There is an imbalance in the argument at the heart of the 2016 presidential campaign that threatens to undercut the Democrats’ chances of holding the White House. You might think otherwise. The divisions among Republicans are as sharp as they have been since 1964. Donald Trump may be building on the politics of resentment the GOP…
It’s kind of the same problem somebody was discussing with respect to the global situation. Compared to where we should be, we’re doing atrociously. Compared to history, we’re doing very well. Except for the POTUS that last sentence would be “compared to where a Republican POTUS would have taken us.”
The truth is that Obama missed every opportunity during his first two years in office. The mood of the country, the Democratic Congress, the high people were on about him would have allowed him to establish single payer healthcare in some form, get exploitative homeowner loans forgiven, and start the country transitioning to solar and wind power as part of a big put-the-country-back-to-work program.
Instead he farted around for two years (which I’m convinced is what Big Money elected him to do) until he could be ineffective, and then started making pretty speeches. The things he did do were almost invariably done in election years as a sop to Dem voters.
Of course people are furious.
On the other hand, of course blacks don’t want that rubbed in. And now is a really bad time to do that. Now’s the time for political cheerleading — Hillary once again shows her native smarts by understanding that — and pointing out accomplishments.
The other truth is that there really have been some accomplishments. And we’re way ahead of where we would have been with a Repub. The smart thing is to understand the way forward instead of giving in to blind rage.
There are fifty ways to leave your lover.
Just how much influence did Hillary exert on Obama’s policies both foreign and domestic?
Perhaps her defense of Obama is more then just pandering for black and Hispanic votes.
Maybe by trying to save Obama’s presidency she’s actually trying to save face?
Rep. Jim Clyburn endorsed Hillary today.
He’s just one more ‘can’t do’ Democrat.
He was asked in an interview after his endorsement what he thought of Bernie’s free college tuition plan?
“Oh, we -can’t do- that” he said “it would cost too much.”
It would cost about $70 billion a year.
Is that too much?
It costs the US, all together, about $730 billion a year in defense spending.
If we stopped all defense spending we’d have a $256 billion dollar budget surplus.
Do you suppose that the defense department could get along with a reduction of $70 billion a year? (Stop fighting in Afghanistan.)
What E.J. Dionne is asking Democrats to do is to suck it up, vote for Hillary and accept a continuation of the slow death of the middle class that the Democratic establishment is very much responsible for.
NAFTA, CAFTA, TPP, the end of Glass-Steagall, the welfare to work program, a militarized police force, private prisons, etc.
Pick your poison folks.