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On MSNBC today, I talked about the “professional left” with fellow Robert Gibbs-irritants Glenn Greenwald and Dylan Ratigan.
Gibbs, with his contempt for the “Canadian health care system,” is merely reflecting the attitude of a White House that marched into the health care debate committed to giving corporate “stakeholders” everything they wanted in exchange for campaign donations to Democrats.
From August of 2009:
Just as it was during the bank bailout, the goal of the White House was clear: more important than saving the financial system was keeping the financial institutions happy and stop them from financing Republicans.
Who would think that way? Whose primary objective would be to keep anyone from funding a GOP ascendancy, to sell out health care reform worth billions for a hundred fifty million in pro-reform advertising? Who would think to ask PhRMA to run ads in the districts of vulnerable freshmen, as well as Blue Dog Mike Ross, who is anything BUT vulnerable? Certainly not some policy wonk.
But ask yourself – would consider it a victory to use the “public plan” as little more than a political pawn with which to threaten stakeholders and force them to stay at the table, with no thought as to the emotional and moral consequences suffered by the people who had pinned their hope on having one?
Someone who had worked as the head of the DCCC. Who remembered the 54 seat swing to the GOP in 1994 after the failure to pass health care reform. Someone whose sole goal was a “political victory,” so the White House could be 14-0 not “13-1.”
Someone like Rahm Emanuel
Rahm’s genius strategy paid off last night in Connecticut, which saw 20% turnout in a hotly contested Democratic primary (down from 43% in 2006). If that keeps up, November is looking awfully grim for the Democrats The White House is in la-la land if they think this is happening because a few cable TV hosts and a couple of bloggers are being mean to them.
Obama failed in his promise to stand up to corporate America, and it’s not just liberals who are upset. Tossing progressives a few bones and telling them to be happy about it while handing the government over to JP Morgan, PhRMA and AT&T is just not going to get it done.
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Jane you were great on Ratigan’s show today. Oh and how do I get one of those “professional left” cards???
As my Black neighbor said(she is 82) “She didn’t trust Obama and said she thought he was nothing but a slick N***r back in 08″ Guess she sure could see right through him!!! He sure has proven her correct!
Boy, everybody is asking for them. My mailbox is full of requests. I guess we better see what we can do.
Oh boy can’t wait!!
Ed Schultz is ripping into Gibbs now on his show…
Jane Hamsher speaks for me a professional liberal
great job, jane!
(and I just snail-mailed you a souvenir from Vegas…should go nicely alongside your card…)
Yep, put me down for a box and I’m sure you know what to do with the money:)
They should be worth $10, no?
It’s a shame you never say what you mean Jane. /snark
LOL! Great segment.
As soon as you guys can make a personal name widget for those cards, I bet you’ll get thousands and thousands of downloads.
Ed actually attends these medical clinics by US PROFESSIONAL LEFTIES
HE KNOWS,HE SEES
Methinks the WH is wishing Gibbs had kept his mouth shut, both times.
Moi? A Professional Leftist? You betch’um, Red Ryder.
Yes he does!! I like Ed he is not afraid to call a spade a spade not matter what side of the aisle. He doesn’t mince words either…
Both of you did great today. It is nice that my drug induced opinions, courted during the election, are now mocked. I am located on the plains, enthusiasm is waning quickly. MUCH thanks for giving my group of friends a voice.
he said one night,im wearing a 4,000 dollar suit,walking into these clinics where people cant afford their medication,…he was practically shedding a tear
Oh I hope it’s one of your “team blowjob” buttons!
I was so jealous.
Jane, I want one of those Professional Left cards and I want to send a copy to Gibbs with a note, “I am a Professional Left — suck on it”
me likey
called U penn big animal hosp about Levis leg…they think he shouldnt walk the paddock…uh oh,gonna have an argument with owner
and heres a voided check to the DLC
Point out to owner that large animal hospital prolly knows better than owner. Ya can’t go out and buy a new horse for a buck ninety-eight.
still would like to do Youtube wearing my FRINGE
I want my card too! LOL! What I can’t understand is how fast Obama got himself ensconced in the Oval Office Bubble.
Everyone expects politicians to lie, we just don’t expect lying 100% of the time.
“Hold me Accountable” indeed. More like “Hold my nose while I talk to the DFHs out there”.
A gambler who thinks if we bank roll the banks ponzai schemes the banks will one day get lucky. In other words an enabler.
he owns big dairy farm,UPenn took care of Barbaro,they are great!…im gonna come up with some persuasive story …THEN BEG!
Nice take down Jane Rahm assumes we will turn out for his agenda because we have no choice. Voting results prove him wrong the jerk lost Ted’s seat it don’t get much bluer than that.
Gibbs’ statements re professional left reflect the actual White House view.
That, in line with 50 other examples one could pull up from the last 20 months, is the Occam way to understand the current environment.
Somebody, including some of us in the leftier orbits, have got to quit expecting something else from the Corporatist in Chief.
Jane, you and Glenn were great! And, guess what, I love the card!
Can’t get much more left than the Wobblies!
I’d like not only a Professional Left card, but a Professional Left Press hat, shirt, jacket, parking permit,…
Not in today’s world. My membership/dues payment card doesn’t say “Professional Left” but…
After Gibbs little speil today, I have to revise my view of the administration’s handling of this as ridiculously inept. I don’t think they COULD be this inept, so the only other option is that they are actively trying to depress dem voter turnout.
They want less dems in congress.
Remember
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2cvru2TH-s&feature=channel
omg! i just agreed with Ron Christie…omg!
(two!)
Imagine if all those healthcare dollars we waste were instead used in a Canda type healthcare system.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Canadian_and_American_economies
Imagine what a 7.6 percent jump in GDP would do for our economy! I want a job on Obama’s economic team these guys are a joke.
So how do I get a card and a bumper sticker saying Professional Left?
U smart cookie…….g
Thank You:) I fear being smart makes me over qualified those Harvard trained Chicago School economists get all the corporate welfare jobs.
They are the chemicals parasites use to trick people into liking the parasite. They are drugs that kill you in exchange for a high that never lasts.
I’m confused. I’ve been on the left my entire life. But it seems to me that “professionals” by definition get paid for what they do. If any of you of the professional left know where I could send a resume? I don’t expect anything like what Gibbs makes for being a corporate shill.
OT
Gubernatorial Candidate in Florida Embroiled in Possible Medicare Overbilling Scandal
Two Weeks Before Primary, Florida Republican Forced to Respond to Charges
By Tristram Korten 8/11/10 4:32 PM
An investigation by The Washington Independent’s sister site, The Florida Independent.
Two weeks before Florida’s primary, new allegations of improper Medicare billing by Solantic, a health care company co-founded by Rick Scott, have surfaced, in addition to charges made by former Solantic doctors that their names and licenses were used without their consent. Within hours of being pressed for answers by The Florida Independent, Solantic officials and Scott held hastily arranged press conferences Tuesday to rebut the charges.
Two doctors — both former employees of Solantic, the chain of clinics launched by Scott and in which he is a majority investor — allege that Solantic repeatedly used their name and medical license information without their permission or knowledge. Both doctors state that by allegedly misappropriating their information, the company was able to keep clinics operating in contravention of state law.
One of the doctors asserts that he also came upon evidence of billing irregularities involving Medicare, which, if true, would be the second time a Scott-run company was accused of improperly billing Medicare.
hahahahahahahahahaha
I think Joe Hill would make Gibbs piss down his pants.
Just how long can we afford Obama to keep trying to finish Bush’s third term.
I smell Triangle ation! I smell Rahm trying to win the middle by demonizing us.
I want one!! I run a Lefty environmental based blog these last five yrs. http://athebeach.blogspot.com/ So I’m I guess part of the Professional Left. I was once a card carrying member of the SDS does that count toward membership as well?
You should print up a bunch of those cards Jane and put peoples’ names on them and mail them out for a $20.00 donation. Just sayin’. :)
acording to this,not very long
http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2010/0710bottari.html
nice job to both Jane and Glenn…I find it interesting that the administration only feels comfortable attacking their base and the ones help that helped them get elected. I always thought (not that I am naive in how our political system functions) that if our elected officials did what they said and worked for what was best for the people, they would be re-elected regardless of corporate campaign contributions. The Obama administration is just showing that they really are corporate whores…
good idea
professionalleft.com for the very best in bumper stickers!
Given the economy, jobs, people losing their homes voters are paying attention granted a small group the teabaggers who get all the media attention are arguing for more Bush…but just not from a Blackman.
The majority are with us on the issues.
Voters who pay attention can kill both parties. But the Tea Baggers won’t win show me one tea bagger rally despite a White Majority bigger than the immigrants rights rallies?
Immigrants are a minority group but the Corporate Media gives them all the press.
Actually we professional leftist SHOULD threaten to vote for Sarah Palin — and do so loudly and otfen.
Glenn, the next time you Skype in from Rio I want to see you and your boyfriend in bathing suits on the beach!
by the way…I would like a card too please…
You want to know the latest scam? Putting fake jobs ads out and then when you apply, they try to sell you something you don’t need. And there’s no way to tell if you’re wasting your time on a fake ad or not just by looking at it. You find out when you get a robo call or spam email promising new resume’ software or “placement assistance” for the low, low price of $______.___. This is very frustrating and should be illegal.
I’d pay $10 for one, just because I can’t afford $20 while Gibbs’ boss is still in office.
But yes, Jane. Those should be available as personalized cards here at the lake. I imagine they’d sell like hotecakes.
Make him go number two in ‘em too.
happened to my friend,asked her to take a test for 98.00$
Remember, Rahm himself called us (we lefties) “retarded”. What Gibbs said was just more of the same. It wasn’t a faux pas, it was an accidental venting in public of the ACTUAL opinion of the entire WH from Obummer one down.
The Dems are ass-f*cked and it is their own fault (and Obummer’s).
I’d kinda like a card that says, “F**ing Re*ard”. Heh.
It’s bullsh*t! I don’t have time to waste filling out fake apps. I’ll never apply for a position marked “confidential” again, that’s certain.
10,000 show up for public housing in Atlanta….dozens pass out in heat
made me cry i sent her some $ and told her to be careful
I think those numbers are bigger than the article suggests how many banks made loans on margin?If the economy does not get better they will need another bailout as more companies like hedgefunds that got loans at $36 for every $1 of collateral fail. Never mind people still paying on home loans for homes they bought at over inflated prices defaulting as they lose their jobs.
This is most funnest mid-term I’ve seen in FL. The DINO Greene (for Senate) and Rethug Scott (for gov) have become the whipping boys for the whole state. I get these huge card stock mailers from Greene slamming Meek about every other day. The St Pete Times is hammering both Greene and Scott.
4,000,000,000,000…is that enuf 0s
Yes! What Jane said! (I, too, am wondering why Robert Gibbs is sucking up to Rahm Emanuel all of a sudden.)
g
remind me of Jebbie and Manuel Recary medicare theif
and MIKE TYSON was doing drugs on Greenes yacht……..hahahahahaha
The dates on the card: issued 8-11-10, expires 11-2-12
I like the way that Jane and Glenn speak, in that they fill the entire time-slot with information completely devoid of any stammers or pauses.
A while back Obama spanked the banksters over obscene bonuses, so he could gain cred with the ‘populists’. Now he sends Gibbs out to spank the left, so he can go face his real friends.
Stunned by the results of the election in 08, the “professional Right” came unhinged on Wed., Nov. 5, 08. They went into Operation Monkeyshit – slinging everything they could at Obama and hoping it would stick.
Team Obama would rather pick a quarrel with its base than engage the Right in a meaningful fight. And, the “professional Right” has sounded like a Brazilian jail on a Monday morning when you wake up hungover after a weekend of drinking and wonder where the hell you are at!
Gibbs refused to walk it back today in HuffPo:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/11/gibbs-stands-by-his-profe_n_678811.html
From this I can only deduce that BHO is interested in Republicans showing up in Nov to GOTV and win the elections in a landslide. Unsurprising since BHO is a Republican, is continuing the Bush third term, and so, no doubt, would feel much more comfortable working with a Republican majority in the House and Senate.
So be it.
Thanks, Jane & Glenn. Righteous! And I’m still indignant at the verbal abuse.
My brother bought a house before the bubble and is underwater. Got laid off from a county job he held for 10 years a month ago. He’s looking at a job in VA. Engineer who once had his own company.
So here’s my question that nobody has asked —
What are they trying to bury in the news cycle, that required this big of a diversion?
Actually he called us f*cking retarded. Yep. The Democrats can blame the liberals staying home when they lose big this year but they’ll never blame themselves for making sure we stay home.
Well, yeah: BHO “spanked” the banksters and then let them give themselves gargantuan obscene bonuses and raises. So that “spanking” was, uh, no biggie.
We dfh’s get punched, and what do we get? Just more of the same and no effen jobs, crummy health care, our Soc Sec ripped off, and: on it goes…
Good question: maybe they’ve given ALL of our Soc Sec to Pete Peterson already. And that’s no joke, sadly. Stay tuned…
sorry pal………………sigh
Thats a sign of just how bad the economy is.:(
I’m thinking this.
oil disaster?
I like the idea of cards, hats and shirts to help raise money. I would buy some of those :)
What on earth makes you think Gibbs is speaking for himself? I’ve seen many of your posts and they all are intelligent and show a real grasp of politics, so this is out of character.
Usually, the words of the spokesman are approved down to the individual words and phrases. For sure the general thrust is formulated and approved–interview or press conference.
This didn’t come from Gibbs. Or even one other person. I see Rahm, Axelrod and even Obama–who has shown himself more than the other two to be irritated by criticism.
Think we’d get in trouble if we started a 3rd party called The F**king Retarded Party?
Preparing for war with Iran?
Gibbs did say pentagon.
$600 trillion credit default swap market is just one problem, over valued homes I’m sure the banks are calling assets at premarket collapse prices, all the Enron’s lying about how much money they make.
I can’t even keep up with all the lying in our financial system much less get accurate numbers on the size of all these problems or just which problem will explode next.
This?
How the heck do you get
From
Just because someone’s mouth runs out of control doesn’t mean that SD believes Gibbs is speaking only for himself.
Sorry SDragon, this is yours and not mine to defend but it just seemed like such a leap for someone to make.
I’m thinkin’ Israel is gettin’ ready to attack Iran. Hell, they’re even beatin’ up on the Bedouin now.
I think most of Obama’s small donors would shower us with money….
I like it.
A distinct possibility but not enough of a distraction.
We know the WH thinks this. I think Gibbs got a little carried away chummy-wise with his pal from The Hill and said more than he meant to say.
Gibbs is speaking for himself he just agrees with what Obama and Rahm are saying in private. this was a test balloon to see if Obama could Sister Souljah us to popularity. Obama lacks the guts Bill had he sent in a pawn but a willing one.
We tie Obama to this publicly and see if he runs away from it I bet he won’t unless the polls show a backlash. The elections however are the backlash.
Nobody cares what the WH spokesman says they all got real problems to worry about. This won’t buy Obama the Tea Bagger love he craves nothing will the Tea Baggers see him and they see Black!
We all back our friends here were family:)
I’d say Gibbs could run for some national office under the party banner, but I’m being serious.
Any idea when such an event will cause oil prices to spike and very well might crash the market or cause the banks to scream bailout again.
I’m guessing if Israel likes Obama they will wait until after the election.
I believe it is an aggressive, carefully thought out, are-you-with-me-or-against-me ploy — not by any means a misstatement.
It is an attempt to divide the “professional” left into repentants and outcasts.
I’m thinking they’re trying to create jobs through the private military contractor sector. Gonna take a lot of people with guns to keep the oil coming through…
While that is certainly true, I still don’t get how anybody could make that connection. It seems to me comparable to saying someone must loath bananas because they said that they detest the color yellow.
Normally I would assume snark but with the Obama team of economists…
Well about the only place the Dems could be saved is California where the alternatives are non-starters period. Other than that, the entire Congress might be up for grabs.
This is what happens when you betray your base and then yell at them for not clapping loud enough over your so-called accomplishments.
All he really had to do was -
A) Get HCR Right or B) Get FinReg Right
He failed on both and we’re not happy, just that simple.
Just to pile more on his plate, he’s yet to seriously tackle immigration, DADT, Wars In the Big Sand Box or Save The Internet From Google and Verizon’s deal.
Does he REALLY expect us to be jumping up and down with excitement???
Agreed logical hole in the argument an obvious one they must have been reading to fast in anger.
With the number of tankers being used as storage facilities waiting for the price to go up there’s no telling what will happen. I also think Bibi the Butcher and his fascist crew figure the US will back whatever move they make whenever they make it. The non-reaction to the attack on the Gaza Flotilla made that clear. The Israeli govt is counting on the consequences of a strike on Iran going their way.
Completely OT, but the problem I see with this idea is that we’re talking about two countries with extremely large amounts of firepower. Modern battles are usually fought by one side with a larger, more technologically advanced military against a smaller, less advanced one. If Israel and Iran go to war, it’ll be a nightmare. And an Israeli attack will not go unanswered by the Iranians. The Middle East as we know it would go up in flames.
Sorry for the OT.
I believe the purpose of the so over the top response to the Gaza flotilla was designed to test the US reaction and the new administration’s to Israeli slaughter of innocents.
I don’t think the Israeli govt believes that and that’s part of the problem. They think it’ll be 1948 or 1967 again.
You could be right. I think that our non-reaction emboldened them while they were unprepared for the rest of the world’s reaction.
Would be awesome if Gibbs has inadvertently ignited a movement, no? Likee all this!
I also had to smile at how Glenn’s books look like they have actually been read. I think the only other time i’ve seen that in tv-talking headville was with Marcy ..
They’re idiots. The airstrikes would be horrific, and they might start a ground war. If that actually happens, we might see the use of nuclear weapons on the part of the Israelis. It’ll be fugly.
Hmph! The Obamabots will claim it was a brilliant move in Obama’s eleventyseven dimensional chess game…
IN the specifics maybe, but the general thrust I think was approved in advance. WH spokesman don’t go off half cocked or they get fired.
Gibbs didn’t get fired, therefore, he didn’t go off half-cocked. He hasn’t even been mildly reprimanded. OR, even gently rebuked.
They wanted this out there not to start a fight, but to shake the progressives up and get them to give the WH the credit they think they deserve. “Get on board our train.”
Yes. Most warmongers are. Israel is outnumbered 10 – 1 if it stayed just between Israel and Iran. They are hoping that they can strike and make us jump in to rescue them. I’ve got news for them: If the US decided to aid Israel in an attack on Iran or to defend them if Israel was to attack Iran, I would march on DC and there I would station myself in a convenient location to distribute pitchforks and torches.
I’d lay down in front of trucks. Or chain myself to a battleship.
I agree and disagree. As noted in #108, I don’t think this was only Gibbs reflecting WH water cooler talk. They honestly think you ought to be grateful for what they’ve done, and this was the beginning of a campaign to get you on board for the 2010 elections.
Certainly, they read FDL and don’t like what they see.
I agree anything like this is not going to give Obama any support from people he doesn’t have support from now.
But, it’s real and it is the solid feeling of the WH.
Chaining yourself to a battleship would be fairly safe considering that they are all museums these days. :-D
As a professional leftist… :o) … I would like for the amateur leftists who are still defending Obama, to spin this Bushian turd into “loyalist” cotton candy:
http://news.antiwar.com/2010/08/10/reports-obama-pressing-allies-to-target-assange/
I think the Enterprise is still floating around aimlessly somewhere (not to diminish the import of any individual sailor’s service).
In response to Nahant
So you claim your 82 year old black neighbor called Obama a slick N…, and you agree? That speaks volumes.Why didn’t you just call him that yourself, why hide behind the skirts of a made-up elderly black woman? What a coward!
I WILL JOIN YOU !
That’s just atrocious. Yet another reason to start the F**king Retarded Party. If elected, I promise to give that guy a medal.
Could be. We’ll prolly have to wait for somebody’s memoirs to really know, though. *g* If they thought we’d climb aboard their train, however, somebody really got their math wrong.
One good thing: in November,we are coming up on some resolution, where the bullshit, or at least, the bullshit from the democrats, is going to to be seriously curtailed, no matter how frantic they may be.
I look forward to it.
Glenn, Jane, great job!
Yes, it’s like the Gilded Age all over again.
The truth will come out when Rush Limbaugh’s personal assistant decides to leak steamy emails from Gibbs to the National Enquirer.
Easily.
You would only think the WH wishes he would shut his mouth if you think Gibbs was speaking for himself.
He wasn’t. And, he wasn’t putting out something the WH didn’t want to be put out. WH spokesmen don’t do that.
Did you see even a gentle rebuke of Gibbs from anyone higher up?
SD should see that as I know he is quite intelligent.
The WH really thinks “professional” progressives are not properly grateful for what they’ve done and they want it known. THAT is why Gibbs said what he said in The Hill.
If Gibbs was caught on a cell phone camera talking to his high school reunion party, and then, gotten some slap on the wrist, I might agree.
But, that is not what went down. It was intentional without a doubt.
Assange has really pissed them off and there’s nothing they can do about it. St Pete for Peace is showing The Most Dangerous Man in America this evening and I’m bettin’ there’ll be a lotta folks there.
The Enterprise (CVN-65) is a carrier and is a museum as well.
“…this was the beginning of a campaign to get you on board for the 2010 elections.”
Talk about a day late and a dollar short!
I believe that train has left the station.
My 2c, I waved it bye-bye, a while back.
I agree. While I don’t always agree with what is said here, I know well enough it is said with great conviction–and no one is going to get on board a train that doesn’t deliver what they want.
Sounds to me like you’re trying to pick a fight with him that you weren’t able to finish earlier. Just my .02
ah. Aircraft carrier is what I had in mind when I said battleship. Therein lies the problem.
By which I mean Rush is having an affair with Gibbs. *Gasp* You heard it here first.
Once again, this was a deliberate attempt to isolate folks like you and me — and the rest of the folks on this thread — from the rest.
Ah! Then I suggest the Carl Vinson (CVN-70). My old boat. :)
I’m neither a fly on the wall at the WH nor a mind reader. My opinion’s just as valid as anybody else’s in this case. The WH has lost a number of people over the last year, they gonna dump Gibbs over this? I don’t think so.
Divide and conquer. Separate the “professional left” from the so-called real progressives.
Ding
They sit in their padded chairs, in their air conditioned offices reading self-congratulatory reports by the banksters about “how good things are” and expect us peons to genuflect at every word they say
From my link
These slimebuckets have no idea what the real world is and think of issues in terms of an abstract academic exercise in a class taught by some snooty prof in some ivy covered wall type college
Hilarious! Nice going Jane. This whole thing needed a little humor and your card hit the nail on the head.
Although I do think that they want a fight with “the left” so that they can make the assertion that this proves they’re the “not left”
Best … day … ever! This has been so much fun watching Jane on TV and participating in the various threads. It really feels like we’ve come together as a team, for a little while at least. Thanks to all of you for all you do. I am so grateful to have this outlet. I’ve had a smile on my face all day long.
Let’s keep the momentum going! We have them on the ropes …
Great segment Jane.
Jane, nahant,
This incessant love-fest here at Firedoglake has to make one wonder. On a very serious note, if you and anyone who posts here at Firedoglake voted for Obama in 2008, then guess what: YOU ARE GETTING EXACTLY WHAT YOU DESERVE! Obama clearly campaigned on the Bush agenda during the election so why would you or anyone else who voted for Obama in 2008 think that he would do anything else other than, THE BUSH AGENDA??????????!!!!!!!!Robert Gibbs is simply relaying his boss’s actual thoughts, because as Dylan Ratigan so eloquently asked, who are you gonna vote for next time around: Sarah Palin?
For Progressives to sit home in November would not be a good idea, they should vote in record numbers, but for any third party candidate! The DemoPub Party doesn’t care which branch of their party wins, the Dims or the Repubs…… as long as they are in. They continue to play the American people for fools!
Odin007: who did you vote for?
Spot on, Buzz.
All I can say is, “isolate” is a verb that runs both ways.
Someone should tell Emanuel and Obama not to worry; all the voters will do in November is lift the terrible burden of those big congressional majorities, so they’ll have an excuse for sitting on their centrist asses and doing nothing.
Aint that professional? :o)
You card carrying irritants. :) Good TV between Dylan and Ed today.
I guess this doesn’t count as a problem with the administration either:
Thousands Crowd Housing Authority For Section 8 WAITING LIST, Fights Break Out (VIDEO)
Jane, I loved your membership card dated today. YUKYUKYUK. I want one. I bet we could make some $$$ selling them on this site.
We’re going to need it when the corporations take over the internet to pay the fees.
Ratigan is too cool.
I guess I’ll go do some drugs now…….just kidding
Perhaps these insular fools can take a lesson from a politician that thought public service meant serving your constituents, not the moneyed class:
“Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product … if we should judge America by that – counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman’s rifle and Speck’s knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.
“Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.”
Robert F. Kennedy, Lawrence, Kansas 1968
True story I
did not make it up. I was taken aback by her statement and she explained to me why she saw him that way… In fact if you really want to know you can find that
I had told that story before he was elected here on FDL!!
Folks, y’know, in a way, this is Obama showing some political moxie. He’s calling us out and saying:
“You assholes don’t amount to a fart in a windstorm. I used you to gain power, and now you’re just a political liability while I strive mightily to put together the “Centrist” agenda, with help from my bi-partisan friends in the republican party.”
If he weren’t 180 degrees in the wrong direction with this direct political taunt, (and anyone who thinks that Gibbs’ parroting of it is anything BUT that, needs to go home and watch Shirley Temple movies for a month.) it could be, at least,a tiny bit perversely refreshing to see him go after SOMEONE, even if it’s the people who were his staunchest supporters:
“Wow, look at that! He’s using language on us that would REALLY fit the republicans. At least, he knows the words.”
There is so much that’s being said, and so much more that’s going to be said, that you have to try to wind up with something brief:
I think that instead of trying to restore some sanity and common sense to our government, he has, in a dementia every bit as bad as that of Bush and his loons, gone about the business of calling madness and idiocy; rational planning. “Don’t rock the boat!” is the order of the day with Team Obama.
Was it OldHippieJean who said, of the comparison of Bush/Titanic and Obama/Titanic:
“I don’t think the Captain of the Titanic backed up and rammed the iceberg all over again.” Which was a gem, cut before our eyes. :o)
The Professional Left, are they hiring?
What people are starting to realize and some have known for a while now is that Obama is a Trojan Horse.
Glenn Greenwald and Jane told the world today, that Obama has basically continued a lot of the Bush Policies.
In 2008 the elites who run the USA, and fight over how to run our lives had a problem, they thought a progressive could win the WHITE HOUSE in 2008. So they created two trojan horses Obama and Hillary, to make sure nothing changed.
What progressives failed to understand and it is clear as night and day! Obama, Rahm, Gibbs, Axelrod are Intentionally wrecking the Democratic Party.
Any semi intelligent democratic politician that won the white house in 2008, would have spent the first two years trying to fix the economy and working on maintaining and increasing the power of the democratic party. Not Obama!
If the people suffer like it is a Depression
If companies go out of business like it is a depression
if states go broke like it is a depression
if people lose their homes like it is a depression
guess what it is a DEPRESSION!
the so call liberal media own by rich conservative have a way of lying, what is a GREAT RECESSION? Everyone knows it is a DEPRESSION.
During a DEPRESSION a president, an especially a Democratic President does not waste time passing the Bob Dole Health Care Bill, unless he wants to hurt and destroy his Party.
Progressive should not be shock or suprise when the Trojan Horses in the White House attack Progressives and Democrats.
I’m not a psychic so I had an excuse for my voting for him
He’s not at all what he campaigned on. See these two videos
http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/08/10/obama-vs-obama/
and the 1st six mins or so of this one
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/ns/msnbc_tv-countdown_with_keith_olbermann#38650001
The operative word is slick, not the other one
Seconded, no one can know why someone didn’t vote, but it is pretty obvious when someone votes for a party on the left that they were not happy with the mainstream party immediately to their right.
Obummer shouldn’t misunderestimate the anger of those of us they consider the professional left. He’s going to see there are tens of millions of us sitting on the fainting couch on election day telling him to suck it. Perhaps we wouldn’t feel the need to be so professional if he didn’t feel the need to carry on with bush’s 3rd term and then some.
Thanks John that is exactly what she meat… she just used the language she always spoke…
Do you think most of these people on here know who Red Ryder was? Little Beaver?
Great segment Jane and Glenn! Bravo…
I think we all would be remiss if we thought that Gibbs was simply going off the reservation a bit…as stated in other comments today on this particular subject matter, it is abundantly clear that this has RahmBug’s slime all over it, and the slime leads directly back to the HopeyChangey Master of Ceremonies. These folks are gonna get their wish, and the RepubReichWing will burn the house down in November…this catastrophe seems to play out like a really bad movie with a deadly ending…and the actors think they will just ride off into the amerikan sunset! Ugh!!!
Your .02 happens to be wrong.
There is no fight.
My point is simple: Gibbs didn’t go off the reservation. He put out a line the WH wanted to be put out. Maybe not every word, but the general picture and tenor.
I think SD is being too generous to the WH.
Yes, it is all conjecture, but the most tell tale sign to me is not even a gentle rebuke from anyone.
But, even with other departures, the odds are that if the main WH spokesman went off the reservation and ticked off a major part of the base without permission, he’d get his rear end handed to him.
Had he really done it on his own, even if saying something “everyone” at WH knows is the case, he’d have gotten his walking papers.
He didn’t even get a tap on the wrist (let alone a slap), and he acted in the press briefing like he felt absolutely no heat on the subject from above.
Just add 2 + 2.
And then, please be more grateful for what Obama has done for you. And, get off that idea of single payer.
Good job, Jane. If you get another chance to be on to discuss this again, I humbly suggest changing the narrative, even escalating it to the next level. Robert Gibbs may choose to label this as criticsm from the “Professional Left”; but it is in actuality a criticism from “Everyday Workingclass Americans” who simply want the security of a job that pays a living wage, and an end to the drain on the economy from the wars and our overinflated defense budget. I would add that Robert Gibbs is fast becoming a member of the “Professional Liars” in the vein of Ari Fleisher, Scott McClelland, tony snow and Dana Perino, and Gibbs’ boss is fast becoming recogized as a professional liar by workingclass Americans just as Scott McClellands’ boss was. So if I was Robert Gibbs, I would be worrying more about being percieved as a professional liar by the independents and progressives that got them elected than complain about a little bit of criticism in not working towards accomplishing the things that were promised to Americans by the Obama administration.
BO says lefties should “make me” pursue progressive ideas. How are we supposed to do that if we’re sitting down wearing gags?
Obama campaigned on the Hillary agenda – not the Bush agenda. However on foreign policy Hillary was into acting “as tough as the GOP” with a bit more humanity and no torture or civil liberty violations in the US – and that is indeed what we got in Obama, EXCEPT HE FORGOT THE HUMANITY AND CIVIL LIBERTY IDEAS. Domestic policy Obama is to the right of Bush, having dropped Hillary’s center left agenda in the trash.
No one who voted for Obama got what was advertised
I want one too. I’m a volunteer reporter and blogger, but professional clergy.
So who is really in charge? Feinstein?
I bet $50 that meeting in her house was bugged.
I thought Obama swore an oath to the constitution.
If he doesn’t want to do the job he swore to do, we have a process to remove him. He should be very careful of Republicans who run on impeaching him, a lot of Democrats and others may think that is a good idea.
All we need is a new leadership team, one that has a clue, to step into the void, and I bet it wouldn’t be that hard to sell it to the general public. One thing about negative campaigning, it does set up an opportunity for third persons who can rise above it. Especially if they have a good plan.
I am an amateur leftist. Do the pros have a farm system I can join to move into The Show?? My ability to quickly disprove right wing bullshit using google has been clocked at 92mph. Is that good enough to get in the AAA? I have a strong arm cutting down Dem corporatists trying to steal 2nd. But sometimes I throw wild and hit them in head. Also, how come the pros don’t wear uniforms with numbers? That Hamsher looks like a lead off batter and would wear number 2 pretty well.
Why do people group Dylan Ratigan with Jane Hamsher and Glenn Greenwald? Ratigan advocates for abolishing teachers’ unions and for right wing economic policies like Steve Forbes’ flat tax and Paul Ryan’s Medicare-provatizing healthcare Reform plan.
I gladly and happily voted for Ralph Nader in 2008. Should he run again in 2012 I will pull the lever for him. If not, then the Green Party Candidate gets my vote. I make no pretense that the Democrats and the Republicans need to go by way of the WHIGS of old……………….
john, john, john,
No lame excuses for not being a diligent citizen! Obama campaigned on and/or voted for the following ideas and legislation:
1. Voted to renew the patriot act (violates constitutional bill of rights)
2. Voted for new FISA bill and gave telecoms retroactive immunity from prosecution for wrongdoing (spying on Americans)
3. Voted for the first Bush banker bailout
4. Campaigned to ratchet up the Afghanistan/Pakistan Wars
5. Ran on “free trade” and “outsource jobs” principles and agreements (NAFTA, WTO, ETC)
6. Rejected single payer health care during the campaign
7. Voted against a Congressional amendment to cap credit card interest rates at 30 percent.
If you or anyone else couldn’t see then that a politician with this horrendous campaign and voting record WAS AND STILL IS ON THE SIDE OF THE POWERFUL AGAINST THE PEOPLE then as Bozo the Spokesman Gibbs put it: you really do need to be drug tested…………………
papau,
“No one who voted for Obama got what was advertised.”
You can’t be serious. Bush, Hillary, Obama, they are all the same. They all believe in neverending war, horrendous economic policy via free trade and outsourcing, gov’t secrecy through Patriot Act, FISA Act, etc., and they are all for keeping the oversease empire. If you can’t see that, see my previous post for john…………………..
papau,
“No one who voted for Obama got what was advertised.”
You can’t be serious. Bush, Hillary, Obama, they are all the same. They all believe in neverending war, horrendous economic policy via free trade and outsourcing, gov’t secrecy through Patriot Act, FISA Act, etc., and they are all for keeping the oversease empire. If you can’t see that, see my previous post for john…………………..
“Rahm’s genius strategy paid off last night in Connecticut, which saw 20% turnout in a hotly contested Democratic primary (down from 43% in 2006). If that keeps up, November is looking awfully grim for the Democrats The White House is in la-la land if they think this is happening because a few cable TV hosts and a couple of bloggers are being mean to them.
Obama failed in his promise to stand up to corporate America, and it’s not just liberals who are upset. Tossing progressives a few bones and telling them to be happy about it while handing the government over to JP Morgan, PhRMA and AT&T is just not going to get it done”
Jane nailed it again. I spend a great deal of time with older folks,(older than my 58 years) coal miner folks and Vets. These are the folks plus more who came out and pounded the pavement for the Dems in the 2006,2008 Dem races. While I hear folks saying they appreciate some of the things that the Dems have been able to pass that in regard to standing up to the big corporate white boys it is “the same as it ever was”
The Dems better push harder for accountability in more radical changes because these folks will not be pounding the pavement again unless they do.
I listen carefully to what people are saying and am proud to say that I really try to mix it up in regard to who I talk with.
What other critical issues was the White House able to take the spotlight off of with this “professional left” statement?