Cheers, K hanly
Blog: http://kenthink7.blogspot.com/index.html Blog: http://kencan7.blogspot.com/index.html
--- On Thu, 1/22/09, Max B. Sawicky <sawicky at verizon.net> wrote:
> From: Max B. Sawicky <sawicky at verizon.net>
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Obamauration
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Date: Thursday, January 22, 2009, 7:04 AM
> James Heartfield wrote:
> > This is a bit impressionistic, but rushing through the
> LBO reaction to Obama's inauguration, the chasm between
> that and the reactions
> to his election seems huge. Shouldn't we go back over
> what we all said then, and compare it with the
> hyper-critical reaction to him now?
> I feel as though I was too critical then, and a bit
> distanced from the criticisms made of him here, now. Is the
> disappointment relative to the
> great hopes placed in the man? Are the disappointments a
> bit overdone? He is not left wing, clearly that is the case.
> But then why should
> we have thought otherwise?
> >
> > I still think that Obama's election represents a
> sea-change in America's race politics, and one for the
> good. Is that naive?
> >
> > His cabinet choices don't seem to me to say that
> he is right wing, but rather that he is trying to supercede
> the left-right political divide,
> a bit like Tony Blair did here in 1997. The danger in that
> is not right wing politics, but the creation of an
> apolitical technocratic administration.
> Seeing the popular mobilisation behind the presidency it
> might seem odd to say it, but the outcome of this apolitical
> administration is a retreat
> from democratic contestation, where dissent is
> marginalised.
> > ___________________________________
>
> The question will be, does centrist or pragmatist really
> mean non-ideological, or merely ideology in a different
> guise.
> If truly non-ideological, then the Admin will be driven
> without prejudice to solutions that work, which could mean
> some
> radical stuff with the advantage of being dressed in
> unradical clothes. For instance, I wouldn't be
> surprised to see some
> nationalized banks (the issue there is one of compensation
> or lack thereof), though they would doubtless be sold back
> after reorganization. The Blair analogy is a good one,
> though it would be like dropping Blair into this new unique
> historical moment.
>
> I don't think anybody knows how the race dimension will
> play out, only that something new is in store.
>
> Technocratic does not strike me as so bad, relatively
> speaking, but maybe that's because I'm a technocrat.
>
> As for dissent, from experience I can assure all that there
> is nobody more partisan and intolerant of dissent
> from left or right than trade unionists, to which we could
> minorities and today's raging liberal
> 'netroots.'
> It will be hard to criticize BHO for a while (politically,
> not in terms of substance), but at the same time
> once he disappoints them (on EFCA, for instance), things
> will get really interesting.
>
>
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk