Obama's oblivion

[Héctor]

The easy view to adopt would be that we're back to normal, and Americans are just mental. Because the people leading the hatred of Obama are characters such as Glenn Beck, spokesman for the Tea Party. Beck hosts a TV show in which during the last 18 months he's likened Obama to Hitler 349 times.

Every night he must tell viewers that Hitler started out with a healthcare plan, then things spun out of control so he invaded France. But Beck has also said: "Obama has deep-seated hatred for white people and white culture." So that proves the likeness between him and Hitler, because there's nothing which annoyed the Führer more than white people. Adolf 'Black Power' Hitler they called him. At rally after rally he'd thump his fist on a table and yell: "People of Germany, we have let whitey keep us in the ghetto for too long. We must rise up brothers and sisters, and insist Nuremberg is a city where black is beautiful, hallelujah."

But they don't need logic, they just call him whatever they fancy for that day. So he's a fascist, a communist and an Islamic terrorist. Next they'll say he's a radical feminist and a supporter of Josef Fritzl, a pacifist and a suicide bomber, a virgin and a rent boy. Fox News will say: "An expert on reincarnation has revealed that in a previous life President Obama was almost certainly a huge spider. And most damaging of all for the President he was a hairy red-kneed spider which is not found naturally in the US, but is native to Kenya, which could cast doubts over his legitimacy as President."

Then Republicans will appear in soft focus adverts in which they say: "Did you know President Obama has never denied he's planning to put the elderly on mountains naked in the night to see who survives, as part of a sacrifice to his father who's an evil spirit with the face of a wolf? If you care about your parents, vote Republican."

What angers the anti-Obama people, they say, is "government interference in everyday life", although they weren't so perturbed by the previous President's policy of invading places, which could, in certain circumstances, interfere with some people's everyday life. But the collapse in Obama's support can only partly be explained by the vitriol of the Tea Party. Few people seem to have switched from Obama to the Republicans. But most of those who supported him have lost the enthusiasm that brought him to power. This is probably because so much of the change he promised has been abandoned almost without a fight.

Maybe he forgets he's the President. So he watches the news and says: "You know, it's time they shut down that Guantanamo Bay." Then if someone says: "Well do it then, you're the President," he says: "Oh don't be silly, no one's going to take any notice of little old me." It was the same with healthcare. He promised to introduce it, but the health companies objected so he backed down until the scheme was hardly any better than the old one. And the climate change proposals were lost as they were opposed by the oil companies. Because he was like a kindly neighbour knocking at the door of a house where there's a wild party in the middle of the night, saying: "Er excuse me, the carbon emissions, would it be possible for you to keep them down a bit?" The problem isn't just Obama's. It seems to be accepted that for any change to take place, big business has to be brought on board, even if the change is to stop big business swiping billions of dollars or damaging the planet. It's as if no one believed a government could ever bring in a law banning bank robbery, as you'd never get the bank robbers to agree with it.

But Obama could have listened to the health companies, then said: "That's all fascinating, but the thing is, I was elected President and you weren't, so piss off." Otherwise what's the point of having an election at all? What's frustrating is he had another weapon as well as being President. He had mass enthusiasm; he was able to mobilise it for the election, and he could still appeal to it if he seemed willing to take on his opponents. Which must be a better strategy than looking tragically confounded, muttering: "I'm not really Hitler, honest."

Mark Steel, Did Obama forget he's in charge?

[Nimrod]

Originally Posted by Héctor

What angers the anti-Obama people, they say, is "government interference in everyday life", although they weren't so perturbed by the previous President's policy of invading places, which could, in certain circumstances, interfere with some people's everyday life. But the collapse in Obama's support can only partly be explained by the vitriol of the Tea Party. Few people seem to have switched from Obama to the Republicans. But most of those who supported him have lost the enthusiasm that brought him to power. This is probably because so much of the change he promised has been abandoned almost without a fight.

Maybe he forgets he's the President. So he watches the news and says: "You know, it's time they shut down that Guantanamo Bay." Then if someone says: "Well do it then, you're the President," he says: "Oh don't be silly, no one's going to take any notice of little old me." It was the same with healthcare. He promised to introduce it, but the health companies objected so he backed down until the scheme was hardly any better than the old one. And the climate change proposals were lost as they were opposed by the oil companies. Because he was like a kindly neighbour knocking at the door of a house where there's a wild party in the middle of the night, saying: "Er excuse me, the carbon emissions, would it be possible for you to keep them down a bit?" The problem isn't just Obama's. It seems to be accepted that for any change to take place, big business has to be brought on board, even if the change is to stop big business swiping billions of dollars or damaging the planet. It's as if no one believed a government could ever bring in a law banning bank robbery, as you'd never get the bank robbers to agree with it.

But Obama could have listened to the health companies, then said: "That's all fascinating, but the thing is, I was elected President and you weren't, so piss off." Otherwise what's the point of having an election at all? What's frustrating is he had another weapon as well as being President. He had mass enthusiasm; he was able to mobilise it for the election, and he could still appeal to it if he seemed willing to take on his opponents. Which must be a better strategy than looking tragically confounded, muttering: "I'm not really Hitler, honest."

Mark Steel, Did Obama forget he's in charge?

It is too bad we only have two real parties to choose from. Both parties are too tied to special interests and lobbyists to consider the good of our nation first. I wonder what would happen if all candidates were only allowed to campaign on public television and public radio giving equal time to all candidates in proportion to their polling power (using an independent polling agency updated periodically). No private funds allowed for campaigns. Newspapers could publish candidates answers to important issues giving top 5 or 6 candidates a forum to express themselves, again in proportion to their public support (to minimize wasting space on the nut jobs). Just a thought.

[Héctor]

Originally Posted by Nimrod

It is too bad we only have two real parties to choose from. Both parties are too tied to special interests and lobbyists to consider the good of our nation first. I wonder what would happen if all candidates were only allowed to campaign on public television and public radio giving equal time to all candidates in proportion to their polling power (using an independent polling agency updated periodically). No private funds allowed for campaigns. Newspapers could publish candidates answers to important issues giving top 5 or 6 candidates a forum to express themselves, again in proportion to their public support (to minimize wasting space on the nut jobs). Just a thought.

"No Supreme Court decision in decades has generated such open hostilities among the three branches of our government as has the Court’s 5–4 decision in Citizens United v. FEC in January 2010. The five conservative justices, on their own initiative, at the request of no party to the suit, declared that corporations and unions have a constitutional right to spend as much as they wish on television election commercials specifically supporting or targeting particular candidates. President Obama immediately denounced the decision as a catastrophe for American democracy and then, in a highly unusual act, repeated his denunciation in his State of the Union address with six of the justices sitting before him.

“With all due deference to separation of powers,” he said, “last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests—including foreign corporations—to spend without limit in our elections.” As he spoke one of the conservative justices, Samuel Alito, in an obvious breach of decorum, mouthed a denial, and a short time later Chief Justice John Roberts publicly chastised the President for expressing that opinion on that occasion. The White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, then explained Obama’s remarks: “The President has long been committed to reducing the undue influence of special interests and their lobbyists over government. That is why he spoke out to condemn the decision and is working with Congress on a legislative response.” Democrats in Congress have indeed called for a constitutional amendment to repeal the decision and several of them, more realistically, have proposed statutes to mitigate its damage..."


Ronald Dworkin, The Decision That Threatens Democracy

[Chi_town/Philly]

Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech (emphasis mine), or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. U.S. Constitution- Amendment 1

(It's a fundamental a principle as it gets...)

The American people have sent an unmistakable message to [the President]...
and that message is: "change course." Future House Speaker John Boehner

[Héctor]

Originally Posted by Chi_town/Philly

(It's a fundamental a principle as it gets...)

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act"]USA PATRIOT Act[/ame]