Reflections in a Dark Room – Part 2

Craig, with all due respect, we do not deserve Obama.

We can change the system through hard work, and maintaining a positive attitude. I have found many good ideas here on NQ. I have limited resources, and I spend them strategically.

First of all, I try to remain calm. Second of all, I try to take care of myself, my family, and the people in my community. I do what I can do. I like listening to others.

Right now we are into slog-it-out grassroots politics, which is not dramatic and shows results only slowly. But it does work.

First of all, I no longer vote for Democrats unless they have earned my vote. Second of all I communicate regularly with my elected officials.

First items on my agenda:

1) public funding of campaigns
2) term limits
3) (should be number one) NO to the current health bill.

I let every congressperson know on a weekly basis what I expect.

Do not pass the current health care bill. If you do so I will vote against you.

Yes, I will vote for a Republican to punish a Democrat. I think the circumstances are right for us to scare the hell out of the Democrats and kill the healthcare bill.

Democrats, deliver or out you go.

Either we wind up with better Democrats who stand up to Obama, or we wind up with Republicans who will make life tough for Obama.

No more wedge issues. No more “Hey, where else are they going to go?”
I will not be taken for granted by the Democratic party.

I do not believe a third party will work.
I will not stay home and not vote.

Our system is messy. Change takes time and hard work. But it is possible. Both the Democrats and the Republicans have worked hard to divide us by using wedge issues. No more. Let’s talk to everyone no matter what party, no matter what their beliefs, and agree on what’s good for our country. We must and we can change the system to make it more fair and more inclusive.

I refuse to give up. Country before party.

Let’s stay strong and hang tough.

Whoosh!  That’s one your best essay/rants, Craig.  Sadly true.  I actually staggered around with an identity crisis after the 2008 primary and GE, stunned by what I had witnessed.  I had to reconsider what I actually believed in, what was important and true because all the reference points I thought were there had disappeared.

One thing for sure, I don’t believe or trust in this, what we’re seeing and hearing on the ground, the barrage of lies and disinformation, massaged numbers and graphs and don’t trust your lying eyes pundits and talking heads.  Even politically I wasn’t sure what to call myself.  A Disillusioned Dem?  An Independent by Default?  A Third Party Groupie?

Maybe first and foremost, we all need to be members of The American Wake-up Party. And then, go from there.

I’ll be looking forward to your third installment. 
   

Agree with Arabella.

“We” did not elect Obama. Nor do “we” deserve him. He was crammed down our throats by a lying, cheating political party. And then rammed up our noses by an equally dishonest MSM.

Most Americans are too busy earning a living to pay attention to behind-the-scenes caucus fraud. Nor can *most* of us get on busses and go county to county to vote several times. Few of us even ever think of registering to vote more than once, because it is WRONG.

If working hard for a living and casting but one vote in an election means we “deserve” to be lied to, cheated on, and stolen from…. well, then I guess abused children also deserve to be waterboarded for forgetting their ABCs? And abused spouses deserve to be slapped around for not having dinner ready on time.

I don’t know the solution to this problem. But I do know that it doesn’t lie in blaming the American people.

Geesh. Get a clue.

Arabella, please, study chemistry, please I beg you. Chemistry is difficult.

You are addicted to NQ.

“Obama is not the problem – we are.”

I agree, to this extent: Obama was made possible by the universal longing for a savior, a powerful all-knowing and benevolent figure who will solve our problems for us.  Obama and his handlers recognized this longing and cynically manipulated it for political gain. And so in this respect there are two problems: 1) the innate inclination to uncritically give oneself over to a Messianic leader; and, 2) the cynical willingness of unscrupulous operators to pervert and manipulate that innate human inclination.

Craig, thanks very much for the thoughtful essay,

This is the first and last time I will reply to you. I’ve been studying chemistry all day. I’m taking a break for an hour.

Let me return the favor of your concern: lark and all your multiple personitied, please take a break from No Quarter. For good.

Craig Della Penna said, Obama is not the problem – we are.

OMG Craig, they hate me here for representing that thought.

Craig Della Penna said, OK, what does that mean? It means that Obama is just a symptom of whatever the disease is.

The disease is: INFANTILISM.

Craig, INFANTILISM pretty well covers your whole argument.

Craig says, What are you/us supposed to do about it?

You were educated by Americans who were educated by Americans who were educated by Americans – all in the RECEIVE TRADITION.


Reject the Receive Tradition: Grow up.

This post was in reply to a post that has been deleted.

Arabella you have not been studying chemistry all day – don’t lie to yourself like that – enough: Stop with the breaks – chemistry is difficult. Concentrate.

Arabella you have not been studying chemistry all day – don’t lie to yourself like that – enough: Stop with the breaks – chemistry is difficult. Concentrate.

Say to yourself: NQ is mortuus.

Uh. I was agreeing with you.

And I have no idea what you are talking about in your response.

OK. Now I get it. Thanks for clarifying.

Don’t respond to arabella’s post so that she can concentrate on her chemistry books.

SYD–Arabella was not replying to you.  She was replying to a post from another, and that post had since been deleted so that it only appeared she was replying to you.  This is getting very confusing.

I’ll make a pact with you arabella to help you out. You go to your chemistry books – full time – without reading or posting in NQ anymore and I will go my Postmodern Consumer Research book until I finish it. Only when we finsih completely, which in your case would be after the test, can we return to NQ.

Okay – Pact – Go.

It is the “dark room” thingy. LOL.

Craig, I didn’t know anything about Boskop Man; fascinating!  Not surprisingly, the fossil evidence provides many bones of contention among anthropologists and paleontologists (reminds me of the furor over the recently discovered Hobbits, homo floresiensis).  Exciting stuff!

It a good post! I’m ready for part 3 of the Dark Room saga.

I don’t totally agree. I believe Obama is the problem. There’s plenty of crackpot voters and Obots out there, but for the most part people were voting for something noble, something worthwhile, something they believed in. They got suckered, bamboozled, taken for a ride. I don’t believe in blaming the victim. If a con artist screws you out of your soc sec check, it simply means you aren’t cynical, bitter, or prone to distrust your fellow human beings. That doesn’t mean it’s your fault it happened. All the blame lies with the one who violated your trust.

Millions of us saw obama for who he really was.  We voted for Hillary.  She won more votes than any primary candidate in history.  She was the people’s choice, not obama.  She was cheated out of the nomination by the DNC leadership.  The media were the DNC’s partner in crime, along with the willing obot supporters who turned a blind eye to how their leader got into power.

I refuse to let them get away with this crime against democracy.  Those of you who chose obama for the reasons listed in this article, have only yourselves to blame for following an illusion. 

IMO, the real problem we face is complacently accepting what was thrust upon us by a corrupt system intent on breaking our spirit and our resolve to fight for what this country is supposed to stand for. 

I have no problem fighting against the corruption which gave rise to obama. 

I’m another who’d never heard of the Boskops. (It figures they’d die out while the lesser brains surivived. So much for evolution.) I intend to go from here to read more about them. Thank you, Craig, for another interesting chapter!

BTW has anyone commented on BO stating that he’s “agnostic” about raising taxes? What the hell does he mean? Noncommittal? Is he planning on voting “present” so he won’t have to take responsibility for screwing the taxpayers again? “Agnostic” – the new and improved fiscal condom.

Stop with the we crap, “we” here did not elect Barack Who’s Lame Obama.  “We”, er, I mean, I fought very, very hard against this BS and cried for weeks that some are so stupid as to fall for the Coke commercial.  Truly in the next election, we should run a can of coke for President and see what happens!  Anyway, I am starting to wish the country would just divide up like a team of dodge ball.  Obama on one side and Hillary on the other, they can each pick (by raising of hands) who will be on each team.  Then we can run our halves as we want and 4 years later see what each half looks like.  Thank God, I’ll be on the Hillary half.

Here you go, Craig. Chris Hedges is thinking along the same lines:FeatureChris Hedges on the Zero Point of Systemic Collapse
We stand on the cusp of one of humanity’s most dangerous moments.
Chris Hedges | 08 Feb 2010

“…Our democratic system has been transformed into what the political philosopher Sheldon Wolin labels inverted totalitarianism. Inverted totalitarianism, unlike classical totalitarianism, does not revolve around a demagogue or charismatic leader. It finds expression in the anonymity of the corporate state. It purports to cherish democracy, patriotism, a free press, parliamentary systems and constitutions while manipulating and corrupting internal levers to subvert and thwart democratic institutions. Political candidates are elected in popular votes by citizens but are ruled by armies of corporate lobbyists in Washington, Ottawa or other state capitals who author the legislation and get the legislators to pass it. A corporate media controls nearly everything we read, watch or hear and imposes a bland uniformity of opinion. Mass culture, owned and disseminated by corporations, diverts us with trivia, spectacles and celebrity gossip. In classical totalitarian regimes, such as Nazi fascism or Soviet communism, economics was subordinate to politics. “Under inverted totalitarianism the reverse is true,” Wolin writes. “Economics dominates politics – and with that domination comes different forms of ruthlessness.”
Inverted totalitarianism wields total power without resorting to cruder forms of control such as gulags, concentration camps or mass terror. It harnesses science and technology for its dark ends. It enforces ideological uniformity by using mass communication systems to instill profligate consumption as an inner compulsion and to substitute our illusions of ourselves for reality. It does not forcibly suppress dissidents, as long as those dissidents remain ineffectual. And as it diverts us it dismantles manufacturing bases, devastates communities, unleashes waves of human misery and ships jobs to countries where fascists and communists know how to keep workers in line. It does all this while waving the flag and mouthing patriotic slogans. “The United States has become the showcase of how democracy can be managed without appearing to be suppressed,” Wolin writes.”

https://www.adbusters.org/magazine/88/chris-hedges.html

Yeah, Chris Hedges can think, I don’t always agree with him but I’ll always listen.

We need more thinkers, we need more people like the commentors here at NQ, well most of them anyway… there are things we can do but it’s very late in the game.

I don’t think Craig meant “we” as in the NQ group. Obviously we in the group are not responsible directly for Obama.
I think the “we” is the larger so-called “culture” of accepting advertising, branding, corporate media monopolies, corporate media entertainment creations (who the hell are the Kardashians? Didn’t he hide OJ’s bloody clothes?) and not screaming at the rot that is infesting the brains of the population that makes it possible to elect an Obama. (sorry for the run-on sentence).
In brief Craig is saying we get the government we deserve and may God, and our fellow-man, forgive us.

Re: Obama’s “agnostic” remark.  Yes indeed Portia, I ranted about this on page 2 of this post:

http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2010/02/11/core-chicago-team-sinking-obama-presidency/

It goes on and on, so I’m not going to paraphrase it here, but I sure stand by its conclusions.  I think this is an important item, and would make a good article for an NQ writer.

Thanks very much, Kathleen.  When I think of the hours upon days upon weeks and months that I and thousands of others spent trying to get the media, other pols, ANYONE, to get going on what we knew to be true throughout the primaries, anyone who says I’ve myself to blame for bo is standing on my last nerve.  If I had a dime for every time I heard a bo supporter parrot that day’s Camp BO talking points or utter the phrase “bo is practical” (code for means justifies ends)!  And now this?  I take no blame whatsoever for bo. 

When you say “WE” you meant those who are easily lied to a believes whatever the media peddles…..

I saw straight through him from the beginning.

I know “slick” when I see it.

Don’t blame the PUMA’s.

CAROL HAKA

HaHa Carol–glad to here your “slickdar” was fully operational.  Unfortunately, 69,000,000 giddy voters had a short circuit in their slickdar circuitry.

Lobbyists spent 5% more in 2009 than in 2008. The healthcare and pharmaceutical industries spent a record $266.8 million to help get their stealthcare bill passed.

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/80917-report-five-percent-jump-in-lobbying-expenditures-last-year

The “we are” problem applies to the 69,000,000 voters (IF that is a pure number and not padded by ACORN, etc).

The rest of us knew better, know better, and in NO way will support it happening again.

I said he was corrupt then and I say it now. I wrote umpteen letters to Hillary telling her not to get involved with his administration, and the words I used were, “He is toxic”,

HaHa Carol–glad to hear your “slickdar” was fully operational.  Unfortunately, 69,000,000 giddy voters had a short circuit in their slickdar circuitry.

Yes, and what got me most was when they’d say, “Hillary can’t cut it”.

What’s with this “we” elected BO? As someone else pointed out, Hillary won more votes. This election was decided long ago, and B.O. was chosen many years ago as the puppet of choice (POTUS) by the powers that be. I can’t name them exactly, but considering that 95% of the MSM is owned by 5 persons, I think that’s a good starting point. Also the individuals such as Pelosi whose job it was to vet the candidate and who deliberately twisted the process by striking lines about citizenship from the official document that the state Democratic committees had to authorize. Another good starting point to dig the rot out.
But I just can’t get partisan, being neither Dem or Repub. Both parties colluded in this–that is absolutely certain–at the highest levels.
Oh –and a team of hired investigators have pretty much concluded BO never went to Columbia.
This man is truly one of the weirdest frauds to ever hit the big time.

Dude, I just think you need some counseling.

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Drug companies would not keep running ads that tell you to ask your doctor about a drug if the ads did not work.  Big Pharma is not the problem – we are.
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Craig.  Any of us who ever fell for a pitch can be calculated in as part of the problem.  And some people are going to fall for Orwellian titles like the Jobs Bill.  I did not advocate enough for Hillary in 08 – obviously, so maybe I am part of that WE.
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I can say something like that this afternoon without being depressed.  You see I came out of my dark room today (office) and went outside to see the sun.  Remember that thing?  So I am feeling brighter than the guy who stayed at a Holliday Inn Express and anxiously await to read about the cure for my problem.
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Now git back into that dark room, Mr. Della Penna, and crank out Part 3.  The sun won’t shine forever and we need hope.

Drug companies would not keep running ads that tell you to ask your doctor about a drug if the ads did not work.  Big Pharma is not the problem – we are.

Craig.  Any of us who ever fell for a pitch can be calculated in as part of the problem.  And some people are going to fall for Orwellian titles like the Jobs Bill.  I did not advocate enough for Hillary in 08 – obviously, so maybe I am part of that WE.

I can say something like that this afternoon without being depressed.  You see I came out of my dark room today (office) and went outside to see the sun.  Remember that thing?  So I am feeling brighter than the guy who stayed at a Holliday Inn Express and anxiously await to read about the cure for my problem.

Now git back into that dark room, Mr. Della Penna, and crank out Part 3.  The sun won’t shine forever and we need hope.

I agree with Arabella. As John Smart says ‘we new he was a fraud beore it was cool.”

The press was coopted–money, guilt, giddiness. They didn’t do their job. Anyone watching tv and reading the NYT had a different persepctives of what was going on during the campaign than I. I don’t know what I would have done without sites like NQ.

And as far as I’m concerned, the DNC became a criminal enterprise in May ’08 and continued it’s thuggery to the convention. I remember seeing a clip of Gloria Allred. She was a delegate from CA. I can hear her today, saying”I might as well go home now if my vote isn’t going to count.” She wasn’t the only one. Remember all the super delegates for Hillary that were threatened?

Oh no, I’m not perfect, but I did and continue to do my part.

I did enjoy reading your perspective, Craig.

That’s an amazing article by Hedges.  Literally made my heart hurt reading it.  I wish I could dismiss it. 

But I cannot.

Thanks for the link [I think :'( ].

And then dear Gloria became a closet bo supporter — helping to nudge HRC “diehards” under the guise of honoring HRC.  Remember the call the unity?  I’m sure she thought she was being very clever. 

So now that the media is turning on That One, when will someone in the media be brave enough to call him on the fraud and cheating and all the lies he told during the campaign? If they are so disillusioned, why aren’t they doing something??

please, SYD, of course the american people bear much responsibility for our present situation, some people more than others.  the vote in the dem primaries should never have been close enough for Zero to steal, and what about the general election?  Obama won by several percentage points, and even supposedly level-headed independents voted for him. you have to admit there’s a problem before it can be solved. 

When we speak of loss of regulations, there used to be a prohibition on drug ads. Now we have an electorate where prescription addiction is rampant.
We used to have regulations against advertising on children’s programs with the same characters as on the shows. That went by the board.
Fair usage (I know I’m going to hear from a lot of you on that but I liked it when networks were not the mouthpieces of individual political parties).
A lot has changed – and not for the better.

i don’t think it’s really “blaming the victim” entirely; no one is saying that political crooks should not get their come-uppance, just that in the interest of practicality and self-preservation, the american people had better wise-up and start picking better leaders.  otherwise where will the change come from?  political crooks just deciding to do the right thing out of the goodness of their hearts? 

Is that the classic coke or the new and improved coke?

Is that the classic coke or the new and improved coke? We here at No Quarter want specifics.

Is that the classic coke or the new and improved coke? We here at No Quarter demand specifics.

don’t add me in with the we i,m innocent

“Political candidates are elected in popular votes by citizens but are ruled by armies of corporate lobbyists in Washington, Ottawa or other state capitals who author the legislation and get the legislators to pass it.” 

In the general election in November, we only elect Electors; they elect the POTUS in December.  And they can elect anyone they want, even someone who ‘lost’ the general election; or the party nomination.  The only reason Nancy Pelosi was made the Chair of thet DNC Services Corporation Convention was to sign those bogus Certifications of Nomination swearing BO was Constitutionally eligible to be POTUS, in those states thate required such eligibility to appear on the general election (Elector) ballot.  And why did she need his name on the ballot used for electing Electors?  Because the D Corporation was going to make BO POTUS and, while they could get away with rigging the processes leading up to the nomination – padding caucuses; redistributing MI/FL votes/delegates; harassing pledged delegates in vote binding states; no floor roll call vote at the Convention – they could never have gotten away with stealing the Presidency at the level of the vote of the Electors, when most people mistakenly thought they had already elected BO as POTUS in the general election.  http://jbjd.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/never-less-than-a-treason-2-of-2/

“Political candidates are elected in popular votes by citizens but are ruled by armies of corporate lobbyists in Washington, Ottawa or other state capitals who author the legislation and get the legislators to pass it.”   
 
In the general election in November, we only elect Electors; they elect the POTUS in December.  And they can elect anyone they want, even someone who ‘lost’ the general election; or even the party nomination.  The only reason Nancy Pelosi was made the Chair of the DNC Services Corporation Convention was to sign those bogus Certifications of Nomination swearing BO was Constitutionally eligible to be POTUS, in those states that required such eligibility to appear on the general election (Elector) ballot.  And why did she need his name on the ballot used for electing Electors?  Because the D Corporation was going to make BO POTUS and, while they could get away with rigging the processes leading up to the nomination – padding caucuses; redistributing MI/FL votes/delegates; harassing pledged delegates in vote binding states; no floor roll call vote at the Convention – they could never have gotten away with stealing the Presidency at the level of the vote of the Electors, when most people mistakenly thought they had already elected BO as POTUS in the general election.  http://jbjd.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/never-less-than-a-treason-2-of-2/

“Political candidates are elected in popular votes by citizens but are ruled by armies of corporate lobbyists in Washington, Ottawa or other state capitals who author the legislation and get the legislators to pass it.”     
   
In the general election in November, we only elect Electors; they elect the POTUS in December.  And they can elect anyone they want, even someone who ‘lost’ the general election; or lost the party nomination.  The only reason Nancy Pelosi was made the Chair of the DNC Services Corporation Convention was to sign those bogus Certifications of Nomination swearing BO was Constitutionally eligible to be POTUS, in those states that required such eligibility to appear on the general election (Elector) ballot.  And why did she need his name on the ballot used for electing Electors?  Because the D Corporation was going to make BO POTUS and, while they could get away with rigging the processes leading up to the nomination – padding caucuses; redistributing MI/FL votes/delegates; harassing pledged delegates in vote binding states; no floor roll call vote at the Convention – they could never have gotten away with stealing the Presidency at the level of the vote of the Electors, when most people mistakenly thought they had already elected BO as POTUS in the general election.  http://jbjd.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/never-less-than-a-treason-2-of-2/

“…the fossil evidence provides many bones of contention…”

Thanks; I needed that.

maybe it’s the coke with no fizz!   Flat at best 

I’m not a crook!

On a metaphysical level I fully agree that we are our own problem but this does not absolve Obama from being one very visible, very active, problem among the collective problem of “we.”  Yeah, a bunch of us set him in motion but it is our duty to wake up and slap ourselves back into sanity in whatever way we feel we can.

Personally, I had a gut feeling back 3 years ago that Obama was trouble in the making.  I do not like people who wear the face of innocence and I include myself in this dislike.   Yeah, I can be a problem but I do my best not to spread my crap around willy-nilly in an effort to inflate my ego.  I’m just a teeny-tiny bug on the wall here and unfortunately Obama is a very large caca-roach leaving a trail of his slime wherever he goes.  I’m slipping and sliding all over the freaking place in his shit and it’s hard to hang on to this dumb wall.  Did I invite this creature into my space?  Dear Lord, please forgive my insanity.

What are we gonna do about Obama?  Vote him out ASAP.  There’s not much else that can be done.  We can logon here and bitch about him ad nauseum (and I am not suggesting we should not do that) but there’s little else we can do about this man, about our projected psyche, other than kick him to the curb come next election.  If you buy a piece of crap, you got to live with it till you can replace it with something else…. Hopefully not another piece of crap.

Obama is not the problem — we are.  You can replace the name “Obama” with any elected official past, present or to come. 

Thank you, Oowawa. These threads move so fast I can’t always keep up. I hoped someone had commented on it. I agree that it would make for an interesting discussion. Maybe you should start one?

reminds me of the krell in the sci-fi classic ‘forbidden planet.’  they were intellectually superior beings who killed each other off.  they had learned to project their virtual thoughts into actual beings, but forgot about the maniacal impulses of the id. 

the movie was made in the ’50′s..wonder if it was inspired by this discovery.

Arabella, that is the best manifesto I’ve heard in some time.  Well done.

What is being ignored with turning this on the collective “we” is simply that “we” did not pick obama, “they” did! 

Those of you who are agreeing that the problem is the people are totally ignoring that the system is corrupt. so, if “we, the people” wanted to choose those candidates who would do the people’s work, WE CAN’T!

The PROBLEM is that the people still choose to believe that the system we use to pick our leaders — ELECTIONS — are fair and honest.  They are not.  We found out in 2000 that the elections are not a reflection of the people’s will, but a reflection of the power elite’s will.  To solve the problem we are now facing has nothing to do with obama directly, but has everything to do with citizens no longer having the power to choose their representatives.

We gave that power away by allowing our government to force electronic voting systems upon us and between the voting machine vendor and the party leaders, the people have been made totally irrelevant to the very process that makes them stewards of our government.

Obama is simply the result of what happens when the people have been stripped of the power which makes a democracy even possible.

When America wakes up to this reality, then we will be able to prevent illusions like obama from ever getting into power.

Excellent question.  Could have something to do with where their next paycheck is coming from.  teevee talking heads and columnists aren’t known for their integrity, but ratings–which is why I can’t understand madcow, ko, matthews and others still on the teevee.

Thanks for bringing this up.

Craig,  Great post.  Unfortunately, as others have said “we” do not deserve Obama because we were the 47% smart enough not to vote for him.  And the 53% in each election who were fooled, either by him or Bush, keep sticking it to the rest of us.  I appreciate your sentiments, however, and think if the 47% are awake enough to start pulling at everyone else soon enough — and not only at election time, we may, finally, become the majority.  I hope it is still possible.

Dear Craig, indeed some things are bad, but it is not we who are to blame but the Tea-baggers and the ruthless repulsive Republican racist reactionaries. We were who we were waiting for – and help is on the way: Obama will fix everything because we will pretty soon convert everything to an equal-to-all Socialist system, and not one American will suffer. Obama will cut all funding to the Army, police and other security related organizations, because we don’t have any more enemies, and the world is at peace, because of his initiatives. And we will share everything, and not even one child will go hungry (as opposed to the systemic killing of diabetic black children during the Bush years).

This is going to be our finest decade: everyone will share everything, it won’t even matter if you have a job or don’t and we will be safe from wars and global warming because Obama commanded these to cease and be gone. And those were gone because they yielded to Obama’s power.

In my state (Oregon) gays can marry, drugs are legal, we tax businesses to submission, and inter-species love is the last frontier we have left to conquer. All I can see is a future of happiness and joy. And not to belabor my point, but who do we have to thank for all that good? Barack Obama, the man who made America 2.0 possible.

I heard that Obama can enact through exectutive order anything the congress doesn’t pass like health care and cap and trade.  Is this true?  How powerful is the Executive order.  Does Obama have the power to be a virtual dictator?

Oowawa — I went back and read the post you mentioned. I swear I wasn’t stealing your comments, but it’s funny that I repeated your line about voting “present”. Maybe because it’s the cornerstone of BO’s career? 

Yes Portia, I think the reason it occurred to both of us is because it is a valid and obvious comparison–stay above the fray, let others formulate policy, and avoid taking responsibility.  They were talking about the “agnostic” remark on FOX this afternoon.  “Agnostic” is a particularly bad word choice because of its religious connotations.

Jessica Rabbit: “I’m not really bad; I’m just drawn that way.”

Hi Arabella,
I always like your thoughtful posts and I agree with you.  Have you looked at The New Agenda web page yet?  We are also working hard on issues.  http://thenewagenda.net/

Thank you, Deborah Moskowitz
AKA Ephraim Goldblatt
AKA Joshua Katz
AKA Farouq Al-Bahr
AKA Benjamin Nussbaum
AKA Dr. Saul Kaufmann
AKA Shosha Kahn-Fayvush
AKA Nathan Markowitz
AKA Stan & Mark Wilson
AKA Vivian T
AKA Shoshana Berenstein
AKA Dov Garfinkel
AKA Jay Gottfried Meyer
AKA Suzanne Goldstein
AKA Shulamit Kahn-Berenstein
AKA Jacob Kirschenbaum prof. Emeritus International Relations
AKA Josh Goldman
AKA Yisroel Kupferberg
AKA Nathan Finkelstein
AKA Respectful Guest

I agree abigailadams, and I also take no blame for oilsoc.  And for all those who continue to swill the kool-aid: PUT DOWN THE GLASS.  The party is over, now comes the reckoning.

Ellen, I think you’re right on the money. I think Obama is a problem, but the bigger problem is having a populace who would fall for all that.  Seems too many people have too few critical thinking skills – it’s downright scary – when enough of them show up, they steer the boat – the boat we’re ALL on….

Deborah, I truly hope that whatever drugs you’re abusing don’t reach the children in my community, or any other children for that matter.

I’m not quite sure what you hope to accomplish by turning your tiny brain into mush, or by posting the preposterous diatribe that dribbles out of your mush brain, but I can guarantee you that your contributions here are pathetic and worthless. I doubt they’re even marginally entertaining to devotees of the absurd.  

Even the idiots who voted for Obama don’t deserve him.  The American people are not responsible for billionaires who decided to change our Democratic Govt. into Socialism.  The media is responsible for marching in lock step with Obama and giving him positive coverage 24/7.  It took 650 million and 13 teleprompters to put Mr. Hope and Change in the driver’s seat.  The rest of the world mourns America’s loss. 

Note to Deb Moskowitz – I love your optimism comrade-sister!

Everyone – here is the good news: Obama, the most amazing (and yummy) president ever! is going to pull out his long and thick presidential pen and sign a few executive orders! If those Jesus freak Republicans thought that their truck-driving hick underwear-model is going to stop the progressive agenda, they are mistaken. President Obama can sign anything ANYTHING into law. I hope he signs the medical insurance plan into law, and starts taxing Republicans 55%, he abolishes the eating of meat, and dismantles the useless military. I’m sure Miss Vinegar Vajayjay Sarah Palin will have a fit, so I hope she has some notes in the palm of her hand to read on Faux New$.

Obama ROCKS my world! He SO does. Be afraid white Christian fascist Republicans, be VERY afraid.

Oh how I wish my beloved poppa Rabbi Avigdor Goldstein would still be alive to see America awash with hope and change!

I’m sure your poppa would still be alive if you respected his wishes and hopes and washed for a change.

The best thing any of us can do is to not back down from being called “Teabaggers”, “RW nuts”, etc.   They will do anything to shame, mock and intimidate us, one by one, back into their fold.  To every single group, cause and missionary I ask: “Are you part of Organizing for America, ACORN, SEIU, any sort of Dem reelection org, etc” and if they are I let them know I will not speak to them and I’m not “with” them anymore because of their affiliation(s).  I’m not with them.  Many of these orgs really don’t know they are a minority of Americans and it’s time to get it through their heads.  We, the sane, the politically awake, are the majority.

Why are all the names…jewish?

Comrade-sister?  Must be escapees from the collective farm near Minsk.

Or idiot college students.

Dead bird forgot minimalistic.

Should read ;
Postmodern MinimalisticConsumer Research book.

I hope the book is 2000 pages at a “minimum”. Consumer reasearch as in
“To Kill an Omocking Bird”

ooo oooo oooo I know!!! He sat in the pews of the TUCC for 20 years and was agnostic…mmmm mmmm mmmm.

Oh –and a team of hired investigators have pretty much concluded BO never went to Columbia.  

Links? Just curious.

Hoooowwwlllll! ROLF.

but the Tea-baggers and the ruthless repulsive Republican racist reactionaries.

Not again, please.

CTL ALT DEL

NQ’s most wanted list? Like mugs in the post office.

Great read Criag, thank you.

I have been so disgusted with My Fellow ‘Murricans and the election of this weasel Obama that, the only thing blocking my emigration to Canada is the lack of warm weather.

His Administration is an insult to the intelligence of everyone with the thinking skills of a muskrat.

If “we” is any citizen who believes what any politician says instead of watching what they do, if “we” is any citizen that is foolish enough to hero worship some damn politician, if “we” is any citizen, of any country who votes a “straight’ party line, then I will agree that “we” are to blame.

I was once a very partisan voter but that’s a thing of the past. I never hero worshipped any damn politician, although I came close with Russ Feingold’s lonely vote against the Patriot Act, and I saw through Obama and his media fans almost immediately so I will not accept any blame for the Obama Administration.

I haven’t seen “Avatar” so I don’t know if I will like it. If I do does that mean I am a part of the “we” that’s to blame for Obama and our current culture of corruption? I will be very blue if that is so.

Great article.  First the rock start Obama is the hero to save us from Bush, then the well-oiled Scott Brown machine presents the hero to rescue us from the failed Obama (and now he’s writing a book, will he be our next ‘thin resume’ rock star presidential candidate?), how long are we going to stay on this celebrity roller coaster?  Politicians play us and we go right along. 

Yes, not all of us supported Obama, but how many of us have fallen for one or another political ‘heroes’ at any given time?  I was dumb enough to vote for Deval Patrick’s after his “Together We Can” campaign.  Scott Brown – another thin resume hero – played Massachusetts voters who wanted redemption from Obama. 

When are all of us going to vote our best interests and the best interests of our country, instead of voting “against” someone or something?  As long as we keep reacting for the latest hero and/or against the latest villain, we are a campaign managers dream.

lark, your cage is dirty.

craig, thanks for bringing up the subject though i believe that i and my fellow americans deserve better. you see i still believe in the greatness of my country. i think we need to stop being so politcally correct. it stifles us. i believe we are all born with the right to pursue our goals and anyone no matter race or color can and should be president if properly elected.

now thanks to our suckup media, over reaching corporations and in general greed by both parties the american people find themsleves in this terrible shape. i used to be a teacher and saw the schools and quality of education going down long ago. i left.

we don’t deserve this. no one deserves obama! however i hope it is a teaching tool for us. i think that is what you want and meant. i too have shared many of your thoughts and appreciate the time you spent bringing this out for us.

i also think the conditions often create the candidate. who will that be? certainly not a democrat from this current corrupt thug group. i still believe in hillary and hope she soon understands it is more important to be a good american and not a good dimocrat.

suzanne you suck as a troll. go back to troll school first grade and start over. do they pay you by the word? =-O

the You in these thanks you votes is me ie stodghie. i can’t figure out why it is doing that. administration, any advice is welcome.

stodghie–the “you” in the “like” votes only appears that way to you; to all others it apears as “stodghie.”

buzz–some person(s) are trying to inject anti-semitic ridicule into the NQ comments sections.  Why?  Misguided humor?  Malicious intent?  Immaturity?  Hatred of NQ?  Hatred of Jews?  I don’t know.

Craig writes: “… David Axelrod’s recent remarks on the North Carolina primary: “Yeah, we were behind in the polls so we decided to call Clinton a racist and that did it.” – yes, I’m paraphrasing but he admitted it.”

Anybody have a link to this admission?  I tried searching for it and came up empty.

I have to say this is one of the best posts I have ever seen here. Were is not for the entry into supply side economics, I would say the best. You have to put supply side economics back into 1980. Jimmy Carter meaning full well, nearly killed the economy. I bring this up because it has parallel today. No, not that Obama means well. I no longer believe that he could given what we know now. No, this time a malicious administration is trying to destroy the economy. They might have intentions they think are good. i.e. They are in part Luddites and in another part Marxists, both of these parts woefully misguided. We need to review the lesson of Jimmy Carter, because we didn’t learn and we are doomed to repeat this over and over until we get it right. Supply side economics wasn’t wrong, but lessening the financial controls over the corporations was wrong. Yes, Reagan saved us for thirty years, just so that his raiding of corporate regulations could be used to destroy us with later. We need to be constantly alert. Alert for not just malicious front men Presidents, these are easy but also for well meaning fools as Presidents. We ca’t afford another well meaning fool after this mailcious one.

I like the thinking, I don’t know that we need to invent a new type of totalitarianism here though. I think the standard “corporatist fascist” covers what we have now just fine. Corporatists are our il Duce. We are enslaved just the same. Placated by corporate Hollywood and the enabling corporate media we have been sold into becoming a flock of hapless sheeple across the board. Just look at our White House for proof.

Probably wikipedia editors.

Sorry, I don’t buy the “we” either.  I was deeply disappointed, actually temporarily despondent when Hillary resigned after having the DNC Rules Committee give votes to Obama and steal from Hillary. I decided early on that Hillary was the best candidate for president of either party and I wrote to the DNC many times (ignored), wrote to my democratic congressman and democratic governor (ignored), and to news outlets protesting personal attacks on Hillary (ignored), called and e-mailed NOW regarding the misogynistic attacks on Hillary (ignored),commented on political blogs  -some of them unfriendly sites and was insulted and called names. Being ignored or called names ultimately did not  matter to me because it was a small price to pay to do my small part to see  that the best candidate for president in 2008 would win. I also put my money where my mouth was and supported Hillary’s campaign financially (a first for me.) I was not alone.  More people were involved in the 2008 democratic primaries than ever before. After Hillary was forced out of the primaries, I supported and campaigned for John McCain – first time in my adult life to vote republican for president).  But as others have pointed out, it was cheating and fraud and MSM propaganda that ultimately got Obama elected.

Coming to this thread late; computer glitches are to blame mostly…

But the topic is too timely to let it slip by and too important to ignore.

Lots of good stuff presented here, from Craig’s lament to valuable
information on FDR–pro or con. Even if you don’t agree, it gives you
something to think about.  And thinking in our day and age comes
at a premium.  I do love those who are prone to step out of the warm
environs of conventional wisdom.

So just a few words in the way of directions: read The Creature from
Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin.  It’s about the birth of
the Federal Reserve.  Some of the perps are household words to
those who follow this line of thought and political process.  It
will certainly bring into focus how we got here.  How we find our way
out is the immediate question, however.  Cheers….