> On 11/10/2010 11:42 PM, Marv Gandall wrote:
>
> I evidently can't persuade you or Charles or Woj that the administration
>> was in a stronger position than the Republicans and the bankers when it
>> first took office, and that seizing the initiative as Roosevelt did in
>> similar, albeit not identical, circumstances would have almost certainly
>> have produced a better outcome.
>>
>
> Actually, when you put it this way (focusing on the very beginning of
> Obama's term), I sort of agree with you. I don't think it ever dawned on
> Obama that the economic crisis marked a break with the past, that it would
> last for a long time, and that politics would not be the same afterward.
> Except for attending to the necessary policy measures (stimulus, bank
> bailout, financial reform), he basically stuck to exactly the same game plan
> he would have executed had there been no economic crisis. He still thought
> his presidency would be about health reform, cap-and-trade, rescinding the
> top-income Bush tax cuts, and presiding over an advertised Iraq withdrawal
> -- just like in his 2006-era daydreams about being president.
>
>
> The thing is, focusing on the beginning is what Marv and I have been doing
from the get-go. But, even more than that, my interpretation of your point
is that it is even more critical of Obama and his admin than we were being.
We argued that he understood it but - good liberal neoliberal he is -
thought he could address it with bipartisanship and compromise. A problem
parallel to the old guy atop the fed not believing that corporate leaders
could be so irresponsible - Obama: "Surely, the Republicans have to be
willing to work together to solve things for the country."
Your argument is that - all the staggering amounts of evidence to the contrary notwithstanding - he had no idea how serious things were. I don't buy it, mostly because its inconceivable to me that the mounting, serially mutually reinforcing, and international implosions of Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec of 2008 and January, 2009 could be seen as a blip, a glitch, a needed correction. But maybe I give him more credit than he deserves...