President Laughingstock

I continue to be amazed by progressives who claim Obama is misled by his advisers (the ones he picked), or is politically inept, or is paralyzed by the opposition of the minority Republicans. It's as though we have to find some excuse, not really for Obama, but for ourselves.

Too many Democrats were seduced into believing that Obama (because he was young and black?) was really a closet progressive and all that centrist rhetoric was just to get him elected. Now the truth is out and the party is moribund.

I'm a New Yorker faced with a Democratic primary soon where both Democratic Senators are running unopposed even though both are completely in the tank to the Wall Street oligarchy. The Republicans are worse of course, so I will vote Green in full knowledge that no Green can be elected. Our elections are a little more than a crooked carnival show and if we manage to win a Kewpie doll it will fall apart in a week.

Beautiful, George. Thank you.

Where's Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin when you need someone as a scapegoat for the Emperor's incompetence and mendacity?

Well, your suggestions of Obama's status as a tool is disturbingly plausible. And it's easy to see how he is doing too much to continue the cause of greed and unfairness. His speech was more of the same.

But what would you have him do now? Or recently and differently? And what would be the consequences?

We are where we are and what's to be done? I ache for expressed outrage and real action in response to the unfairness and oligarchic crap sandwich we have been served, but nothing happens. MSNBC sells add space by stating the obvious. Democracy Now! illustrates the outrageousness. You and others do so as well (part of the time, anyway).

But what about constructive, active behavior? And measuring progress (if there is any)? And pushing back?

It's all too daunting to consider without something to numb the pain of awareness. Obliviousness is a powerful pain killer. Oh to be so dumb!

Why is it so hot here? And what are we all doing in this handbasket?

[Well, just look at the news this morning, a trial balloon, that the White House may pursue tax cuts for business. That's a policy?? Instead, there are all kind of infrastructure projects to spend money on, that would create jobs. But to get from here to there — to be honest, I don't know. Raise people's consciousness to be followed by peaceful revolution? g.]

Once more we see the application of the most solid of behavioral rules for any organized society: In The Grand Scheme Of The Universe We All Get What We Deserve.

[State Department types used to say that about the Soviets, with the caveat that the Russians were the nicest people. g.]

The most succinct take on the current state of why nobody does anything to challenge the administration came from Ted Rall in the Progressive Populist (quoted from Common Dreams below.) He refers the reader to studies of "learned helplessness" and shows that the Democrats have given up.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/25-2

Learned helplessness is the message with which the suggestion of a third party is always greeted.

Rall is now doing his reporting from inside Afghanistan. He'll be doing Ernie Pyle style "Up Front" reporting in his political cartoon commentary using some new communication technique (unspecified.)

Think of the yard stick as a 100 yr plan or blueprint. In order to finish/complete/implement the plan you must do it in stages. Every half inch you must install the right person to either start or complete a stage. Obama is a closer doing his job, just completing his section of the yard stick.