Obviously there’s a communication problem when the President has to huddle with Senate leaders just 9 days before the deadline to avoid a government shutdown.

Ya’ think? The complete lack of coordinated leadership and teamwork between this administration and the Dem congressional and senate leadership is stunning.

Ineffective. Lost in the weeds. And apparently unable to schedule a regular meeting.

Obama, and Charlie Sheen.

Winning.

Useless. Empty. Suit.

seconded,a limpy fettuccine

may i add im sick of Michelle the fashionista!

Yeah but let’s be fair: I’m sick of the wanking media’s obsession with Michelle the fsshionista.

If the Rs continue as they are going with their possible prez candidates and the many, many different Tea Parties, they are going to be as leaderless as we are.

The feeling is mutual, according to the quote by Carla Bruni’s biographer.

Yes, empty suit I’ve finally decided is the perfect description of O. If I’m really really depressed, I call him the evil empty suit.

Question…

What’s the difference between the Gov. of Wisconsin and President Obama.

The Gov gave 140B in tax cuts and then tried to raise the money on the backs of the poor!

B.O. Gave the wealthy 4T in tax cuts and tried to raise the money by cutting things like heat for the elderly!

What’s the difference?

Just love those rhetorical Qs on the left.

Post titles at FDL are full of them.

They already are. They’re just too stupid to recognize it.

What’s the difference?

Not the arithmetic.

David, thanks for the reporting. I disagree with the premise, though. There is no serious negotiation. This is all kabuki. The Democrats are doing what they did with HCR, putting on a fight in the public forum while grab-assing with lobbyists and trading away our future.

At least she’s not Sarah Palin.

Yep. :(

They also need a PR plan to explain to the American public what is going on and why we’re going to have this government shutdown. And we are going to have one. In my state gov’t (an extremely red state), they are working hard to make sure all the stimulus money left is obligated because they know the House GOP is planning to make the sweeping of the remaining stimulus the bottom line for the House or they’ll shut things down. I think they are planning to go ahead and shut the gov’t down because they think they can win the PR battle since the White House doesn’t seem to care.

I will be furloughed by my state when this happens (funding for my position is federal). And I suspect a lot of other folks will in lots of places.

It’s government by secret meeting. By people who cut lousy deals.

A community organizer who voted present so many times in the senate that he wore out the button caught looking like a clueless fool?

Hope n’ Change, baby, Hope n’ Change.

When the best thing that can be said about someone is “At least you’re not Sarah Palin”, you truly suck :(

I don’t even have anything against Michelle aside from the fact that she’s married to, so must provide some type of emotional support for, the worst President of my life. At least Shrub had convictions and was forceful at times.

By people who cut lousy deals.

I disagree. They’re great deals for the people making them. The people who pay for them never get any input. Us.

How can you win the future when capitalism is doomed?

I believe the 2012 slogan’s going to be “Change you can try to live on!™”

“the worst President of my life.”

Ain’t it a kick in the head that we have lived through the worst President ever…only to live through a serious contender for the same title? That’s a massive screw-up, even for Democrats.

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/comedy/watch/v20844942qMzdgEAz

My life has been Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Shrub, and now President ThankYouSirMayIHaveAnother.

FML. I, for one, am not #Winning.

Guess Obama’s done with his “sucking up to JEB” tour of FL, so it’s back to…. screwing the serfs from his Ivory Tower in Dee Cee. Great!… not.

Thanks for the update. Was wondering of the Wizard of O was ever going to pay any attention to the fed budget ever again. Not very hopeful re the outcome with O at the helm. Prepared for the worst.

Or “Change. You have any to spare?”

… or will it be: “Bend over a little further, please”???

Obama will do nothing, won’t even say anything outside of the times he’s running for office, to further progressive causes. Utterly silent about this attack on unions going on. “Government for the people” is gone, baby, gone.

I’m particularly interested to see how they finesse the social security theft. No one wants to leave their fingerprints on it. Somehow they will manage to make Obama walk the plank over it, is my guess.

Why should the president engage when the Kocks are writing the budget? It’s just more apparent in Wisconsin and the rest of states

The Great Pretender will eargerly “walk the plank” to plunder Soc Sec, as long at the Elites buy him off with enough pieces of silver (and gold and etc).

Or my favorite “Change; Hope we leave you some!™”

Or: “There’s still some change in your pockets? Give it to me!”

Meanwhile, Senate Vichycrat leader Reid shows us how to make an already shitty law way shittier.

Kabuki at it best

the Democratic-aligned senators who voted against their party’s plan were:

Listed Below is Team TROJAN HORSE or OBAMA’s team

Michael Bennet (Colo.), trojan horse
Joe Manchin (W.Va.), trojan horse
Herb Kohl (Wis.), trojan horse
Kay Hagan (N.C.), trojan horse
Carl Levin (Mich.), (don’t want any cuts)
Claire McCaskill (Mo.),trojan horse
Ben Nelson (Neb.), trojan horse
Bill Nelson (Fla.),trojan horse
Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), (don’t want any cuts)
Jim Webb (Va.) trojan horse
Mark Udall (Colo.)trojan horse

all the trojan horses like the GOP plan

every trojan horse needs to be primaried.

2008-2010 he really did a great job of running out the clock while the Dems had control of all the levers of government. Had to make sure that nothing progressive was passed that actually helped the great, unwashed masses.

I particularly appreciated how he purposefully didn’t nominate many judges for all of the openings everywhere. Have to leave that open for the next GOP President. Christ, imagine if he were to appoint people without a hard conservative viewpoint?!

every trojan horse needs to be primaried.

C’mon. It’s over.

Obama reminds me of a manager where I used to work. When we got some new work, he refused to provide any direction, saying we were “paid well enough to figure it out ourselves.” Of course, he was just maintaining his deniability, no matter what we did he could say, “I didn’t tell them to do that.”‘ CYA.

What great Leadership!

you are probably correct

What was I thinking?

the Titantic always sinks

Just In
Obama just told Biden to move the Deck Chairs on the back of titantic USA to the front of titiantic USA

Obama’s will surely provide some sense of direction to Congressional Democrats:

“Do whatever Boehner and McConnell want!”

Obama, what’s there to say?

Yes, but in this case, stalemate strongly favors the Rs.

Obama will be re-elected. Too many scared liberals. Then, we’ll have another 4 years of retrenchment. In that time, they’ll try to destroy SS and medicare and put the final nail in the New Deal. Just found out today that ex-mayor Fenty is a Gubner Walker supporter. These “new” Democrats like Obama are right wing Trojan Horses.

Jon Walker has a new post up.

We get to choose between Ultra-Corporate Fundie and Ultra-Corporate Non Fundie.

I am so sick of Obama’s style of governing by backdoor unconditional surrender to the criminal banksters and corporation owners coupled with what he believes is clever up-front plausible deniability that I just want to stand outside the White House with a bull horn together with a million other people joining me and scream over and over: “You stupid cowardly and disgraceful dumb fuck. Get the hell out of our house, the People’s House.”

The problem there are so many Obots out there–they can’t be reasoned with. I have them in my immediate family. Nothing you say. Nothing you document (his utter disdain for the unemployed, for example) will sway them from swooning over their Dear Leader. It’s like the Bush supporters.

Avoidance is the fence-sitter-in-chief’s M.O. He failed to vote well over 100 times when in the Ill. Senate. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/us/politics/20obama.html and his US Senate votes pretty much reflects the same M.O……http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=400629

I hope we never again hear that “experience doesn’t matter.”

If for nothing else, a track record gives an indication how someone will manage the job.

It’s plain and simple, he’s not a leader, he’s a coward.

I don’t think the PTB will ever allow another leader in the WH again. At least not until they destroy this country.

Yep, Obummer is just doing his part to get us there (destroying this country).

Ever get the feeling that Obama simply has no interest whatsoever in doing anything except going about with his thumb up his you-know-what? This is one of those times.

I think this is the core of the problem. It’s not Obama. If it weren’t him, it would be someone else doing pretty much the same thing. Presidents are figure-heads, and entertainment to keep the sheeple distracted. The real stuff goes on in offices and hotel rooms between the lobbyists and whoever has the power to move things. The Villagers like it that way.

Yes, I think Obama conceives of the presidency as the highest elected middle manager of the country.

They also need a PR plan to explain to the American public what is going on

They have absolutely zero idea of what marketing is, let alone how to do it. And yet they somehow ran a brilliant campaign. What the hell? They look just as lost in communications as they do about policy and fundamental Democratic values.

I’m not convinced of that. The presidency actually has a lot of levers of power, and if Obama wanted to, he could use those. In fact, he has used those things to advance what he wanted: most especially, expansion of hte war in Afghanistan.

It may be true that only someone who would function as Obama functions is now allowed into the Oval Office, I don’t know. I do think there were/are other Democratic candidates who don’t display the singular disdain for politics, power, action and just plain work that Obama displays.

Well, they ran a brilliant ad campaign anyway. Sure, they beat McCain, but any Democrat would have. Note that Obama did NOT win California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania in the primaries — meaning he didn’t win the big blue states.

I don’t know how you can say he ran a brilliant campaign when he didn’t win any of the traditional Democratic strongholds except Illinois.

He gamed the system. He won the caucuses. He bought superdelegates with his ginormous campaign war chest funded by Wall Street.

He also didn’t campaign on issues — Plouffe and Axelrod both said they didn’t want to campaign on issues. Instead they organized a campaign designed to be similar to the Bush campaign against Gore: about being a uniter not a divider, about changing the tone.

Progressives fell for it.

At some point, progressives need to examine just WHY they fell for it. Because that points to a significant problem in progressives’ understanding of politics, power and change.

I think he won cause

1. Economic catastrophe that unfolded just prior to the election

2. He followed George Bush’s eight year dismantling and destruction program;

He seems pretty average to me. I don’t see any signs in him of anything much more than quite ordinary.

I get the distinct feeling he’s now just waiting for his personal just rewards, lecture circuit, lobbying, and real money a- la Tony Blair;

He’s just passing time now, watching the ole clock.

Thanks dandelion, excellent points.

I think the brilliant campaign was US (or, sorry, a lot of us), caught up in the idea of a strong half-black community organizer voicing strong Democratic values….and so on. Dem voters brewed up our own kool-aid and happily drank it up. We were thrilled with the image of a savior…and breaking a cultural barrier. A lot of that is understandable, if unpleasant in hindsight. (And yes, having McCain/Palin as opponents was a stroke of luck.)

But these guys sure don’t have a clue how to run a railroad.

You think you’ve got it bad? I lived through Nixon as President, and Obama is still the worst president of my lifetime!

ding, ding, ding… you are correct sir!
the Dems and O’Sellout should make up a bumpersticker that reads:

“Vote Democratic…when you care enough to look like you give a shit”

remember with Bush Jr when we all thought Worse. President. Ever. ???
with Obama we can say:

Worse. Than. Bush.

“Progressives fell for it.

At some point, progressives need to examine just WHY they fell for it. Because that points to a significant problem in progressives’ understanding of politics, power and change.”

I think partly why we fell for it was: 1. Hillary would have brought Bill along, which meant the DLC and the Third Way…no thank you. Obama appeared to be his own man, and not beholden to the Party Establishment(remember his “no money from lobbyists” pledge?), and he was successful at maintaining that illusion, even if it was all bullshit. 2. Corporate Media wanted the “Cool Dude” vs. “Tough Chick” narrative, no other candidates got any traction during the campaign, even those with a progressive message (Edwards – which is a whole ‘nother matter). 3. It was widely believed, and not without reason, that anyone or thing with a pulse would have been an improvement over Bush (for example my mom’s Cocker Spaniel would have done far less damage to the country, the constitution, and the world if she were the 43rd President). 4. O’Sellout talked like a progressive during the campaign. He was for the “rule of law’, closing Gitmo, the Public Option, getting out of Iraq, making corporations pay income taxes, helping the middle and working classes, and a strong economy where everyone had jobs who wanted them, and strong bank reform. Obviously, those were just pretty words from him. His about-face support on FISA should have been enough to tell us what a complete piece of shit he really was, but I guess we wanted to believe so much that “hope” wasn’t just a four letter word.

1) Obama appeared to be his own man. Yes, except that one look at his war chest told us how much he’d received from Wall Street and from the clean coal/nuclear energy indutries. One look at his track record showed how he’d worked to stop the advance of universal health care in Illinois. The no money from lobbyists pledge was obviously bullshit, and the reason other candidates didn’t make that pledge — because unions and environmental orgs, for example, also use lobbyists — still holds true.

2) Corporate media wanted the Cool Dude vs. Tough Chick narrative, and so did progressives who went right along with it. Progressives did not have to take in this narrative, after all. Aren’t we supposed to be smarter than the media? Why weren’t we?

3) Sure, anything or anyone would have seemed an improvement over Bush. But there were 5 Democratic candidates, and four of those candidates were to the left of Obama, and yes I include Clinton there, because she was distinctly to the left of him on domestic issues, though no difference between them on foreign policy. Given that, why did progressives fall heart and soul for Obama?

Just one more note about progressives falling for Obama: psychological studies have shown that the more intelligent one is, the more likely one is to fall for a con. Because intelligent people have come to rely so well and usually so profitably on the evidence of their senses and do not second guess themselves.

Very very many very intelligent people were shouting Yes He Can and very few of them were asking, but how do we know he can, where is the evidence? Becuase the evidence of our senses told us he could — he looked and sounded like he could and would.

Eperience does matter: it provides concrete evidence.

Obama does know he is the President, right? What exactly is he going to run on next time? How he fought for the middle class? How he fought for a system of affordable health care? He is in for the fight of his life for a second term. Mr. President, pretty speeches do not fill up the dinner plates! The only reason he has a chance is because the Republicans are nuts. If he were up against Teddy Roosevelt or Dwight Eisenhower he would get his clock cleaned.

I remember a leadership style study I read a number of years ago, which contrasted two styles: Powerful leader that drives the agenda by the force of their personality (LBJ) and the one that jumps in front of the crowd after they decide the direction. Obama clearly waits until everyone has exhausted themselves in the debate and then jumps in front of group.

Unfortunately for us Dems’, is that the last group standing in these debates is the money group. For us, we see the crap and complain. For the average Joe, they see Obama as out in front of the issues.

So in 2012 we will have Obama, a true-blue Republican, running against the rapid rabies-infected Republican party ready to make slaves of all Americans but the top 2% of wage earners. How depressing.

Yeah. Inside that suit there is one cruel dude. (Morally empty, I guess you could say. But someone is in there and he is not nice.)

Even Palin would be better than Obama. I can’t believe anyone would support her in Congress. Obama on the other hand, could do a lot more damage.

Everyone else was either bought and paid for and just too frank and truthful to be electable. What choice did we have? I don’t think you can select anyone from Congress to successfully run for President anymore. And Hilary was just too tainted.

very true –

indeed Obama’s campaign was about sending out an invitation to bias – first to blacks that they were not being racist to vote for Obama despite being closer to others on issue because they were displaying “group loyalty” – sealed by getting the Black Congressional Caucus to go jumping on Bill for noting that Obama was appealing for a “group loyalty vote” and was therefore likely to win S.C.

Then it was get women to not vote group loyalty by saying teach Hillary a lesson for being married to that cheating husband Bill, add a few shorthand lies blaming Bill for events he had nothing to do with, and top with teaching folks to say “certainly I would vote for a women, just not this one” – picking up the bias against Bill, and against women.

Kos and company ate it up – and then Ted sealed the deal saying Obama was the new JFK – Ted seeing his dying wish – that there be a new JFK before he died.

Our progressive voices in MSM – and the internet – did not do well by us.