Best Smile

~ susie

I guess some people think politics is like being a kindergarten teacher and their job is to build their students’ self esteem, even if there’s nothing all that special to brag about. That’s why we have “awards” like “Best Smile,” “Best Hugger” and “Most Improved.”

I just don’t happen to think that the president of the United States should be marked on the curve. It’s baffling to me that so many people bend over backwards to excuse or rationalize his corporate-friendly decisions; you have to wonder why.

Here’s a handy rule of thumb: If it not only didn’t fix the problem, it made it worse, IT WAS THE WRONG DECISION.

When someone has a serious bacterial infection, you don’t give them one day’s worth of antibiotics. That’s because you’ve only made the infection even stronger. To praise an inadequate stimulus package that didn’t do the job (and in fact, resulted in THE SAME 10% UNEMPLOYMENT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO PREVENT), well, that’s a little nuts.

I don’t mark on the curve, never have. (I used to feel guilty that I didn’t praise every single drawing or painting my kids did — until their high school art teacher told me my kids were the only students she ever had that could take a critique without falling apart.)

We are in the middle of some very hard times. During the primaries, I said I didn’t think Barack Obama was up to the job, but he got the nomination anyway. I still didn’t think he was up to the job, but that didn’t mean I wanted him to fail, either. I mean, Jesus. I was hoping the guy surprised me.

Sadly, he hasn’t.

I don’t know everything he’s dealing with in the White House. But the people criticizing him (Robert Reich, James Carville) have worked in the White House and probably have a clearer sense of what’s possible than I do. And when a bunch of economic minds like Paul Krugman, James Galbraith and Joseph Stiglitz tell you your plan will make things worse, shouldn’t you, you know, listen?

I call bullshit. I will pay Obama the compliment of holding him to his own standards. He said the stimulus package was enough, and it wasn’t.

He said he was for real healthcare reform, yet backed off from anything that upset the insurance companies.

See, here’s the problem. We’re in a goddamned perfect storm of problems. In another time, Obama’s cautious, incrementalist approach would be enough. BUT WE’RE DROWNING. Our economy’s circling the bowl, our ocean’s dying, the climate meter’s all the way in the red zone, and we need someone who knows how to run a real rescue operation, not someone who throws a few token lifejackets.

As long as we’re drowning out here, my priority is not making sure the president gets enough “attaboys.”

Published by susie

12 thoughts on “Best Smile”

  1. I agree with you but I also have some sympathy for the Obamabots, because I think every Democrat has been there. Every single one of us has put our hope in an empty vessel — either Clinton, or Edwards, or Gore. I can remember feeling desperate that Kerry MUST win in 2004. How silly was that?

    The truth is this political party is f*cked, and most likely so is humanity. It will take decades to unf*ck the party and like you said we don’t have that kind of time.

    So I can’t really blame John if he clings ever more fervently to his religion. Now I understand why the Romans became Christians.

  3. To praise an inadequate stimulus package that didn’t do the job (and in fact, resulted in THE SAME 10% UNEMPLOYMENT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO PREVENT), well, that’s a little nuts.

    Yes, to praise something that prevented a problem from getting much worse than it did is nuts, because very tenuous and optimistic predictions of how bad it would get were not accurate! Actually, pretending that the predictions were dead on instead of being too optimistic, and assuming that unemployment would have been the same without the stimulus, is more than a little stupid.

    call bullshit. I will pay Obama the compliment of holding him to his own standards. He said the stimulus package was enough, and it wasn’t.

    And you would have done more through what, magic? It was the best, or close to the best, that could be done under the circumstances. Despite what some of my fellow members of the left seem to think these days, it’s not possible for a Democratic president to wave his hand and make anything happen. He has to deal with a Congress full of obstructionist Republicans, their friends among the Blue Dogs, and liberal Democrats who refuse to compromise. You want perfection, when you know very well the alternative to what happened is not perfection, but nothing. Nothing would have made things much worse. Recognizing reality is not “grading on a curve,” it’s living in the real world. You live in a fantasy world.

    He said he was for real healthcare reform, yet backed off from anything that upset the insurance companies.

    Yeah, the insurance companies weren’t upset at all about the healthcare reform bill, which moved things forward more than has been done in several decades. That’s why they spent so many millions trying to defeat it! Because they loved it! Again, you live in a fantasy world.

    BUT WE’RE DROWNING. Our economy’s circling the bowl, our ocean’s dying, the climate meter’s all the way in the red zone, and we need someone who knows how to run a real rescue operation, not someone who throws a few token lifejackets.

    Hyperbole aside, what exactly do you think Obama or any other president could do? Declare martial law? Dissolve Congress? More magic?

    See, the problem isn’t that supporters grade Obama on a curve, it’s that his detractors on the left not only are incapable of seeing the glass as anything but empty, regardless of progress made, they want to smash the glass and cut his throat with it too. Because he doesn’t perform magic.

  4. Yes, to praise something that prevented a problem from getting much worse than it did is nuts,
    this one I’m weak on, but I’m thinking auto manufacturers were the only ones that got out of a hole. And that whole 411, 000 census jobs? They’ll last a few months, and then?
    It was the best, or close to the best, that could be done under the circumstances.
    A Democratic president with a majority in both houses of Congress should have been able to wave his magic wand. It’s called leading.
    Yeah, the insurance companies weren’t upset at all about the healthcare reform bill,
    That’s why they were declaring it a victory, and supporting it.
    Because he doesn’t perform magic.
    Because he talks pretty, and backstabs any attempt at solutions.

  5. Oh, bullshit. This is the old “then what’s YOUR solution?” shuffle. Obama was specifically warned by Krugman et al that a half-assed stimulus package would do more harm than good. We also know that the decision to pull back was a political one – “this is all we can get right now.” Again – bullshit. Look at what happened to FDR’s first term when he chose to listen to the bankers: The Depression got deeper and it lasted longer. Am I supposed to believe that this very smart, well-educated man isn’t familiar with that particular piece of American history?

    There’s actually a lot he could have done. He could have declared a bank holiday, audited their books and taken over the bad ones. He could have forced an honest accounting of the bad mortgages, which would have alleviated much of the credit problem (because then the markets would know what they’re dealing with). He could have fought for mortgage cramdowns in bankruptcy court, which would have solved much of the foreclosure problem.

    He could have declared a massive public works project and put people back to work. Instead, he’s blowing smoke out his ass about the deficit during a major recession.

    Now, if you’re more interested in defending Obama than in looking at results, that’s your privilege. Go right ahead.

  6. Obama is a fucking Trojan Horse. And yes, kerry, Gore, Clinton, and any number of pols would have been dramatically better. He’s a stupid, rightwing, lazy asshole who doesn’t give a damn about anybody besides himself. He’s aggressively making life worse for ordinary Americans. Fuck him. Fuck his advisors. Fuck his mealy mouthed, narcissistic, asshole presidency. He’s a fucking infant who took the nomination away through corruption from a genuine liberal with the backbone and the vision to do the right thing.

    He’s the worst fucking Democratic president since Buchanan, and no, McCain wouldn’t have been worse. Obama is that fucking bad.

  7. i’ve been arguing this exact point (incrementalism in the face of desperation) with an aquaintence (ironically, from D.C. area) and neither of us ever “wins.” i think it’s absolutely hopeless for America, and now, thanks to allowing all this deregulation to go un-accountable and unpunished, we have the ecological disaster to take our species and a LOT of others right out of the picture in the near(er) future.

  10. Yeah, Lori, “Fuck his advisors”—truly rings a bell with me. I can recall that back in the late 70’s when Axelrod’s chief client was Mayor Washington, who Axelrod halped get elected as the first black Mayor of Shytown, died suddenly of a heart attack, seeemed to me let Axelrod off the hook in terms of his “advisorship”. I think Obama has not been served well in this area, and God forbid, maybe Axelrod or Obama—or, hell maybe me—-needs to have one of those to change the dynamics of this presidency!

  12. Well, Lori, perhaps you will be much happier after November.

    He’s a fucking infant who took the nomination away through corruption from a genuine liberal with the backbone and the vision to do the right thing.

    Get over it.

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