Many of us puzzle over why Obama is such a…disappointment.
Some lay it entirely on his character, or lack thereof:
To tell you the truth, though, I’m still not convinced that Obama actually wants anything, at least not in a political sense. He seems to me an utter blank. He’s a self-propelling election device that exists solely to get itself elected. It continues to amaze me that so many people somehow thought this empty suit was a savior. Even his campaign message was just a recycled leftover from one of Axelrod’s earlier clients.
Possible, but I still have a hard time believing Obama is that emotionally bleached. Others attribute his apparent paralysis to systemic issues, which rings truer, to me:
My own guess is that he’s been informed that the system is so fragile that if he dares to disturb even one teensy-weensy part of it — for instance, by throwing some executives from Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, et cetera, into federal prison — that said system will fly to pieces in a fortnight. So Obama’s main task for a year and a half has been to desperately apply baling wire and duct tape to the banking system while telling fibs to the public about a wished-for recovery to a prior state. Unfortunately that prior state is the ecstasy of a self-swindle in the moments before it unravels… the sublime feeling of having gotten something wonderful for nothing. We’re beyond that now and nothing on the age-old shelf of nostrums, spells, prayers, and miracle-cures will avail to bring that moment back, though the public does not know this.
The latter view makes much more sense if one can wrap one’s head around the Big Picture reality, which is all too slowly dawning upon us all.
Nicole Foss, aka “Stoneleigh,” former editor of The Oil Drum, and current co-editor of The Automatic Earth, talks about “The Biggest Big Picture,” of politics, finance, and carrying capacity. She dishes on deflation, oil, debt servitude, socioeconomic complexity, and collapse…Pow! Right in the kisser!
The radio format is probably not the easiest introduction to these ideas, as she hits the ground running and alights on many dense topics as if swirling in the pantomime, but it’s worth a listen (If the extemporaneity is overwhelming, She and Ilargi have primers on most topics at their blog.)
Update:The transcript is now here.