Over $780 billion in corporate welfare, Obama increased the amount of our tax revenue that goes to churches, he increased the military budget by $40 billion, he is against equal rights for gays/lesbians, he supports new coal plants in Illinois, he increased the covert war in Pakistan via the cia, etc.

Obama is not a socialist, he is not a liberal, he is not even a "centerist".

What happened to the socialist party that used to actually fight back?

in the broad 'wisdom' of the 'marketplace of ideas' they call the United States (that invisible hand again ... stirring the ideological pot... and throwing out many ingredients!) socialism would never get discussed in polite society.

Thank god for Republicans. Because their fears overwhelm their thinking processes. And they see that socialism, indeed, lurks behind events. Because if Obama can't handle this situation, what do you think is ... next?

A real socialist, with a socialistic agenda and goals, says that Obama is not a socialist.

Then again, he may just not want to upset the potato cart.

Si se peude!

Anyone who has any sort of interest, professional or otherwise, in economic theory has already realized Obama isn't a Socialist of any stripe. Apparently, since the fall of Communism, red scare tactics no longer have the same rhetorical power they once had. Therefore, poor conservatives are forced to create new paradigms of anti-Capitalist rhetoric in order to whip up populist anger. Unfortunately our new generation isn't nearly as inventive as their antecedents and have merely substituted "Socialist" for "Commie bastard" but kept the same propagandism in place. Rather sad actually.

Now they compare him to Lenin and Stalin.

Soon, they'll be saying that he's a Killer Clown from Mars.

The Right has to hate someone. If only they'd read "1984," they'd recognize their need for an enemy.

then maybe in a decade the distinctions between genuine socialist or part socialist governments/nations, say most of the european countries, might be attempted as some sort of graduate level discourse ...

I doubt we can ever disentangle the "political" from the "economic" ... and the once burning distinctions between Marx and Engel, Trotsky, Stalin, Bakunin, Mao, Castro (and a number of others) have been lost to the "sands of time", forgotten forever in the Good-old-USA ... that Reaganesque junk heap of history ...

(Marcuse and the Frankfurt School, however, is enjoying something of a oldies-but-goodies revival)

--sonofloud, I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but opposing gay rights and supporting coal have absolutely nothing to do with socialism. However, extravagant defense spending does (what do you think brought down the Soviet Union?).

We are in for global financial stagnation and the probability of double-digit unemployment is high by the end of this year with Pluto in Capricorn and Saturn in Virgo. This Pluto in Capricorn transit will last 15 years. Gone are the days of irresponsiblity and reckless/out of control spending. We're now doing a "180" and anyone caught for any wrong-doing on a large scale will be responsible and accountable for what they've done. The NASDAQ Ponzi is the first of more to come. Our entire system is broken and great "change" is upon us whether we like it or not. Bottom line is we will not be going back to the old ways of doing things. Barack Obama will experience nothing but resistance and blocks during 2009; however, he will begin making headway in March 2010 after the Mars Retrograde. 2009 is an "11" year in Numerology and is linked to great upheaval and chaos.

I had to go to Wikipedia to find the link ... there are several (I'd guess about 5) different American Socialist organnizations vying to "voice of the people" status.

I checked out dozens of sites last fall ... communist, socialist, green, anarchist ... there are many different flavors ...

I was going to "chide" Salon for not providing the link, but suspect it was just laziness (link did not appear with the editorial) rather than cowardice ...

Liberals generally support equal rights for gays/lesbians and are generally against coal pollution which is what I wrote.

Socialists and analysts the world over can publish articles shooting holes all through the Republican talking points and it wouldn't make a lick of difference.

Nobody has gotten rich talking to the American public as if they were adults able to think for themselves. This is basically the Republican's whole strategy. It's discusting and insulting, but it works.

What're you gonna do?

"What happened to the socialist party that used to actually fight back?"-- sonofloud

There is has never has been a Socialist party. Is there a capitalist party? Socialsm is an economic philosophy, not at political philosophy or party.

Most people putting forth this socialist argument have no idea what it really means.

A. I was joking.

B. I was joking to make a point. Socialism is an economic theory. It actually is the opposite of true liberalism (i.e. open markets) and really, truly has nothing to do with the environment or gay rights or whatever. It has to do with the organization of the means of production.

C. Even "liberal" and "centrist" are misused terms. Classic liberalism refers specifically to capitalism. Neoliberalism also refers specifically to so-called free market capitalism. However, when used to describe Democrats, it is supposedly about being an gay-loving, pro-abortion, environmentalist. (I am all three and I am not a "liberal"). Very few, if any, members of Congress are not capitalists. Some may be more Keynesian that others, but all are capitalists (liberals).

Actually, Marx wrote to liberate women from the slavery of the family. Gay rights are actually an extension of that viewpoint. You will notice the same people against women's rights are also against gay rights. I do not recall if there is anything specific by Marx, but in the writings of some Marxist women, like Kollentai, there is.

Many women played prominent roles in the socialist and communist movements, long before they did in the bourgeois parties. The ERA was passed in 1918 in Bolshevik Russia. Women in the army, women in power, women voting, women working, babies in daycare -- all happened there long before they happened in the 'west.'

Marx and Engels both pointed out that environmental destruction was caused by capitalist accumulation, which had no regard for sustainability, only profits and immediate use value. John Bellamy Foster recently wrote a whole book on this, "Marx and Ecology."