Yes!

My favorite list of suggestions so far. Thanks.

Order the State Department and Defense Department to cease awarding contracts to Blackwater/Xe based on past abuses and the dangers that relationship creates in the Muslim world.

I’d say that they should do this pending some sort of judicial review, either by the IG’s of those departments or some special panel. Any impartial review should bring many abuses to light.

EDIT: Agree with ottogrendel that it’s a good list.

I think that goes to earlier suggestion to “unleash the hounds” on the crooks

Which is another way of saying “Do what you, or any President is supposed to do in the first place, and prosecute crooks.”

I love glen but I think this is tunnel vision, there are other issues too, yes I know the war is a big one but still, I would have loved to hear his opinions on the economy, the supreme court, judges appointments, military conduct (dadt), elections, etc

Simultaneous to the winddown of the warz, an aggressive swords to plowshares program needs to be implemented to quench the dependence on militarism.

There is a little-known feature of the USA PATRIOT Act that abolished the 8-year statute of limitations on torture and conspiracy to commit torture. How ironic if the DOJ took advantage of this.

The issues in Glenn’s list take priority. The road to recovery cannnot begin until the monkey on the back is shaken free.

Unfortunately, as we all know, Obama and Holder are turning out to be WORSE President and AG team than Chimpy and Gonzo. They WILL NOT take a firm stance on ANY IDEA, public or private, that will make a single wave across the top of the pond…. remember, “No Drama, Obama”…

So, that means, we will exit 2010 the same as we enter 2009 where NOTHING has changed in the basic field of Federal Law enforcement or the veracity of the courts..In FACT, in my opinion, they’ve actually gotten WORSE !

Those “hounds” being bullmastiffs.

With jobs and the economy foremost on American’s minds, imho James Galbraith and Alan Grayson do an excellent job of addressing these issues.

Sadly, we now know that Obama is a lying, corrupt asswipe and I fear the best we can hope for is that he not completely destroy the democratic party.

As many have sadly concluded, there is an ever-widening gulf between what Obama and his administration could easily do and what they will do on a wide range of issues. He has proven time and again more traditional Republican than Democrat in his outlook and actions.

An idea with which I wholeheartedly agree. As someone who used to work in that business, it’s alarming how corrupt it’s become, at least at the top.

Great list. Too bad none of them will be done…

[Edited by mod: Please do not refer to violence presented as a solution.] It’s not as if our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan haven’t already given him a good head start.

Now, some of you may have learned about the 5th Stryker Brigade that’s been murdering innocent Afghanis and the subsequent coverup. The Devil may wear Prada but Jekyll and Hyde wear olive drab.

After 16 yrs of disappointment in our Congress, 8 yrs of rage and hopelessness under Bush, I had pride in participating in the election of an intelligent and the first not white President. That too has morphed into rage and hopelessness in Obama. Either by design (my suspicion), massive misunderstanding of the Nations needs, or simple incompetence, Obama is a President of special interests, throwing the occasional bone fragment to us hoi polloi. All of which goes to how annoyed I get, reading this series of what Obama could do, because he will not change course in support of the powers that be.

Martin Luther King Jr., who paved the way for Obama, would be grieving deeply.

At best, Obama is incompetent. That’s the best case he’s been able to make lately while campaigning to help Dems in the midterms. But I suspect, as you do, the worst: he’s a lying pos.

I think a more important question is what will WE do? The question of what Obama could do is nothing more than an exercise in mental masturbation.

Dream on.

Why do we ask for the best? Why do we ask for what President Obama could do if he chose to?

This is not a cynical exercise meant to generate despair. We know that we are burned out when we don’t expect the best anymore. So let’s give it a shot.

We need a plan for the future.

MLK would likely be in the pulpit, on the Mall and on the airwaves exposing this charlatan in the WH.

It’s not mental masturbation. It either focuses the administration’s attention (less likely), or focuses our attention (more likely). Focusing attention is a useful exercise.

We are doing something. We’re keeping the powder dry by keeping the awareness level high.

Another metaphor. We’re the cadre of adults who will step in when the children fall and hurt themselves.

and then what? I still maintain the important question is “What will we do?”

We also need to counter the argument that the President can’t do anything about this, that, or the other thing because of Congress, the Republicans, the Tea Party, or whatever other bullshit excuse his enablers want to come up with. The fact is that he can do all of the things that Bill Black, Greenwald, and others have mentioned. He chooses not to.

The truth is an important element in a discussion, too.

under #2 release the TILLMAN assassination state secrets file, now.

In two years what has holder done? Squat. He should be arrested for theft by deception for imitating an Attorney General and collecting a government paycheck.

Two years and his big accomplishment is?

By not going after the torturers, eric the accessory after the fact, has made himself ,by not enforcing the CAT agreement, a war criminal. Perfect.

Even though he knew he was a marked man, he continued to fight for what he believed in.

Proceeding to the next step with problems clearly defined makes more sense than trying to proceed to the next step with nothing but confusion, regardless of what the next step is.

I think the goal in 2012 and 2014 should be to focus on primaries. Progressive candidates have to get nominated to run for as many offices as possible.

How could we make statements and hold goals when we do not appear to have resources, or in the words of the political betrayers, when we don’t have the votes?

Because someday we will have the votes and if we do not keep pushing for what is right and what will work for everyone, then it won’t matter if we do have the votes.

And I don’t want to give Obama permission or a pass when he has the power, when he has the votes and merely hides behind those phrases when he chooses not to act.

Announce that all War on Terror detainees in Guantanamo will be entitled to a speedy trial or be released, and all detainees seized outside of active war zones shall be entitled to prompt habeas corpus review.

13 June 2008 – news report

The United States Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Thursday that prisoners held as “enemy combatants” at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba can immediately file habeas corpus petitions in US district courts challenging the legality of their confinement. Most have been held at the US naval base under brutal conditions, enduring solitary confinement and torture, for more than six years. None has ever had the merits of his case reviewed by a court of law.

Presidents obey laws and court rulings selectively.

oops. I did not see yr. 27 before my 31. sorry.

Glenn Greenwald:

1. Announce that all War on Terror detainees in Guantanamo will be entitled to a speedy trial or be released, and all detainees seized outside of active war zones shall be entitled to prompt habeas corpus review.
2. Direct the DOJ that the “state secrets privilege” will no longer be used to shield executive conduct from allegations of lawbreaking and judicial review, but instead will be used only for its traditional purpose: to prevent specific secrets documents from being used in litigation.
3. Cease targeting American citizens for assassination who have had no due process and are not on an actual battlefield.
4. Instruct the Attorney General that the White House does not wish for any Bush-era War on Terror crimes to be immunized from the rule of law, including prosecution if warranted.
5. Refrain from prosecuting whistle-blowers and journalists who have exposed government corruption and lawbreaking except in cases where serious national security harm has resulted.
6. Announce a definitive timetable for full withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, and scrap plans for a large State Department private army to be assembled to be stationed in Iraq for the indefinite future.
7. Order the State Department and Defense Department to cease awarding contracts to Blackwater/Xe based on past abuses and the dangers that relationship creates in the Muslim world.

Alan Grayson:

1. End the wars, and bring the troops home. Even if Obama didn’t cut a dollar from the defense budget, all the money spent on the troops, and all of the money that they spend, would be spent in the United States, and that money would circulate in the United States, boosting aggregate demand and creating jobs.
2. Direct the Attorney General to prosecute foreclosure fraud and other white-collar crimes vigorously.
3. Determine that China is a “currency manipulator” (which is stating the obvious), and impose trade sanctions on China, to offset Chinese manipulation of the exchange rate.
4. Accelerate the award and performance of infrastructure projects and competitive grants to the full extent of FY11 appropriations now, instead of the usual end-of-September orgy of contract awards 11 months from now, to accelerate the spending of appropriated funds in order to create jobs.
5. Employ Government control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to: (a) finance and refinance loans at lower rates, and (b) temporarily eliminate the down payment requirement — if you can make the monthly payments on the house, then you can own it. (This is, in effect, how FHA mortgages have worked for years, but only at the low end of the market.)

Bill Black responds:

1. Appoint (on a recess basis) Michael Patriarca as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

[Mike was the OCC wunderkind who was in charge of supervising the largest national banks then served as head of the OTS' West Region where he served with even greater distinction. He has worked since that time in banking and insurance as a senior manager and consultant. He is known for his competence, integrity, and courage.]

The FHFA remains under the control of the (second) acting director. Both acting directors had served as the senior leaders of FHFA’s predecessor (OFHEO) and failed dramatically as regulators. FHFA is in a superb position to provide decisive leadership on a wide range of critical issues (e.g., finding the true losses on CDOs, the true incidence of fraud, and the true incidence of foreclosure fraud and abuse).

2. Appoint Paul Volcker (on a recess basis) as Secretary of the Treasury. Accept Secretary Geithner’s resignation.

3. Appoint James Galbraith as the Comptroller of the Currency.

Here are things that could be announced tomorrow and are critical, but couldn’t be completed in a day:

1. Direct the FDIC and the FHFA to conduct a scientific sample of the incidence/extent of losses, mortgage fraud, and foreclosure fraud and criminal referrals (and failure to file criminal referrals) by the regulatory agencies and institutions.

2. Create a national “hot line” to report mortgage and foreclosure fraud.

3. Direct each financial regulatory agency to make the filing of appropriate criminal referrals (by the agency and the industry) a major priority. Create a national interagency task force composed of the regulators, the FBI, and the Department of Justice to coordinate and prioritize investigations and prosecutions. Create a “Top 100″ list of the most significant cases.

So in the interests of focusing attention, now what?

Cease targeting American citizens for assassination who have had no due process and are not on an actual battlefield.

But targeting foreign citizens for assassination is okay?

I’m guessing Obama will take a few clearly progressive actions before the election of 2012, in an effort to get people to vote for him one more time. Sadly, I fear this strategem will work.

In response to Bluetoe2 @ 26 & 34

So in the interests of focusing attention, now what?

So far, your answer seems to be to come to Firedoglake and demand from others that they tell you what to do next while you stand around offering nothing constructive.

Not helpful.

Apparently. Glenn’s a decent fellow, but he’s still a little wet behind the ears.

Aside from calling for support of Peter DeFazio to challenge Obama in the 2012 primaries I’ve found something else Obama can do. He can call off the DOJ.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/15/eric-holder-to-prosecute-_n_764153.html

Blue Texan’s regularly scheduled post is ready: Sharron Angle Latest Tea Party Candidate to Question Manhood of Democratic Opponent

Since Anubis is away on business elsewhere, I prefer the canis lupus … Meanwhile, there should be a concurrent freeze on the “debt mills”: No More I Owe Love You’s (hattip Annie Lennox)

Obama could also stop THIS:
North Carolina man sues over deportation

A mentally ill North Carolina man is suing the federal government for deporting him to Mexico, where he was left penniless and forced to fend for himself for four months without even the slightest grasp of the Spanish language.

It’s starting, folks

This string really illustrates why we as a movement will lose substantial influence next month. Nothing in this list relates to the primary concern of the american public – jobs, jobs, jobs.

Everything in here is valid and should be on our priority list. But we are going to lose our ability to drive the agenda on 11/2, and nothing on this list is going to bring some voter over from the other side. It makes us happy and preaches to the choir. But if we cannot keep control of the house, this will all fall into the category of “nice to have”.

Sigh. Greenwald is so pre-9/11 in his thinking. Didn’t he get the memo that America sold it’s soul and that pesky things like habeas corpus no longer apply?

Obama got the memo, though I don’t think I did. I am not up to letting human rights slide just because it comes from a Democrat. It’s bad enough that Obama is selling out the middle class-but I want no part in the torture and murder that is done in my name anymore than I wanted it under Bush.

And this is why endtimesgal is so precisely on point. Don’t tell me that the bankrupt liberal elite has gotten to Glen Greenwald too! The point is this, since Obama has already sold out the middle class and the working class people of this country, why on earth would anyone think that he would now care about the pitiful lives of those third world peasants that he is so eager to have predator drone missile attacks take out?

If you want to talk about patterns of the tea party questioning people’s manhood, how about questioning the sanity of people who continue to think that Obama will suddenly govern as if he cares about the non-wealthy elite of this country or any other country?

Great suggestions. Too bad Obama has continued the same lawless neocon policies as Bush. Generally his role has been to facilitate and cover-up continued government and corporate corruption.

Yes indeed, I must agree with Mr. Greenwald, except to say that is what Obama should do.

But since he wants to live longer than JFK, he really can’t do some of that.

It is not a moral issue, it is a capacity issue.

Saving civilization is “hard werk”.

And fierce firedogs ; }

1.Why don’t you make that list.
2.When you do the list make sure you include C.E.T.A. Comprehensive Employment and Training Act.
3. Make sure these jobs have benefits, pay into SS and decent living wages.
4. Build on what people already know how to do. Even Bernanke admitted today that this is not a skills deficit depression.
5.Use your disappointment to do stuff and encourage others.

Thinking about this list, if one wants to affect a balance of power in the federal government—and most political and practical problems arise from an imbalance of power—then items 1 through 4 are the most important. Why?

What is at stake with torture, assassination and creating extra-legal categories like “enemy combatants” is not the extraction of information or the successful prosecution of war. From what I can tell, most experts on torture agree that if you put the thumb screws to anybody hard enough, they will tell you anything: they will tell you their deepest secrets; they will tell you the moon is made of green cheese. Torture does not work.

Since this is the case, why pursue a policy that does not produce the intended results? Because the real goal behind the issues in items 1 through 4 is the expansion of executive power. Torture, assassination and extra-legal categories are really about not just allowing the executive to create and enforce law, but also to allow him to exist outside of the law. This is the ultimate expression of pure power: I make the law and at the same time am not constrained by it. Pursuit of power on this level explains why Cheney bucked McCain’s anti-torture amendments even to the point of potentially compromising the nation’s ability to defend itself. Pursuit of power threw trump–everyone else can indeed, “go fuck [themselves].”

Checking this sort of egregious dictatorial power is the first and most important step to ensuring any semblance of democracy in the United States.

I think you’d be surprised at how motivating righting wrongs of biblical proportions would be.

That’s like me saying, I have no reason to be a moral human being until I get a job.

What if the crimes of aggression we’ve committed (in finance and lawfare as well as traditional warfare), the shameful global knowledge that the self-appointed world sheriff is in breach of umpteen federal statutes and treaty obligations for not investigating at the very least, and on and on, are the very things taking us down?

Jobs? Jobs?! I don’t want your stinking jobs, I want a livelihood. I’m certainly not alive just to do the bidding of someone else, I’m here to live my life myself, thankewveramush.

Since when did the American dream become to be employed at slow-death-by-impoverisment-wages by the very robber barons who are bleeding us dry?

Excellent list!

Agreed on all points. There are many, many things Obama could have done independently of Congress since becoming dictator. Instead, he chose to embrace each and every Bush-Cheney policy, expanding on many of them (assassinations, for example).

Maybe not. Addressing the increasing imbalance of power that is evident in most of the items on this list is a prerequisite to producing jobs. It is partly the unchecked power of corporations and rapacious capitalism that has resulted in the poor job market. Fix the cause, not the symptoms, first. Although, as you suggest, the symptom is what is immediately hurting us.

I’m glad the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King didn’t succome to that attitude and fear.

What a beautiful list. I agree with all of them and expect Obama to do none of them.

FYI the link in the first line gets a 404.

Your vote is not one that we need to change. What we need to change are those that have become unhappy with the President’s approach.

As I said earlier, preaching to the choir will ensure that we lose the house.

My list includes things that will make it easier for businesses to prosper and to hire. Don’t we remember when we democrats stood for working folk? People hire when they can make money doing it.

What a beautiful list. I agree with all of them and expect Obama to do none of them.

Me too bluewombat, on all counts.

I make the law and at the same time am not constrained by it.

Now we’re getting to the source of the problem, well said. Gotta love that username, too.

Mind if I ask where you’re getting that? It’s exactly the lesson of the ancient Egyptian method of ensuring pharaohnic “continuity of government,” which just so happens to go by the name of The Secret of the Two Partners. It’s the oldest nation-jacking trick in the known world.

Such, then, or somewhat such, was the rite by which the literal killing of the old king and transfer of power to the new had been transformed into an allegory. The king died not literally, but symbolically, in the earliest passion play of which we have record. And the plot of the sacred mime was the old, yet ever new, formula of the Adventure of the Hero, which is known to the later arts and literatures of all the world.85 Analyzed in terms of its component folkloristic motifs, the plot might be summarized as follows: [more here.]

The Secret of the Two Partners was the literal name of the scroll that supposedly provided god’s own guarantee of the pharaoh’s worthiness and divine right not to go to death, as do the sun and stars of which his royal court was a full-scale pantomime, but to keep enjoying being treated like a god. I’m absolutely convinced that Karl Rove took these specific lessons to his hanging-chad heart.

Today, we’d call it the 2000 Supreme Court one-off decision that put the Bushies in power. It’s evident in the perversion of our Justice Department into consiglieres for war criminals. Or presidents who say they’re for the very things they’ve already dealt away.

I seriously think they, our present class of myth-makers, think they’re being pretty fucking clever, weaponizing mythology like that. I say that advisedly, because Campbell himself lectured for decades at the State Department, and they probably still think they have the Secret of the Two Partners all to themselves, and no one can see through their masquerade. And that’s gone even worse than APA’s efforts, to weaponize psychology.

Problem being, of course, you just can’t fuck with reality like this, myth-jacking electorates great and small every freakin’ election cycle, and expect everyone to suddenly end up in the Promised Land. What we end up with instead is exactly the world our MOTU intend.

Here’s an example of the weaponized power of myth, from TRMS just last night. Dude says, “We’re in Afghanistan because of 9/11,” and Maddow doesn’t challenge that malicious myth-making. We had designs on that US-benighted land long before that. As anyone who hasn’t been flashy-thinged stupid by such tricks knows, we’re there because Zbig Brzezinski mongered a Vietnam-scale horror for the Soviets. What a guy.

But that’s completely gone now. “We’re there because of 9/11″ brings into being a false world-war of pain in just a few words. How’s that for “soft power?”

What to do? Obviously, reclaim the power of myth. That’s all ; }

For one thing, I think the dishonesty this president has exhibited since being elected will go a long way to prevent another black person from being elected president any time soon. I don’t think independent voters are going to be too quick to give any other African-American candidate the benefit of the doubt after the experience of this bait-and-switch.

Great ideas Glenn!

Unfortunately each of those would take some balls, and we’ve got a eunuch for a President.

Keep one thing about Holder uppermost in your mind: He’s the guy who jumped through hoops for Scooter Libby so that Marc Rich could receive a pardon outside the ordinary channels.

OR Just(ly) ORDER all the troops home from the ILLEGAL Bush Wars NOW to EFFECTIVELY defend the air, land and sea borders of OUR country AND use the $urplus saved to prosecute the W (Warcrimes) of ALL who ordered or executed them!

Oh! I see. You meant: what could Obama do if he weren’t the duplicitous, criminal monster that he is.

And the first and foremost link in that chain is an Attorney General who knows how to follow orders. Hence, Gonzo was Bushie’s best friend in many ways, until he figured out who was gonna take the brunt of the blows.

Oh, and the long string of disastrous white presidents didn’t do it for them? This reminds me of the Senate’s geriatric, paternalistic, atavistic WASP-supremacy during Sotomayor’s confirmation. I so hope you’re wrong.

Doesn’t it seem odd to you that the seemingly most progressive pols running are the ones in the most trouble. Some of my favorites are Feingold, Grayson, and John Hall from NY. All are in trouble according to the polling. Bet some others can think of more progressives doing poorly. It’s their fat I want to pull out of the fire; as for Blue Dogs, I’d just as soon leave them to their own devises.

Oh balls.

Did lack of male gonads somehow motivate Speaker Pelosi to remove impeachment from the table? Did lack of balls prevent Margaret Thatcher from becoming known as the Iron Lady? Did Leona Helmsley need balls to become the Queen of Mean? Does it take balls for DiFi to do the intelligence “oversight” voodoo she does?

What’s balls got to do it? Nothing personal, TheCallUp (btw, is that alluding to The Clash, one of my all time favorite bands?). I’m just sick to death of that impotent trope. It’s implicitly sexist at its root.

I dare say, balls are the single most common feature of the present crop of perps who’re masquerading as our public servants, raping Lady Liberty before our very eyes, yet the lack thereof doesn’t seem to stop people from likewise abusing us. How are more balls supposed to help?

Yes, of course, I know you’re speaking metaphorically. Allow me to speak poetically, then.

Ahem. Knowing that all politics is personal, “soft power over-and-under-alles” is my favorite metaphysical position. Sounds like a fine way to form a more perfect Union, wouldn’t you agree? ; }

I hope I’m wrong too but looking around at how easily Bircher hatred has become mainstream Republican thought and talking points I think a lot of whites will be looking for any reason to justify their racism. Unfortunately, after all the years of striving and bloodshed, we’re headed back to the bad old days.

And poor working class white people haven’t got a clue about how their fears are being used to further a radical political agenda designed to enslave everyone except the oligarchs and their minions.

Thanks for introducing the mythological aspect! I haven’t been thinking broadly enough about all this. Campbell is good lens. And the “continuity of government” perspective might help explain Obama’s use of the phrase “on my watch,” as it betrays that very idea—and maybe why so many folks are saying, “What’s the difference between this administration and the last eight years?”

“Where am I getting that?” Having never had an original idea in my life—I just use the ideas everybody else already has—I’m relying on Giorgio Agamben’s “Homo Sacer,” and generally the work of Bob Altemeyer, Paul Virilio, Guy DeBord and Slavoj Zizek in relation to this topic. I like to try and figure out how things work while, speaking of myths, avoiding a declensionist narrative, a good vs. evil dichotomy or a Hegelian trajectory. These guys help.

Speaking as one of the poor working class white people, who’ve been jacked for generations into voting against our interests by our very own public servants, and one with a documented native ancestry no less, I’ll thank you not to dismiss us as a class. We’re not all as dumb, nor as lily white, as you might think.

How does dissing your fellow Americans help, anyway? Besides giving one that corrupting sense of smug supremacy, I mean.

IMO, We, the People, aren’t sheeple, we’re getting freaking jacked.

Effing cool, amigo, so glad to see someone else bring the mythology, too.

Great list of authors. I only recognize Zizek. Can that guy talk a mile a minute or what?

When people say, ‘it’s the economy, stupid,’ I like to ask, and whence comes the economy? Why do we do the voodoo we do, even when it doesn’t work worth a damn?

It’s the mythology!

Zizek is indeed a spaz.

Someone else a week or two ago provided this link to Altermeyer’s “The Authoritarians.” Click the “whole book” link at the top. It’s basically a very accessible synopsis of his work over the last 40 years.

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/

Also, I prefer to say things like, “Jeez, why don’t you get a pair of ovaries?” or “Grab your ovaries and make it happen!” :)

Did lack of male gonads somehow motivate Speaker Pelosi to remove impeachment from the table? Did lack of balls prevent Margaret Thatcher from becoming known as the Iron Lady? Did Leona Helmsley need balls to become the Queen of Mean? Does it take balls for DiFi to do the intelligence “oversight” voodoo she does?

What’s balls got to do it?

It’s got nothing to do with it in reality. I’d rather go a few rounds with Obama or Reid than Hillary on any day. :)

But there is an association commonly made — perhaps incorrectly — between levels of testosterone and aggressiveness. I’m guessing Hillary has greater levels of testosterone than some guys. And of course balls are the area where guys produce a lot of testosterone — I believe.

And thus the expression “He’s got the balls to actually take them on …”

I’m merely using it in the same way as the commonly used expression, not necessarily governed by facts.

As far as The Clash, they’re one of my all-time favorites, and yes my username does come from that timeless, fabulous song. Here’s to another Clash fan! :)

Since when did the American dream become to be employed at slow-death-by-impoverisment-wages by the very robber barons who are bleeding us dry?

Agreed, it’s more like a nightmare. And the current crop seem in many ways even worse than the original robber barons.

Anyway, it’s good to see that we have our champions and they are not the slightest bit lacking in vison or conviction. Greenwald, Black, Galbraith, Warren… these are the people that I want the spotlight on. If we hold these Americans and thier vison up high, I’m confident that we will overcome the widening gyre created by the likes of… hmmm too many to list. We just have too many Oligarchs to feed.

Great list.

My suggestion: Sack all the deadwood and employ deeply qualified experts to various government positions.