It is becoming increasingly evident that the progressive wing of the Democratic Party should do something bigger besides making sure that Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman get thrown out of office ASAP — they should primary Obama in 2012. Not that a primary candidate would win. But Obama has to be scared into growing a spine. He has to be reminded who voted for him (the minute he walked into the White House, he acted as if the 13 million email addresses of his young supporters did not exist).
FDR had a spine. LBJ had a spine. Obama does not, even though he has done more good than Bill Clinton ever did. By 2014, the health insurance industry will not be able to kick out people with a pre-existing condition, although it may be too late to save my friend's brother who was diagnosed with terminal cancer this year. But this one little thing in the health care reform bill will actually save lives. (Of course, the bad Obama things go on forever, from not closing Guantanamo to the Afghan war where Obama is backing corrupt opium warlords against non-corrupt religious wingnuts because of some asshole Petraeus COIN theory, instead of getting the hell out.)
However, in the health care reform debate, Obama did not fight for the public option. He kept mentioning that he favors it to keep the industry “honest,” but when push came to shove on that issue, he and Rahm were MIA. Obama only ever fights when he knows he's got the votes. He NEVER fights when he thinks he's going to lose.
He thinks losing for a principle will make him look bad or weak. That is not what leadership is about. That's not what change is about. That's what cowardice is all about.
In this latest political brouhaha, the White House and Obama have established their credentials of cowardice for all to see.
Which is ironic, in view of the fact that Obama is the best president we could possibly have now, even though he is hobbled by a GOP who held up unemployment insurance because they think it encourages people to stop looking for work. This makes it all the more of a pity that Obama kowtows to the likes of Breitbart, Glenn Beck, and Faux News. If you're going to be a coward, you should at least choose worthier boogiemen.
6. The Problem Is Not Just Obama, It's You and Me
It's not just Obama who's the problem. It's you and me and the people next door. We've been taking it up the posterior from Big Oil and Big Pharma and Big Agribusiness and Wall Street, all of them subsidized by our tax dollars. They love big government when it is subsidizing them. But when middle class or poor people need a cut of the pie, suddenly government is “intruding on our lives” and our wonderful “free market” is being “regulated” to death. We all know what the “free market” is: it's the rigged market where the casino capitalists of Wall Street can make 40% of corporate profits in one year and small businesses die like flies and subsidized big business exports all our jobs to slave labor outfits in other countries.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Andy
Obama is weak. He let's an eighth grader turned governor Jan Brewer of Arizona boss him around on immigration like he works for her and what does he do when she demands to meet with him while in DC? He to her demands and is summoned at once, same with the troops on the border they keep on setting the bar higher and Mr. Obama's response is how high. Pathetic.
2 - Bill B
Nice article. Can't argue with much
As far as the Sherrod thing goes this administration has no confidence in itself otherwise it would be comfortable in doing due diligence before acting and let the critics, half baked and otherwise, be damned.
Ironically this might be worse than if Sherrod had been harboring those racist views in the present; They could've played it off as a rogue hire. Instead there's no hiding from their rush to judgement where they look like buffoons.
Gibbs can try to share the blame with the media and punditocracy but in the end it was their call and they blew it...bigtime.
3 - Dave Nalle
Glad someone wrote on this. Breitbart really screwed the pooch and it's nice that so many conservative commentators, including many on Fox news have called him on it.
BTW, the Tea Party has been "purging" racists since they first started showing up over 2 years ago, but no one started paying attention until recently. It started with barring the Larouche people from most tea party activities and recently extended to some hypersensitivity about vaguely racially colored remarks from tea party organizers.
If you search on YouTube there are some great videos of neo nazis being harassed and outed at Tea Party rallies. There are now these guys with signs that say things like "Democrat Shill" who hold them up behind the KKK/Nazi/Skinhead types. Hilarious.
Dave
4 - Dan
umm, exactly what has Breitbart done besides expose a black racist who was screwing over white farmers 24 years ago.
I hope they don't re-assign her to Obama care death panels.
5 - handyguy
I love Adam's article, even though, or maybe because, it goes way over the top multiple times.
The Sherrod case is riveting. She's a great and eloquent woman and I hope we'll be hearing a lot more from her.
[Despicable snake Dick Morris predicted tonight on O'Reilly that her real racist history will reveal itself in coming days. He is even worse than Breitbart, quite a feat.]
The Obama administration does indeed often come across as cautious to the point of timidity. But keep in mind that they are facing a potentially disastrous midterm election, along with a a loud Chorus of No from the GOP in Congress.
The reason for the debacle, if it happens, will be the unemployment rate. From the left, Paul Krugman and others blame this on too little stimulus -- while on the right the $800 billion stimulus bill is derided as a gigantic folly.
But the stimulus bill, the healthcare bill, the just-passed financial reforms, and the still-possible energy bill are really rather amazing accomplishments. Yes, they are all patchworks of compromises, as virtually all legislation is, but they are historic, not small, and certainly not timid.
I mean, look how thoroughly they horrify libertarians.
6 - handyguy
Perhaps Dan intends to be funny. If so, try harder, employing actual wit next time. If not, possibly actually watch the tape.
Mrs. Sherrod gave a beautiful and moving speech about becoming enlightened, about how she moved beyond the racial resentment she had developed growing up in the Jim Crow south, where her father was murdered by a white farmer and the Klan burned a cross on her family's lawn.
And she didn't "screw" the white farmer she was assigned to help. That farmer even today credits her with saving him from losing his farm.
We can only hope you are someday enlightened to move beyond your constant stream of vitriolic, unpleasant comments, often involving gays or racial minorities. I am not holding my breath.
7 - Doug Hunter
"I mean, look how thoroughly they horrify libertarians."
True, I find little 'amazing' about government power grabs and transforming our children into debt slaves. I would say to each his own, but your ideology doesn't allow that. I must be a slave in your worldview, in mine you are free. That's the difference between us.
8 - Dan
you should try to be more observant handyguy and find some enlightenment yourself. Mrs. Sherrod revealed her ugly tale of racism that was received by NAACP members with laughter and cheers. They weren't cheering redemption (which was in the original Breitbart clip by the way), they were cheering discrimination.
There is no telling how many white farmers were screwed over before Mrs. Sherrod overcome here racist inclinations.
If a white guy had said these things.... good God. So much for blacks not being capable of racism because they're not in positions of power. This was 24 years ago!
I'm happy she came around, but she should never have been in that position in the first place.
Still, screwing white farmers over financially is better than what they get in Zimbabwea, and now South Africa.
Breitbart is a hero for exposing liberals for what they are. Lies told about him only make him more powerfull.
9 - Dan
I love the digital electronic age. Now that the journolist scandal has been exposed, we now know that leftists conspire to conceal racial stories damaging to their god, Obama, and with extraordinary malice, falsely shrieks about racism on the right where there isn't any.
In their astounding stupidity, they haven't even understood how Breitbart got to them this time. Hint: the exposure is really about the NAACP not Sherrod.
10 - Bill B
Funny how people see things differently.
Dan see's cheers and laughing in support of racism and I see people relating to her percieved 'predicament' - ie having witnessed/experienced so much discrimination themselves they saw the albeit (no pun intended) dark humor of her deliberating how much help she was going to give this white farmer she also perceived (rightly or wrongly) as doing backflips to show his superiority.
Maybe the reaction was in bad taste but an absolute leap to say it endorsed racism.
According to her story she had her 'conversion' right then and there and helped that very same family. Should be noted she was working for a private group at the time.
If a white did such things and experienced the same conversion I'd pat him on the back.
Breitbart moved the goal posts when he realized he was busted and just like you twisted the reaction of the audience to suit your agenda.
11 - Bill B
Yea right - this is what Breitbart wanted all along - to post a correction on his website, have one posted on the video and be the scorn of everyone left of Attila The Hun! Yea - keep telling yourself that.
He's seriously damaged his chances of being taken seriously. Although with our msm he'll probably slither back in soon enough.
12 - Dan
Nice try Bill B. The correction posted is only to correct the fact that the tendancy for discrimination that Mrs. Sherrod finally overcame happened before She was Federally employed.
Breitbart has full integrity intact.
I think maybe the reason we see things differently is because I would like to hold blacks to the same standards as everyone else. You know, like equality. It's really uncomfortable to pretend that blacks who have been getting institutional preference for--in many cases-- their entire lives should be justified for the "dark humor" they see in the rank hatred for white men.
13 - Jordan Richardson
Breitbart has full integrity intact.
On what planet?
14 - Jay
Do you have a picture of one of these racist Tea Party signs? I have heard all about them but have yet to see one.
15 - TJ
Breitbart was obviously too brilliant for poor Adam...uhhh, Adam, the point was to show NAACP members clapping when Ms Sherrod claimed to have discriminated against whitey. This had nothing to do with Sherrod and everything to do with the reaction by NAACP members in the audience.
I guess that was a bit too subtle for you. I'll ask Mr Breitbart to spell it out for you next time....if you still have a free column here on ....where are we? BC bloggers or some such "infantile musings website" established by some kid in his mom's basement?
16 - TJ
Bill B, thanks you for your ringing endorsement of racism when practiced by "the right people".
17 - Dan
So just to be clear on this. Breitbart posted the redemption portion along with the racial discrimination portion from the outset. The news media including Fox so far, along with Adam here are inaccurate.
That's not to say Breitbart posted the entire speech, which included more redeeming material (good stuff to an audience that obviously could use it) but enough to put Mrs. Sherrod in a more sympathetic light and still capture the obvious racism of the intended target group.
18 - Jordan Richardson
So basically, Breitbart was using bait?
Btw TJ, love the shirts. I especially like the ones that have half of Jesus crying. Very moving, especially in purple.
19 - Adam Ash
Hey, you Breitbart defenders.
Faux News has been running a GOP playbook -- "white people, here's how black people are taking what is yours" -- since its inception, using "evidence" sucked out of Breitbart's and other political operatives' fraudulent butts. They're trying to convince worried white people like you that Civil Right workers, Obama, etc are the real racists, and scared white people like you are more noble than Civil Rights workers. This BS started under Ronald Reagan, who demonized black "welfare queens" while he was giving our money to the rich and running up deficits doing so.
So you Breitbart defenders are dupes. You're suffering from Stockholm Syndrome (google it if you don't know what I'm talking about).
You're suckers. You're patsies. While we're burning and our elite is fiddling, you're complaining about the quality of the firewood.
Enjoy being screwed by Breitbart. You and him deserve each other. But know this: he's screwing you. You're his victims.
I hope for the sake of your souls, that one day you might experience the same redemption that Shirley Sherrod talked about. Until then, rave on. You're welcome. You're shrinking. You peaked around 2005, and it's been a downslide since then.
To paraphrase FDR, I welcome your hatred. I welcome your vicrtimhood. I welcome your suckered existence. Please don't leave. You're always good for a laugh. Thank you.
Adam Ash
20 - zingzing
if anyone thinks sherrod was talking about being racist, they seriously need to get an education in english. you can get credit to your race by going to the school of your choice. they'll insert it into your ass.
21 - Bill B
As always conservatives just don't do very well with nuance.
Although this is actually a good ways away from nuance.
22 - paulycy
In the tape Sherrod clearly states "It's still about black and white but..." as the audience agrees. No amount of vitriolic spin can change the fact that she remains a racist today. Sharrod simply added marxism to her racial bigotry, making her - by choice - an even worse person unworthy of public service.
23 - jeannie danna
President Obama and his administration proved this author wrong. So...kudos to OBAMA!
The only weakness that I see is the conservatives unwillingness to move to a green environment were everyone would prosper.
24 - Baronius
I'm a huge fan of Breitbart. But he messed up on this one. I hope that the Left learned a lesson about taking things out of context to make them sound racist, though.
25 - Bill B
re # 24 - that knife cuts both ways but a lesson for *ALL* for sure. Too many freakin' lessons...
=========================
On another front I have to wonder if the tea party *establishment* would've distanced themselves from Mark Williams had the NAACP not beefed about his idiotic screed.
Much of this is about them calling him, and the tea party out for harboring/not distancing themselves from racist elements.
You can rant all you want about plants in the gatherings or more significantly whether the % of racists in the TP movement is anymore than the republican/conservative movements themselves, but the bottom line is to be taken seriously on a national stage they must purge those elements, preferably not while being dragged kicking and screaming that they've been so horribly wronged in the process.
Wouldn't be enough to do it for me as there are other factors about the movement that wreak like hell but that's another story.