I don't think that Doug ever had many illusions concerning Obama. And I think that's true for many people on this list. Of those people who did have such illusions, some have already delivered their mea culpas here.
Anyway, here is what I wrote on the Marxmail List, right after election day, concerning the Obama presidency: ----------------------------
Obama has made no secret of his intention to govern as a centrist in the Bill Clinton mode. He has certainly not hidden from the public his views concerning a whole range of issues both foreign and domestic.
Liberals and progressives, it seems to me, have managed to do a bang-up job of deceiving themselves concerning Obama's true political inclinations. It's as if they have bought into the characterizations of Obama that the GOP made during the campaign and put plus signs where the Republicans had placed minu signs: that Obaba is really a "closet" socialist who intends to engage in a massive redistribution of wealth and so forth.
So, I expect that after Obama has been in office a while and he has managed to make a few crucial decisions, and perhaps bombed a country or two, that maybe a certain level of disillusionment will begin to set in.
The ascension of Obama into the White House merits comparisons with JFK's ascension of forty-eight years ago. Like Obama, JFK's ascension was greeted with very high expectations from his supporters. Eventually, a certain level of disillusionment set in, and of course his assassination would be the most disillusioning event of all. However, at that time there were thriving social movements, most notably the civil rights movement. So when disillusionment set in, for many people that would lead not to a relapse back into apathy but to a radicalization which would drive much of the politics of the 1960s.
So, it will be interesting to see how things play this time around.
Jim Farmelant
---------- Original Message ---------- From: Ismail Lagardien <ilagardien at yahoo.com> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Subject: [lbo-talk] It leaves me cold! Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 20:31:37 -0800 (PST)
Please don't read this as anything but a search for justice for all...
Doug, I have the world of respect and admiration for you - you know that! But seriously, what did you/we/they expect from a president of the United States?
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