Joe Conason: Evan Bayh's farewell: Self-serving, smarmy and false

[JamesA1102]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2010/02/16/consensus/index.html?source=rss&aim=/opinion/conason">Evan Bayh's farewell: Self-serving, smarmy and false

Mainstream journalists repeat Bayh's complaint about extremists on both sides. But they (and he) know it is a lie.

The consensus of the Washington press corps, following the abdication of Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., displayed the unreality of "objective" reporting -- and showed again that the fruits of bipartisanship are bitter. Nearly every mainstream news story or analysis echoed Bayh's claim that he valiantly represented the sensible center in a capital where the "extremes" dominate both parties, preventing needed compromise and frustrating his profound urge to "help people." In other words, the far-left Democrats and the far-right Republicans, marching lockstep against the middle, are the enemies of progress, decency and the American way.

But is it true, as Bayh suggested, that Senate Democrats have rejected the counsel of moderates and centrists with the same partisan ferocity as the Republicans? No, it is blatantly false --and journalists who have observed the politics of the Obama administration's first year ought to have realized that instantly -- and said so.

Consider only the single most salient issue: Did the "strident ideology" of the left dominate the crafting of the Senate healthcare reform? Not unless Sen. Max Baucus, Bayh's fellow centrist and friend of insurance lobbyists everywhere, is now to be considered a socialist. The White House legislative operation, overseen by Rahm Emanuel, a deep-dyed blue dog and Bayh's kindred spirit on the Democratic Leadership Council, entrusted the president's healthcare promises to Baucus. As a result the public option was duly jettisoned, with the collaboration of every liberal and progressive in the Senate, down to the only actual socialist, Vermont's Bernie Sanders. If that alone was not sufficiently "pragmatic," the Democratic leadership then sold out to conservatives on reproductive rights, solely to ensure that Sen. Ben Nelson and Rep. Bart Stupak would be happy. The entire healthcare reform effort by Democrats in both houses was shaped by the imperative of placating moderates, conservatives and any Republican who might sign on (although none did).

Read on: http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2010/02/16/consensus/index.html?source=rss&aim=/opinion/conason

[invictus]

1. K&R

[polichick]

2. Good piece - k&r

[spanone]

3. k&r

[depakid]

4. The so called "mainstream" media in the US doesn't represent the reality based community

but instead, relentlessly propagates a culture of lies.

No surprise that it's continuing on with the bogus narrative here.

[Canuckistanian]

5. "courting a bipartisan consensus that doesn't exist"

Exactly. Spot on.

[monmouth]

6. Why do I get the feeling there is a nasty story looming re this

sudden departure. It's almost as though there was a blackmail/threat of some sort out there and he got out before the fit hit the shan, if ya know what I mean. None of it is ringing clearly. Like when my kids would tell me "I got it under control." Red flag alert...

[nashville_brook]

7. something about his presser doesn't pass the smell test for me.

just a naked hunch.

[stillwaiting]

8. Absolutely DEAD ON Joe!

K&R

[malaise]

12. +1,000

Super read

[troubledamerican]

9. Evan Bayh = The Original Lieberman

[GoCubsGo]

14. Not exactly.

Lieberman would never consider giving up his seat the way Bayh did. What Bayh did was smarmy, but it doesn't hold a candle to what turncoat Lieberman has been doing.

[mod mom]

10. Cashing in with his blood money:

Susan Bayh, a lawyer, drew more than $837,0000 from her work on seven corporate boards last year, as Bloomberg News notes.

She is a director at Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc., "which is part of a medical research partnership awarded a $24.7 million federal grant in May after Evan Bayh and his Indiana colleagues in Congress recommended the group to the National Institutes of Health,'' Bloomberg's Timothy Burger reports. "She's on the board of E*Trade Bank, a subsidiary of E*Trade Financial Corp., while her husband sits on the Senate Banking Committee. She is lead director at Emmis Communications Corp., an Indianapolis radio-station operator that published Evan Bayh's 2003 memoir.

-snip

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/08/evan_bayhs_wife_corporate_boar.html

[KharmaTrain]

11. The Epitome Of Vapidness

If one looks back on Senator Bayh's tenure, can you think of a bill that has his name on it? Or even an issue that he worked hard for? For most of his years he was invisible...a "rising star" but never quite distinguishing himself. He became a media darling and got more calls when he went against the majority of his party than in advocating for a popular issue. This game worked well when you had a rushpublican president as he cultivated a "centrist" image by constantly caving in. He never brokered any legislation. But he did become a hit on the drinkie-drinkie circuit and thus his abrupt announcement was immediately filtered through their narratives of Democrats being weak and vindictive. Bayh knew how to feed the beast and Joe, as always, nailed how they bought the storyline without any question.

While I don't like to put on tinfoil, there is more here than meets the political eye. One doesn't drop a bombshell like this without either a reason to hide or some other big move to make. Maybe he is taking the money and running...or that he's gotten tired of all the negatives generated his way due to his "centrist" views that supported no one. He's cursing the very system he thrived in but now is getting more attention and not the type he likes. But there's something else at play here...

[Blue Owl]

13. Bayh, get thee behind us

Oh, you served your country, alright.

You served 'em a big ol' shit sandwhich, and many were stupid enough to take a bite.