11/04/2009 04:27:35 AM EST

Obama: The Central Question of Our Time (AOL Poll)

posted by Cenk

To paraphrase Eminem, "Will the real Barack Obama please stand up? Please stand up?" That is the central question of our time -- who is the real Barack Obama?

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If he's the guy who got us all excited that anyone could become president, that anything was possible, that real change was coming and the one that was going to stop the same old power players in Washington from controlling everything to the detriment of the people, then we're in great shape. That means he is one of us.
You can question his tactics, but as long as he has the right goals and the right agenda, we'll be fine. We're all hoping (with the audacity of hope, I suppose) that he's the master chess player who is carefully finding ways to play the system but in the end will do the right thing.

I don't even mind if he tries but fails. As long as he is pushing for us, working for us and wants to actually challenge the status quo (the central message of his campaign). Even if we fail in the short term, if we all fight together and we have the president on our side, we will ultimately prevail.

What I do mind is if he is not that guy. If he just played us to get elected and will give us just enough change to placate the masses but leave the system completely intact. That's the kind of guy who would push for a trigger for the public option and pretend he actually gave you the public option. It's not about the trigger, it's not about the public option it's not even about health care reform -- it's what it says about him. Is he playing the politicians and lobbyists in Washington or is he playing us?

The public option and the trigger are not the end of the world (though they are very important to the health care debate); what's more important is what they represent. The trigger is the usual cutesy games Washington plays where they kill reform while pretending to enact it. Where they push it off for another five years, and then another, and then another. They do just enough to appease the voters but not enough to change the system. If that's what Obama pushes for, then there's an excellent chance we're lost.

In my mind, the even bigger test is financial reform. That is the great test of the people versus power. So far, again, the Obama White House has been on the side of power. The proposed regulations are comically weak, and are getting watered down by the day. Obama has put the two worst offenders and defenders of the old system as his top economic advisers -- Tim Geithner and Larry Summers. With the exception of Robert Rubin, you literally could not have picked two worse Democrats to leave in charge of our economic policy.

What's his point? What's his plan? Where's he going with all of this? If he is really internally pushing for the trigger in health care reform and trusting Geithner and Summers to clean up the mess they created, then he is not the guy we voted for. Then, we have our answer. We know who the real Obama is. He is a master chess player, but it's us he's playing.

The financial reform that is needed is so crucial because if we leave this system in place, it will meltdown again. It's not a question of if, but when. The system has structural flaws. The executives do not represent their companies; they represent their own short-term interests. That will always lead to a crash. And after the next crash, we won't have enough money to rescue them - or us.

That is why this is the central question of our time -- who is Barack Obama? Because if he is on our side, he will figure out how to make sure this doesn't happen and that the powerful and corrupt won't game the system for their own benefit and lead to even more disastrous results for us. If he is on their side, then we have a massive, nearly unfixable problem. Then we can fight him, too, but that is an even longer and tougher fight.

The first year of his administration has not been full of good signs. Yes, he got some things done but he has clearly been leaning on the wrong side on the most important issues. But it's nowhere near too late. But the time to change and the time for change are right now. If we don't push him to go in the right direction and don't remind him who voted for him, he could wind up forgetting why he got elected and who he is supposed to be. If the second year is like the first year, it might be too late by then. On the other hand, if he gets health care reform passed with a strong public option and does real regulation of Wall Street, then he is the guy we voted for. It all hangs in the balance.

That's why we want to push him in the right direction. This week we will be doing protests in front of CNN offices in NY, LA and Atlanta to remind the mainstream media and the president that a clear majority of the American people wants the public option and this is the time to step up and fight. You can find out more about it here and talk to others going to the events here. If we want him to do the right thing, then we have to step up and be willing to get out there again and show him who put him in office and why.


UPDATE: AOL Poll -- Is President Obama a different kind of politician or he is beholden to the same corporate interests? Vote here.

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Obama: The Central Question of Our Time (AOL Poll) | 8 comments (8 topical, 0 hidden)
Will the people rule again? Did we ever? (none / 0)
In an ideal world, we would know people by their words. That of course is a total bust and has always been for politicians. We're left with knowing the real Obama by his actions and those are far from finished. We're not even into the second year but so far it looks terrible.

He looks like a total sell out to the establishment. I believed, worked, canvassed, phone banked, contributed dollars, tried to convince anyone who would listen, and so on. Now I'm discouraged. I'm discouraged from being involved in politics. It's a long term struggle but we've been going backwards for a long time.

On the bright side, very few people seem to be duped by Obama or the cons. Will we believe in someone that will sell us out again? Of Course. Maybe next time (or even this time) the reaction will have more traction and the mighty will fall, that is, they'll listen to their constitutents and modify their behavior before the next election.

Nah, I don't believe it. If Americans were fully serious or committed and held their feet to the fire, we'd stand a chance.

In the final analysis, it's not so much that we get the government we deserve but our government is a true reflection of our commitment to governing ourselves.

by toosinbeymen on 11/04/2009 08:41:24 AM EST

Everybody is duped! (none / 0)

On this site and a few other Liberal blog sites, a fairly high percentage of people are awake to the real struggle of this country and where Obama has thus far stood, and where the Blue Dogs and media and Republico-Conservative Party and the corporations stand.  Otherwise, almost the entire electorate is duped.

The Tea Partiers have demonstrably been duped to vote against most of their interests and blame the wrong side for their problems.  There are millions and millions of Democrats who are still congratulating and praising Obama for his flawless first year as their supposed champion.  The media continues to get almost every political analysis wildly wrong.  And Liberals will continue to be blamed for "our overreach of power" in pursuing "our radical Obama agenda", when in reality the 190 or so Liberals in (both Houses of) Congress actually number less than the 210 staunch R Conservative obstructionists, let alone those Conservatives plus the 65 ConservaDems that enable them.  And despite that Obama clearly doesn't listen to Congressional Liberals.

The whole country is duped.  And we _will_ be fooled again, because too many people are ignorant of the issues or the money trail or the way the game is played, and when they seek clarity from the media, they get lies, spin, gossip and bombast.
 

by Milltycoon on 11/04/2009 11:34:46 AM EST

[ Parent ]
I know this book ^^ (none / 0)
[quote]In the final analysis, it's not so much that we get the government we deserve but our government is a true reflection of our commitment to governing ourselves. in the final analysis, it's not so much that we get the government we deserve but our government is a true reflection of our commitment to governing ourselves. [/quote]

or to quote Boxer, the horse from Animal Farm: "I will work harder". Nah I'm with you, you shouldn't be complacent if you get played. But still, if you haven't read it, read 'Animal Farm', you'll find it quite relevant...

Odd, I always thought that the Bush administration was quite like the one in Orwells other book.

by Nangijala on 11/04/2009 12:40:47 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Protest and get a placebo... (none / 1)

You can protest all you want.  The deals have been done.  It's all over but the shouting.  If you really want change, you have to get out the brass knuckles and start fighting.  Energize the progressives and get candidates to run against the incumbents that are holding the progressive agenda back.

If you are just going to protest and talk, they'll just keep giving you drips of change, something to talk about, but nothing substantive.  If you are bailing on Obama then bail, otherwise you'll be scratching your head in 2012 about how the new Republican president got elected.

Don't waste your vote, vote Green or Independent in the next election.

by mcamelyne on 11/04/2009 12:23:06 PM EST

Obama's Progressive Credentials = Bigfoot (none / 0)

The evidence that Barack Obama is a real progressive and strong agent of change is like the evidence for the existence of bigfoot--scant and anecdotal.  When I really look at Barack Obama's life before he declared his candidacy for present, I really don't see anything that would suggest that he is someone who wants to revolutionize the status quo.  On the contrary, his life path very much suggests to me someone who wants to be a part of the status quo, someone who is very conventional. 

Obama's life before the presidency and his actions since taking office suggest to me a moderate centrist consensus-builder.  When I try to convince myself that Obama plans to do significant institutional change, I have to get into some very convoluted thinking that involves Obama have plotted to appear to be a centrist for 20+ years in order to win the presidency, and that he is now continuing to move to the right for some Machiavellian reason that lots of us who are very bright cannot comprehend.  It strains believability too much.

I think the real Obama is the man we've seen--a conventional path in life, a conventional moderate president who will try to manage the country rather than revolutionize it.  As politics necessitate, he will manipulate progressives by sounding more progressive than he is at times, and will try to manipulate conservatives by sounding more conservative than he is at times (although, obviously, they aren't buying it like progressives are).

I personally have given up on revolutionary change from Obama in terms of his actual actions as president.  But, I do believe there will be a residual revolutionary effect if he can successfully manage the presidency in a similar manner to the way Clinton did.  I think the political world will open up tremendously and give a much wider range of people a chance to win high office if Obama can have a moderately successful presidency.  I do have a strong concern that it may not be possible for him to have a moderately successful presidency if he continues to tread many of the same paths as Bush, play footsie with crazy Republicans, and shy away from taking some strong progressive actions.  But that is the best hope to me at this point--that Obama will manage a successful centrist presidency and pave the way for a future, more progressive president who will be the one that will tackle the major reforms that we need in the financial sector, the defense sector, and government transparency and accountability. 

by mdavidboyd on 11/04/2009 12:27:51 PM EST

Message loud and clear (none / 0)
I get what you are saying Cenk. I don't mind if Obama came out strongly for a Single Payer system and then had to settle for the Public Option. I don't even care if he came out strongly for these and then it ended up failing. Obama's whole election was that he stood for something. He stood for something different. He stood for the little people who have a hard time paying medical bills and have to choose whether they can go to a doctor or put food on the table for that day. He stood against cronie capitalism and for making our capitalist system work for the greater people. He also stood for change. He stood for swift change. He talked tough about change. He told us that change wouldn't be easy but that he would never quit fighting. Maybe he is still fighting to provide that change, but I don't see it. It seems like he cared alot more about change when he was trying to get elected. He was talking about it every day. Now I see a guy who won't answer a question the media asks him, a guy who won't take a position upon things he campaigned on, and a guy who for some reason looks a little weak in the spine. I want that leader that said shoot the pirates. I want the leader that caught a fly out of mid air. I want the guy that told us "Yes We Can". Maybe he still is that guy. All I know is that if he is, he better start showing us pretty darn quick.

by grkmachine10 on 11/04/2009 01:14:04 PM EST

blublubl (none / 0)

One wants to believe he has this great plan noone understands... i mean, he obviously understand all this shit better than we do.

I honestly dont know what to think. Maybe he somehow knows youll get the public option anyway and that he doesnt want to get confrontational with the other side. So when it happens he can say "see, the public option wasnt chosen because im the president, its the true will of the people".

... right now its just so frustrating that the most powerful man in the world acts like an enigma when people need guidance.

I must say though: unlike some other presidents he does not boast about making difficult decisions all the time. He really does make choices which infuriates his base, only future will tell if they are the correct ones.

Its such a strange reality... i didnt think politics mattered until we had 8 horrible years of powermongering. Right now its like i can be content with whoever isnt a retarded amoeba.

by Sollerman on 11/04/2009 04:56:00 PM EST

ObamaRahma:Jury is in (none / 0)
Cenk,
I advised you to man-up and put the blame on Obama before.  What more do you need from him?  His actions indicate he is incapable of recognizing what the change most of us believe in would actually be.  I truly beieve that he thinks he is giving us what he promised.  That is how flawed his perception of reality is.  I have concluded that he and the democrats will loose their jobs in 2010 for goofing off.  Good ridance.  The central question?  Hardly.   

by Jcable on 11/04/2009 11:12:30 PM EST

Obama: The Central Question of Our Time (AOL Poll) | 8 comments (8 topical, 0 hidden)
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