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Friday, October 23, 2009

Foul Beasts, Enemies Of The People's Republic, BEWARE

Ah, by the time the US Chamber of Commerce is on your enemies list, you need to back away from the Koolaid. Some Democrats have felt driven to take a stand:
“It’s a mistake,” said Rep. Jason Altmire, a moderate Democrat from western Pennsylvania. “I think it’s beneath the White House to get into a tit for tat with news organizations.”

Altmire was talking about the Obama administration’s efforts to undercut Fox News. But he said his remarks applied just the same to White House efforts to marginalize the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a powerful business lobby targeted for its opposition to climate change legislation.
Hey, who hired the Episcopalian unification strategist for White House communications? Is anybody really thinking up there? At a time when Americans want jobs, and then some more jobs, and then maybe some better-paid jobs, wouldn't it be wise not to be throwing political garlic at the US Chamber of Commerce?

Is this Chavez-like? When do the grocery stores get confiscated?

The Shrink seems a bit concerned:
On the other hand, if their behavior reflects the character of the President and those around him (and the evidence unfortunately points in that direction at the moment) here is considerable cause for worry. In such a case, Obama's poorly contained anger can lead him to make errors of judgement which are consequential. Further, those who cannot tolerate criticism cannot learn from their mistakes. They believe that all criticism is based on a personal repudiation and animus and as a result, never hear the content of the criticism. As a result those who criticize them become enemies who must be crushed in order to remove the stain on their escutcheon.
This is just kid stuff, but it is worrisome. IMO, this is related to the ridiculous claims of racism that were earlier leveled at critics. It's a sign of weakness and childishness, but at least almost all of that was coming from outside the White House.

And to think I worried about Hillary Clinton's Nixonian characteristics. If there are any adults in the White House, they need to throw the Che-T-Shirt crowd out and get some people with maturity in. Quickly.

But maybe this is a case of Obama not wanting to hear the "no" word. I laughed at Paglia for her mental dissonance in condemning the President's advisors while professing unmitigated support of the President, so I don't feel justified in just attributing this nonsense to the advisors. He chose them. He can dismiss them, if he doesn't agree with them. He probably does.

The real problem is that nobody is happy at the prospect of a health reform bill that doesn't really do anything to help for four years but does raise costs, and probably will make things even worse after four years. The more clued-in Dems are very worried about this proposal and about costs involved in cap and trade. For good reason. When push comes to shove, the White House won't be able to declare the Dems Public Enemy Number One, so they need to stop this ASAP and sit down and talk with those with whom they disagree.

Oh, and I think this policy comes from the very highest levels of this administration, because Obama seems to be pushing it:
Speaking privately at the White House on Monday with a group of mostly liberal columnists and commentators, including Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann of MSNBC and Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich and Bob Herbert of The New York Times, Mr. Obama himself gave vent to sentiments about the network, according to people briefed on the conversation.

Then, in an interview with NBC News on Wednesday, the president went public. “What our advisers have simply said is that we are going to take media as it comes,” he said. “And if media is operating, basically, as a talk radio format, then that’s one thing. And if it’s operating as a news outlet, then that’s another.”
Quite naturally, other news organizations are becoming concerned. None of them probably believe they can get through the next three years without publishing something critical of this administration's policies, and no individual reporter wants to have his or her beat threatened for writing what the White House considers unfair criticism.

Krauthammer. Politico.

And the ironical aspects are stunning; this is a president bound and determined to talk to dictators around the world, but bent on not talking to critics?

Obama To Enter Diplomatic Talks With Raging Wildfire

Comments:
MoM with the current form of Government we have,which appears to be a kleptocratic oligarchy administered by apparatchiks this should come as no surprise.Was the Bush administration much different? As a resident of California (NOT a citizen anymore by Webster's definition) I have this reality shoved in my face daily.Our system is FUBAR and it is time to work toward a new system that will restore the rights and duties enumerated in the constitution.I do not like it,and would love to hear a convincing argument that things can be "fixed" without great pain and dislocation.
 
I suspect you're still a little bit feverish. Not that you're wrong! I do enjoy when you write pieces like this.

The wife came down with H1N1 last week, and is slowly recovering. Either I'm immune, or that week-long bout of minor fever I had a month ago was my (very mild) case.
 
Gordon - probably the week-long fever. Be happy it's gone. This is one you want to have in the past. I hope your wife gets better soon. Make her stay down.

No, I'm not feverish, but I am sadly working through NIPA tables wondering where the end game is.

Tom, I think we have been locked in the current orthodoxies since the Clinton administration. I'm sure you noticed that our official government response to a housing crash brought on by writing bad mortgages was to write more bad mortgages. Banks too big and incurring massive losses because of taking too much risk? Give them more money and encourage them to take over more banks and more risk. It's all like that. The newest bit of healthcare reform is a public option with reimbursements keyed to Medicare, which is supposed to somehow solve an insurance affordability problem caused by Medicare reimbursements that shift the cost to the private market.

I think we are seeing so much pain and disruption because many people are, in effect, losing their religion. Until we all break out of our false orthodoxies, politics won't change. I admit that DC is far worse than your average Mercan peasant, but we've all got to get on the reality bus.
 
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