MB Civic

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 at 12:33 PM and filed under Philosophy, Politics. Follow comments here with the RSS 2.0 feed. Skip to the end and leave a response. Trackbacks are closed.

One Response to “Drew Westen: Leadership, Obama Style, and the Looming Losses in 2010: Pretty Speeches, Compromised Values, and the Quest for the Lowest Common Denominator”

1. alan said:

   the sadness of this historic event, a black man elected to the highest political office in america, is that the foreplay was fabulous; we all wanted to hitch our political wagon to this savvy guy with the bold promises. unfortunately, there is no ‘happy endings’ in the foreseeable future.
   i feel duped. i came to the party and left early.
   i have now read saul alinsky’s rules for radicals, particularly how he provides instructions for community organizers; sound familiar.
   i then reached into the labyrinth of my memory and made a mental list of all of president o’s associations…not good.
   and then when i put alinsky together with the guys he hung out with and the guys he has surrounded himself with in the white house, it is easy to understand why our president prefers air force one to being in the oval office; he doesnt want to get his hands dirty.
   so he has lost his power, potentially the most power any president has ever had coming into office.
   and rather than establishing himself as the leader, he has elevated speaker pelosi and reid to the highest level of authority; and they jumped at it and its now one of the biggest clusterf**ks in american history.
   almost every decision has been either thwarted or has simply disappeared and has left a trail of disappointment and defeat.
   the olympics..he never should have gone to copenhagen without a deal in place.
   global warming…he never should have gone to copenhagen without a deal in place.
   the nobel prize…after yasser arafat and gore, why not. oh, i forgot jimmy carter..he got one too; cant remember why.
   guantanimo…he should have announced the disposition of these detainees at the same time because that was the question in everyone’s mind. that was weak.
   health care reform…i know with the cratering of cap and trade, he desperately needs this so he can add his first notch to his gun belt, but it’s such a lousy document that meets no ones needs other than big pharma and the insurance companies and is a slap in the face of the 67% of all americans who have in poll after poll and in demonstration after demonstration screamed resoundingly nooooo!!!! even the ama and seiu have jumped ship. aarp loves it since they will likely become the biggest insurer in america. and those gigantic payoffs to the smart senators who knew how to play the game profitably, knowing obama was cornered and would pay anything to garner their support…using our money.
   my relatives in europe say the europeans are laughing at us and at him; just awful.
   his popularity numbers in israel went from the high 80’s to 6%.
   but how about us people, the folks who put him there, the folks who pay all the bills for all the folks we sent to dc. and as i recall, they are called representatives meaning they are supposed to represent us, not anyone or anything else.
   i remember the promise of transparency and no earmarks and no lobbyists in the white house…right!!!
   this president can save his presidency by doing what we men hate to do when we are wrong; say those three little words that heal and make it all right…i am sorry.
   if he walked up to the camera with no teleprompter and admitted he has screwed up big time and was now taking charge and was dumping the healthcare bill (courtesy of dr.dean that vermont doctor)and starting over with a clean slate, clean meaning no earmarks, no special interests, no pelosi no reid…just obama using his great brain and taking us back to what we know and love as great america.
   i would go the distance with him if he took this sharp turn and took charge and acted presidential.
   he (we) has discovered that even after all his goodwill trips abroad and his overtures to the world’s greastest despots, he still has not been able to get any business done; most of it is smoke and mirrors, like the recent copenhagen announcement which he got by literally chasing down china and a few other countries that decided to meet secretly without him; embarrassing to all of us.
   what has happened to our america, the greatest idea since paleo man stumbled across the plains?
   what are we leaving for our kids and their kids?
   how will we ever recover from this addiction to spending money we have to borrow from china?
   why cant we drill offshore our shores since we are financing others to do the same off their shores?
   why cant we drill in alaska and for upsetting a few moose, we get to offset in part the 700 billion we pay to countries who hate us. and they in turn, use our money to finance the terrorists who are killing us.
   why cant we maximize natural gas exploration for personal and industrial use?
   why cant we utilize our vast coal fields?
   if we could drill in alaska and offshore, promote natural gas and coal and start building nuclear generating plants, we could get off the oil teat and that in turn would allow our military to bring home 90% of our men and women who are there protecting “our vital interests” which translates into oil, not to mention giving their lives and limbs.
   and those oil producers’ revenue would be substantially degraded and perhaps they would think twice before sharing it with the bad guys.
   my fellow americans, we can do this. we have the tools, but special intersts are keeping our electorate’s hands tied behind their backs so our elected representatives are not representing us and they need to go.
   i for one will vote non-political in the next couple of elections. i will vote for those who are not awash in special interest money, for those who shy away from earmarks and collusion and back-room politics.
   i want my america back with all its flaws and idiosyncratic behavior. it is still the greatest idea in history.

   i really wanted obama to succeed for many reasons, but with the lowest poll numbers for any president at this place in their term, i fear the end is near and that obama will be not a one term president, but a one year president.
   and passing healthcare will further erode his numbers which will preclude another run in 2012.
   no one has asked why congress has never been able to pass a healthcare bill in 60 years.
   maybe its because what we have now is still the best system in the world with all its flaws and inneficiencies.
   perhaps there is no possible way to cover everyone with quality care while reducing the cost at the same time; harvard business school would get a big laugh out of that one.
   lets stop with the global warming and health care and guantanimo until the 17% of americans who are out of work, get jobs and start paying taxes and paying down our debt and then…go back to global warming and healthcare.
   lets bring america back. we love america.

   Posted on 22-Dec-09 at 2:37 pm | Permalink