Follow BeltwayBlips on Twitter
In which I, too, apologize for being prematurely correct
Corrente —
Go read Glenn now. Trust me, you'll find it of interest.
If only someone had thought to point out at the time that Obama wasn't running as a progressive! What the hell was I thinking?
I love the piece, Glenn. But, erm, about this part... Read more…
"Concern Trolling" From Some Blog Stars
TalkLeft —
I wonder if Greenwald and Digby will be called morons for this: Digby explained perfectly why this reaction is so mystifying (re-printed with her consent): Liberals took cultural signifiers as a sign of solidarity and didn't ask for anything. So, we have the great symbolic victory of the first black president (and that's not nothing, by the way) who is also a bipartisan, centrist technocrat. Surprise. . . . Obama said repeatedly that he wasn't ideological, that he cared about "what works." I don't know why people didn't believe that. ...
Starry Eyed Again
N/A —
... : “it wasn’t Obama who misled [progressives]. It was their own desires, their eagerness to see what they wanted to see rather than what reality offered.“ ...
What's The What?
Open Left - Front Page —
... Obama thinks he is doing, but in that case, Obama's judgment is clearly flawed, and just as clearly subject to the Verailles bubble effect, which screens out 90%--at a bare minumum--of what happens outside the Beltway.
We need to be very clear about this reality, and about the fact that Ambinder is simply selling us a Bridge to Nowhere. For if we do not realize how utterly misleding this narrative is, we will be in no position to change it.
As Greenwald notes in his diary today (with emphasis added):
Barack Obama is a centrist, ...
When Will Obama Officially Go From Being One Of Us To One Of Them?
DownWithTyranny! —
... as endorsing Bankruptcy Bill Biden, although we noted that he was a far better choice than strawmen Evan Bayh or Tim Kaine, let alone Sarah Palin.) As Glenn Greenwald and Digby point out in Salon today, Obama made no promises or entreaties to get netroots support. ...
SUNDAY ROUNDUP
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room —
SUNDAY ROUNDUP The possibility that President-elect Barack Obama will hold off on a repeal of President Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy has disappointed liberal bloggers. Obama's Cabinet has already given bloggers on both sides something to complain about. The "Saturday Night Live" portrayal of Obama's profane chief of staff-designate, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), makes bloggers laugh. The suggestions by Obama's aides that he'll delay repealing the tax cuts confuses The Huffington Post's David Sirota , who recalls that tax raises on the wealthy contributed to an economic boom under President Clinton. But it's not a bad thing that Obama realizes ...
Obama and the "disillusioned" Netroots
The Reaction —
By Creature I'm kind of with Booman on this one. I, for one, certainly didn't vote for Obama thinking he was Dennis Kucinich. Who knows? Maybe I'm more pragmatic than progressive these days. That being said, I really would like a single-payer health plan, a Department of Peace, and a president who's tight with Shirley MacLaine. (Cross-posted at State of the Day.)
SO, WHO ARE THE RUBES THIS TIME? Glenn Greenwald has a clue. “So many progressives were misled abo…
Instapundit —
SO, WHO ARE THE RUBES THIS TIME? Glenn Greenwald has a clue. “So many progressives were misled about what Obama is and what he believes. But it wasn’t Obama who misled them. It was their own desires, their eagerness to see what they wanted to see rather than what reality offered.” Well, the master bullshitter always lets the rubes hear what they want to hear.
...
You were expecting a Kucinich cabinet?
Newshoggers.com —
By Libby
I'm surprised by the intensity of reaction in Leftopia over Obama's cabinet picks. I mean, was anyone really expecting that the White House doors would be flung open to welcome progressives? We're not going to get that Department of Peace. We didn't elect Kucinich. As Glenn reminds us, we elected this guy: ...
Change We Can Perceive In
techPresident —
... themselves that Obama was a genuine,
dyed-in-the-wool progressive at some point during the primaries. For
no reason as far as I could tell -- his voting record in the Senate was
pretty much identical to Hillary Clinton's, and the people he
surrounded himself with weren't exactly "outsiders." But in the midst
of the pie fights, that hardly seemed worth dwelling on for the
pointless vitriolic arguments it would have engendered.
And then there's Digby - yet another progressive voice who takes a more pragmatic view of the Obama policy ...
Getting Out of Iraq
Ross Douthat —
In a rare harmonic convergence, the Hillary-to-State news has Daniel Larison and Michael Goldfarb arguing along similar lines, joining the chorus of voices who see Obama's likely national-security appointments as a blow to those who hoped for a real progressive turn in foreign policy. Having basically made this argument myself, let me offer one thought by way of counterpoint - namely, that foreign policy is one arena where progressives might (might!) end up being well-served by having their agenda implemented by other people. ...
What Did You Expect?
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan —
Greenwald, understandably, is mystified by liberal outrage at Obama's appointments thus far: It's difficult to understand what basis progressives think they have for demanding greater inclusion in his cabinet and other high-level appointments, and it's even more difficult to understand the basis for the disappointment and surprise being expressed over the fact that center-right Democrats and Republicans are welcomed in his inner circle, but -- as The Nation's Chris Hayes put it -- "not a single, solitary, actual dyed-in-the-wool progressive has, as far ...
Obama, is he or isn't he ... real?
Angry Bear —
... As we watch the "team" Obama is putting together and the discussions regarding how reflective of progressive ideas they are vs same old, same old, I thought I would add to the hunt for Obama's true identity. These are comments from his policy positions regarding development of our living environment and the economic relationship. I was keyed to these via a notice I receive from the Smart Growth movement. ...
11/25: Judging Obama By The Company He Keeps
Blogometer —
... other rumored candidates: DE SEN: Who The Heck Is That? Liberal bloggers are critical of DE Gov. Ruth Ann Minner 's decision to appoint VP-elect Joe Biden 's former CoS Ted Kaufman to fill Biden's Senate seat until a 2010 special election: THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Getting Out Of Iraq The Atlantic 's Ross Douthat : "In a rare harmonic convergence, the Hillary-to-State news has Daniel Larison and Michael Goldfarb arguing along similar lines, joining the chorus of voices who see Obama's likely national-security ...
Relax, lefties!
Sister Toldjah —
For the last week or so, there have been no shortage of leftie blogs (examples here) complaining about how Obama hasn’t been throwing “any bones” to the “progressive movement” in terms of his cabinet/admin staff picks.
While I’d disagree with that assessment, I’d just like to remind the left to remain calm, and remember what Vice President-elect Joe Biden cautioned us about a couple of weeks before the election:
“And he’s gonna need help. And the kind of help he’s gonna need is, he’s gonna need you - not financially ...
Why Do Radical Voters Go Out With Centrist Candidates?, or, More on Progressives' Obama Buyer's Remorse
Reason Magazine - Hit & Run —
Following on to Michael Moynihan and Damon Root's blogging yesterday on some left-wing Obama regrets, Daniel Larison at American Conservative, spinning off of Glenn Greenwald's commentary on progressive laments about the mainstream nature of Obama's appointments, offers some reasons why non-centrist voters will inevitably live to be disappointed by supporting centrist candidates: At every stage, the “impractical” purist hears that he should not withhold his support from the marginally preferable candidate under any circumstances. He is urged to be realistic, and so he and those like him do ...
“BIDEN WILL BE GIVEN NOTHING TO DO.”
So I guess Obama’s following my advice, then!
Nobody tell…
Instapundit —
“BIDEN WILL BE GIVEN NOTHING TO DO.”
So I guess Obama’s following my advice, then!
Nobody tell Glenn Greenwald.
Perspective, please: Obama is not an establishment centrist
The Reaction —
By Michael J.W. Stickings In a couple of recent posts -- here and here -- I have defended Obama against charges that he is not, and is not being during the transition, progressive enough. While I never considered him to be the sort of radical some took him to be, I continue to believe that, while more progressive on some issues and less on others, he is a Much of this criticism is coming from the left, from likes of Chris Bowers, Jane Hamsher, Digby, and David Sirota. And I have been critical myself, particularly of Obama's support for ...
Digby, Hegemony and the Policy-Personnel Debate
Open Left - Front Page —
Last Sunday, Glenn Greenwald wrote:
I've been genuinely mystified by the disappointment and surprise being expressed by many liberals over the fact that Obama's most significant appointments thus far are composed of pure Beltway establishment figures drawn from the center-right of the Democratic Party and, probably once he names his Defense Secretary and CIA Director, even from the Bush administration -- but not from the Left. In an email yesterday, Digby explained perfectly why this reaction is so mystifying (re-printed with her consent): The villagers and the right made it very clear what ...
What Are They Going To Do With Themselves?
PoliGazette —
... totally won? Railing against the excesses of some small-town school board president that has managed to evade the edicts of the courts doesn’t seem likely to fulfill their appetites, and they can keep recycling the Sarah Palin boogeywoman over and over and over only for so long.
The psychological frustration that comes from needing to hate but lacking a suitable target might produce some entertaining stuff over the upcoming months and years.
Then again, they can always repackage President Obama as the new evil liar.
©2008 PoliGazette. All ...
In Defense of the Presentable
Firedoglake —
As a foulmouthed Liberal Blogger (one of the foulmouthiest!), I know I'm supposed to be full-bore angry outraged that Obama nominated Hillary R. Clinton as Sec'y of State, as opposed to, I don't know, Zombie Che Guevara. ROAR! FRANKENTHERS DEMAND OBAMA NOMINATE VAMPIRE GRAMSCI ...
Cannibal Watch: Hey, Rube!
Stubborn Facts —
The ever-obvious Glenn Greenwald answers the question that Glen Reynolds keeps asking..."who are the rubes?"
So many progressives were misled about what Obama is and what he believes. But it wasn't Obama who misled them. It was their own desires, their eagerness to see what they wanted to see rather than what reality offered.
...For whatever reasons, highly influential progressive factions committed themselves early, loyally and enthusiastically to Obama even though he never even courted that support, let alone made commitments to secure it.
That may have been perfectly justified -- by ...
