Conventional wisdom remains that our president is a wimp, spineless, etc., which flies in the face of jujitsu moments like this (hat tip Marc Cooper):
And that’s not to deny that Obama, in his way, makes use of political theater, which is what that health care summit was. But taking the opportunity to call out Republicans on their nonsense for six hours on national TV — is that a meaningless exercise or a cave-in? I don’t think so. Give the man a bit of credit already.
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What one saw was an opposition party with nothing to offer but the "same old, same old." And a President willing to bend over backwards (perhaps too much so.) He gave them the rope and we watched them hang.
Whose "conventional wisdom" are you referencing? I've hardly heard any mainstream consensus — unless you consider the Cheney family mainstream — to the effect that Obama is a spineless wimp.
I'm not talking about the Cheneys. I'm talking about progs like Bill Maher who want Obama to be "more like Bush," i.e. more unabashedly arrogant in the pursuit of his goals. I can understand their frustration on one level. But if Obama had taken his political cues all along from people like Bill Maher, Sarah Palin would be our current vice president. So whose judgment should I trust here?
well, to my mind that's still wingnuttery rather than conventional wisdom, but you do have a solid point about the president's ostensible supporters. I agree – I wasn't just against Bush's policies, but the way he implemented them.
No, I don't think it's confined to wingnuttery – Eliot Spitzer was on the Maher panel saying the same thing, and whatever else you can call the disgraced former governor, he's not a wingnut. He's a solidly mainstream liberal.
if we wanted to deal with fraud and abuse that would take a number of pages. I'm paraphasing, but come on…why not deal with fraud and abuse?
Dems would have everyone believe that the Republicans have nothing to offer, when in fact they've tried to offer and the Dems shut them out. So what we have have here is a failure to tell the truth. What the administration wants is full control, not healthcare. Let's just say if it was a great bill it would have passed with flying colors…a year ago. If the President was as smart as everyone says he is, he'd scrap that bill and find a centerpoint to get bipartisan support. Not him he'd rather ram this down our throats and claim it's everyone else's fault.
Let's get smart, if you're for healthcare reform then scrap this crap of partisan politics and hammer out something the people of the US can live with and not be held for financial ransom.