Moyers and Greider - President Obama is "trapped between the governing elites who decide things and

[malaise]

the people who are governed."
Video
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/03272009/watch2.html

Transcript
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/03272009/transcript2.html
<snip>
WILLIAM GREIDER: The corporate state is here. And I'd say, let's not argue over that. The fact is, if the Congress goes down the road I see them going down, they will institutionalize the corporate state in a way that will be severely damaging to any possibility of restoring democracy. And I want people to grab their pitch forks, yes, and be unruly. Get in the streets. Be as noisy and as nonviolently provocative as you can be. And stop the politicians from going down that road. And let me add a lot of politicians need that to be able to stand up. Our President needs that to be able to stand up.

BILL MOYERS: In this essay last week in "The Washington Post," you describe President Obama as quote "trapped between the governing elites who decide things and the people who are governed." When does he finally have to choose sides?

WILLIAM GREIDER: I think he has to choose as this story keeps unfolding, because I don't think it's going to change dramatically with these new plans announced. In fact, the anger will be stoked.

BILL MOYERS: No, we do forget Bill, that he keeps trying to remind us. We do forget that he walked into a house that was burning.

WILLIAM GREIDER: Yeah, that's true.

BILL MOYERS: And his job is to put it out and rebuild it.

WILLIAM GREIDER: Here's my take on the New Deal and the history of what actually happened. And it conveniently fits my deeper prejudices about the country and how progress is achieved in America. That is, people in the streets or churches or wherever found their voice and made it happen by agitating and informing the higher authorities. In the early '30s, Franklin Roosevelt had a set of things he thought he could do to right the ship of the Depression. He tried some of them. They didn't work very well. Meanwhile, organized labor, others, were all over the country lighting bonfires for bigger changes. Social security came out of that. Labor rights, the first attempt to give people the right to organize their own voices in a company came out of that. A whole bunch of other reforms that we now take for granted. And Roosevelt didn't stand athwart and try to stop them. But he let them roll him. And he- and I think that's what, I hope for now. That people of every stripe will stand up and say, we love you Mr. President, but you don't have it right yet. And we're going to bang on your door until you get it right.

[global1]

1. We're Going To Bang On Your Door Until You Get It Right.......

I voted for President Obama. I bought into the "Yes We Can", "Change You Can Believe In" and "Hope" themes of his campaign. I intend to hold him to that. I'm not going to just blindly follow and cheer everything he does - like the Repugs did with Bush (even though they had to know that Bush was wrong most of the time). I will cheer President Obama on when I think he is right - but I will loudly criticize him when I think he is wrong. He told us that he will listen to us - so we need to speak up when we see him veering off path.

I see some here at DU saying "I'm going to wait and see what happens...." or "give him a chance....." - my feeling if we wait and see or give him a chance - it will be too late because the forces in the back rooms will make the decisions.

No - we need to speak up and speak up loudly when we get the hint that things might be going south. I believe he wants it that way. That's why he's going out and listening to the people. I think he derives his power from us and if he knows that we're pissed at something being done - he can use our anger/concern to his benefit when dealing with both the Dems and Repugs that might be taking him off course.

Right now - after listening to his answer on 'healthcare' the other day at the Internet Town Hall - I don't agree with him. This is one area that I think is most critical to bringing this country back. We need to move to a single source plan. We need to get away from the insurance companies that are causing the problems that now exist in healthcare. We need to speak up now - in the formative stages of this reform. If we wait an see what his healthcare taskforce develops - it will be too late.

The people want single source. Most employers want single source. What makes the most sense is single source.

We can't let the interest groups hijack this - we need to let him know. We don't want more of the same - or something just repackaged - so that we can be told and manipulated into believing that it is reform. We want the real thing.

So don't be afraid to speak up.

[malaise]

2. 100% correct

BILL MOYERS: What do ordinary citizens do about this? How do they break this grip that money has- the patrons have on the politicians?

WILLIAM GREIDER: They trust themselves. I read a wonderful book about the Civil Rights Movement and SNICC and others in the South, in Mississippi, the most treacherous, backward place you could go, bring the issue of racial equality. And they said the organizers first goal was to learn to listen to these people, that they were poor blacks in Mississippi. The second goal was to convince themselves and these poor people to act like citizens even if - even though they knew they weren't citizens. And you think about that. That's kind of the mystery of democracy. People get power if they believe they're entitled to power.


By the way I am in the group that was giving him six months of space.

add

[tbyg52]

Yep. I was too.

But this bailout looked like it was run by Wall Street from the beginning, and it doesn't look to my untrained eye like that has changed much, if at all. I just hear the giant sucking sound of my pocket being picked. Maybe I'm wrong on that. I hope so.

[Laelth]

3. Hear, hear! Let's keep banging on the door. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[CANDO]

5. Spot on!

There are certain individuals on DU who have been very aggressive in shutting down any questioning of President Obama, and I say my politics don't stop at election day. The people I vote for don't get my unquestioning support. They have to earn it every day with every new decision. On another subject...this was my 1,000th post! Took me nearly 7 years.

[tbyg52]

7. Congratulations!

:toast:

[MilesColtrane]

33. Your point would be better served without the hyperbole.

Only a moderator, or Skinner himself, could shut down someone questioning Obama.

Some asshole posting, "shut the fuck up", is not the same as having a post deleted, or being tombstoned.

[CANDO]

66. Perhaps the hyperbole was a given.

My intention was to not name names but to make a point of some who go after any critical analysis of Obama with too much zeal. I was not referring to any mods or Skinner.

[girl gone mad]

72. Luckily, they all seem to waste their time..

congregating in nonsense threads.

I almost never see them contributing in any meaningful way to the actual policy discussion that goes on around here.

[leveymg]

83. At DKos there are some who are aggressively shutting down any questioning of Bernanke and Geithner

Or, more accurately, there's a group that's trying to.

There's a regular Free Market Cult over there. Some very aggressive, self-righteous, and self-interested Wall Street and academic types, a lot of them swinging their degrees in Economics or Finance like fly swatters. Opinion seems to be divided along lines of what will personally benefit themselves and those like them. They're really nasty about it. Some DESPISE Krugman. I've stayed away from DKos, which I normally love, for a few weeks, as a result. Very depressing.

[CANDO]

95. I've seen some nasty anti-Krugman comments here as well.

Some folks just don't get it that a DINO in office is not what we've had in mind in getting back the Presidency. Now, I'm not calling Obama a DINO, I'm just saying that on some very important matters, we can't afford to sit back and act like good little lemmings. God knows the rich and powerful and connected will always have their sway, so we need to keep our President's feet to the fire. And to hell with the ones on here attempting to intimidate others into silence.

[chill_wind]

11. What a great post. K & R all of you.

eom

[Phred42]

14. Exactly Correct !

:toast:

....and the whiners can bark at the moon

[SammyWinstonJack]

18. Sounds like the door banging is going to have too be VERY LOUD before Obama hears it.

If he hears it at all.

[butterfly77]

47. and everyone should pay attention...

plus inform your friends and family what is being done and how it is being done.

[CoffeeCat]

60. I'm not being a smartass...

...but I'd like someone to explain to me what is being done and how it is being done.

Frankly, I don't understand what is happening,and how they're pulling it off.

Does anyone?

[butterfly77]

64. I am not trying to be a smart ass either but...

If you can't see what has been going and how the games are being played you aren't paying enough attention..

[CoffeeCat]

70. ...but I am paying attention...

I just can't get a handle on what is going on.

I do understand that our entire economy is "insolvent". It's not just the banking system.

The U.S. economy is 70 percent consumer spending. During the past 15 years, corporations figured
out ways to increase profits by augmenting consumer spending. Companies issued credit cards
to anyone with a pulse. Banks relaxed mortgage standards and home-equity qualifications. Furthermore,
banks revamped and gutted their lending regulations--and developed 'creative financing' to entice buyers.

This has all fallen apart. So, spending has been axed and the aggregate demand for goods and services
has collapsed. This has fueled business failures and massive unemployment.

THAT I understand. THAT I get.

Now, I'm fuzzy on my understanding--because I don't know what's going on behind the curtains with the banks.

Is this a complete heist? Or are the banks truly injured/insolvent and using the money to repair themselves?

I look at the initial TARP money. These banks got TARP funds under false pretenses--claiming that they would use
the money to buy toxic assets. What the hell did they do with the money? They insist that we don't need to know.

Now, they're back at the trough, and Obama wants to dump another trillion into their coffers. They say that
THIS TIME they'll use it to buy toxic assets. Really? Will they?

Also--will banks inflate the value of these toxic assets and use the money to buy toxic assets from each other? IN
effect, they'll just be swapping money back and forth?

Or will these banks truly wipe off these bad assets and will this help to heal the economy? That's another important
point...even if credit lines unfreeze--how does that help the millions who have no jobs or who are scared that they will
lose their job. The main problems right now are unemployment, jobs going overseas and stagnant wages. Middle-class America
needs help and I'm failing to understand how making Wells Fargo or Bank of America rich again--directly helps the middle class.

I am paying attention--but there are so many unknowns.

[theFrankFactor]

76. No One Will Clarify This For You Because They Don't Know Shit.

This is not clear and easy to understand by any means and anyone who thinks it is doesn't know shit. It's a cluster fuck. There are few self evident facts. Information is deliberately withheld and the rules are changed at will. It's a balancing act and theater. I wish I could help you but I can't.

[CoffeeCat]

98. Thank you...

I think there's a reason that I'm befuddled. It's not because I'm
not paying attention or that I lack the education to understand.
I studied economics at a major university, for God's sakes.

If I'm confused...confusion is part of the plan. We're not supposed to
understand the situation completely. If we're dizzy, trying to "get it"
then we rely on the government and the corporations to do it all. We
give up and we just allow the boy boys to handle it.

You're right...it's a clusterfuck. And it's not an accident.

[INdemo]

91. Healthcare?

As long as the health insurance companies,and the drug companies control our health care system nothing will change...President Obama said in his on line town hall meeting you mentioned,that our health care will not change drastically,that is,we will not have a system like Canada,or the UK.."People are just too accustomed to our current system and it will not change that much" Now that might not be exactly what he said but it was to the same effect...OK so our health care system won't change that much which means the insurance companies and drug companies are just too powerful and we can't change that...My take on all of this..The insurance companies own our Senators and Congressmen and nothing changes.

[global1]

97. I Don't Agree With His Premise That We Are Too Accustomed To.....

our current system. Those of us that are forced to use it know that it is all screwed up and totally oriented in favor of big insurance & big pharma. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that. It appears that the marketing campaign is on to make us buy into a reform program that really will be more of the same but packaged to look like reform. It appears that President Obama is one of the primary marketers for this charade.

We need to be heard now - while nothing is totally etched in stone yet - at least in the open. We need to organize and come out in numbers so we'll be heard that the only sane and humane way to reform is a 'single source' universal program.

Otherwise - we'll be sold on the so-called 'new and improved version' that is less of the same for more money. Much like what is happening everyday at your grocery store. Smaller packages, new labeling, new promotion - but in reality less of the same product for more dollars.

We're being manipulated and deceived once again. Damn 'MBA's!!!!!!

[pleah]

4. We can't afford to sit back and wait to see what happens.

If we do, nothing will change. I have seen this already happening in some areas of this new administration. New fuel standards to be raised 0.3mpg by 2011. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3804602

We have to keep on their asses or we will get fucked.

[biopowertoday]

36. i have seen many posters here on du with the wait and see attitude.

[jody]

6. "Obama, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right"

[JDPriestly]

65. Obama needs to fire Geithner.

And he needs to forget about trying to work with people who do nothing but obstruct his program. We elected him to be a leader, not to be a sop for the greedy billionaires on Wall Street. Sure, he should listen to them, but he should not follow their advice to the extent that he is. Why is there not one single labor leader on his economic team -- not at Treasury, not at the Fed (Does he get to appoint the head of the Fed? If not, maybe the laws need to be changed)? And, thus far, his Secretary of Labor has been silent on general economic issues. I am not at all happy about Obama's policies.

And, why do we have to wait until Spain takes legal action against the those responsible for torture.

[jody]

69. Absent from Obama's close advisers are labor leaders, scientists, and engineers but there's a

plethora of lawyers and financiers.

[JDPriestly]

84. He appointed a scientist to Energy and a labor leader to Labor,

but those appointees are not playing a role in resolving the current economic crisis, at least it does not appear that they are playing any role in finding solutions to the economic crisis. If Obama is conferring with the Energy or Labor departments, we certainly haven't heard about it.

[jody]

90. I agree, that's why I said "close advisers". n/t

[Fumesucker]

8. Eh, I see it a little differently..

Obama isn't trapped between the governing elite and the masses..

Obama *is* one of the governing elite although he has done a remarkably good job of convincing a lot of people that he is not.

The governing elite would never have allowed Obama to become a candidate, let alone elected, were he not one of them at his very core.

I pretty much kept my opinions to myself before the election, in the interest of "unity", now I see no point in keeping quiet any more.

[tbyg52]

9. Oh, absolutely. He would not have gotten to where he is otherwise.

And I never thought otherwise.

I just hoped he was playing the system for *our* benefit, and I think I'm right on that, again with no backup except gut feeling. The question is, how much can he buck the system and get away with it. The corpos are awfully powerful.

[malaise]

12. The question is, how much can he buck the system and get away with it

The corpos are awfully powerful.

That is the question, but remember that the people pushed FDR and only the people will decide how far Obama bucks the system.

[tbyg52]

23. EXACTLY!

And that's why I'm sick of the "don't criticize him" posts!

[Two Americas]

62. yes

The more we have his back when he bucks the system, the more he can do, and the more likely the administration is to succeed.

If all he has is the "give him a chance and don't tear him down" crowd, he is certain to fail.


...

[Patiod]

22. FDR couldn't have been more part of the governing elite

but he had a conversion experience

Obama's financial picks seem to indicate he still hasn't had that sort of experience yet

[starroute]

38. I have no clue how you could even say that

Obama was not born into the governing elite.

He was not raised as one of the governing elite.

There is no way that he is conceivably "one of them at his very core."

His first elite contacts of any kind came when he went to college and then to law school. And even then he kept heading back to do community work in Chicago rather than following the sort of judicial clerking path to success that the elite hands out to its own.

He may have made some compromises with the Chicago political machine when he decided to run for political office -- but the extent of that isn't clear. And even there, we're hardly talking about "the elite."

I honestly believe the right wingnuts are far closer to the truth than we generally like to acknowledge. Up until 10 years ago, Obama was more strongly associated with ACORN, Bill Ayers, and Reverend Wright than anything within spitting distance of an elite. That, if anything, is the truth he's papered over -- but it's hardly a truth that we at DU need to fear.

If the governing elite "allowed" him to win, it's only because they knew -- well before they let on to the rest of us -- how bad things were going to get. And they gambled that they could get a needed cleanup of the system from a moderate reformer while preventing populism from getting out of hand and becoming a serious threat to their interests.

Right now, Obama is in the position of realizing that the bankers have grown too powerful to be controlled and that he has to work with them and tell them he's trying to save their asses if he's going to get anywhere at all. But what happens down the road is still very much up in the air.

I can see two possible outcomes at this point -- one where Obama settles in and gets cozy with the financial elite, and the other where he starts cracking the whip as soon as the immediate crisis is over. Many of the moves he's making -- even in terms of things like missing the Gridiron Club to spend more time with his kids -- send decidedly anti-elite messages. But that in itself isn't enough.

That's where the people making themselves heard comes in -- Obama has to be reminded at every point that he works for us, and also that working for us represents his own deepest aspirations. It's all too easy in DC to sell out and not even notice you're doing it -- especially if the sell-out moves seem to be paying off in terms of economic stabilization.

It's not an easy situation -- but distorting the facts of the matter doesn't make it any easier.

[theFrankFactor]

77. And No One Can Explain or Prove Any of This Bullshit

That money buys power is a given but that the Masons, Bilderbergs, Rothschilds and the CFR rule America is not. Too much fuckin' Alex Jones bullshit.

[Kaleko]

82. Great post. I see it the same way.

[truedelphi]

87. You point out the crucial difference between FDR and Obama -

FDR said that it was every bit as dangerous to be on the side of organized banking as to be on the side of organized crime. Obama doesn't say it, and apparently doesn't thiknk it either.

obama apparently likes to be on the side of organized banking. This is a situation that puts the monetary capital of our entire ship of state into the hands of the very elite that brought htis mess about.

The givewaways to the banking kingdom that obama has allowed will haunt the rest of his Presidency.

[starroute]

92. Can you point to a source for that FDR quote?

I'm not finding it anywhere. Thanks.

[Fumesucker]

100. As I said, Obama has done a remarkable job of convincing a lot of people he is not..

One of the elite..

Of course he is one of the governing elite, he is the POTUS, he is part of the elite by definition.

I'm too lazy and lack the time to go into my reasons for thinking the way I do, I've been paying attention to politics since the late sixties and very little that happens surprises me any more.

Since we seem to be quoting FDR on this thread here is one.. "Nothing in politics happens by accident, if it happens you can bet it was planned that way"..

It was planned by the elite for Obama to be POTUS.

[Political Heretic]

81. Alex, is that you?

[OHdem10]

10. Mr President, Our Government has spent the decades from Reagan

through Bush: Giving every advantage to the elites and most especially
Big Business. Tax cuts, Waivers on paying tazes, Billions and
Billions(Taxpayer money) in Cash Incentives, Absolute Freedom to roam
the world seeking the cheapest labor(increase profits for Elites by
keeping business cost down. Relieved Business of almost all responsibility
through De-Regulation.(Let the Market work its will. "The great invisible
hand" has proved it works just fine for the upper class. Over and
over the Rich have gotten richer. Think of the Millionaires who have
become Billionaires over time. If we are honest with ourselves we
must admit it does not work for the working class and poor. The Free
Market Policies that deed indeed work for the rich were the same policies
that sent not just low wage jobs but better paying IT jobs out of the
country. Immigration was used to bring in lower paid workers in
all levels including HI TECH(H 1-B visaa).

I am not playing class warfare. I want us to get so many millionnaires
we are top heavy with them. HOWEVER, we must save our Democracy.
For Democracy to flourish we must have a vibrant middle class and
very few poor.

While I love Greider, He has been a voice in the wilderness warning
us for years, I will go with Bernanke(scholar of the Great Depression.)
He says they were not wrong just too slow and stimulus then not large
enough. FDR saved Democracy and saved Capitalism.

[xchrom]

13. brings up the old question -- if not now then when? nt

[jody]

15. "The sun'll come out Tomorrow So ya gotta hang on 'Til tomorrow"

[malaise]

16. Not sure if we should bet that bottom dollar

that tomorrow there will be sun. :D

[jody]

19. Too many people are down to their last penny living in tent cities and Congress/WH set on their

arse.

If there’s a TEA Party in your area, attend and shout until you’re hoarse, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" (TEA for Taxed Enough Already and WITHOUT representation).

[xchrom]

24. um -- i think this is the opposite of tea baggers.

but if you want to tea bag -- please be my guest.

[jody]

25. I know but rather than start a new effort, find an existing one with a catchy name and use it. n/t

[xchrom]

28. well -- blog here about your time spent at the tea baggers. nt

[jody]

30. ROFL n/t

[tbyg52]

29. I saw one of them on TV last night, and it looked like a right-wing organization to me.

I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention (I have a habit of reading and listening to the TV with one ear), but I got the impression they were against *all* taxes, not just against having them go to bail out Wall Street.

[rucognizant]

54. Yeh

They're real confused arent they? teabaggers........the antithesis of patriots & democracy!
What we should be throwing in the bay is money not tea! Because it's worthless paper! Actually to do it right.hold up Brinks trucks coming from the banks, and toss the money..........BUT it's so a sacred, you'd be mobbed & strung up~

[xchrom]

17. 'no sense in sitting alone in your room...'

since we're quoting lines from musicals.

[jody]

20. I'll drink to that, misery loves company so find someone and . . . . n/t

[shadowknows69]

53. Really?

Not for some of us without health care. Tomorrow might not come.

[cornermouse]

21. A link from the Greider interview that you might want to take a look at

if you haven't already.

http://www.anewwayforward.org/demonstrations/

I don't know if this has already been posted? I'm not actually here enough any more to know.

[tbyg52]

27. I had not, thank you.

Smart people, to schedule the demonstrations for a Saturday. I will be at the closest one I can find.

[Doremus]

26. A New Way Forward

Big bankers ruined our economy and now they are gaming the political system so they can profit even more off the crisis they caused. They must be stopped.

On April 11th, 2009, the public will come out in cities across the country to express their frustration and disapproval with how our elected officials have handled the economic crisis. No one has been left unscathed; this protest is yours.

http://www.anewwayforward.org/demonstrations/

[cui bono]

48. Very nice! thanks for the info.

I hope there is a massive amount of people out for that. I wonder if it being Easter weekend will hinder turn out.

[malaise]

49. The only way forward

Thanks Brits.

add

[eleny]

31. Last night I couldn't find a copy of the NY Times chart Moyers held up...

The one that shows which fat cats contributed to members of Congress.

[EFerrari]

37. I also missed its title and so can't even search for it.

:(

[liam_laddie]

39. NYT chart

It's in the business section in the Thursday March 26 edition. Here's the text version with some links, but I haven't found the full-page graphic on-line.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/business/26lobby.html>

[eleny]

43. I was hunting the Politics section - Thanks for the article!

We don't take the Times, otherwise I'd scan the chart.

[BumRushDaShow]

93. The NYT chart is on this version

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/where-wall-street-trades-in-political-currency/

[lonestarnot]

32. And facecard would help!

[cliffordu]

34. Great post., K&R

[malaise]

50. Great Bill Moyers program

:hi:

[Uncle Joe]

35. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, malaise.:thumbsup:

[Maineman]

40. CITIZENS CAN CHANGE THE BANKING SYSTEM

Clearly the massive financial corporations, the ones that are too big to fail, are a problem. The massive bailouts are killing current and future taxpayers.

We are not helpless.

The Treasury Department claims to be doing stress tests. I wonder if they are testing the really big ones like Citi and Bank of America and AIG. Is the government going to break up the institutions that are too big to fail? I doubt it.

This is where citizens come in. If lots of citizens move their accounts and take their business to smaller regional or local banks and credit unions, we can provide a really good stress test for the big nationals that are out of control and have done such damage, yet splurge at taxpayers expense. Even if they do not splurge, if they are too big to fail, then they are too big to save.

Lets do it! Lets move to smaller prudently run banks and credit unions.

[Karenina]

73. Excellent suggestion.

[bertman]

41. Thank you for the post, malaise. I LOVE our new President, but I am also one of his

fiercest critics when I feel he is on the wrong side of an issue. I did my best to separate him from the corporate powers by sending his campaign MY hard-earned cash. I wanted the coffers to relect the will of the voters, not the corporations.

I've been around a long time, so I didn't expect President Obama to be able to buck the MIC or the Wall Street cabal and tell them to go fuck off. That ain't gonna happen no matter who gets elected. What I DID expect was for him to temper his decisions and his staff choices in a way that gave him opportunities to make our country more democratic and less plutocratic. I see that happening in some measure, but I also see that he is being tightly controlled by the Big Boys.

This will only change when We The People REVOLT. Not violently-- I mean revolt NON-VIOLENTLY. Revolution as defined by Webster's: 2 a: a sudden, radical, or complete change b: a fundamental change in political organization ; especially : the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed c: activity or movement designed to effect fundamental changes in the socioeconomic situation d: a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something.

The revolt has been made easier by many magnitudes by the internetz. Every one of us and every one of our friends and relatives has the power to sway the people who say they represent us. But we have to wield that power in order to succeed.

So, if you don't like the direction of our President's policies, start emailing and calling your representatives and your party headquarters. Get everyone you know who is politically like-minded to do the same. The President and Congress will not CHANGE until the people DEMAND IT. That's what a REVOLT is all about.

[malaise]

52. 100% correct - great photos here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5347780

[bertman]

57. That's the kind of participatory government WE need too.

[rhett o rick]

42. I am banging. Pres Obama has a tough job. We need to continue to tell him we have his back. nm

[fascisthunter]

44. citizens are supposed to mold their Presidents Agenda

when we don't, we vote for dictators and not representatives of "We the People". Good read...


Kicked and Recommended!

[Kurovski]

45. From an article on March 22...

"The president is getting what he asked for, but perhaps not what he had in mind. During the campaign, Barack Obama beckoned Americans to put aside their cynicism about politics and re-engage as active citizens. They are now doing so with red-hot anger. They are outraged by events and forcing their way into congressional affairs and behind closed doors where policy wonks discuss issues with cerebral civility. The president is now trapped between these two realms -- the governing elites who decide things and the people who are governed. Which side is he on? If he does not choose wisely, the anger could devour his presidency.

...Something fundamental has been altered in American politics. Encouraged by Obama's message of hope, agitated by darkening economic prospects, many people have thrown off sullen passivity and are trying to reclaim their role as citizens. This disturbs the routines of Washington but has great potential for restoring a functioning democracy. Timely intervention by the people could save the country from some truly bad ideas now circulating in Washington and on Wall Street. Ideas that could lead to the creation of a corporate state, legitimized by government and financed by everyone else. Once people understand the concept, expect a lot more outrage."

And the thing is, as people get angry, and if there is a vaccuum...Folks like goofy Michelle Bachmann are going to fill it. She calls for us to "rise-up" against Dems and the president.


http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/03/22

[Kurovski]

46. And a related thread...

The words of George carlin...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5345395

[malaise]

51. Hey Comrade leader

:hi:

[cherokeeprogressive]

55. Why aren't the "governing elites who decide things" ever named by name?

That's why I can never get my head around this whole concept of shadow governments and such. For me, it's akin to reading "a source who wishes to remain anonymous".

[pauldp]

85. They are all the time. You can find them if you do a little research.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Grove
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilderberg_Group
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull_and_Bones

Now you can't prove these secret groups made up of the wealthy elite are coming up with agendas that will impact politics, business and banking but I'd say it's a safe bet that they are. Just look at who their members are.

[Hubert Flottz]

56. And DUers we have been right here banging...

Our work is far from over.

[kentuck]

58. He also said that Obama and the Democrats are on wrong side of history.

And I agree.

[malaise]

67. Not really

He said Obama needs to be pushed to the right side.
He did say that the appointments are a bad sign.

[L0oniX]

59. Single payer health care too expensive? Non-sense! Bull shit!

What is too expensive? 33% of it going to administration sociopaths ...bankruptcies because people use their only last resort credit cards to save their lives - who pays for that? Emergency room visits rather than preventative health care ...Drug companies who jack up the cost because they advertise their monkey puss on tv? WTF is too expensive ...Oh I am so sorry I cost us too much to keep me alive and of course I am not worth it oh but you will continue to take my tax money and spend it on rich mutha fuckas on wall street and a fucking go no where war ...and wtf is Osama you fucking asshole MIC loving SOB congress and senate war machine and drug company and HMO loving sociopathic bastards! I don't make what you mutha fuckas make in a year so how the fucking hell can I afford your kind of health care insurance?

[Sancho]

61. Reminds me of Jimmy Carter....

hopefully, Obama is smart enough to deal with it.

[DainBramaged]

63. "We do forget that he walked into a house that was burning"

Great quote

[malaise]

68. Yep - super quote

but many DUers walked in with him to save the country and not to save the arsonists.

[antimatter98]

71. Yes, Moyers/Greider are right. Sadly.

If we just look at what's going on:
1. Banks and investment houses get trillions and use some of it for bonuses.
2. Nothing happens for unemployed, foreclosed, bankrupt Americans.
3. Obama does a climb down on single payer health care.
4. Obama puts more $ and troops into Iraq.
5. Obama's economic team are the very ones who pushed for banking deregulation
in 1999 under Clinton---Larry Summers in 1999 said that the repeal of Glass Stegall
meant that we'd left antiquated regulation behind in favor of a true 21st century
financial system that would benefit the nation.
6. Rahm Emanual made $300K plus for 14 months work at Freddie Mae.

Do these realities show any sign at all of a president who is left, or populist?

I say: no.

Obama, like Hillary would have been had she won, is being run by the banks, Wall Street
and the DLC.

The war is on: marginalization of the WORKING class (not just middle class) and the demise
of a populist agenda. Congress is in on this war of course.

Watch for this: people who put forth a populist agenda will be scorned as not supporting
Obama. It's already happening.

Citizens in the US have to face the truth that we're not only being marginalized, but it's
been going on for years now. President Obama is not a populist. He's a corporatist--and
we all know what its called when corporations and banks run the country, with the central ruling
body rendered to just artifical status (e.g., Congress).

Good Luck, it will be a very difficult decade or two if we can't change things so that citizens
run the country instead of corporate and banking power. It will be tough either way.

[global1]

96. This Is Really Sad If This Is True.......

Obama rallied the electorate on his "Yes We Can", "Change We Can Believe In" and "Hope" campaign. "IF" he is just like the rest of them and just pulled the wool over our eyes and fooled us - we'll never trust another candidate again that might come along and really be sincere. "IF" that is the case we are really 'f***ed'.

[Mind_your_head]

74. This is true. "WE THE PEOPLE" ~ right now ~ today.......

...are the tie-breaker.

RISE UP NOW and speak for what you want. I doubt that there will be much of a second chance.

[Blackhatjack]

75. Once you realize you no longer have anything left to lose.... we are getting close....

... people will begin to organize and hit the streets.

The question is who has control of the power of government? The wealthy corporate entities which have profitted from this tragedy or the people who need someone to right the balance for the great majority of Americans?

[ProSense]

78. Question

here.

[Political Heretic]

79. "We love you Mr. President, but you don't have it right yet." --- THANK YOU!

Criticism doesn't mean you hate the president. It means you are full of hope and want to see even more dramatic change.

[theFrankFactor]

80. Who's Paying Who.... link

http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/index.php

[malaise]

94. PWNED

by lobbyists.

[Amonester]

86. Link to the FORM that NEEDS to be FILLED...

by TENS of MILLIONS of U.S. CITIZENS

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

since the streets are (almost) empty (too many "distractions")...

Imagine... TENS OF MILLIONS of "CONTACT US" should do the "math"

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

if THAT doesn't "work"

the streets must be filled ASAP

[Karenina]

101. The sound track...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSAeldJ1SYw

[pam4water]

88. Spot on as normal! K&R N/T

[democrank]

89. Although I still support President Obama

I have no intention of sitting idly by while he strives to keep the elites happy. Change means change. More of the same means more of the same.

[omega minimo]

99. .