Obama: "My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks."

[kpete]

Fly on the Wall
04.03.09 -- 2:18PM
By Josh Marshall

There are a few details and color in Politico from that meeting Obama had with the bank CEOs last week ...

"These are complicated companies," one CEO said. Offered another: "We're competing for talent on an international market."

But President Barack Obama wasn't in a mood to hear them out. He stopped the conversation and offered a blunt reminder of the public's reaction to such explanations. "Be careful how you make those statements, gentlemen. The public isn't buying that."

"My administration," the president added, "is the only thing between you and the pitchforks."

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/04/fly_on_the_wall_1.php
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/20871.html

[DS1]

1. Is he repeating himself?

[Deja Q]

Dunno, but I think he might have been when talking about the challenges the global economy faces,

then - as other DUers have posted - put up articles showing that the same practices are tolerated, continued, and encouraged.

[readmoreoften]

2. Maybe his administration should get the fuck out of the way. I want some roasted banker. /nt

[leftstreet]

3. oh my

That's a strange thing to say

[louis-t]

4. Yyyyyyyesss!!

I love that guy.

[Political Heretic]

5. Obama perfectly stated the problem. He's standing in between.

At a time when he should be harnessing public outrage to fuel a re-write of the very foundation of our business sector, he is instead trying to find ways to restore the corporate status quo.

Or maybe status quo is too strong - I believe the President when he talks about his desire to return to a era of greater regulation, however so far I've not seen enough to convince me that his administration has the political will to actually stand up and resist corporate pressure when it comes to actually passing MEANINGFUL (rather than symbolic) regulatory law.

[leftstreet]

12. What's odd is that he's admitting he knows the reality of his 'function'

He's essentially admitting he's not the 'Leader of the People,' but the CEO representing the 'board,' and er...negotiating between two factions.

Bizarre

[DemBones DemBones]

23. +1

[JitterbugPerfume]

53. good to see you

DemBones! Seems like it has been a long time:hi:

[ProfessorGAC]

24. Hardly What He Said

But, you will infer what you wish to infer.
GAC

[leftstreet]

39. I'm not criticizing him for saying it. It's just surprising.

Politicians rarely reveal their 'function' to us.

[TBF]

41. Not that surprising...

if you read his 2nd book you know he spent most of it explaining how politics "works". He's quite aware of his role. I think what may have been unexpected for him is just how strong the push back is from the elites. They may invite you to the mansion for dinner if they want something, but they're still going to count the silverware after you leave.

[leftstreet]

42. What an excellent way to put it

They may invite you to the mansion for dinner if they want something, but they're still going to count the silverware after you leave.

:thumbsup:

[ldf]

51. the problem with "how politics works" is just that...

how politics works.

the rules need to be rewritten so that CORPORATIONS don't write the rules of politics.

i'm waiting to see if obama has what it takes to do that.

my fear is that there will be nothing that changes the basic rules, but instead the greedy assholes will admit to being greedy assholes, hang their heads in shame, skulk out the door, and then continue to be the same greedy assholes they have always been, making sure that they manipulate much more cleverly.... all of that being arranged by the "negotiator".

we'll see.

:shrug:

[davekriss]

63. Very much a Freudian slip, wasn't it?

Preservers of the status quo! Protectors of wealth and property!! Got to mollify the rascal multitudes -- that is first and foremost the role of our political institutions in this modern world. (Obama's appointment of Summers and Geithner made it crystal clear that he intends to honor this time-worn convention. Maybe we get a little "reform" in and around the margins, hopefully.)

On edit, corrected spelling of Geithner. Their appointments (and others) made it very clear that the fox will continue to guard the henhouse and hold significant progress at bay. I have high hopes that, even with this constraint, we will see some change that will positively impact the lives of the many, but that effect is *always* incidental and coincident to the need to preserve the advantage of the few.

[ohheckyeah]

6. the only thing I can say is

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

[wtbymark]

7. That should be a T-shirt, bumpersticker, etc.

so much the truth, and not just for the bankers, you can include the previous administration as well.

[flvegan]

17. Agreed. Very appropriate.

[JCMach1]

8. I think Max Kreiser's take is more accurate: Obama's Marie Antoinette Moment

Obama met with banking industry 'titans,' as the Washington Post calls them.

Instead of handcuffing them and bringing them up on charges of fraud and racketeering, however, Obama asked the bankers politely to try to restrain themselves from spending their ill-gotten gains so conspicuously (isn't that what the ring leader always tells the others after a heist in the movies)?

The president held himself up as an example, saying that he had not yet renovated the Oval Office and was still using George W. Bush's furniture, even noting the stains on the carpet. He urged the banks to show comparable "constraint and responsibility," adding that the nation had undergone a cultural shift.

So let me get this straight. Banking elite, and other government insiders, defrauded savings accounts, pension funds, charitable funds and municipal funds here and around the globe by trading in worthless financial instruments; they manipulated markets and destroyed legitimate businesses along the way; and THEN, when that wasn't enough, they plundered the public purse in the chaos and panic surrounding the crash that they themselves caused.

And the President asks them to kindly refrain from buying new carpet?

These people are not titans. These people are racketeers. And should be treated accordingly. Or at the very least, not be invited to sit in on privileged government meetings determining bailout policy that they then profit from!.. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-keiser/let-them-have-stained-car_b_180361.html

[omega minimo]

15. Let Them Eat Carpet!

perhaps there are some pretzel crumbs there for sustenance

[ProfessorGAC]

25. I Don't Buy The Analogy

I think Keiser is well off the mark with this one.
GAC

[truedelphi]

9. mod mom has the same headline - can you guys consolidate?? n/t

[Hawkowl]

10. Very good.

It is accounts like this, that keep me, a die hard cynic since the age of 4, just a wee bit hopeful in my president. Yes, I want him to be more progressive, at least progressive on any one issue. (I'll take any one issue at this point!) However, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, realizing that he needs to consolidate power and it is simply impossible for a brand new president to take on Wall Street, the drug companies, health insurance companies, and Bush-co inc. all at the same time. I will grumble and criticize quietly for now.

[MrCoffee]

11. Pitchforks? Hardly.

We're Americans, dammit. We will reserve our right to complain about it as we continue to bend over for the system because the devil you know is better than the devil you don't.

[phantom power]

13. I bet the banksters won't listen.

He keeps treating them like they think the same way we do. They clearly don't.

[omega minimo]

14. they're counting on the public buying that all this is "too complicated" for us to undertand...

[hvn_nbr_2]

16. Yes, when the reality is...

that with their greed-addled minds, it's too complicated for the bankers to understand what they've done. That's why they're such miserable failures. The public quite clearly understands: "We been robbed."

[omega minimo]

18. Sec. Geithner was on ABC news trying to say the banksters didn't understand the risks

:thumbsdown:

[C......N......C]

27. Everybody claiming ignorance is building their defense.

If they didn't know what it was, then how did they no if it was illegal or not. Was the conversation " That is so complicated it must be legal ". Trends are easy to follow. Everybody there must have known they were making money out of nothing. Out of third and fourth degree removed trades. I don't buy it. Greensapn didn't know ? Anybody check his resume and qualifications before they let him ruin the world. His lowering of the prime was just as much of a mystery as the derivatives. If lowering the rate was a good deal, then why didn't he do it all at once to kick start his economy? Where were the regulators? Too complicated for them also?

[omega minimo]

38. They knew. A shell game is a shell game.

[Deja Q]

60. +2

:thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

[Raster]

19. Please step aside, President Obama...

Proud member of the torch and pitchfork crowd!:kick:Heads on Pikes!

[rosesaylavee]

20. He's got that right.

I am surprised there haven't been riots and more visits to Bank CEOs homes. That may come with the warmer weather. Bastard bonuses.

[lumberjack_jeff]

21. I've got a spare Mr President. You're welcome to it.

In fact, I'd really like you to have it, I'm even willing to throw in some torches and some training.

[merkins]

22. Cause for pitchforks:

Bill Moyers April 3rd Interview .. you gotta see this - it blew me away:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04032009/watch.html

[olegramps]

28. Thanks for the great interview.

It seems to me that he hit the nail on the head when he said that Obama and company just don't want us to know just how damn bad the situation is. It is like Obama and friends are attempting to quietly gets us out of this mess without causing a panic. I don't know if that is going to work. The sad thing is if it does those who are responsible for this situation will walk away with billions in ill gotten gain and never face prosecution for their fraud.

[blindpig]

26. Pitchforks = The Left

Socialism.

It's all the liberals got in their conversation with the conservative faction of the elite, "Deal with us or those nasty commies will come to get ya. We can keep a lid on things."

Liberals fear the pitchforks as much as the conservatives do.

[scarletwoman]

32. True that.

Your post reminded of something I posted a couple years ago, so just for the heck of it, I dug it up:

I am a leftist. Liberals fear me more than they fear the right wing.

Liberals will fall all over themselves to vilify the left, because only the left actually outright challenges their worldview. Liberals can live with the rightwinger worldview, because it frames reality in basically the same way as liberals. That makes it simple -- as long as you agree on the essential frame, it's no big whoop to argue about particular details and tactics within that frame.

But leftists argue against the very frame itself. And it drives liberals nuts.

Please excuse the shameless self-promotion, I just feel like this bears repeating. I think this is really the source of all the angst we've been seeing around here -- "Oh waaaaah! You're a bunch of big meany Obama-haters!"

The leftists aren't buying in, and the liberals can't stand it.

There's another post on a now-locked thread by another DUer that I think is totally right on:

I couldn't give a flying fuck about Obama or any politician. I'm not "rooting" for a politician

I care about health care, workers' rights, human rights, an end to empire... those kinds of things.

The rich guy in the White House with the best health care money can buy? Don't give a damn about him and feel no need whatsoever to like, defend, support or cheerlead him.

The powerful interests, political and economic, that run Congress and the White House are entrenched power. If you don't speak truth to entrenched power, what have you got left?

To me, that's it in a nutshell.

sw

[tomp]

33. nicely put. nt

obama is showing his true colors with his pitchforks statement. one day more people will see-obama is not what they thought.

it's my contention that that obama's ability to defend the putrid status quo while maintaining the support of the majority of ordinary citizens is exactly why he was placed in office. the carpet is just window dressing, if you will.

[TBF]

43. But leftists argue against the very frame itself. And it drives liberals nuts.

Exactly right, sw.

[scarletwoman]

44. Thank you.

:)

[anaxarchos]

52. It's the "money quote" of the administration so far...

...and is pure John Stuart Mill. I think Mill was paraphrasing a conservative from the French Revolution. This is the pure classical Liberal view of the state as standing "above" the struggles in society, and the Liberals as the arbiters of that state: if not for us, the "people" would eat you. There are a thousand variations on that quote. JFK said it. FDR said it many times. It was actually debated once again at the time of Reagan: "Why would you dismantle all that stands between us and the mob?"

It shows that Obama is at least self conscious. "Man of the people?" Not so much...

[Posteritatis]

50. Pitchforks = society at large minus three meals a day (nt)

[lostnfound]

29. Is there a more reliable source than Politico?

TPM's source was Politico.

[SammyWinstonJack]

30. I'll bet that left the banksters quaking in their boots.

:eyes:

[tbyg52]

31. So either get out of the way or get onto *our* side. nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

34. Protecting the downtrodden rich?

[scarletwoman]

36. Protecting the status quo of the power arrangements of the financial elite.

Obama's allegience is the Owner Class just like most of official Washington is.

The main difference between Dems and Repugs is that the Repugs rely on fear, resentment, and authoritarianism to keep the proles in line. The Dems prefer to utilize noblesse oblige with inconsequential bribes to fool the social liberals into thinking that the Dems are on their side.

We the people are no more than herd animals to both parties, their real masters are the Owner Class and that is who they serve. That is who Obama serves as well.

sw

[spanone]

35. well shit. i've read all over du that President Obama is part of the 'scam'

:sarcasm:

[Romulox]

40. Um, did you read the OP? Obama is protecting his banker buddies.

That's part of the scam. :hi:

[Odin2005]

37. FDR once said something similar. n/t.

[anonymous171]

45. More evidence that the protests are working. The rich are becoming afraid of us.

When they are afraid, they are more likely to accept government help and regulations.

[scarletwoman]

46. We've got a lot more work to do, they're not afraid enough by a long shot.

I want them waking up nightly in a cold sweat from dreams of guillotines...

[chrisa]

48. AIG was warning employees...

Not to tell people that they worked for AIG. I think that's pretty close. :-)

[scarletwoman]

49. The employees are small fry. I want the heads of big guys at the top.

[TBF]

55. Yup. And they are not nearly scared enough with Obama et al giving them more $$$. n/t

[anonymous171]

56. Agreed. nt

[scarletwoman]

47. *kick* (nt)

[Fireweed247]

54. This is worse than Bush people!

I know it doesn't seem possible, but Bushco put a lot of effort into making up lies for war just so they could steal a little oil, steal some war profiteering money....but that was a pittance compared to this blatant theft from the American people.

They used Bush to make a big mess for them to clean up. Problem, reaction, solution... all to their benefit. They figured we'd all be so happy to get rid of Bush, we wouldn't notice them putting the final nail in the nation's coffin.

[DerekG]

57. Let's hear it for Obama, The Lesser Evil!!!

n/t

[bird gerhl]

58. The difference between Bush and Obama:

Bush didn't know what he was doing or talking about.

Obama knows what he isn't doing or talking about.

[Deja Q]

61. Harsh

But, so far, seemingly not inaccurate. :(

[Deja Q]

59. One way or the other, I'm glad Presdient Obama is on our side!

And I wish these CEOs would shut up. It's not about talent; that meme is deader than bellbottoms. It's about being cheap.

[Hekate]

62. Maybe those *holes need to get a real taste of public outrage before they listen to the Big O...

You know, the aforementioned pitchforks up close.

In any case, well stated, Mr. President.

Hekate

[Odin2005]

64. Why am I not suprised the Obama bashers are bahsing Obama over this comment?

You idiots have it fucking backwards. Obama's telling the banksters that they better do as their told and sacrifice for the good of society or he's gonna throw them to the mob.

[leftstreet]

66. What sacrifices are these Banksters going to be making exactly?

:shrug:

[wildbilln864]

65. kick! nt