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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Sen Biden, from the State of Delaware where all the big corporations love their charters, has long carried water for the banks and credit usurers. He was avid for deregualtion, elimination of the Glass-Steagle (sp?) Act, and the new bankruptcy laws that punish individuals but leave corporations unscathed. That makes him a desirable economic consultant for Barack Obama if one considers who else is advising him: Robert Rubin, for example!
Sen Biden's dullness in foreign affairs and his disrespect for the Constitution's separation of powers led him to cede to the President the war-powers that are vested in the Congress. He ingnored the warnings of so many and relied not on his own investigations but on the word of Bush, Cheney, George Tenet and Colin Powell.
Remember, too, how Biden protected Clarence Thomas from the charges of Anita Hill. After all, Clarence Thomas was such an outstanding choice for the USSC that he merited protection from the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, didn't he?
He is the same ol', same ol' for a ticket that was at one point believed to be offering change from the Washington establishment. A more prototypical establishment figure could not have been chosen than Joseph Biden. The Democrats are so understandably concerned about Obama's slippage that they are thrilled by Biden's loud and expansive mouth.
Senator Obama cheated his way to candidacy by leading the young activists and progressives, who worked so hard for him, to believe he was a progressive, too. He pulled the wool over their eyes, but not mine. No Democrat has gotten my vote since I was hoodwinked by LBJ in 1964. Obama and Biden won't change that! Vote Nader or McKinney in 2008! If McCain wins, take consolation in the demise of the Democratic Party as it is now constituted.
Peter Maranci: "Obama lost my vote with his FISA flip-flop; I could have taken a lot from him, but not a flat-out screwing of the Constitution."
Obama didn't screw the Constitution, Bush and Cheney did. Obama didn't even flip-flop, which is a term reserved for full-on policy reversals. Obama did go back on his pledge to filibuster, which was a tactical decision. A filibuster would have been a useless and distracting sideshow accomplishing little. Obama can much more effectively direct a reform of the FISA laws as president. I am tired of reading people who call his FISA moves a "betrayal" or "flip-flop" without having a clue what they're talking about.
Peter Maranci: "His VP pick merely confirms my belief that Obama is just more of the same..."
I will bet good money that you would have had this response had Obama picked any other VP running mate, other than Clinton. Am I right? Please, tell us all who it is Obama should have picked and why. You're all opinion, no substance.
Peter Maranci: "...another calculating and sleazy liar (like McCain himself, come to think of it)."
How does Obama's choice of running mate make him a "liar"? What's sleazy about it?
Peter Maranci: "This pick certainly does not bode well for the future of the Democratic Party."
Why do I get the feeling you don't care about the Democratic Party to begin with?
Peter Maranci: "Say Obama wins and gets two terms: Biden will be 70 when he runs for President!"
....which is younger than McCain is right now! Um, earth to Peter -- the VP slot doesn't automatically ensure a future presidential run. That's not what it's all about.
Peter Maranci: "I see no hope for this country."
Awww, snookums.
Peter Maranci: "We've let our future be sold to China and Russia, and face an increasingly bleak and hopeless 21st (and 22nd) century."
Yes, we all know.
Peter Maranci: "We needed an FDR; instead we're stuck with a pack of sleazy opportunists."
Who was the FDR you wanted? Hillary Clinton? Or some mythical super-candidate? You know, FDR didn't really prove himself until long after he had been president. So how do you know Obama won't be an FDR? You don't. You don't know jack.
Peter Maranci: "Obama lost my vote with his FISA flip-flop; I could have taken a lot from him, but not a flat-out screwing of the Constitution."
Obama didn't screw the Constitution, Bush and Cheney did. Obama didn't even flip-flop, which is a term reserved for full-on policy reversals. Obama did go back on his pledge to filibuster, which was a tactical decision. A filibuster would have been a useless and distracting sideshow accomplishing little. Obama can much more effectively direct a reform of the FISA laws as president. I am tired of reading people who call his FISA moves a "betrayal" or "flip-flop" without having a clue what they're talking about.
No, he just screwed the supporters who thought that this was a rather important issue on which to say to Bush/Cheney once and for all: No more. Instead, his actions said, what else do you want before you leave office? Call it what you will (I prefer either "capitulation" or "sell-out"), but his decision to vote for FISA with the understanding (totally unstated but certainly imagined by Obama's supporters) that he'll keep things under control -- just trust me -- once elected president is a leap of faith at best. You are what you do, and when push came to shove, Obama stood with Bush/Cheney and the Fascist Right. Remember, he didn't vote no in a losing effort; he voted yes.
Flip-flop? Maybe not. Change? Definitely not.
Joe Biden will probably do for Barack Obama what Lyndon Johnson did for JFK. Biden brings age and experience to balance Obama's youth and charisma. As presiding officer of the Senate, Biden would know where all the bodies are buried, know how to twist arms, and could help Obama get his legislative program passed. Meanwhile, Biden should have a broad appeal to blue collar workers during this campaign, and be a very effective attack dog who would enable Obama to maintain the high ground. Hillary and Gore would both have been great choices, but either one of them might have overpowered Obama. With Biden, there is no doubt that Obama will be in charge and calling the shots. As to social issues -- like abortion and gay rights -- it's hard to find two more liberal national figures than Obama and Biden.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
