There Will Not Be A Cultural Revolution
To My Fellow Democrats:
Have you not been paying attention? Obama has said he is going to work in a bipartenship style and he has envoked Lincoln countless times regarding his style of governship. Keeping one’s friends close and one’s enemies even closer does seem to be Obama’s mantra.
Whether Lieberman stays or Clinton joins his cabinet, these are just some of the nuances of Obama’s style that you are going to need to get use to. Remember that there are issues that need to be resolved and going around pissing on someone’s carpet isn’t going to help. Think back a few months when Obama was picking a VP and how many people said Obama needed to pick Clinton. They were wrong.
Call Carper on the important issues such as the economic bailout, universal health care, the Iraq strategy, education, etc. Calling him about a Democratic caucus issue just seems to be a huge waste of time.
Peace,
nemski
Tags: President Obama
Tom Carper supports torture, just like Joe Lieberman does. I don’t think I have much to talk to him about.
There you go.
And, FTR, no one is calling for him to be gone from the caucus. They are calling for him to loose the chairmanships that he certainly didn’t use over the past year or so.
And Change is not about basically telegraphing that you are losing control of your caucus right out of the gate. THAT is typically Democratic behavior and a change from that would be quite welcome.
Personally, I think the answer is to sound the drumbeat about every way that Carper betrays us in hopes that his approval ratings will drop and he’ll decide to take a nice fat corporate job rather than face primary opposition in 2012. We have four years to send his ratings to the gutter. It could be done – and alternatively, the heat might push him to the left, the way it pushed Al Wynn to the left in his final year.
I think that you are right.
Except we’ll still have folks lecturing us about the Obama style instead of paying attention to how to move the pieces on the board.
Fuck Nemski. He needs to get with the echo chamber program.
I get that Obama is awesome. I GET IT. Loserman still sucks and should not be in the Senate, let alone the Chairman of a committee.
I’m not certain this move is as much about Obama’s style as it is about Obama’s smarts. I think there was never a real chance of Lieberman being ousted – not with these Dems. So wasn’t it smarter for Obama to extend the olive branch and look like this was his idea rather than speaking out against Lieberman and risking the Dems going against their new President-Elect’s leadership?
And… if the Dems had stripped Joe “Linda Tripp” Lieberman of his power wouldn’t that absolve Obama of the “non-unity” action?
Firedoglake has it rigth Nemski.
Ha, J, I just posted that too….
And I want to know what olive branch?
Lieberman calls to talk with Obama and gets referred to Biden. No one needed Obama to speak about Lieberman one way or another — we did need this caucus to demonstrate that it knew how to take care of business and they clearly don’t.
Reid is useless, really.
He needs to get with the echo chamber program.
Why all of a sudden do I feel like RSmitty.
BTW, if y’all don’t get with the program, y’all are going to have four disappointing years.
Come on, nemski — you simply CANNOT believe that Obama is going to CHANGE everything and give everyone ponies?
There are separate branches of government and those branches — quite rightly– need to police themselves. Anyone who expected Obama to change the behavior of the Dem caucus in the Senate OR House was delusional — they are not Republicans for a reason, you know.
Some of us are quite prepared to be disappointed in Obama — but Obama had little to do with what this caucus did or did not do not matter how you deconstruct the man’s style.
ps. And this is from someone who really wants the House Dems to expel William Jefferson and his freezer of cash.
Some of us are quite prepared to be disappointed in Obama
I am already disappointed. 🙁 And delusional. 🙂
Sure, I’m disappointed by Obama’s response in this, but everyone I respect – including Russ Feingold, Howard Dean, Keith Olbermann, Paul Krugman, Markos Moulitsas, et al – has done something I disagreed with or found disappointing at some point.
The difference between Obama and Carper is that Obama has done plenty to earn my goodwill and Carper has done plenty to earn my scorn. Harry Reid, too, has been a massive failure (almost as bad as Andy Reid).
Yes, but Obama hasn’t even taken office yet and he’s already starting to disappoint. I hope this doesn’t become the trend . . .
Thanks for the concern trolling!
Numbski is at it again…Obama never claimed any ground on Lieberman in the chairmanship.
Really, Nancy?
US News and World Report: It was an olive branch from Obama, who urged reconciliation, that likely helped him survive within Democratic ranks.
The Associated Press: Lieberman’s hold on his chairmanship grew firmer only after Obama urged Senate Democrats to resist retaliating, a move that put Lieberman in the president-elect’s debt.
The New York Times: But Mr. Obama signaled that he did not want Mr. Lieberman thrown out of the Democratic caucus
Do I need to go on?