Paul Krugman says what everybody already knows
I like Paul Krugman, a lot. But his column today strikes me as a recap of what everybody (or almost everybody) has already figured out: Obama is Bush III, and the only progressives who still trust him are the ones with the indelible kool-aid moustaches.
Obama has been a disappointment since he got in office. Well, not a disappointment to those of us on the left who had already sized him up; but to the progressives who voted for him and believed, however, briefly, that the Pepsi commerical was really gonna come true, he’s a letdown. Krugman recaps some of that in his column:
A backlash in the progressive base — which pushed President Obama over the top in the Democratic primary and played a major role in his general election victory — has been building for months. The fight over the public option involves real policy substance, but it’s also a proxy for broader questions about the president’s priorities and overall approach…
Meanwhile, on such fraught questions as torture and indefinite detention, the president has dismayed progressives with his reluctance to challenge or change Bush administration policy.
And then there’s the matter of the banks.
I don’t know if administration officials realize just how much damage they’ve done themselves with their kid-gloves treatment of the financial industry, just how badly the spectacle of government supported institutions paying giant bonuses is playing. But I’ve had many conversations with people who voted for Mr. Obama, yet dismiss the stimulus as a total waste of money. When I press them, it turns out that they’re really angry about the bailouts rather than the stimulus — but that’s a distinction lost on most voters.
Back in May I did a quick rundown of Obama’s major betrayals up to that point, and I really need to do an update. There’s so much, I lose track. Afghanistan, Blackwater contracts, the Justice Department-DOMA clusterfuck, anti-contraception godbags appointed to Health and Human Services, the appalling Cairo speech (which bravely asserted women’s fundamental right to wear the headscarves that they have to wear so men don’t throw acid on them), and on and on. Just this past week, Obama played footsie with the “faith community” and vowed that public health wouldn’t pay for abortions. I’m surprised he doesn’t just buy a pig farm in Crawford and start clearing brush.
The only people who still believe are the believers, that hard-core 20% or so who never give up. Remember how there was always a rump group of Republican voters who continued to believe that Bush was President Jesus, no matter what? We have those on the left, too; they’re the hardcore Obamabots. The two groups actually have a lot in common: pseudo-religious fervor, resistance to what the rest of us call “reality,” and a taste for really bad art:
That reminds me: did anybody ever figure out what that B thing is in his hand?
29 Responses to “Paul Krugman says what everybody already knows”
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Swannie says:
In your update please include appointing 5 music industry insiders RIAA lawyers that go after kids who dowwnload music , and are trying to take corporate control of the online music industry , the way they have of terrestial radio . The RIAA lawyers Obama has appointed to the Justice Department include
Gershengorn, left, a partner with RIAA-firm Jenner & Block, represented the labels against Grokster and will be in charge of the DOJ Federal Programs Branch. That’s the unit that just told a federal judge the Obama administration supports monetary damages as high as $150,000 per purloined music track on a peer-to-peer file sharing program.
In addition to Gershengorn, the other Jenner & Block attorneys appointed to the Justice Department include:
Donald Verrilli, associate deputy attorney general — the No. 3 in the DOJ, who unsuccessfully urged a federal judge to uphold the $222,000 file sharing verdict against Jammie Thomas.
Tom Perrilli, as Verrilli’s former boss, the Justice Department’s No. 2 argued in 2002 that internet service providers should release customer information to the RIAA even without a court subpoena.
Brian Hauck, counsel to associate attorney general, worked on the Grokster case on behalf of the record labels.
Ginger Anders, assistant to the solicitor general, litigated on the Cablevision case.
This should have alerted any of “the kool kids” that voted for him that he didn’t care about them the way he said he did durimg his campiagn …but that Kool Aid is some powerful stuff .. then again the media did not exactly shout this from the rooftops as an issue ..
August 21st, 2009 at 6:36 pm EST -
Swannie says:
And I truly believe those hard core believers have a chronic case of cognitive dissonance …. the ” do you believe me or your lying eyes?” kind of thing …
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propertius says:
Maybe the B-thingie is the Presidential ™ Barackberry ™.
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paper doll says:
The two groups actually have a lot in common: pseudo-religious fervor, resistance to what the rest of us call “reality,” and a taste for really bad art:
Believing the unbelievable is how these folks prove their loyalty and themselves. It’s delusional machismo and it’s really not about the object of their fealty at all. So what the object ” does” can be cheery picked from what they actual do etc. In short, it’s about the believers themselves of course. Obots saw themselves in Obama and giving that homage to him was giving it to themselves. That would explain the screams that erupted if someone meekly asked, “but what has he done? ” You were giving their id a bruise by reminding them they were not him. imo
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Not Your sweetie says:
I don’t thing there’s a “B” thing in his hand. It looks like the McDonald’s logo.
As for Krugman - while you’re right, it’s merely a recap, I am glad he’s back from the plantation where he spent most of the summer. -
yttik says:
Maybe that thing in his hand with a B on it is his birth certificate?? I bet no one thought to look in the river.
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Violet says:
As for Krugman - while you’re right, it’s merely a recap, I am glad he’s back from the plantation where he spent most of the summer.
The voodoo mind control the White House had going on him for awhile there seems to be wearing off.
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lalala says:
I looked up the artist to see what I could find. He has a blog and someone commented that she loved the “big B belt buckle” so maybe that’s what it is. http://lukasketner.blogspot.co.....2500973065
I thought it was O’s first initial engraved on a bar of soap which would explain why he’s so clean that he glistens in the sun. -
lalala says:
Never mind. Apparently the artist’s blog posts another version of painting. In that one he’s not holding anything in his right hand and is in fact wearing a B belt buckle.
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propertius says:
“Never mind. Apparently the artist’s blog posts another version of painting. In that one he’s not holding anything in his right hand and is in fact wearing a B belt buckle.”
Doubtless to compliment the big “S” on his chest, because “BS” is what he’s all about.
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sister of ye says:
Maybe the B stands for Pres. Bodice-ripper. That’s the only other place I’ve seen illustrations like that. Interesting that the only other living creature in the pic is a unicorn positioned behind him.
Though that shirt collar reminds of an illustration from a board game popular in my long-ago childhood called Mystery Date. One of the possibilities had that turned up, unkempt collar. It was the one labeled “dud.”
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Joan says:
She did so well with the roses, unicorn and heavenly ray but she went so wrong with that whatever-the-heck that is in his hand. She should have just gone with a Hopium pipe, with smoke tendrils. Fits the overall theme, I think.
I don’t remember seeing that W “art” before. Sweet Jesus, that is nauseating.
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Sasha, CA says:
Believe me, I look forward to the day where the only people on the left who still believe in Obama are the hardcore 20% of true believers, but unfortunately we’re nowhere near there. According to yesterday’s big Washington Post/ABC News poll, 82% of Democrats and 78% of liberals are still confident that Obama will make the right decisions for the country. And this poll was conducted after the latest round of disappointments; before that 90% of Democrats and liberals believed in Obama making the right decisions. I know people who are really pissed off about the way the Obama administration has handled everything from the Wall Street bailout and DOMA to Afghanistan and Iraq, and yet their overall perception of Obama himself continues to be generally positive. Despite all evidence to the contrary, they still think of him as a basically decent guy who’s trying to do the right thing. There’s a real disconnect there. It’s pretty amazing.
Meanwhile the Dems are totally losing the PR war on health care reform, which is hardly surprising since they’re not even fighting it. They’ve been letting the lunatics on the right control the message, so it probably won’t come as a shock that only 19% of Americans now believe that changes to the system would improve the quality of their care or reduce their costs. Particularly troubling: A couple of months ago, nearly two-thirds of Americans favored a public option; now it’s down to just 52%, with 46% opposed. Clearly the Dems have been doing a spectacular job educating people about health care reform.
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NomNomNom says:
The B thing is the receiver to Bob Stevens’ remote.
This isn’t exactly a space alpaca but it is a rare white American bison that could use some help because the animal rescue agency that keeps her has gone bankrupt. Many very unusual occurrences at the rescue agency are related as well as links to help.
http://www.indiancountrytoday......35767.html -
teresainpa says:
look Obama’s pic has Jesus beams. Even bush doesn’t have Jesus beams. bush’s pic has two former president with really short and deformed looking arms.
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Lessons, Losing, and Learning Curves « Blue Lyon says:
[...] Violet Socks: Back in May I did a quick rundown of Obama’s major betrayals up to that point, and I really need to do an update. There’s so much, I lose track. Afghanistan, Blackwater contracts, the Justice Department-DOMA clusterfuck, anti-contraception godbags appointed to Health and Human Services, the appalling Cairo speech (which bravely asserted women’s fundamental right to wear the headscarves that they have to wear so men don’t throw acid on them), and on and on. Just this past week, Obama played footsie with the “faith community” and vowed that public health wouldn’t pay for abortions. I’m surprised he doesn’t just buy a pig farm in Crawford and start clearing brush. [...]
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Nina M. says:
OMG, people. The “B” thing is obvious -
Its a “B” (for Barack) belt buckle. Albeit awkwardly rendered, he’s disrobing - he’s dropping trou.
Why he needs his pants off, i don’t care to speculate.
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Swannie says:
See..always the wishful thinker here……. I was HOPING he was putting his pants ON before he gets out of the water …what does the B stand for ..am not speculating …….
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Briar says:
I agree with Propertius - it’s his precious Blackberry. The essential accessory which has endeared him to just about every tech-savvy nethead in the democrat party and beyond. He’s *so* like them!
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Ted Stryker says:
@1 The bad part isn’t necessarily that these lawyers were on the side of big business — a lawyer’s job is, after all, to do the best they can to represent their client. The bad part is that some of the lawyers on that list did things that should have brought disbarment. The only thing worse would be to put a tax cheat in as SecTreas…
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SYD says:
OMG! If he is disrobing I am outta here….
Ewwwwww….
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monchichipox says:
It’s finally time. I’m an avid reader of alternate history fiction. I’ve wanted to start a blog for a while but figured I’m just not that interesting enough. So my blog will be complete fiction. An alternate history, written day by day, crisis by crisis, on what I think a Hillary presidency would be doing right now. I’m appointing her cabinet as I speak.
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JLawson says:
monchichipox -
Please try to not have it read like a Tom Clancy novel, okay? I’ve been feeling like I’ve been in one since 9/11 - and the bad guys just keep outmanuevering everyone while Jack Ryan’s somewhere under a bridge with a bottle of MD-2020 after having been fired from the CIA for using a comma instead of a dash in an official requisition for three reams of paper and a box of pencils.
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SweetSue says:
I thought that, maybe, the B is the second initial as in LB for Light Bringer.
Yak. -
gxm17 says:
The vast majority of the obots have their identity so wrapped up in Obama’s post-racial propaganda script that they can’t disengage from the BS without a personality breakdown. Further, these folks are NOT liberals as politics and issues don’t seem to matter to them. What matters to them is that they elected a (half) black man.… And he’s soooooo dreamy!
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SarahG says:
The “B” is for “Bankruptcy.”
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glennmcgahee says:
Its not a ‘B’. Its an ‘M’ for Motorola. Thats the phone distributed for those pay as you go cell phones you get when you have no credit.
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propertius says:
Well, those Motorola “burners” are also used heavily by drug dealers. Maybe that explains it.
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purplefinn says:
The caption under the Bush 2 painting should read “Repent.”
