On 2010-10-29, at 2:59 PM, c b wrote:
> CB; At first I thought I was in rare agreement with Comrade Beck on
> his "waiting to be summoned to the barricades" criticism. But then I
> found the following in the article , by which Fletcher places blame on
> "the social forces" for not mobilizing themselves.
Even had Fletcher neglected to make that point, he is - and has been for a long time - far more politically active, I am sure, than Beck and other cyber critics.
Also, it should be noted that most people, even the most politically aware, don't spontaneously mobilize. It requires leadership. But I know you and Fletcher know that.
Finally, Obama may never have, as you've claimed elsewhere, mustered enough congressional votes for a bigger stimulus, tougher bank regulation, public healthcare, or mandatory mortgage relief. But it was well within the realm of possibility that, given the political will, he could have forced congress to act by using bully pulpit of the Presidency to sustain and rally the broad coalition which propelled him to power. Instead, he frittered away rather than built on this political capital by ignoring the American people and neutering all of these initiatives in backroom dealing with corporate lobbyists, conservative Democrats, and a handful of powerless "moderate" Republicans.
It's not only Obama's liberal and left-wing critics who have indicted the administration for its Hoover-like timidity in the wake of the biggest crisis since the Depression. A host of commentators from across the political spectrum writing in both the financial and mainstream media have offered up the same criticisms all year long. It's plain wrong for both Obama and yourself to suggest the verdict about to be delivered next week against his administration by the American people is mostly owing to their obtuseness. That may be true of the tea party milieu, but the larger part of the disgruntled population has legitimate cause to believe bolder measures on jobs, housing, healthcare, and financial regulation were necessary and within reach, and to hold Obama responsible for falling short.