( – promoted by buhdydharma )
“I’m getting tired of saving Obama’s can in the White House,” said Conyers.
–snip–
Asked if the president had shown enough leadership in the health care debate, Conyers facetiously wondered why Press would ask the question.
“Of course not, of course not,” he said. “You know, holding hands out and beer on Friday nights in the White House and bowing down to every nutty right-wing proposal about health care, and saying on occasion that public options aren’t all that important is doing a disservice to the Barack Obama that I first met who was an ardent single-payer enthusiast himself.”
He led off the interview by declaring that he was tied of “trying to stop the war in Afghanistan from surging.” He also took several swipes at Emanuel, whom he called, with a slightly derogatory tone, his “buddy.”
“That is essentially what Rahm Emanuel has said: Just give us anything and we will declare victory,” said Conyers. “Not only is it not a victory, but when it doesn’t work, guess who will come at him: the same guys that were saying let’s go along with anything… This is all my buddy Rahm Emanuel trying to get anything. But look the bill doesn’t go into effect for three years. Many of the people that we are trying to help will be dead by then.” link
What else is there to say? Conyers will certainly get no argument from me, and I enjoyed hearing it immensely. It’s too bad that Conyer’s didn’t say it before and vote no with Kucinich and Massa. The reason Progressives have no power is because they have no balls. They even run away from the word “liberal”.
I heard on Thom Hartmann’s radio show that CSPAN covered Geithner today vigorously attacking Friedmanomics big time. Maybe we need Rahm dumped instead of Geithner. Or, maybe we need them both dumped. As bad as the Democrats are, the problem is that the Republicans are even worse. A look at the headline stories on the political page of the Huffington Post makes me wonder whether to laugh or cry. If this is the best and brightest this country has got, no wonder we’re dying.
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When 2012 is a bright spot, we know we’re in trouble.
It’s like I wrote it myself.
Truth to Power baby!
weeks? months?
Good catch, dkmich.
so I followed your link to this other one, and its dated Nov 10, with a nod to the AP. Im so jaded, its makes me go “hmmmm”. But Ill take it.
end of the primaries. I could imagine, “Let’s make nice and promise me that I get to be Secretary of State, Rahm the COS, and Larry your economic advisor. That way we know how foreign policy will be defined, how the White House will be managed and how economic policy will be formulated. I promise that Bill will stay far away as possible and never embarass you. Oh, and by the way, Rahm has really mastered the art of Washington Politics. He’ll make you Barack, yes you, into a winner.”
It would be good to let him get knocked down and have to climb back up on his own with something more tangible than a great speech. I’m not sure he’s ever had to do that.
But I didn’t read his bestselling book so I don’t really know his story.
but almost always fails to walk the walk.
It’s really kind of weird.
exercize the full extent of his constitutional and political power. The implications, of course, are quite obvious i.e. there will be no fundamental change.
As I’ve said before, his easiest piece of legislation, politically, has been bungled by incompetence and fear;
fear to lead and fear to lose. He telegraphed in his cabinet picks and White house Staff how he intended to use his office.
These are some words that come to mind: Low Risk, Bipartisan, Corporate, Conciliatory, Tentative, Problem Solver. The slogans of “fierce urgency of now” and “change you can believe in” were just campaign slogans to get him elected. He used his oratory for himslef.
In a strange way, in his thought process, if he couldn’t bring everybody together, he certainly wasn’t going to risk advocating just for the Democratic Causes.
I think in his risk aversion frame of mind, the origins of our extreme disappointment lies. It certainly contradicts his positions and passion during the campaigns, and to me it makes him more of a salesman than what we hoped he would be. He appears to be a fighter quitting after the first round. He just ain’t what I hoped, and appears quite content with the status quo. And in our current environment, just what we did not need. He’s letting a whole lot of people down, and for this he is solely responsible. After 10 months, the first three major changes I wanted to see ATTACKED immediatley, were 1)Stimulus to create sustainable jobs 2)Out of Iraq and Afghanistan 3) Universal Health Care. He failed to use his political capital on the economic issues and his constitutional prerogative as commander and chief.
Conyers went through this big charade of a “not really an impeachment hearing”. I was sitting right there in the room when he kicked Cindy Sheehan and several veterans out of the room for voicing their impatience and displeasure with OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES for dragging their heels on this issue. Yeah, real easy to push the average citizen around, but where were the cuffs on that piece of shit Karl Rove?
We never ONCE saw the Sergeant At Arms rise his taxpayer-salaried butt out of his chair and go get that SCUMBAG Rove or that SCUMBAG Cheney or that SCUMBAG Bush. Not ONCE did Conyers effect the will of the people. Rove flouted Congressional subpoenas THREE FUCKING TIMES and didn’t even get a slap on his doughy wrist, much less the cuffs he deserved.
But oh, yeah right, Conyers is talking tough, watch out! Oh PLEASE!
This “Oz the Great and Powerful” shit has got to go. Schumer, Conyers, all their sturm und drang is just noise – they always let us down and sell us out to the GANGSTERS!
He is doing the best he can. I think he’s on the level. He also makes mistakes and miscalculates.
Remember he is in a sensitive position unlike Kucinich who will always be a back-bencher. That makes Conyers vulnerable to serious threats. He can’t do what he wants. His visibility makes him a target for both benefits and threats.
Mr. Smith (Jimmy Stewart) cannot exist in today’s Washington. It was corrupt then but it’s worse now and they play hardball, i.e., they will kill you if they have to (it almost never has to get to that).
Stall out as long as possible so more baby boomers don’t reach Medicare age and swamp the system.
But don’t worry! Ten years from now the PO will be really kicking in.
If anyone didn’t know before, he’s amply proved it now.
Sadly for the country.
And Obama’s not blameless for putting him in there.
Boy were we suckered. Sadly for the future of humanity.
I dunno, you could say they’re like a couple of alarm clocks, though. Ringing bells to wake us up.
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This was a fun read and write.
Hey, Johnny! Good showing some frustration and anger at the Obamassiah and his merry band of right-wingers. Now grow a fucking pair and do something besides bitch about it.You complain about how Obama is beholden to right-wingers, but you voted for the abomination that is the Bush Dogs’ health care bill instead of wrenching arms out of their sockets to make sure it died a horrible, flaming death. So don’t bother bitching, child, until you’ve decided to go back to being a grownup and done something about all of this. It’s not as though the public wouldn’t have your back if you did.
I really feel we have, as Inhofe said to Boxer, lost the battle and need to get a …life(?) or prepare for the destruction and death of all we love, know and value (!)…
But then, what do I know?
I only know I think everything this esteeemed country is doing is really BAD!!!