of Obama's own base is at best bewildered, and at worst so furious as to be ready
to bolt the party. This is not the way to go. Even Howard Dean, who is not known for mincing words, does not recommend forming
a third-party movement. Howard wants the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party to get back in the saddle. I agree.

Obama has had his dance with the right. It is now time he asked us to dance, too. We elected him, not some coalition of
disgruntled Republican centrists. We elected him with high hopes of progress. We have gotten some, but nowhere near what
we expected. Did we expect too much? Hard to say, as Washington moves at a glacial pace. But he needs us to elect him again.
We'll vote for him, of course, but will we bust ass for him again? Sure, but not for free, this time. Maybe it's being selfish
to expect more payback than we have so far perceived. Maybe in his eyes, he has tried his best to deliver, and maybe he
has delivered the best he could, I don't know.

Am I willing to bolt the party? No way. Am I willing to stand by Obama for re-election? So far, of course, I am. What am I
going to do, suddenly say that Sarah Palin a heartbeat away (or closer!) from the presidency is an acceptable alternative?
Get real. But I do think that what Richard told Cheneybush is advice that Obama has yet to act upon. Maybe he has no intention
of doing so, and that's his call, no question about it. Still, I wish he'd give it a try. As president, you're not going to
please everybody. Democrats seem to have this tendency to try. Republicans don't even bother to put up a pretense.

I'm not saying I think Obama needs to tell Republicans to go fuck themselves. But the occasional conscious deliberate nod in the
direction of those who fought for him the hardest and believe(d) in him the most would be nice. If he took Richard's advice to Bush
and applied it to his own base vigorously for a while, it would be nice to see him experiment with that for once, too. I'm not saying
he's been completely wrong this whole time, but as far as I can tell, the results so far have been less than spectacular.

The far right has been going completely bonkers during Obama's first year in office, and as I see it, he hasn't
even given them a whole lot to complain about--certainly nowhere near as much as many of us wanted him to. But
he has two more years to lead in a more progressive direction, and I certainly won't count out his capacity to
do so. This next half year is crucial, as it is a lead-up to the midterms. We're still willing to tango. Lets
hope the invitation is accepted.

'the decade from Hell.'

Obama's right turn will make the 10's just as miserable.

He told me interesting stories. It's stories like this that have made me more convinced he was

He had a saying that went, "Moderates and centrists are like sheep. Easy to lose and easy to herd back into the group when the time comes. The base are like paper in a hurricane. Once they're gone you can almost never get them back."

Kill the bill.

Forcing people to buy insurance is no more the answer to a failed health care system than forcing people to buy houses is the solution to homelessness.

:dem:

-Laelth

follow Richard Viguerie's advice to Bush. I have long said that if this President were to take a very hard LEFT turn he would at best be almost in the center again which is the position held by most Americans.

packed all those positions with Goldman Sachs executives. Obama is a corporatist to the core. Your suggestion implies that you think that, at heart, he's on the side of liberals. He ain't.

The WH team depends on everyone in the base to continue to stay with them...no matter what they do. They depend on the guilt, fear and everything else to keep everyone on their side even as they do what they need to, keeping the real powers happy.

Boiled frog, anyone?

conscious. :thumbsup:

But corporatist to the core? I don't buy that one, sorry. His past just doesn't show it. His business friends now in
government are mostly recent, as in post 2004, introductions, and I don't recall him being on the board of directors
of anything, much less any company listed in the Fortune 500. It seems that whenever any Democrat doesn't go all out
for some progressive goal, he or she is immediately labeled a "corporatist." Sort of like how the radical right labels
anyone who disagrees with them a "liberal." If I implied that I think that, at heart, he is on the side of liberals,
then you got my gist correctly. At heart, I think he is. Reality delivers a cold slap in the face of anyone who manages
to land in the Oval Office with a progressive agenda. Anyone with a hard right agenda (and a Republican majority in
both houses of Congress) can wreak havoc to their heart's content as President. Squashing a progressive agenda with your
boot as president is always a lot easier than making one become reality.

the mood of the country was for more reaching across the aisle. The country, the world wanted more Kumbaya and polls were showing Obama as making sincere efforts to be bipartisan. Now the mood has swung sharply after the republicans have consistently shown they're not interested. I say Obama could afford to come out now and tell 'em go fuck yourselves. It's those conservadems I wish we can reign in right now.

KnR. Thanks for posting.

but Justice vs. Greed. Now, all THREE of our Governmental Branches are controlled by CORPORATIONS.

May God have mercy on America's soul because it's going to take at least a generation and defiance of "the people" to get back to "a democratic republic.

Our political system has FULLY morphed into a right-wing, corporate duopoly.

Our ENEMY is not the Republicans but "the large corporations" who have BOUGHT OFF our Government.