Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

This blog will pay for itself.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

In my day, never was longer.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / A Conversation with Obama

Reader Interactions

102Comments

  3. 3.

    Dave C

    I have pledged to myself that I will not vote in the 2010 election if the Democrats don’t find a way to pass Health Care Reform this year. I have heard plenty of other people express similar sentiments. Other than calling our Congresscritters and letting them know this, is there any other organized way that we can let the Democrats know that if they don’t do their damn jobs, we will sit back and let them face electoral slaughter?

  5. 5.

    gnomedad

    @Dave C:

    I have pledged to myself that I will not vote in the 2010 election if the Democrats don’t find a way to pass Health Care Reform this year.

    The first man makes a move, the voter gets it!

  11. 11.

    Lurker

    @Dave C: No joke — I hear faxes to Congress critters get taken even more seriously than phone calls. I’m looking into Internet fax services for this purpose.

  12. 12.

    joes527

    As long as he is going to be a S0cialiast, you would think that he could at least make the trains run on time.

  18. 18.

    drag0n

    @joes527

    Good point. When I was in Leningrad there was a subway every 45 seconds. The subway system seemed to be about the only thing in the whole city that worked – and boy did it ever.

  26. 26.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @Dave C: Set yourself fire on the steps of Congress, cause if Republicans gain control, heating passers by will be about all your life is worth. Republicans will have learned that the best way to gain control is to prevent Obama from doing anything, and they’ll be right.

    Life sucks.

    Edit: And it can get worse.

  27. 27.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    @Dave C:

    You would rather have the Republicans in charge, then?

    Deciding to not vote based on any single issue strikes me as, well, retarded. Yeah, I said it, and I fucking mean it. Here’s the worst-case scenario of what you and all those other stay-at-home Democrats will accomplish:

    1. The Republicans win. Again. Some more. If not in numbers, then in influence.
    2. The surviving Democrats will move to the right, because that’s obviously where the fucking votes are.
    3. You effectively guarantee that HCR not only dies, but the ground it dies on will be salted and doused with Round-Up.
    But it will all be totally worth it because you taught Obama a lesson.

    There is a difference between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats are disorganized, corrupt, and often disappoint their constituents. Republicans are insane sociopathic motherfuckers who will take the opportunity you give them to rape you some more.

    I will take disappointing over fucking crazy any day.

  28. 28.

    Max

    Thanks for putting this up @JohnCole.

    I will accept this as payment for a Project Runway thread tonight.

    I like to think that Obama is purposefully late so that his haters can scream CPT

  33. 33.

    joes527

    @drag0n: If he’s gonna pull this shit, he needs to get an opening act to fill the time.

    I wonder if they will get around to updating that fool announcement about it starting @5:45 by 6:00.

  34. 34.

    Nellcote

    @Paula:

    Yuck. AOR music. SO not change I can believe in.

    If you listen closely, you can hear occasional baaa-ing in the background.

  41. 41.

    Zifnab

    Chill out, Obama just needs time for everyone on Balloon Juice to prep their rotten tomatoes, cream pies, and novelty “That’s Not Change I Can Believe In” foam fingers.

    Seriously, though. Where was this shit during Bush? Freak’n Republicans lined up behind that bozo like he really was Reagen’s second coming.

    This is why Democrats have such trouble winning elections. We’ve got perfectly good abysmal Republicans and we can’t help heckling our own here. :-p

  42. 42.

    L. Ron Obama

    @Lurker:

    If you have a faxmodem (getting rarer these days) you can send faxes without relying on internet service. My old Powerbook has one built in. 2006 MacBook does not though, they dropped the modems.

  43. 43.

    joes527

    I take it back. The music loop was _much_ better than his opening act.

    BRING BACK THE CANNED MUSIC!!

  44. 44.

    RandomChick

    @General Winfield Stuck:
    Hey, I also unsubscribed with the “reason for unsubscribing” box filled in that it was PTDB or no vote in November last week.

    Of course, I don’t really mean it. (I hope his MuslimFascistSuperSecretStealthCommandos aren’t reading this). I too prefer f’ing wetodded legislators to the criminally insane.

    However, I was just out of fresh ideas for getting through to these morans how much they are dispiriting people like me.

  49. 49.

    joes527

    Is Obama actually scheduled to appear in this thing? The Opening speaker seems to be introducing another opening speaker.

  54. 54.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    @Dave C:

    That’s understandable but a bad idea. Do you think the idiots in Washington would say “we lost because we abandoned our base”? No, they would blindly tack to the right like a dog that can’t help eating its own crap. Then it’s school uniforms and welfare reform for 6 years while our country drops down the toilet.

  56. 56.

    joes527

    I’ll bet that the negotiations for his speaker fee broke down at the last minute. (He’s probably insisting that he get as much as Sarah does)

    That is why they are stalling.

  59. 59.

    drag0n

    I can’t complain about the opening act. I realized I was out of beer so I had time to run to the store and stock up.

  61. 61.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    Hillary would have started her online chats on time!

    Especially if it was scheduled for 3 AM.

  62. 62.

    mr. whipple

    Hillary would have started her online chats on time!

    She woulda done it on time, even under sniper fire.

  65. 65.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    @General Winfield Stuck: That’s why I come here, the camaraderie, it’s invigorating.

    Yeah, what was that all about anyway? Don’t care about a post? Don’t read it.

  66. 66.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @Dave C: What you need to do is pledge to vote against your congresscritter in the primary if they don’t pass health care. That is the only way you’re going to get them to be more Democratic.

  67. 67.

    Max

    @Dave C: Well, I never vote in the mid-terms, but I’m making a point to do just that.

    I’m not going to contribute to the meme that Obama is “tearing the party apart”.

    Vote against the incumbant in the primary, but not voting in the general doesn’t help the cause.

  72. 72.

    SGEW

    “Governing – delivering for the American people – is harder than a campaign.”

    I’ll say.

    . . .

    Hey, he didn’t end with “God bless America!” James Fallows must be quite enthused.

  73. 73.

    Dave C

    @Belafon (formerly anonevent):

    The problem, though, does not lie with my particular Congresswoman, Susan Davis (On other hand, I would gladly support a primary of DiFi, for all the good it would do). As far as I can tell, she has been supportive of HCR. She voted for the House bill, and when I called her office, they seemed pleased to hear that I was very supportive of the House passing the Senate bill (though I was not able to get a specific response on whether she was supportive of this particular strategy–I was told to call back in a week or two for a firmer position).

    Look, I don’t think that sitting out the 2010 election is some sort of smart political strategy. But if the Democrats actually manage to fail to muster the will to finish HCR after passing bills in both Houses, I don’t see how I’m going to be able to muster the will to do a thing for them come the Fall. That’s just too much for me to take, I’m afraid. I live in California, in a reliably Democratic district, so accidentally helping to elect a Republican to Congress isn’t a worry.

    Like I said, this isn’t some sort of strategy. This is me being too fed up to reward egregiously bad (collective) behavior. Luckily, I still have hope that the Dems will turn this around and pass HCR. We’ll see.

  74. 74.

    daryljfontaine

    Boilerplate Obama speech with red meat for the supporters and tofurkey for the vegan supporters (lots of the same “we don’t quit” rhetoric seen at his town hall appearances lately), now taking a few selected questions submitted in writing.

    D

  75. 75.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Nice little pep rally. But he should have threatened the Senate with Daisy Cutters.

  76. 76.

    Max

    I like that he said if Congress can’t get Health Care done, then maybe its time for a new congress

  78. 78.

    Existenz

    Obama finally got somewhat specific on health care strategy:

    He said House and Senate have agreed on compromises. In a few weeks (after the Jobs bill) he plans to sit down with Democratic leaders and Republican leaders. Go through the bills, find common ground solutions, then get the bill passed.

    It sounded like he wanted to have open negotiations for the public to see, so that the GOP could be exposed if their ideas are horrible or if they negotiate in bad faith. It also sounded like Obama was hoping to get sixty votes in the Senate (otherwise, why would he hope for GOP support?).

    He then said that Congress with either pass it, or it won’t. And voters will get to make their judgment in November based on what happens. It was pretty clear that he didn’t think voters would reward Dems if they don’t pass health care reform.

    Obama said nothing about Plan B (reconciliation). I’m guessing he’s hoping for Olympia Snowe’s vote on cloture before jumping into the reconciliation boat.

  81. 81.

    daryljfontaine

    I do like that the camera is still rolling during the meet-and-greet with the Sousa playing.

    EDIT: And of course it just shut off. Ha.

    D

  82. 82.

    Martin

    This is me being too fed up to reward egregiously bad (collective) behavior.

    Right. Because the filibuster everything crew is the good behavior you are seeking to reward? Because that’s what you would be doing.

    I’m sorry, but all this ‘sit out the midterms’ is just WATBism. Your team isn’t as awesome as you want them to be. Boo hoo. That doesn’t mean the other team is better. And sure, you want to let them know that you’re pissed off at them – well, there’s a solution to that – it’s called a primary election. Primary them out. That’s cool. Even write in a name if there’s nobody on the ballot. That’s cool too. But hand the race to the GOP? That’s 42% believe Obama wasn’t born in the US kind of crazy.

  85. 85.

    mr. whipple

    It also sounded like Obama was hoping to get sixty votes in the Senate (otherwise, why would he hope for GOP support?).

    I saw it differently. If they can have public negotiations with goopers, to show their ‘ideas’ are shit, it gives cover for wavering dems to vote for it and puts pressure on some possible gop votes. (I still don’t think they’ll get any GOP support.)

  86. 86.

    Redshift

    @Existenz:

    It sounded like he wanted to have open negotiations for the public to see, so that the GOP could be exposed if their ideas are horrible or if they negotiate in bad faith.

    Democrats never seem to be able to let go of the idea that if we just put information out there, everyone will see the truth.

    Sigh.

    Republicans have repeatedly lied about not being consulted and not having their ideas considered through this whole process. Why anyone would think sitting down with them in public and doing it again will prevent them from continuing to do that is mystifying.

  87. 87.

    Zifnab

    @Martin: Eventually, the Senate is just going to have to bit the bullet on the Filibuster. They can’t keep running bills up into the Senate to die forever.

    Either kill the rule or force the Republicans to actually live through it. Honestly, I still can’t figure out what the Democrats are afraid of. It’s not like the Senate is such a swiftly moving body that leaving it in session for a few all-nighters is going to end backstop the entire political process.

  89. 89.

    kay

    @Existenz:

    I’m not happy. What is he talking about? He’s talking about meeting, paring it down to the popular parts, and then garnering some GOP votes?
    Jesus. Is he working for the other side?
    So the Democrats take the huge political hit and the Republicans ride in as saviors, and pass “common sense reform” with all of the politically risky portions excised?
    Am I misunderstanding this?

  90. 90.

    JGabriel

    Existenz:

    Obama said nothing about Plan B (reconciliation). I’m guessing he’s hoping for Olympia Snowe’s vote on cloture before jumping into the reconciliation boat.

    I don’t know about that. My understanding is that the administration is already pushing for the reconciliation route on the down low, or the qt, or whatever the fashionable slang is.

    Which means that, rather than hoping for Snowe’s vote, Obama probably wants the GOP to reject the health care proposals in a very public and open forum, so when the Dems resort to reconciliation, he can make the argument that the Republicans left them no choice.

    Despite how that may sound, it’s not cynical or mere kabuki — I’m sure Obama would love to get a couple GOP votes for health care. But he’s smart enough not to rely on it.

    I hope.

    .

  91. 91.

    ominira

    @Martin: I actually feel there’s nothing wrong with threatening to withhold your vote. Actually withholding it and allowing the party of tax-cuts + deficit = balanced budget to win is a different matter.

    I got called by someone with the DNC last week for fundraising and gave the caller an earful (he actually agreed with me on HCR). I made a donation but told him it would have been larger if the Dems had passed HCR. I hope that if enough people speak up about their disappointment, something will give. And I intend to threaten to withhold my vote if I feel it will help move things along.

  92. 92.

    Toni

    @Existenz: Getting Olympia Snowe was his original plan. He courted her seriously. She wanted a trigger and he was willing to give her that and whatever else she wanted. Instead the left called the WH sellouts, Reid weak-kneed and Reid caved and went with the opt-out. Remember the WH asking Reid if he was sure what he was doing. That is where they made their biggest mistake. Obama was correct to believe that if he got Snowe, he could keep the more conservative dems on board. He might be able to get Snowe again but he’s in a weaker position now. Though making the final negotiations public on tv has no downside for him. It could potentially hurt the dems if it shows them to be as obstructionist as the repubs but Obama has been shielding them all last year and he has paid the price. Time to put everybody in the water, sink or float.

  93. 93.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @kay: This is Obama’s philosophy, like it or not. What I think he is doing is not injecting himself in the delicate and volatile issues being hashed out by House and Senate dems, at least in public. He likely doesn’t honestly know how the reconc.fix/House pass senate bill is going to be worked out. And right now, the 2 Chambers figuring the tricky process out for themselves on how and if it is workable. So he is making plans from his end of things, if it comes to it to get the most reforms as possible passed into law, and the current Senate math dictates he is going to have to work with at least one or two mod wingers. Just political reality on his side of the fence. But all indications are the WH is encouraging the Congress dems to do the reconc. fix if they can.

  94. 94.

    Martin

    @Zifnab: Well, at the moment (for what that’s worth) Reid has said that the jobs bill will come to a vote on Monday. The GOP is threatening filibuster (waiting for their polling to come in, no doubt) but surely Reid knows that.

    The public is hesitant on HCR. They always are on things like that because it suggests a lot of change, and some people are going to have to give something up. But those things always poll better after they’ve passed and the public really starts to see where they fit in. It’s the kind of stuff you can more safely oppose.

    Jobs is different. It’ll poll well from end-to-end. Nobody loses anything in a jobs bill. If Reid wants to give the GOP a chance to flame out, that’s a great place to do it and then Obama can shove the vote down the throats of anyone that criticizes the administration over the unemployment rate – and I think at this point he’s ready to do that.

  95. 95.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Zifnab: The way the actual filibuster rules are set up, it is hard to force the minority to do your will with it. They only need to keep one wingnut available to object while dems have to keep 50 on hand for a voting quorum. They can do it for political theater for public consumption and education on what is happening, like the wingnuts did a few years ago when dems were filibuster judges, until the wingers were going to nuke the filibuster on executive sessions, or judge confirmations in this case. But that is a far cry for nuking the cloture rule for legislation. Even the wingnuts wouldn’t do that.

  96. 96.

    kay

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    Well, I disagree Stuck. It sounds like an admission to me that they don’t have the votes for reconciliation.
    I think this is a really bad idea. The public hated the Senate process. Shit, I hated the Senate process. He’s talking about more debate? It isn’t going to go any better this time than it did last time.
    Every day they horsetrade on this they lose.
    Pass it or drop it. This is like slow suicide. I don’t think anyone is going to be fooled if they “agree” on a pared down shell of insurance regulation and pass that with one or two GOP votes.
    I really, really don’t like this. I feel as if it’s the worst of all possible outcomes.

  98. 98.

    Donald G

    @RandomChick:

    You know who else started speeches late?

    Bill Clinton.

    It was pretty much conventional wisdom that Bill would be late to practically every scheduled event.

  99. 99.

    kay

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    I hardly ever give up. I’m ridiculously patient. It’s my only good quality.
    I don’t want them to do this. I think this strategy sucks. It has all the political risk, and none of the substantive gain.
    I’d love to be wrong. I want this to work.

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