Obama's Deaf Ears

I understand the framing of this Tigerhawk video quite well. h/t Instapundit. But I would disagree on some critical points.

I think Obama is practicing a "new" kind of politics - new to America, at least.

At the same time people are finding themselves shocked by Obama's bold moves, he's also been very clear that they do not represent some end state. He envisions himself as, not effecting, so much as only putting into motion, changes that will be politically difficult to reverse.

I've seen some supposedly calmer talking heads advise, "Don't scream socialism, fight it for what it is." But if the great amount of wealth transfer for which Obama is currently advocating isn't the end game, then what is? Is there really any other way to project some Obama grand vision he likely won't even be in office to administer as anything other than socialism in its well-recognized European form?

The very people for whom Tigerhawk advocates are not critical to the Obama end game. I honestly don't believe he wants some relatively few over-achievers working harder to make America great as an upper-tier in a middle-class. I am always going to remind people of this still so under-reported Obama quote:

(In a rare slip, he told The Associated Press: “I’m not interested in the suburbs. The suburbs bore me.”)

I really am starting to believe that Obama sees "two Americas" more clearly than John Edwards ever did. But in Obama's view that vision represents some few at the very top with everyone else down below. And it's among that group below that Obama sees his vision of equality, racial, or otherwise playing out.

The New Deal never went away. So the "new" New Deal Obama is now on record as advocating for can only be seen as an extension of it. FDR didn't have to go that much further to reach the condition of a viable if productively diminished socialism. Thinking that Obama's vision represents anything less could prove to be a big mistake.

Obama is changing the rhetorical and real world battlefields on which Capitalists have to defend their ground. I'm not sure the traditional arguments and tactics we've been using for decades will prove to be as effective as they have in the past. Especially when, as any good elitist leaders desires, he already has the press.

Finally in that last regard, whether through a Fairness Doctrine or new regulations on so-called "localism," we know Obama really does want to control even more of that. Consequently, I find arguments for giving him the benefit of the doubt as regards his ambitions being only bold but still prudent in a traditional American sense, more and more difficult to believe every day.

Comments

[SacTownMan]

Is that deaf ears or Dumbo ears?

[mark l.]

capitalism creates wealth,
socialism spends wealth.

wipe out capitalism, and you have two sources of 'revenue' left.
debt and taxation.

Where does Paul Krugman believe the revenue will come from?

"I at least find it hard to see how the federal government can meet its long-term obligations without some tax increases on the middle class."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/opinion/27krugman.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

my personal preference would have been to raise money off of the top end of capitalism, but it appears even krugman can't find enough money among the corporations and rich to fund obama's new govt.

[mark l.]

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is comparing the stock market to the daily tracking polls used during campaigns, saying that paying too close attention to Wall Street's "fits and starts" could lead to bad long-term policy.

so when the market dropped 30% under bush, it was bad.
the market drops 25% under obama, and it is a matter of 'fits and starts'.

it actually could just be deemed a matter of 'five consecutive market corrections', nothing to worry about...

ignore corporate/small business layoffs,
ignore the fall in the 401ks,
ignore the debt,
ignore the spending,
ingore etc.

Look, there's limbaugh, if we just focus our attacks on him, everything will be alright.

[Jack is Back]

I just wonder what color shirts his domestic enforcers and youth corps will wear. Brown is already taken as is red (by Tiger). Jackson and the LGBT owns rainbow and the Irish own green. We know what code pink owns. So that leaves white but that is so vanilla. Me I'm looking for black just like the SWAT teams wear. First they came for catering manager at Northern Trust and I said nothing. Next they came for Rick Waggoner's jet and I said nothing. Then they came for Rush's show and I said nothing.

[13yankeebravo]

What should bother everyone is that from Nov.5th to today the loss of private capital on Wall Street is 3 Trillion plus dollars and the stock market has not stopped falling yet.