Tag: Obama

Here are the rules.

The other day George Will, of all people, was comparing Obama refusing to prosecute Bush and Cheney to Ford pardoning Nixon.

If a far right crazed wingnut can get it right, why can’t the rest of us?

This comparison is one that we can use to good effect, but only if we do it continuously and loudly.

A friend of mine a couple of days ago, a nearly unquestioning Obama supporter, said to me, and I quote:

No argument from me.  Ford should have been stood against the wall and shot for that pardon.  Nixon cooling his heels in the clink for a few years would have prevented this mess, no doubt.

Ford’s pardon of Nixon was the beginning of the end of any hope Ford had of being politically effective, and absolutely killed his future chances for reelection.

So let’s see… if Obama doesn’t want a political blood bath that might define his first term as him being a bush enabler and a torture excuser and might drown him, then he’ll tell Holder to appoint a Special Prosecutor, and answer Fertik’s question directly himself, instead of hiding behind excuses and Joe Biden, since according to Biden it is not the job of the president or the vice president, but of the Justice department.  

The Two Santa Claus Theory is a political theory and strategy developed by Jude Wanniski in 1976, which he promoted within the U.S. Republican Party. –snip

The theory states that, in democratic elections, if one party appeals to voters by proposing more spending, then a competing party cannot gain broader appeal by proposing less spending. The “Santa Claus” of the theory title refers to the political party that promises spending. Instead, “Two Santa Claus Theory” recommends that the competing party must assume the role of a second Santa Claus by offering other appealing options.

This theory is a response to the belief of monetarists, and especially Milton Friedman, that the government must be starved of revenue in order to control the growth of spending (since, in the view of the monetarists, spending cannot be reduced by elected bodies as the political pressure to spend is too great). Monetarism is a set of views concerning the determination of national income and monetary economics. … Milton Friedman (born July 31, 1912) is a U.S. economist, known primarily for his work on macroeconomics and for his advocacy of laissez-faire capitalism. …

“Two Santa Claus Theory” does not argue against this belief, but holds that such arguments cannot be espoused in an effort to win democratic elections. In Wanniski’s view, the Laffer curve and supply-side economics provide an attractive alternative rationale for revenue reduction: that the economy will grow, not merely that the government will be starved of revenue. Wanniski argued that Republicans must become the tax-cutting Santa Claus to the Democrats spending Santa Claus.

And the beat goes on….  

Voices for Creative Nonviolence, the Chicago-based group that staged a 500-mile Witness Against War walk to the Republican convention in St. Paul, will sponsor a presence from Jan. 1-19, in President-elect Obama’s Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago.  It’s called “Camp Hope: Countdown To Change.”

It’s called Camp Hope because organizers

earnestly hope his presidency will signal the dawning of long-needed progressive change in the United States.

The 19 days of activities are designed to help build popular momentum behind the progressive goals of President Obama’s campaign — and, one suspects, to remind him of those commitments.  

Barack Obama’s transition team has announced house meetings for the coming weekend, Dec. 13 & 14, to discuss policies and give our ideas.  This seems important.  This is an opportunity for us.  I urge Dharmaniacs to attend.  In addition to buhdy’s petition, this seems another avenue to try.

The email from David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign and transition team manager, arrived just as I had reached the low point of despair over Barack’s appointments.  How can one be optimistic for a foreign policy team of Robert Gates, James Jones, Hillary Clinton, etc.?

But the announcement of the meetings raised me up and encouraged me once again to make the effort. The meetings are nationwide.  There are at least 100 meetings in the SF Bay Area. I’ve signed up for three, hoping that I might have some influence, open some eyes, perhaps have my opinions changed as well.  It will be a mighty task to keep Barack’s back from the Faustian-Corporate pressures which have ruled the “slumberland of DC” for lo these several decades.

David Plouffe’s announcement follows below the fold:

(NOTE: This diary was originally posted on Daily Kos by azureblue, a musician who got his start in New Orleans. Per a request he made to readers in a comment under that diary, I am crossposting it here–because he and I feel this is an idea that needs as much attention and exposure as possible so hopefully Obama will pick up on it.)

The title says it all, but this grew out of a discussion last night about Obama’s love for jazz, and the possibility of him having jazz players at the inauguration:

I grew up in about as stereotypical a Midwestern white middle class household as one can imagine. My dad worked, and my mom was a full-time stay-home mom, as were most of the moms of my friends, with a few schoolteachers and nurses as exceptions here and there. We were not rich, but we were very comfortable. We had everything we needed, and much of what we wanted. We knew our neighbors, not just next door, but for blocks in any direction. Any kid with a scraped knee could knock on any door around and find a mom with a bandaid, a mom who knew your name and knew your parents and with whose kids you played and went to birthday parties (in those days, with the little girls wearing white gloves and party dresses, and the boys in dress pants and bow ties, believe it or not…)

My Son, my friend,

Decided to send you a note on lunch in rural France, on politics and how the French now perceive us since the election.  And, maybe a little more.

 

In Arzal, right now, I’ve taken a break from the lunch we are having with Bertrand, Nadine, the kids and Joe and Martine from up the street.  In September Joe and some of his friends shot and killed a few  wild boar.  Seems that wild boar are everywhere here, a bad overpopulation problem, and hunting them is becoming a passion with the French who go in for such things.  As you know, I don’t care one way or the other about hunting.  I won’t do it for it doesn’t interest me, but if others wish to, well c’est la guerre. 

 

Bertrand took the boar meat and combined it with carrots, red wine, onion, celery, mushrooms, prunes soaked in alcohol (!) and many herbs.  Cooked it for 4 hours.  Also made potatoes mashed.  Wonderful preparation.  The lunch started with two bottles of Champaign and many toasts to Obama!.  They love my rental car, a little Citron C1, complete with my last Obama/Biden bumper sticker stuck to the rear bumper.  The French are absolutely geeked about the election results.  Everyone’s just so freaking happy!!  It’s suddenly a good time to be an American abroad in the world.