Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> On Apr 3, 2009, at 1:57 PM, SA wrote:
>
> > http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/20871.html
> >
> > [Speaking to bank CEOs at a private meeting:]
> >
> >> “My administration,” the president added, “is the only thing
> >> between you and the pitchforks.”
>
> Nice. Though the rest of the article makes Obama sound tougher on them
> than I would have guessed.
>
It also suggests that DP leadership as a whole is/has been at least semi-conscious (deliberate) in carrying out the function of absorbing/deflecting serious oppositional forces. It has been fairly obvious for about a century that it in fact performs that function, but it has always been a question of how deliberated that peformance was.
Carrol