Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Long Game Of Barack Obama
The Long Game Of Barack Obamahttp://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2015/02/05/the-long-game-of-barack-obama/
"SNIP...................
The Republican Congress, as one might expect from a brain-dead party, has staggered or meandered out of the gate in 2015. It awaits a message and a platform from a presidential candidate. And look a little at what theyre saying. Romney wanted to run on tackling poverty. Jeb Bush is running on economic mobility. There is, in fact, a budding consensus that social and economic inequality is a real problem and that the right should have some sort of answer. This is the moment for the reformocons to make their move, and Im glad this blog has championed (and even employed) them over the years as well. But as growth has returned, the Democrats have the advantage: middle-class economics may well only work by raising some taxes on the extremely wealthy, in order to de-rig the system, and the Democrats may be the only party prepared to do this. The last six years, moreover, have vindicated the Democratic strategy of using a stimulus to get out of recession, rather than the Republican one of following Angela Merkel toward deflation.
The wars? Theyve become minimalist. The economy? Its growing faster than anywhere else in the world. The deficit? Plummeting. Unemployment? Lower than before the recession. Gay rights? A revolution. Climate change? A decisive shift in government spending and regulations. Healthcare? A new guarantee of security for millions (including me) that will become very hard to take away unless the Supreme Court decides to politicize itself more profoundly than it has since Roe vs Wade. Iran? Still very hard to tell if the negotiations can work but we seem to have avoided premature Congressional meddling. Legal weed? He got well out of the way. Iraq? So far, the ISIS containment strategy seems to be holding. Israel? The final showdown with Netanyahu is imminent but again, Bibi may have over-reached in the last few weeks. If he is not re-elected, it will be a huge triumph for the president. Torture? Ended with at least some formal, public accounting. There is much more work to be done. But we have made a start.
.......
Hes always worked our nerves and so can events unknown. But the case for this unlikely president as a pivotal figure in American history ridiculed by so many for so long is mounting. I have mixed feelings, of course. Obama challenged my own free market, small government principles in ways no previous politician had and the evidence of history did the rest. But an Oakeshottian conservative knows better than to stick to dogma in the face of data, and I can see this presidency as a critical balancing out of the excesses of the Bush-Cheney years and the Reagan legacy in order to keep the ship of state on an even keel. What happens next I may find less congenial a more liberal and expansive role for government. But the Clintons have to make that case on new foundations in a new world.
Im known for changing my mind, when the facts change. But on this, I remain convinced that we were more than right to elect Obama twice. His even temperament, his endurance of so many slings and arrows, his integrity and his patriotism loom large at this moment, but will seem, in my view, even larger from the rear-view mirror. We will miss this man when he is gone; and I am deeply proud of having played some small part in framing the case for him, and in seeing it through.
.....................SNIP"
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
4 replies, 842 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (12)
ReplyReply to this post
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
The Long Game Of Barack Obama (Original Post)
applegrove
Feb 2015
OP
freshwest
(53,661 posts)1. Kicking for good news.
Hekate
(90,714 posts)2. "Meep, meep, m'fers. Meep, meep." I've always loved Sullivan's take on Obama....
Way back in Obama's first run for president, Andrew Sullivan memorably identified him with The Roadrunner, that Trickster who always outwits Wile E. Coyote, even though Coyote is himself a trickster.
I'm saving this article -- I think Sullivan is right about Obama's place in history.
ChosenUnWisely
(588 posts)3. Wrong THIS is his Long Game
Hekate
(90,714 posts)4. Kicking. Good morning.