Actually, I was called an Obamabot during the primary campaigns, so its novelty has really worn off. I don't think Obama's leadership has been ineffectual, I think that he faces nearly unsolvable political and economic problems. 40 years of "free trade/defense" industrial policy that favored concentration of wealth and the replacement of manufacturing by finance except for an arms industry whose effects on the rest of the economy have been investigated by Seymour Melman and his students and colleagues, 20 years of evangelical burrowing in the military, and 8 years of Bush-catastrophism puts Obama in the position of head of a shambles where he has very little freedom of movement and very limited resources. If there was an active movement like the labor movement in the 30s, it would help him, but all he has is a bunch of querulous "progressives" who want to complain that the fictional "rule of law" has not been magically "restored".
So, what should have been done? What could Obama have done better, in the existing environment? If not, what's the game plan now, and what can be the expectations? In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
It seems to me that you're importing a meta-controversy from Agent Orange to a forum where both the discourse, conventional wisdom and a large fraction of the users are simply not involved in that discussion - neither on your side nor on the side(s) you critique.
That's certainly your prerogative, and one of the advantages of this type of open message board is that discussions can migrate like that. But you might want to bear in mind that quite a large number of us are not Kossacks.
- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.
When people then proceed to complain about his "reality check" he pulls this bullshit about pissing on Obama's parade.
It's rather hard to avoid discussing the shortcomings of the Obama administration and focus on the areas of American political life that are more amenable to activist change, when the other party to the discussion insists on turning the discussion into a defence of Obama's record.
Further, this is a massive thread with, imo, some rather good discussion in it. I don't see anyone 'insisting' on turning it into any particular thing and I certainly wouldn't characterize it as a 'defense of Obama's record' in its overall tone. You, however, seem to be insisting that you want to discuss his 'shortfalls' and that's fine -- no one's stopping you. But don't be all aggrieved if people don't agree with your critiques and interpretations. Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes
Calling his points spurious, outright garbage, and sound but not impressive are, again, all your opinion, not fact.
These sorts of "beliefs" are qualitatively different from those of the religious, who crave certainty and too often believe they have it. But yes, my characterization of Obama is an opinion based on many observations and impressions that have been organized into a working belief. As are yours and those of rootless. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
We're not anywhere NEAR a consensus of 'impressions that have been organized into a working belief' on any of these opinions, so until we are, those of you who have hardened your opinion into belief are going to have to expect arguments from us non-believers. And until you stop stating your opinions like they're the accepted working belief, I'll keep reminding you that they're not. Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes
Some isn't worthless, I agree with that, having worked in the industry I've always said that, including here. But a huge amount is, far huger than is generally acknowledged...and if you add another 20% drop in CA, AZ, FL and NV real estate prices, you might for instance double that "huge," given how the garbage CDOs and MBSs tend to be structured. (Unless you think the DoT and the Fed took only the senior tranches...)
Of course, since there's no transparency, distrust only grows... Fai de bèn a Bertrand, te lou rendra en cagant
