----- Original Message ----- From: "Wojtek S" <wsoko52 at gmail.com>
Alan: "I am firmly of the opinion that Obama could easily have savaged the conservative critique of Obamacare and/or Ryan's budget with a simple, charismatic/compassionate emphasis on the ways Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are funded by the public's contribution to its own health and security and that they have a proven record of coming through for Americans. Rhetorically, he could have taken on the insurance, pharmaceutical and banking industries in populist fashion and enriched his popular political base though, of course, he would have experienced an utter exodus w/r/t his funding base."
[WS:] I honestly would like to hope that you are right and I am wrong on this, but somehow it looks too good to be true. I just do not believe that public views can be totally manipulated by the corporate media - my experience from Eastern Europe was that propaganda had little effect when it went against the grain of popular beliefs and myths. Besides, there are left leaning media in the US - they are just not very popular, unlike conservative outlets. -----------
I agree with Alan's specific point that Obama was elected --in spite of the fact that he is black, in spite of the fact that his name was Obama--- precisely because he promised to do certain things, . He had a mandate, which he stood on his head to piss away. He had a vast body of regular folks who were mobilized to get him elected and who, I have no doubt, would have continued to fight for constructive social policies, with the least encouragement. He encouraged nothing except the dissolution of this large, wide-spread, and dedicated body of activists.
Joanna