obama | From The Hips

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Obama’s Legacy: Afghanistan

thrownness:

steampunkanachronism:

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Garry Wills

It is time for me to break a silence I have observed for over a year, against my better judgment. On June 30, 2009, I and eight other historians were invited to a dinner with President Obama and three of his staffers, to discuss what history could teach him about conducting the presidency. I was asked shortly after by several news media what went on there, and I replied that it was off the record. I have argued elsewhere that the imposition of secrecy to insure that the president gets “candid advice” is a cover for something else—making sure that what is said about the people’s business does not reach the people. But I went along this time, since the president said that he wanted this dinner to be a continuing thing, and I thought that revealing its first contents would jeopardize the continuation of a project that might be a source of information for him.

But there has been no follow up on the first dinner, and certainly no sign that he learned anything from it. The only thing achieved has been the silencing of the main point the dinner guests tried to make—that pursuit of war in Afghanistan would be for him what Vietnam was to Lyndon Johnson.

& just like LBJ, he probably shouldn’t run again.

Sorry, dude. You spent too much time making sure the Republicans were comfortable and let their bullshit get out of control instead of actually doing most of what you promised.

Agreed. As much as I’d love to see him take a 2nd term and really turn shit around for himself, it’s just not going to happen. His rabid “Yes We Can” support base has been totally disillusioned. Bush’s 3rd term, but with better sentence structure.

I’m having a hard time imagining anyone else doing any better. By which I mean, I think we’re fucked. I’d like to believe that democrats could find a better candidate if he didn’t run again, but realistically I’ll be voting 3rd party or not voting in 2012.

from Dick Cheney's Weather Machine

fleetfootedfox 29 Jul Tags obama 20 Notes

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Link:

Obama a “Socialist”? I Wish!

thesheeportheshepherd:

feistyfeminist:

carsonsuggs:

I wish Obama had pressed for single-payer national health care.

I wish Obama had nationalized Citicorp and Bank of America, rather than bail them out.

I wish he would have favored breaking up the rest of the big banks so they couldn’t destroy our economy.

I wish he would have forced any banks taking federal bailout money to freeze foreclosures for at least a year and freeze interest rates on mortgages and credit cards.

I wish Obama would have proposed redistributing income from the wealthy to those who really need it by raising the marginal income tax, and the capital gains tax, and the estate tax.

I wish Obama would have proposed a transaction tax on every stock sale so as to curb speculation.

I wish Obama would have proposed raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour, as Ralph Nader has proposed.

I wish Obama would have replaced Ben Bernanke at the Fed with Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.

I wish Obama would have come out for democratizing the Fed, as Dennis Kucinich has recommended.

I wish Obama would have proposed a public works program to put every American who needs a job to work.

I wish Obama would have ordered every federal building to be installed with a solar panel, and almost every car in the federal fleet to be a hybrid or electric car.

I wish Obama would have proposed opening federal grocery stores in areas that are food deserts.

I wish Obama would have addressed the cruel problem of poverty in America.

I wish Obama would have proposed 12 months of paid maternity and paternity leave, mandatory paid sick leave, and federal child care.

I wish Obama would have advocated the nationalization of the armament companies, as Sen. Robert La Follette did back in 1924.

No decent socialist would have implemented policies that have left unemployment at over 9 percent and foreclosures at record heights.

No decent socialist would have let the banks get off so easily.

No decent socialist would have been caught dead praising the CEOs of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase and justifying their obscene salaries the way Obama did. (“I know both those guys; they are very savvy businessmen. I, like most of the American people, don’t begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free-market system.”)

No decent socialist would have left the health insurance industries in the driver’s seat.

No decent socialist would have empowered a panel to advocate the cutting of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

No decent socialist would have expanded the war in Afghanistan, a hopeless war being fought by the sons and daughters of America’s working class.

from the sheep or the shepherd

fleetfootedfox 21 Jul Tags obama 429 Notes

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Quote:

“
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, called the Obama administration’s decision today to exclude abortion coverage from newly created high-risk pools wrongheaded and inexplicable.

“Abortion is the most common surgical procedure women receive,” Keenan said. “At a time when the country is on the cusp of implementing nationwide health-insurance coverage, it is unacceptable to treat abortion care differently in the new high-risk pools. This policy means that women who are part of these pools because they have significant health problems, such as diabetes or cancer, will not be able to access abortion care, even if their health is at further risk. This decision puts in place a three-year restriction that is similar to the proposal from Rep. Bart Stupak that was rejected during the legislative debate on health reform.”
”

Statement on Obama Administration Policy Excluding Abortion Coverage from High-Risk Pools

Motherfucker just sold us out.

(via sluthaditcoming)

Wow.

I really thought Obama had earned my vote in 2012. Looks like I’ll be writing in Kucinich again.

(via stfusexists)

One of the arguments I always hear for government-funded abortion coverage is “Well, taxpayers shouldn’t have to worry about their taxes going to something they don’t agree with.”

Oh yeah? Then stop having MY TAXES go to paying for THE IRAQ WAR.

Here’s the thing: Billions of dollars of taxes go to the federal government each ear. Billions. The taxes you give are a mear .0000001%* or less of what the IRS gets each year. If you think about it, your money pretty much goes wherever you want it to go. I don’t want my money to go to the War, so I believe my money goes to public services such as schools and housing subsidese, etc.

It would be really nice if we could pick and choose personally where our tax money would go, but that isn’t how it works. It all gets pooled together and then divied out as the federal government deems fit.

*exaggeration, actual percentage unknown to me

(via he-is-she-is-he)

Aaaaand he just lost my vote if he chooses to run again. What a motherfucker. STOP PANDERING TO THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT.

(via highsee)

Wait, he just now lost your votes? Welcome to the club, guize.

(via thrownness)

from thrownness