New York: intellectually stimulating panels and discussion groups on psychoanalysis, renewing friendships from across the country, a production of "A Little Night Music" with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury, and a marvelous Metropolitan Opera production of "Der Rosenkavalier" with Renee Fleming and Susan Graham.
And on TV: heartbreaking and appalling pictures of the devastation in Haiti.
Meanwhile, on the political front, the unthinkable possibility that Ted Kennedy's senate seat may go to a Republican, and not even a very strong candidate under ordinary circumstances.
A New York Times Magazine article from Sunday puts the Obama presidency and its daunting tasks in perspective. We progressives are understandably in various degrees disappointed and angry that we didn't get what we had expected. But consider this, as pointed out in Peter Baker's "Obama's War On/Over Terror:"
On the day prior to the inauguration -- before he was even officially president, and none of his cabinet had been sworn into office except DoD's Gates, who was a holdover from the Bush administration -- there was mounting, strong evidence of a terrorist bomb attack planned to go off somewhere on the Mall during the inauguration. It turned out to be a false alarm, planted by a rival terrorist group.
But in the interim, a decision had to be made: What if, in the middle of his inaugural speech, a bomb went off? As Hillary Clinton posed the question in a hasty meeting of the principles: "Is the Secret Service going to whisk him off the podium so the American people see their incoming president disappear in the middle of the inaugural address?
I don't think so," she said.
And Peter Baker continues:
Barack Obama was inaugurated as the first president to take office in the Age of Terrorism. He inherited two struggles -- one with Al Qaeda and its ideological allies, and another that divides his own country over issues like torture, prosecutions, security and what it means to be an American. The first has proved to be complicated and daunting. The second makes the first look easy.And, at the same time, he has to deal with the worst economic situation since the 1930s, a nearly impossible attempt to achieve health care reform that has eluded presidents since Harry Truman, a viciously vindictive Republican opposition whose stated purpose is to defeat anything he tries to do, and an increasingly disgruntled base in his own party.
I'm not happy with a lot of things and wished for better. But this article's perspective renewed my willingness to look at the larger picture and realize what an almost impossible job he has.
Ralph
Made even harder by the likes of this. One has to read it all for the full flavor.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_011810/content/01125110.guest.html
Also, welcome home...
Sounds like you had a great time in NY. I was actually in Cleveland - and saw an excellent Gaugin exhibit(and a well-organized permanent collection). I also heard a lot of complaints, not directed specifically at Obama, but politicians in general, from a vast array of working class people on buses, subways, in restaurants.
ReplyDeleteI don't disagree with anything you say about the difficult situation Obama came into, but the reality is that if Massachusetts(3-1 registered Democrats) goes Republican it is a statement on how Obama's pandering on healthcare has alienated not just his core consitutency, but the Independents.
Massachusetts has a workable, and affordable universal healthcare system. Even Romney was praising it on the news today. Obama could have used that as a model for the national plan, but he didn't.
The sad truth is that while people still like Obama personally, an increasing number of his supporters don't respect him. Yes, he walked into an incredible mess. But the way he handled it, esp. healthcare, made things worse.
Even given the fact Coakley is not a strong candidate(neither, at the start of this, was Brown), if the Dems lose this seat it IS Obama's loss.
And you can guarantee few other Democrats will want him showing up in their states to 'help' them with their election campaigns.
The basic problem that Obama doesn't get, as I heard from friends and family in Massachusetts, and the working-class Democrats in Cleveland, is that everyone feels he's trying to force a bad healthcare plan on them. They know it's bad, they know it's severely compromised, and he's pretending it isn't. Workign class people aren't stupid.
They have no trust or confidence in his economic plan, which they already disrespect because of the way the banks have handled the bailout and their bonuses. Add to that his over-promising stimulus jobs(yes, I know, the situation was worse than anyone knew and he was doing well to tread water), and under-delivering. But remember, he promised 7% unemployment, and it's still in double-digits. He promised universal healthcare and we are getting nothing close to that. He promised he'd hold the banks accountable and they went right back to huge bonuses. And let's not even get into Geitner's deceitful handling of AIG.
This all adds up to a lack of credibilty for Obama. I still like the guy.
I wish I'd worked, instead, to elect Hillary.
richard
Massachusetts is a devastating blow, putting Obama in the position of either making a heroic comeback or not. Geitner has been a disaster from the start, and the momentum for financial reform is now compromised. Healthcare was a gamble that appears to have come up snake eyes. I don't know if Hillary would've done better - maybe.
ReplyDeleteRichard's right about the lack of trust and confidence in Obama's economic plan. Whatever the factors at work in Massachusetts with the specific candidates, this was a vote of "no confidence" for Obama as they say in Parliament.
I still like the guy too. As for wishes, I'm wishing for a heroic comeback...
There was a column by Bruce Crasting on Seeking Alpha that, while mainly focused on the monetary consequences of the election, nailed the meaning of what can only be called an unambiguous rejection of Obama's policies by the one state that should be most likely to support him.
ReplyDeleteCrasting basically said this was a vote against the status quo, the message, "If you want to keep your job you have to do things differently".
If Massachusetts Democrats are willing to elect a Republican to make this point what do you think is going to happen in the other 49 states?
Crasting claims the vote showed Americans do understand how much we are in debt, and they don't like it. They dislike and distrust the Fed. They will not support a 2nd stimulus bill. There will be no support for any furthur assistance by the federal government to the states, there will be no more bailouts and Geitner's head will have to roll.
"The beating the White House took last night was Biblical. So will their response be."
I sat with a roomful of die-hard liberals last night and every single one 'likes' Obama. And every single one considers him an abysmal failure.
No one cared if this election doomed the healthcare bill, because everyone knew it was compromised and corrupted.
I can't believe I am saying that Obama has lost the faith and trust of those who supported him most strongly. From an electoral standpoint what's worse is that his soft support, independents and moderates, who went 3 - 1 for Brown, wrote Obama off. Those people will not come back. Those voters give candidates a chance, but if they don't deliver, they discard them and go on to something new. Add to that the fact that the left base will never fully trust him again. So where is his support going to come from? Moderate, 'status quo' Democrats. But there aren't enough to elect him.
I know it's early, but I don't see any way on Earth Obama can salvage a 2nd term. Because from her on out, Democrats are going to be reluctant to be seen as allying themselves with him or his politicies. He couldn't get anything done with 60 votes. What is he going to possibly be able to do with less support?
What's frustrating is that a lot of people have been raising concerns, warnings about this for 6 months, and been treated as if they were Chicken Littles. We should never have arrived at this point.
What is Obama's legacy going to be? Well, we know that he was resopnsible for getting a Republican elected in Massachusetts. That outrageous fact makes it entirely plausible that he could, ultimately, be seen as the man whose failure led to the election of Sarah Palin as president.I personally don't think that's likely but I think it's no longer out of the realm of possibility.(I do think a ticket of Romney/Huckabee could be a winner in 2012)
I can't believe this is where we are, one year after his Inauguration.
richard