Site Presented By
Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Delete.
Discreet. heh. okay.
Check out this highly recommended diary at Kos, which tries to argue in favour of the proposition that appointments don't matter by equating obama to a mafia don. It doesn't get more "interesting" (As Glenn puts it) than that in terms of rationalizing/justifying obama's picks.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/12/8/101026/695/605/670633
But yeah, Obama appointing someone he previously voted against confirming should really put this sort of thing over the top, the shark and the moon all at once.
must first pass through the political center in order to have a chance at succeeding, given that the country has been taken to the far right extreme over the past few decades and can only be "nudged" back to the left via the center, and that Obama realizes this and it's why he's making all of these center-right appointments, even if all of this is true, it in no way removes the need for the left to apply pressure to Obama to actually implement a progressive agenda, and to keep a watchful eye on him as he starts governing and making and implementing policy. If he's sincere, we need to make sure that he stays sincere, and if he's insincere, then we need to pressure him to cut the crap. This was never merely about electing a "progressive", but about electing someone who will implement progressive policies. If that is what Obama intends to do, and this is how he intends to do it, then so be it. But we don't KNOW that at this point. And even if it is his strategy, that doesn't mean that it'll work, or that he'll stick to it sincerely. Power has a way of corrupting even the most well-intentioned people. Just as Wall St. and Main St. need oversight, so does a president. Ours is a democratic republic.
The Hayden thing has gotta be someone in the intelligence community floating that. I can't see why - would that really ever happen? That would be absolutely rediculous in light of Obama's speech on the floor and forcing out Brennan.
I am worried about the "cabinet members don't count" meme going around though. I am reading Globalization and its Discontents by Joseph Stiglitz right now, and he describes a few episodes where Summers and Rubin and that crowd were not only wrong but comically (or chillingly) so, while also laying out just how much power the Treasury has, and even more so now with the TARP program. With Geithner making disparaging remarks about Bair, who has been a staunch ally of homeowners, I'm worried about the economic team. I hope that despite people's hope for Obama, the mantra becomes "trust but verify" not "cheerlead". That was fine in the general election maybe, but there is a wholesale shift in attitude that needs to take place now that we're through to the transition.
The CIA has been damaged terribly by the Bush administration. Obama has to replace Hayden to restore confidence among the rank and file, people like Valerie Plame. They are truly our best and brightest, and deserve better than Hayden.
If competence were above ideology we would not have political parties I suppose.
Glenn: The most egregious sentence by Hildebrand is his statement "After all, he was elected to be the president of all the people - not just those on the left." It is hard to conceive of a more blithely meaningless statement. Or, to give it meaning, does it mean Obama must represent the viewpoint of every American regardless of the positions he enunciated during the campaign.
Lincoln was elected after he promised to end the expansion of slavery in our country. Once in office he didn’t suggest he had to take into account the views of others who sought to expand slavery into the territories and modify his own stand. He stuck by his promise. In his cabinet were people who agreed with his core premise.
If Hildebrand is suggesting that Obama must include in his cabinet people who believe torture is all right under exceptional circumstances, as Hayden, then Obama will be another Bush.. It would be as if Lincoln decided to let Jefferson Davis run the War Department on the premise that he represents all the people.
The most ominous aspect of Hildebrand’s article is the suggestion that it is not right to criticize Obama even if one disagrees with him. Does this portend a future “enemies list.” I just pray Obama is what he represents himself to be but if he appoints Hayden, then were looking at four more years of secrecy and diminishment of our rights just as we saw under his predecessor.
I think that the Brennan story was a politically masterful manipulation. First, by appearing to cave to their demands, Team Obama gave credence to the "bloggers." Then they installed (maybe) an even worse choice to the position. The bloggers are left to feel at once empowered and wondering if they should be careful what they wish for. Thinking of opposing Obama's supreme court choice? Well, your opposition may make a difference -- and lead to the appointment of a right wing ideologue.
It's a slapdown. One need be careful when criticizng this administration. They view those that oppose them on the left as worse than a nuisance.
Just watch. Now if it turns out that Hayden is withdrawn (or withdraws himself) it will be another "assassination" by the "left wing blogosphere."
And all GG did was point out the printed record.
What else is there to say?
Obama has certainly continued his lurch to the right he began (more or less) with his odious FISA vote.
Maybe he really DID have sex and crack with that idiot in a limo...and they're holding that over his head. Who the hell knows? Not me.
Sorry, but you need to change your name, because it's going to lead to all sorts of inevitable confusion on the part of uncareful readers.
Progressives and Liberals, thank you for your votes and your faith in "Change that we can Believe In!", but you see, know things have changed and we don't need your votes, your opinions, your advice or your support. Now shut up and go away. We will be calling on you for the next time we need your votes.
Thank youfor your support.
Really.
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
