Brilliant commentary by Bill Moyers (watch). Moyers says: Enough of the pretty pleases to the guys standing there with the knives ready to slit your throat (that would be the republicans.)
It's true. Obama tried to rise above the politics, but it's not working. I do think Obama has a serious fighter in him. I'm hoping that's why Obama took an extended vacation-- to get that extra think time that Gordon Brown highly recommended.
Obama is a cut above most politicians but republicans are ruthless and they've shown that even though they're the minority they can make the biggest noise. They won't stop at anything to get what they want. They've sent out their thugs (or haven't stopped them or cowed them or disowned them) to pray for Obama's death, to carry guns to his town halls and to compare Obama to Hitler.
Moyers says the debate going on around health care reform is deranged but it's All American.
Poor Obama. He came to town preaching the religion of nice. But every time he bows politely, the harder the Republicans kick him.
No one's ever conquered Washington politics by constantly saying "pretty please" to the guys trying to cut your throat.
Let's get on with it, Mr. President. We're up the proverbial creek with spaghetti as our paddle. This health care thing could have been the crossing of the Delaware, the turning point in the next American Revolution — the moment we put the mercenaries to rout, as General Washington did the Hessians at Trenton. We could have stamped our victory "Made in the USA." We could have said to the world, "Look what we did!" And we could have turned to each other and said, "Thank you."
As it is, we're about to get health care reform that measures human beings only in corporate terms of a cost-benefit analysis. I mean this is topsy-turvy — we should be treating health as a condition, not a commodity.
As we speak, Pfizer, the world's largest drug maker, has been fined a record $2.3 billion dollars as a civil and criminal — yes, that's criminal, as in fraud — penalty for promoting prescription drugs with the subtlety of the Russian mafia. It's the fourth time in a decade Pfizer's been called on the carpet. And these are the people into whose tender mercies Congress and the White House would deliver us? read the rest of the essay.
Bill Moyers and guests present the left's view on health reform. The right's view is simply to kill health care reform. Then there are the special interests, which aren't interested in a public option. All sides are dug in. If Obama manages to rally the democrats to come up with a decent plan, it will surely be an amazing feat.
This is the first intelligent political discussion that I've seen as of late. I didn't agree with either of the speakers but they spoke without all the hype, which made me inclined to listen.
Three long-term trends have been especially significant in this regard: increasing racial diversity, declining rates of marriage, and changes in religious beliefs. As a result of these trends, today's voters are less likely to be white, less likely to be married, and less likely to consider themselves Christians than voters of just a few decades ago.
The combined impact of these trends on the composition of the electorate has been dramatic. Married white Christians now make up less than half of all voters in the United States and less than one fifth of voters under the age of 30. The declining proportion of married white Christians in the electorate has important political implications because in recent years married white Christians have been among the most loyal supporters of the Republican Party. In American politics today, whether you are a married white Christian is a much stronger predictor of your political preferences than your gender or your class -- the two demographic characteristics that dominate much of the debate on contemporary American politics.
But to go from this to the vicious attempt to portray Obama as a fraud, an actor, and another phony politician is a sign of the hard right's nervousness. When you listen to Sean Hannity, you hear someone who looks at Obama and sees every racial fear he has ever had about black Democrats personified. The difficulty of making distinctions between, say, Sharpton, Jackson and Obama is just too much for him. They're all black Democrats, aren't they? They must all be traitors or far left anti-American hate-mongers. He doesn't even hear the broader Obama message, the full Obama manifesto, the book, the countless speeches, and interviews and debates in which Obama's broader post-racial, post-partisan appeal is exposed. One can only hope that most people will see the full picture. But the right-wing freak show machine will do all it can to prevent it.
for the right wing republicans, it's all about race, isn't it? in this video, bill moyers says as a nation, we should be ashamed of ourselves. indeed. what a pathetic frenzy we've been in, no thanks to our dumbed-down media. some people may not like obama, but as president, he's going go a long way to set things right with people, not by enslaving the white race, as jon stewart joked, but by setting an example, and initiating and guiding the race conversation until people get it.
why hasn't john mccain's embrace of chuck hagee, horrible human, been called out by the media? why hasn't hagee's ugly and twisted comments been looped and interspersed with photos of he and mccain in a warm embrace? frank rich at the nyt answers this question (thank you for such a cogent argument).
it's the old double standard-- for race and democrats. we have bashed obama to pieces. rich also suggests that we may not need the white working class men in ohio and pennsylvania (and likely kentucky and west virginia) who wouldn't vote for a black person. america is changing and white bigoted males (and females), you're set to be the minority, so you ought to broaden your minds or wither:
Mr. McCain says he does not endorse any of Mr. Hagee’s calumnies, any more than Barack Obama endorses Mr. Wright’s. But those who try to give Mr. McCain a pass for his embrace of a problematic preacher have a thin case. It boils down to this: Mr. McCain was not a parishioner for 20 years at Mr. Hagee’s church.
That defense implies, incorrectly, that Mr. McCain was a passive recipient of this bigot’s endorsement. In fact, by his own account, Mr. McCain sought out Mr. Hagee, who is perhaps best known for trying to drum up a pre-emptive “holy war” with Iran. (This preacher’s rantings may tell us more about Mr. McCain’s policy views than Mr. Wright’s tell us about Mr. Obama’s.) Even after Mr. Hagee’s Catholic bashing bubbled up in the mainstream media, Mr. McCain still did not reject and denounce him, as Mr. Obama did an unsolicited endorser, Louis Farrakhan, at the urging of Tim Russert and Hillary Clinton. Mr. McCain instead told George Stephanopoulos two Sundays ago that while he condemns any “anti-anything” remarks by Mr. Hagee, he is still “glad to have his endorsement.”
I wonder if Mr. McCain would have given the same answer had Mr. Stephanopoulos confronted him with the graphic video of the pastor in full “Great Whore” glory. But Mr. McCain didn’t have to fear so rude a transgression. Mr. Hagee’s videos have never had the same circulation on television as Mr. Wright’s. A sonorous white preacher spouting venom just doesn’t have the telegenic zing of a theatrical black man.
Perhaps that’s why virtually no one has rebroadcast the highly relevant prototype for Mr. Wright’s fiery claim that 9/11 was America’s chickens “coming home to roost.” That would be the Sept. 13, 2001, televised exchange between Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, who blamed the attacks on America’s abortionists, feminists, gays and A.C.L.U. lawyers. (Mr. Wright blamed the attacks on America’s foreign policy.) Had that video re-emerged in the frenzied cable-news rotation, Mr. McCain might have been asked to explain why he no longer calls these preachers “agents of intolerance” and chose to cozy up to Mr. Falwell by speaking at his Liberty University in 2006. you must read the whole column.
if you have any question as to the thoughts extreme republicans are thinking, go to humanevents.com and look for "barack obama exposed." it's 37 pages worth of garbage that we've been seeing all over the media. you'll recognize some of hillary's stunts too. these people are scared out of their wits (they clearly have little left) that their voice, big during the bush administration, is going to shrink considerably during the obama administration. No Way, No How Can Hillary Win Hillary’s Impossible Chances of Winning It’s Still Over for Hillary The Clintons’ Fraud Case
