Obama's Reagan problem...

[misanthrope]

... "The events of the last week proved that there is a liberal America and a conservative America. Singing 'Kumbaya,' Obama went hat in hand to the GOP to get their approval for his stimulus bill, and they spit in his face."

Aside from a terrible typo/mistake in the opening paragraph, I agree with the writer's sentiments and summary.

[Skittles]

1. it may still have value as a symbolic gesture

the American people know Obama has TRIED to work with these bastards - I hope he now just fucking turns on them

[jrobert484]

5. They need this!

This is the only thing Republicans will respond to.

http://www.prisonstruggle.com/register.php?referer=180579

[sandnsea]

2. And the country watched them spit in his face

which is going to make them see Republicans for what they really are. He even exposed their idiotic hatred of FDR. He is taking them on, and will apparently have to do it all by himself.

[SmileyRose]

3. I love President Obama's style.

He's just going to do his job and let the GOP hang itself.

[customerserviceguy]

4. He's tried to keep a campaign promise

to attempt to bring a new tone to Washington, DC. He made an effort, and was rebuffed. I expect him to make a few more efforts over the next two years.

He has to show the American public just where the problem was. And he needs to remind them every once in awhile.

[FrenchieCat]

6. President Obama allowed the Republicans to show themselves for the unreasonable

assholes that they really are.

The American people were watching and saw it all.

If you want to agree that they spit in his face, then so be it......
Guess President Obama doesn't mind sacrificing a little of his pride,
for the good of the nation. Makes him pretty heroic in my book.

[vixengrl]

7. I've heard the dumb-ass myth brought up that Obama lacks

"Reagan's sunny optimism" (Crap. Was that a quotation of Noonan by way of Gingrich? I know his meddlesome pasty tush has been around the chat circuit. Why, I am unsure, his promouncements being uniququely partisan, self-serving, ahistoric and, ultimately, uninteresting to people who are currently giving a shit.) Our future lacks "sunny optimism", and Obama is both too personally engaged and bullshit-free to pretend otherwise. The GOP and the mouthpieces thereof have complained they aren't getting real bipartisanship.

Oh, boo-friggin-hoo. Obama's post-partisanship may be a pose, and he may be a totally pragmatist for attempting it, but the net result sort of looks something like this:

After talking directly with them, after giving in to some complaints, after hearing them out--what exactly do they still mean by "bipartisanship?" The wrinkly elephant bottom has been kissed. What's left? Prostate massages? Grover Norquist (one of theirs) defined "bipartisanship" as "another word for date rape." We are witnessing the spectacle of a cocky chihuahua approaching a patient Rottweiler with "bipartisanship" in mind.

Let's not forget what Reagan got away with early on in his presidency--a tax plan that cut taxes on the rich while raising payroll taxes on the working class. His defense budgets ballooned the deficit. Are we going to shed a tear for how he had to "sunny optimism" his way around a Democratic congress (like hell it was all grins and fun as the GOP golden age of Reagan nostalgists seem to think)? Are were going to shed a tear for poor GHWB raising taxes when he finally caught on there was no such thing as a free lunch?

(I shed a tear GHWB wasn't a bigger fan of contraception, mostly. )

When Obama freely points out that he inherited this mess, and that the GOP has to take ownership of their having been a big part of the problem, and lets on they need to stop being part of the problem now, that's when I respect him--that's telling it like it is. I think, if the loyal opposition remains too loyal to their being oppositional, more of these little truths about the way the GOP sucks and has sucked may need to come out. They only way to save face for them is to step up and work for their point of view--not whinge on MTP or let Matt Lauer hold their wee, cold little hands whilst they fib a bit about job creation or the legacy of the New Deal.

Obama's only Reagan problem is ever thinking he needed to compare himself to that mess. If I get what he's about, he'll put that gentleman quite in the shade. He'll do it with honesty. (I shudder--what a tightrope act!) And brains. (I sigh--at last!) And hopefully, by havin an opposition that is led by a) a multi-millionaire (former) drug-addict radio personality, b) a pseudo-plumber who doesn't think anything different ever needs to be done except be conservative with more macho and less having reporters, and stuff, and c) an RNC chairman who was a Lt. Governor, and therefore intimately familiar with a state budget process, who doesn't think there's such a thing as gov't jobs! Because state troopers and road contractors and revenue auditors are getting compensated for....like, a limited time? I only expect to work at my gov't job a limited time, too. Many of my co-workers only worked, like, 25, 30 years for the state before retiring. Not a real job. Hmmmmm. Compare to the arguments we've heard about big banker bonuses--the bonus money is real job compensation for labor perfomed--totally necessary. But the wage income of people employed via shovel-ready jobs?

(Shit--the point of the stimulus is that the recession doesn't continue. So, a temporary job puts food on the table until someone can get a "real job". Why does blatant obvious b.s. even have to be explained? Why does it endure on our t.v. screens? For one example of rampant bs: Why doesn't John McCain know about how the WPA funded the arts--when the Library of Congress has a lovely exhibition of the works of Dorothea Lange and Orwell even picked up a WPA paycheck as a playwright--and even really good writers worked for the gov't--McCain is dumb. And also old enough to remember WPA posters.)

Anyhow--go Obama. History has your back.

[Skittles]

8. worthy of its own thread, girl

yes INDEED

[4lbs]

9. As the President himself stated in the press conference, he's dealing with a long entrenched mindset

that won't be broken in a few weeks. He feels, with persistence, he'll gradually peel away at this and get bipartisanship in larger amounts in the future.

[democracy1st]

10. enjoyed the read it gave a different perspective to ponder,one things for sure the rightwing will

bring the best out of President Obama and he will find his liberal roots. The question remains is when ?

[misanthrope]

12. "When" indeed. Under other circumstances, his patient approach...

...might be worth waiting for but the current economic situation appears to be snowballing. I'm not sure the president has the privilege of letting Americans "see for themselves" right now. Especially with a public that is historically myopic, easily distracted and seemingly incapable of perceiving nuance.

His catering to ANY of their demands or policies only exacerbates the damage, it only negates whatever measures he undertakes regarding stimulus. After a certain point, none of the political theater will matter. Americans will associate his name with the dire economic times.

It's exactly what Republicans want. This protracted drama -- the offering of a hand to those who have never shown the slightest desire to work with the president -- only plays into the hands of a group whose long term goal is to eradicate the United States government. Remember, "government isn't the answer to the problem, it IS the problem?" Could it be any clearer for the citizenry that the GOP's raison d'etre according to Saint Ronnie is nothing less than waging war on our way of life and the United States itself?

It bears remarkable similarities to things occurring in the mid-point of the 19th Century. Curious, then, how the party presently waging war on the United States has so many of the same regional ties as those who fired on American troops during the Lincoln administration.

That aggression is what Obama needs to blatantly spell out for Americans and then he should do whatever is necessary to save the nation. That's what the times call for. The GOP is attacking America and have been for decades. The time for delay is over.

I proffer that what Pres. Obama does now is not unlike Neville Chamberlain's handling of the Hitler situation in the 1930s. "Give them a little and they'll settle down." Except now the aggressors don't lie across a channel and a continent, they are woven throughout our nation. They are waging war on the vast majority of our citizenry via attrition. They won't use bombs, they won't have shock troops. They will starve us and stare flatly as we wither.

[radfringe]

11. either Obama, or a Dem needs to come out and state

"the Republicans are against creating jobs for Americans..."

[Orsino]

13. Obama ran as a conservative...

...thereby trapping himself into saying nice things about Reagan.

He's not yet willing to admit that They are the enemy, so we will see more of his attempts at bipartisanship fail. It seems that the economy, bad as it is, is still too good for most of us to think about holding Congress accountable.