Cornel West yanks Obama’s credentials as a black man
I just finished reading Princeton academic Cornel West’s diatribe against Barack Obama, in which West complains that “my dear brother Barack Obama has a certain fear of free black men” and calls Obama “a black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a black puppet of corporate plutocrats.”
West frames his disenchantment in terms of class struggle, and argues that Obama has chosen the wrong side, selling out less fortunate Americans in return for the favor of the powerful.
“The escalation of the class war against the poor and the working class is intense,” West writes. “More and more working people are beaten down. They are world-weary. They are into self-medication. They are turning on each other. They are scapegoating the most vulnerable rather than confronting the most powerful.”
“When you look at a society you look at it through the lens of the least of these, the weak and the vulnerable; you are committed to loving them first, not exclusively, but first, and therefore giving them priority,” West writes.
Many on the left do criticize Obama for being too mainstream and insufficiently aggressive on behalf of those less fortunate. While that debate is legitimate, I think those who make such claims are for the most part politically naive about Obama himself and about the political environment in which he operates. But again, it is a legitimate topic of discussion. The issue of whether Obama has been too gentle with Wall Street and its supporters is particularly pertinent, given their role in creating our current predicament.
But West does not discuss it legitimately.
In West’s account, Obama has sided with the rich and powerful in part because he “feels most comfortable with upper middle-class white and Jewish men who consider themselves very smart, very savvy and very effective in getting what they want.” But as in most rants, this one includes a tell, an unwitting revelation of its deeper motivation.
“I used to call my dear brother [Obama] every two weeks. I said a prayer on the phone for him, especially before a debate. And I never got a call back. And when I ran into him in the state Capitol in South Carolina when I was down there campaigning for him he was very kind. The first thing he told me was, ‘Brother West, I feel so bad. I haven’t called you back. You been calling me so much. You been giving me so much love, so much support and what have you.’ And I said, ‘I know you’re busy.’ But then a month and half later I would run into other people on the campaign and he’s calling them all the time. I said, wow, this is kind of strange. He doesn’t have time, even two seconds, to say thank you or I’m glad you’re pulling for me and praying for me, but he’s calling these other people. I said, this is very interesting. And then as it turns out with the inauguration I couldn’t get a ticket with my mother and my brother. I said this is very strange. We drive into the hotel and the guy who picks up my bags from the hotel has a ticket to the inauguration. My mom says, ‘That’s something that this dear brother can get a ticket and you can’t get one, honey, all the work you did for him from Iowa.’ Beginning in Iowa to Ohio. We had to watch the thing in the hotel.”
When you committed to “look at a society … through the lens of the least of these, the weak and the vulnerable,” when “you are committed to loving them first … and therefore giving them priority,” you do not whine that the lowly person picking up your bags for you in your very expensive DC hotel somehow wrangled a ticket to the inauguration, while you, the very well-paid Ivy League academic and cultural star who walks among the elite, did not. You cannot attack another for seeking the trappings of power while complaining that you yourself were not supplied the trappings to which you feel yourself entitled.
Or if you do, you give the game away.
As Adam Serwer points out in The American Prospect, West also claims the self-anointed power to confirm or withdraw Obama’s standing as an authentic black man. West withdraws it on the basis of Obama’s ability to feel “at home” “with upper middle-class white and Jewish men” while allegedly harboring “fear of free black men.”
Serwer concludes:
“This remark made me wonder: Which of these men do you think is actually free, and which afraid of who he truly is?”
– Jay Bookman
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846 comments Add your comment
Tracy
May 19th, 2011
12:37 pm
Davidtoo is either trolling or really stupid.
Most people who are mixed black/white will go by whatever they look like.Obama looks like a “black” man. Had he been born with pale skin and sandy blonde straight hair he would no doubt identify as a “white” man.
Dumb questions come from dumb people.
Peadawg
May 19th, 2011
12:37 pm
@ Keep Up the Good Fight! @ 12:10 – sorry, you are correct. we peadawgs can sometimes be not too bright. fear not – this mistayk won’t happen again.
Granny Godzilla
May 19th, 2011
12:37 pm
Tracy
“I know countless college liberals who acted like they won the lottery when Obama won. Absolutely every single one of them calls him a fraud now.”
look! another interesting coinkydink! I know countless republicans who have seen President Obama’s success and when they compare it to what’s left of the GOP (RINO’s and Tea Partiers) are exclaiming to all who will listen that they are going Obama in 2012
Gotta’ love American politics….
Joyce
May 19th, 2011
12:38 pm
Family, honest hard work and education lift people out of poverty. Cornel West needs to address the need for a strong, devoted black family to raise children, a love of education and the desire to start our own businesses. Government programs have made things worst for many of us.
THE TRUTH
May 19th, 2011
12:38 pm
Gm
May 19th, 2011
12:29 pm
Gm, the vote not to stop subsidies to the oil companies was a bipartisan vote. Perhaps you would like to read why some of the dem.s voted with the GOP.
Typical uninformed lib.
DebbieDoRight
May 19th, 2011
12:38 pm
TG: West told the truth and a lot of people are afraid of the truth–that like West, you TOO were “misled in a very deep way.”
What truth did West tell? Just asking………
jm
May 19th, 2011
12:38 pm
Obama is as chronically over-exposed as Natalie Portman is these days.
USMC
May 19th, 2011
12:39 pm
I guess Cornel West has gotten too used to BLACK PRIVILEGE/ AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
jm
May 19th, 2011
12:40 pm
I think, when I wake up the day after Doomsday, I’m going to have waffles.
ty webb
May 19th, 2011
12:40 pm
Anyone else hear about this fox ruuning around the metro atlanta neighborhood…”Fox”, that’s so 1970’s…I thought they were called “cougars” now?
BADA BING
May 19th, 2011
12:40 pm
larry…..good one. May I copy you?
Kanye West………..President Bush doesn’t like Black people.
Cornel West………..President Obama doesn’t like Black people.
kaycee
May 19th, 2011
12:42 pm
Wow! Interesting topic today. I have, for a long time, been a little underwhelmed by Prof. West. I think the good professor might be a little more convincing if he were to proffer his critique from the halls of an historically black college or university. A tenured professor at Princeton may have trouble getting “the borthers” to take him seriously.
Sadly, I continue to be disappointed by the level of discourse exhibited by some of your posters here, who seem to be incapable of offering a principled opinion about matters of race and ethnicity without being needlessly provocative.
Mick
May 19th, 2011
12:43 pm
bada
Honey west…….screw the both of em.
Goldie
May 19th, 2011
12:43 pm
Bada Bing @ 12:34– most Americans are still waiting for your guy GWB’s big apology for what he foisted onto the entire world… why can’t you Repubs man-up and admit whatcha did???
Gm
May 19th, 2011
12:43 pm
THE TRUTH
Only 2 Dem voted with Rep, your party is the reason America us screwed up now, when will middle class conservatives stop big oil from ranking in billions at the expense of Americans?
Obama is the only President to stand up in public to denounce big oil.
Thank God we have a leader who cares about the people, when ever you idiots get past his skin color we will have a better America.
DebbieDoRight
May 19th, 2011
12:44 pm
Davidtoo: By the way, why does obama claim to be black when he is everybit as much white ?
Because Americans can’t believe what they can’t see.
Or would a 50/50 man offend blacks if he called himself white ? Would he offend whites?
Why don’t you ask the next 50/50 man you run into? They’d probably be better able to answer the question.
Logical Dude
May 19th, 2011
12:44 pm
I didn’t even know Obama went to Cornel University. I also didn’t know Cornel had a West Campus.
Oh, those silly colleges with their credentials!
redneckbluedog
May 19th, 2011
12:44 pm
Now that’s a liberal…!!!! He is thoughtful, well-spoken, and sounds intelligent. He is also correct about most things….However, he is not so pragmatic, unlike our President….
BADA BING
May 19th, 2011
12:45 pm
Goldie….Independent here, all pols are crooked.
THE TRUTH
May 19th, 2011
12:45 pm
whocares
May 19th, 2011
12:29 pm
Obama the first he/she president?
khc
May 19th, 2011
12:46 pm
it is amazing how aligned with wall st vs main st obama is; holder is a disgrace as attorney general in prosecuting white collar crime. but considering the alternative i guess they folks get a pass.
Goldie
May 19th, 2011
12:46 pm
oh yeah, “independent” Bada Bing — very much like NO ONE ever admitted to voting for Nixon back in ‘74!
THE TRUTH
May 19th, 2011
12:48 pm
Gm you are the only idiot on here.
md
May 19th, 2011
12:50 pm
“most Americans are still waiting for your guy GWB’s big apology for what he foisted onto the entire world…”
The guy certainly made some mistakes, but please enlighten us on how he did it all by himself. There was/is plenty of blame to go around………unless one is a side chooser and wearing blinders…….
USMC
May 19th, 2011
12:51 pm
“USMC 12:36 – common theme: defending Obama….”
You know JM, you’re always a few steps ahead. You’d make a great “point man” on Patrol or Reconnaissance
But the cracks in Obama’s armor sure are starting to shine through:
Cindy Crawford now backing Romney?
Jewish Donors Warn Obama on Israel
Peter Fonda calls Obama ‘traitor’ at Cannes…
Cornel West…Price of gas…the ECONOMY…the National Debt…UNEMPLOYMENT…ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION…Oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico…a failed OBAMACARE…the value of the DOLLAR…the housing Market…etc…. tick tock, tick tock, …tick
I Know You Are But What Am I
May 19th, 2011
12:51 pm
I’m not sure what people of color legitimately expected from President Obama.
I remember nothing in his campaign rhetoric that defined his intention to address the needs and concerns of the black community specifically. I do, however, remember the rejoicing in the streets and the pronouncements from the black community that the balance in Washington had finally shifted to their advantage.
Methinks the black community misspoke and misunderstood. They were both misguided and misdirected. This was not the President, and these are not the times, for an augmentation of social benefit programs.
DebbieDoRight
May 19th, 2011
12:52 pm
kaycee: I think the good professor might be a little more convincing if he were to proffer his critique from the halls of an historically black college or university. A tenured professor at Princeton may have trouble getting “the borthers” to take him seriously.
So very, very true. I wonder how “Black” Cornel West is, or if he’s just another corporate sellout like he says Obama is……..
Sadly, I continue to be disappointed by the level of discourse exhibited by some of your posters here, who seem to be incapable of offering a principled opinion about matters of race and ethnicity without being needlessly provocative.
You must be new!
Themistocles (a.k.a. Left Wing Mgmt)
May 19th, 2011
12:53 pm
Mary Elizabeth: “But Obama did get the healthcare package through Congress into law – no president in 50 years had been able to do that and I again say that he got the best deal he could have.”
I completely disagree. While it’s a good thing that a plan was passed, the plan itself left much to be desired. The president could have gotten much better had he practiced those acts of presidential leadership I cited above from the Kuttner article.
And as to the issue of the radicalization of the GOP, that’s a given. But I think you may have misunderstood. Though there’s no way he can persuade hard line GOP members, which I understand perfectly well, what he can do is to marginalize them and exert pressure on them, just as he did so brilliantly during his speech to George Washington U. with Paul Ryan in attendance. The problem is just that he hasn’t done this sort of thing with enough frequency and has failed to do this with the ideological sweep that’s necessary to bring about the kind of transformation he claimed during his campaign to want to initiate (e.g. when he claimed to admire Reagan as a transformational figure).
Once again, here’s Kuttner:
In the formulation of the political historian James MacGregor Burns, Obama ran and inspired voters as a “transformational” figure but governed as a “transactional” one. Notwithstanding a vow to profoundly change Washington, Obama took the Washington power constellation as a given. Despite an economic emergency, he moved neither Congress nor public opinion very much and only seldom used his oratorical gifts
BADA BING
May 19th, 2011
12:55 pm
goldie,…….are you new here? You don’t want to get started w/me.
willie lynch
May 19th, 2011
12:55 pm
There is no question President Obama has surrounded himself with people other than those who resemble him physically. The importance of physical resemblence does not mean you are like minded in your thoughts and conclusions. In reality there is no other position Barack Obama could occupy but that of “flunkie” to the white power structure. As was pointed out in a previous blog “white guilt” was what put Obama in the White House. I don’t agree with that but I do believe that there was a perfect coming together of many elements of the American psyche that led to his winning the election and I think a great deal of it was answered with, why not?
In thinking that President Obama could usher in some grand Black agenda is foolish and many Black people entertained those thoughts once he took office. The funny thing is many whites thought the same way.
I appreciate what Barack Obama represents for young Black males in particular and minority peoples in America in general and that is a face that is different from the other 43 that we see on that Presidential collage.
Cornell West has been touted as “one of the leading Black intellectuals in America”, but by whom? He sounds like a girl who has been ignored by the most poular boy on campus after he smiled at her, but he should understand there is no benefit in appealing to Black people we don’t make up that much of the population.
I look at Dr. King, Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, Frederick Douglass and others who shared the same DNA of the slaves of America and I see a difference in their approach to black people and their causes. Barack Obama is the son of an African who did not come from an American slave lineage, and a white woman. He is a representation of Black but his true nature seems to indicate a greater comfort (and I don’t have a problem with it) with his other half.
Doggone/GA
May 19th, 2011
12:56 pm
“but please enlighten us on how he did it all by himself.”
“But I’m the decider, and I decide what is best. ”
George W. Bush
Gm
May 19th, 2011
12:58 pm
THE TRUTH
I know facts hurt people like you;
Where are all the jobs the Rep ran on back in Nov? once again middle and low middle class whites got expolited again by the tea party, Rush, Hannity, Sara while they took in their cool millions, no, you and your party are the idiots.
Mick
May 19th, 2011
12:58 pm
usmc
This is a good explanation of how democrats can be highly critical of obama but will still vote for him-
**I’m on record saying that despite my disappointments on the economic and civil liberties front, I support Obama’s re-election: He’s as progressive a leader as we’re able to elect right now, and if you have issues with him – as I do – it’s time to work to elect strong Democrats at the state and local level. I’m pro-Obama – and also pro-reasonable organizing efforts to push him left.** Joan Walsh
AmVet
May 19th, 2011
1:00 pm
Mr. Castle at 12:07 and I know at 12:15.
Superb posts.
Tracy, the short answer? Cons clearly have no earthly idea how to gauge a man’s ideology any more. As in, not at all.
They blathered for years that GWB and gang were REAL conservatives.
Pure insanity. And patently obvious before he was even (s)elected by the SCOTUS.
Now they blather that BHO is an ultra-liberal socialist. Again, this is mindless drivel that they parrot from their idiotic talking head heroes.
These people are completely clueless and proud of it…
Granny Godzilla
May 19th, 2011
1:01 pm
Goldie…
“are you new here?”
now that’s funny.
BADA BING
May 19th, 2011
1:02 pm
granny, why do you think we have a mexican standoff?
BADA BING
May 19th, 2011
1:03 pm
we both can take care of ourselves. it would be an exercise in futility, would it not?
md
May 19th, 2011
1:03 pm
“But I’m the decider, and I decide what is best. ”
George W. Bush”
And Congress is a non factor? Along with inherited policies from many generations?? Not to mention the greedy among us………………..
Granny Godzilla
May 19th, 2011
1:04 pm
BB
I’d prefer stalemate or impasse….and which one are you talking about?
md
May 19th, 2011
1:05 pm
“Where are all the jobs the Rep ran on back in Nov?”
You serious? Since when has policy ever come out of one half of one branch of gov’t?
md
May 19th, 2011
1:07 pm
OK Jay……..are the IT folks even trying to straighten this crap out?
USMC
May 19th, 2011
1:07 pm
Boy, I wonder if Soledad O”Brien or Roland Martin, resident R@ci$ts over at the (C)ommunist (N)ews (N)etwork will chime in on this issue of “degrees of Blackness”…
Probably not, the Mainstream media will do whatever they can to protect and coddle OBAMA
Obama is in REAL trouble in 2012!
Recon (2nd.and 3rd.)
May 19th, 2011
1:07 pm
Oh well let the lefties argue this topic out among themselves. They’ll probably change it soon back over to hating Bush, Cheney, Palin, Gingrich, Ryan, Romney, Cain or some other Republican hate symbol… later
getalife
May 19th, 2011
1:09 pm
So, west is not a puppet for corporate power?
Better check his voting record to see if he voted against them.
I bet he is a hypocrite.
BADA BING
May 19th, 2011
1:11 pm
granny….we could both cut each other down a thousand different ways. We would both be bloody and all we would do is waste space on the internets. call it a gentle mans/womans agreement.
Jay
May 19th, 2011
1:12 pm
You serious? Since when has policy ever come out of one half of one branch of gov’t?
Oh, I think that happened in January 2007, when Democrats took over Congress and suddenly caused a total collapse of the Bush economy by doing so.
At least that’s what I read here, md.
getalife
May 19th, 2011
1:12 pm
I am outraged that drudge is calling rahm the “Godfather”.
He is Mayor of Chicago.
USMC
May 19th, 2011
1:13 pm
“Ruh Roh Raggy”…
OBAMA SIDES WITH PALESTINE…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110519/ap_on_re_us/us_obama_mideast_palestinians_1
-AIPac won’t like this come election time 2012
Did I mention JOBLESS CLAIMS: 409,000…
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43090708
Obama loses in 2012
(ding, dong the witch is dead…)
Free Wheel
May 19th, 2011
1:17 pm
When will there be a viable third party to represent the will of the middle class anyway?
From where I sit, the tea party is simply a Republican protest element.
Granny Godzilla
May 19th, 2011
1:17 pm
BB
“We would both be bloody”
ah, nope
andygrdzki
May 19th, 2011
1:18 pm
Top 100 contributors in the 2008 election….. I wonder who got the most…….. who is in whose pocket…. Now you know why the Dems are pushing so hard for their Groups…… for the good of the American people… no, just a few of the American people.
1 ActBlue $24,087,336 100% 0% Solidly Dem
2 Goldman Sachs $7,087,620 75% 25% Strongly Dem
3 AT&T Inc $5,891,962 46% 54% On the fence
4 JPMorgan Chase & Co $5,825,354 59% 41% Leans Dem
5 Citigroup Inc $5,738,030 64% 36% Leans Dem
6 Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $5,020,696 98% 2% Solidly Dem
7 National Assn of Realtors $4,953,940 58% 42% Leans Dem
8 American Bankers Assn $4,515,577 42% 58% On the fence
9 General Electric $4,356,043 67% 33% Leans Dem
10 Morgan Stanley $4,304,214 55% 45% On the fence
11 Microsoft Corp $4,035,134 71% 29% Strongly Dem
12 Comcast Corp $3,914,137 64% 36% Leans Dem
13 Bank of America $3,897,060 53% 47% On the fence
14 Blue Cross/Blue Shield $3,847,104 49% 51% On the fence
15 UBS AG $3,686,901 52% 48% On the fence
16 University of California $3,612,719 93% 7% Solidly Dem
17 Time Warner $3,608,558 82% 18% Strongly Dem
18 American Assn for Justice $3,563,740 94% 6% Solidly Dem
19 American Federation of Teachers $3,553,661 99% 1% Strongly Dem
20 International Assn of Fire Fighters $3,546,750 78% 22% Strongly Dem
21 Merrill Lynch $3,430,721 45% 55% On the fence
22 Honeywell International $3,406,753 50% 50% On the fence
23 Credit Union National Assn $3,372,567 52% 48% On the fence
24 Operating Engineers Union $3,362,043 87% 13% Strongly Dem
25 PricewaterhouseCoopers $3,341,192 46% 54% On the fence
26 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu $3,334,915 49% 51% On the fence
27 National Auto Dealers Assn $3,296,500 34% 66% Leans Repub
28 United Parcel Service $3,275,672 40% 60% Leans Repub
29 Lockheed Martin $3,270,887 49% 51% On the fence
30 National Beer Wholesalers Assn $3,237,800 53% 47% On the fence
31 EMILY’s List $3,231,093 100% 0% Solidly Dem
32 Laborers Union $3,186,360 94% 6% Solidly Dem
33 Verizon Communications $3,185,951 48% 52% On the fence
34 National Assn of Home Builders $3,149,125 45% 55% On the fence
35 Credit Suisse Group $3,109,649 54% 46% On the fence
36 Service Employees International Union $3,062,213 95% 5% Solidly Dem
37 American Fedn of St/Cnty/Munic Employees $3,050,901 99% 1% Solidly Dem
38 Machinists/Aerospace Workers Union $2,992,733 97% 3% Solidly Dem
39 National Air Traffic Controllers Assn $2,973,033 81% 19% Strongly Dem
40 Teamsters Union $2,965,145 97% 3% Solidly Dem
41 DLA Piper $2,910,482 74% 26% Strongly Dem
42 Wachovia Corp $2,905,762 39% 61% Leans Repub
43 Air Line Pilots Assn $2,898,410 87% 13% Strongly Dem
44 New York Life Insurance $2,892,184 57% 43% On the fence
45 Sheet Metal Workers Union $2,877,472 98% 2% Solidly Dem
46 Club for Growth $2,810,430 0% 100% Solidly Repub
47 American Hospital Assn $2,797,733 61% 39% On the fence
48 National Education Assn $2,771,947 90% 10% Strongly Dem
49 Akin, Gump et al $2,764,224 62% 38% Leans Dem
50 Koch Industries $2,763,814 13% 87% Strongly Repub
51 Plumbers/Pipefitters Union $2,736,081 94% 6% Strongly Dem
52 Ernst & Young $2,734,740 45% 55% On the fence
53 Boeing Co $2,702,681 57% 43% Leans Dem
54 FedEx Corp $2,668,340 41% 59% Leans Repub
55 American Dental Assn $2,562,690 53% 47% On the fence
56 Harvard University $2,555,589 86% 14% Strongly Dem
57 Communications Workers of America $2,459,861 99% 1% Solidly Dem
58 Northrop Grumman $2,451,966 53% 47% On the fence
59 United Auto Workers $2,424,937 99% 1% Solidly Dem
60 Lehman Brothers $2,413,651 64% 36% Leans Dem
61 National Amusements Inc $2,400,059 87% 13% Strongly Dem
62 Carpenters & Joiners Union $2,396,051 87% 13% Strongly Dem
63 United Food & Commercial Workers Union $2,377,194 100% 0% Solidly Dem
64 Raytheon Co $2,346,811 50% 50% On the fence
65 Pfizer Inc $2,338,950 51% 49% On the fence
66 AFLAC Inc $2,322,930 44% 56% On the fence
67 Wal-Mart Stores $2,311,031 45% 55% On the fence
68 KPMG LLP $2,304,740 46% 54% On the fence
69 Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp $2,283,960 44% 56% On the fence
70 Anheuser-Busch InBev $2,263,083 55% 45% On the fence
71 Skadden, Arps et al $2,238,722 83% 17% Strongly Dem
72 Google Inc $2,146,154 83% 17% Strongly Dem
73 Union Pacific Corp $2,138,958 37% 63% Leans Repub
74 Elliott Management $2,138,615 1% 99% Solidly Repub
75 Ironworkers Union $2,134,275 97% 3% Solidly Dem
76 Blackstone Group $2,097,391 47% 53% On the fence
77 UnitedHealth Group $2,089,982 65% 35% Leans Dem
78 General Dynamics $2,078,704 56% 44% Leans Dem
79 Wells Fargo $2,030,790 48% 52% On the fence
80 American Crystal Sugar $2,024,150 64% 36% Leans Dem
81 News Corp $1,980,008 76% 24% Strongly Dem
82 Deutsche Bank AG $1,979,995 69% 31% Strongly Dem
83 Patton Boggs LLP $1,977,094 76% 24% Strongly Dem
84 Associated Builders & Contractors $1,964,350 1% 99% Solidly Repub
85 Sidley Austin LLP $1,953,971 81% 19% Strongly Dem
86 National Cable & Telecommunications Assn $1,947,658 52% 48% On the fence
87 American Postal Workers Union $1,933,162 99% 1% Solidly Dem
88 FMR Corp $1,926,442 49% 51% On the fence
89 National Rural Electric Cooperative Assn $1,924,682 50% 50% On the fence
90 American Medical Assn $1,921,047 56% 44% On the fence
91 Aircraft Owners & Pilots Assn $1,888,700 54% 46% On the fence
92 Bear Stearns $1,882,277 55% 45% On the fence
93 Greenberg Traurig LLP $1,866,748 68% 32% Strongly Dem
94 US Government $1,857,649 51% 49% On the fence
95 Amgen Inc $1,836,539 48% 52% On the fence
96 Natl Assn/Insurance & Financial Advisors $1,829,450 50% 50% On the fence
97 Walt Disney Co $1,792,411 77% 23% Strongly Dem
98 National Assn of Letter Carriers $1,785,450 96% 4% Solidly Dem
99 Exelon Corp $1,783,967 53% 47% On the fence
100 WPP Group $1,765,317 53% 47%
From the list looks like the DEMS are really bought…. And I thought it was just republicans…… According to the liberals..
Sorry Jay this is so long….. trying to make a point…..
TaxPayer
May 19th, 2011
1:18 pm
U.S. insurers led by WellPoint Inc. (WLP) and UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) failed to get federal regulators to change a rule in the 2010 health-care overhaul that triggers a review of any premium increases exceeding 10 percent.
The ruling takes effect this year and adds pressure on insurers to justify price increases. The health insurance industry’s Washington lobbying group, America’s Health Insurance Plan, had asked the government to do away with the 10 percent rate review threshold, calling it flawed.
The rules were prompted partly by a proposal from the California subsidiary of Indianapolis-based WellPoint to raise rates as much as 39 percent in 2010. After a review by California’s insurance commissioner, the underlying calculations were found to be incorrect and WellPoint cut the increase in half, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Oohhh! The horror! Those poor poor insurance companies. Que the cons with the proclamations that insurance companies just barely scrape by. They’re so poor they can hardly afford to pay their executives multi-million dollar salaries.
Don't Forget
May 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
“To question President Obama’s blackness is an insult. He may as well question his sexuality to boot…”
or his birth certificate.
Don't Forget
May 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
or his religion.
Logical Dude
May 19th, 2011
1:20 pm
Hi Jay,
If I reset my computer clock back an hour, will posts show up an hour ago? I’m still trying to figure out how I read a few posts at the end of the thread, then refresh, and there are other posts BEFORE the last one I read. (that weren’t there before).
This goes along with the posts yesterday where some people replied to posts that were AFTER their posts!
Granny Godzilla
May 19th, 2011
1:21 pm
“AIPac won’t like this come election time 2012″
Perhaps not, but J Street will.
Adam
May 19th, 2011
1:22 pm
Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good Men”.
The ONLY Tom Cruise movie truly worth watching, IMHO.
I dunno Dave, I liked Top Gun…
AmVet: BHO is a corporate-owned politician who has NO plan for the bottom 100 millions Americans.
Well, only if you look at it from a perspective of not really changing anything for the worse for them. His plan so far is to keep unemployment, taxes, and fodd stamps where they are as much as possible, while “punishing” the rich (scare quotes on purpose). It’s not a bad plan politically, and it may be argued that funding should INCREASE in these areas, but who’s going to vote for that? Not enough legislators, that’s for sure. Too much “starve the beast” has gone on to make increasing funding in anything an idea anyone will vote for. Now, they might get the vote for tax increases, and for spending cuts in the same areas (which is sad) but that’s about it. Thank you “starve the beast.”
Even so I had hoped he would be a “dangerous” black man and not just what I see as more milquetoast.
The problem, aside from referring to his race, is that we ended up with a President who for political reasons did not go FAR ENOUGH to the left, and was lambasted by the right as being TOO LEFT, and continues to be no matter what he actually does, and the left is upset because he is too middle ground or far to the right. One of these is not correct. All we got was a few rules and regulations regarding health care, when it comes to “leftist” policies. Everything else has been middle-of-the-road or right leaning. Even much of the health care law was right leaning ideologically, until the right moved further to the right on it.
Go ahead and challenge me on that. Bring up some PASSED policy of his, SPECIFICALLY, and tell me why it’s leftist. Health care doesn’t count, as I have already addressed it above.
getalife
May 19th, 2011
1:23 pm
A mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a puppet of corporate plutocrats.
I think we can agree that this describes our government.
Now that you know the problem, what are you going to do about it?
Keep yelling at them for trying to steal Medicare.
Dave R.
May 19th, 2011
1:23 pm
“From where I sit, the tea party is simply a Republican protest element.”
Then I suggest you change seats. You clearly are being blocked by something.
md
May 19th, 2011
1:29 pm
Jay…there is a bit of a difference between one half of one branch and all of Congress…….
Regardless, those folks are just as wrong…………..now, if folks want to discuss when one party has complete control……….even then there are exceptions.
DebbieDoRight
May 19th, 2011
1:29 pm
Then I suggest you change seats. You clearly are being blocked by something.
Your big head is in the way.
BADA BING
May 19th, 2011
1:30 pm
logical…..I also noticed misplaced posts yesterday. They are getting lost in the blogesphere.
Is Colonel MISSPELLED on Purpose???
May 19th, 2011
1:30 pm
Just curious, did I miss something? Is Congressman West’s military rank, Lt. Col.(Colonel) being spelled “Cornel” for a reason?
HANDS DOWN, WEST IS ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS IN D.C. …. I just hope that he doesn’t become tainted by the rotten politicians on The Hill.
Tundra Dude
May 19th, 2011
1:34 pm
Cornel West yanks Obama’s credentials as a black man
Funny stuff! This character lacks the gravitas to yank the credentials of any powerful politician.
I’ve not had this patient on my couch, but I’d guess he’s really feeling “dissd” by the Really powerful peeps. Imo, all this is a desperate cry for recognition; (I Be’s Somebody!!)
md
May 19th, 2011
1:34 pm
Let’s see if this posts @ 1:33
TaxPayer
May 19th, 2011
1:35 pm
The top two corporate donors in 2010 were TRT Holdings and Alliance Resource Partners, which each donated about $2.5 million to the ’super PAC’ American Crossroads. Corporate donations are likely higher than reported as conservative non-profit groups spent $121 million without disclosing where the money came from.
No way! How did that happen! The Supremes! What does Diana Ross have to do with it.
Is Colonel MISSPELLED on Purpose??? - Ooops! My Mistake
May 19th, 2011
1:37 pm
Ooops! I clicked the link for Cornel West…… I stand corrected, SORRY!
Finn McCool
May 19th, 2011
1:38 pm
Jay, Cornell and Cynthia have both been on Bill Maher’s show several times. When is your turn?
Mick
May 19th, 2011
1:39 pm
Chill, where else can you enjoy a little time travel?
Yahtzee
May 19th, 2011
1:39 pm
Jay,
Haven’t you had at least one opinion piece a day this week about the President’s race? Why? I guess Obama really is that bad of leader..
Yippee
May 19th, 2011
1:40 pm
News Flash: Cornell West announces as Republican candidate for president in 2012.
Now, Jay’s choice of topics makes more sense
(just messin’ withyou there JB)
Dave R.
May 19th, 2011
1:42 pm
“Your big head is in the way.
However, the size of my head is not in question, while the size of my justifiably large ego is.
John
May 19th, 2011
1:43 pm
Logical- I am acknowledging the receipt of your post today, May 3, 2011. You may not receive this reply until the week of the 16th. Let me know as I am heading to Superbowl 28- go Bills
Hi Jay,
If I reset my computer clock back an hour, will posts show up an hour ago? I’m still trying to figure out how I read a few posts at the end of the thread, then refresh, and there are other posts BEFORE the last one I read. (that weren’t there before).
This goes along with the posts yesterday where some people replied to posts that were AFTER their posts!
G Cancryn
May 19th, 2011
1:44 pm
Look, this is simple. President Obama is president of the United States of America. He must consider all Americans in his decisions and policies. He’s repaired the economy, fought off pirates, got Bin Ladin, tried to do healthcare, (not so good should have been single payer, but that’s me) stem cell, and hundreds of other improvements. Remember what it was like when he took office? People were running to the bank to take their money out, tent cities, etc. I think the position of President is a collective, not everyone is going to be happy all the time. Why are Americans so self important to think that the President must serve their individual needs?
Dave R.
May 19th, 2011
1:45 pm
“Chill, where else can you enjoy a little time travel?”
I’ve already got a comment in the queue that is ready to post tomorrow at 3:00.
And another one for yesterday at 5:00.
USMC
May 19th, 2011
1:47 pm
“Cornel West yanks Obama’s credentials as a black man”
The Narcissism of Black Privilege and Affirmative Action
G Cancryn
May 19th, 2011
1:51 pm
@andygrdzki
THEY WANT TO GO WITH A WINNER. PLAIN AND SIMPLE
md
May 19th, 2011
1:53 pm
“He’s repaired the economy”
Boy, that one highly debatable…………….some of his short term “fixes” may end up costing more than we can imagine……….
The Credentialator
May 19th, 2011
1:53 pm
He’s not muslim either.
DebbieDoRight
May 19th, 2011
1:53 pm
usmc:The Narcissism of Black Privilege and Affirmative Action
The craziness of a lonely old man with no one to visit him at the old folks home………..
USMC
May 19th, 2011
1:54 pm
It looks like I hit Debbie right between the eyes!
The truth sometimes hurts, doesn’t it Debbie
Adam
May 19th, 2011
1:55 pm
jm: Dave R – libs are anti-success. That’s the only explanation for why they would penalize the largest companies.
The problem is that you see ending subsidies as a “penalization.” You wouldn’t say the same thing about ending welfare, I bet. It’s the same thing, except that oil companies DEFINITELY do not need the subsidies, and most of the people on welfare actually need the help to survive.
Dave R: I think that liberals by and large, and liberal politicians more so, are enamored with power and control over others.
And conservatives also have several policies that involve invasion into your personal life in order to have power and control over you. So I wouldn’t paint liberals with the (still broad) brush that you have, while ignoring counterparts.
Control they never had in the private sector, because they either failed in the private sector, or never worked in it for very long.
Not Intended to be a Factual Statement
Maxine Waters D-(SpaceCadet) telling oil executives that “this liberal’s (her) goal was to nationalize the oil companies.
Intent to mislead by quoting one individual and implying the viewpoint applies to the group.
thomas: Can’t bring up that more people than ever are on food stamps, cause according to you that was only meant as a racist slant by Newt
The issue was calling him the “food stamp president” although I agree that perhaps it wasn’t actually intended to be a racial statement, just Newt’s usual poor choice of words and messaging ability of late. But, more people being on food stamps isn’t Obama’s fault, and that needs to be pointed out too. More people are on food stamps because more people need them, and the trend started before he was even campaigning for president. It has everything to do with an economy that Washington can only MAKE WORSE, not MAKE BETTER through legislation.
Paulo977
May 19th, 2011
1:56 pm
Mary
Elizabeth
“AmVet, on that I disagree. Obama wanted a public option within the healthcare plan. He should not have had to waste so much time just fighting for its passage ” I agree with you Mary E . O
poison pen
May 19th, 2011
1:59 pm
Obama sides with the Palestinains and tells Israel to go back to the 1967 borders. Why in the hell don’t he keep his nose out of everyones business.
The Palestians were nothing more than terrorists and now he supports them, what in the hell is wrong with this man?
Where's My Party?
May 19th, 2011
1:59 pm
“You organize a community, then a city, then a county, then a state, then a nation…..And President Obama did just that incredibly effectively. ”
Congrats. The most asinine thing ever posted on any Bookman blog.
Adam
May 19th, 2011
1:59 pm
Dave – while the size of my justifiably large ego is.
No one’s ego is “justifiably” large. It’s nice to have a healthy one, but it’s wrong, imo, to believe your ego is important enough that it trumps attempting civility in all situations where you are tempted to just bash the other person.
And please note, I have bashed other people but I also don’t have a belief in my large ego or that I’m better than everyone. Because, depending on the subject, there’s ALWAYS someone better than you. EVERY TIME.
Mick
May 19th, 2011
2:01 pm
adam
Lighten up francis, I believe dave r was just funnin, you can’t take life so seriously all the time…
Jay
May 19th, 2011
2:02 pm
Isreael returning to its 1967 borders has been a central part of US foreign policy since, well, 1967.
jm
May 19th, 2011
2:02 pm
Mick “Lighten up francis”
I’ve heard that phrase somewhere before
jm
May 19th, 2011
2:04 pm
“Cornel West yanks Obama’s credentials as a black man”
Can he no longer do the secret handshake?
Does he have to return his New Black Panthers pin?
Paulo977
May 19th, 2011
2:04 pm
“Obama wanted a public option within the healthcare plan. He should not have had to waste so much time just fighting for its passage against an intransigent Republican body” I agree with you Mary Elizabeth … Obama has had to work for
what is right in shackles !!! Even many Democrats are too heavily invested in the corporate world to support him 100%!! That he has managed to accomplish even what he has is fantastic. His vision is still viable!
Adam
May 19th, 2011
2:04 pm
jm: Obama Doctrine (not that there is one): um, failure to lead.
Congress under Obama passes landmark healthcare law despite filibuster opposition. Failure to lead.
Cuts proposed by Obama and Democrats, but no specific cuts proposed by Republicans, still gets passed in both houses of Congress. Failure to lead.
US operation, under CIC Obama, finds and kills Osama bin Laden. Failure to lead.
Yep, I can TOTALLY see your point.
(BTW it’s not a failure to lead if not everyone follows you. It’s a failure to lead if next to NO ONE agrees with you or tries to do what you want.)
jm
May 19th, 2011
2:05 pm
this is funny
Rapture Parties Planned Across Country by Atheists
AmVet
May 19th, 2011
2:06 pm
Adam, thanks for the response.
Once again, BHO has been VERY receptive to corporate power. His administration is loaded with former Wall Streeters and corporate fat cats.
He was the first Democratic candidate for POTUS to EVER outraise his GOP opponent in corporate contributions. And that was no accident.
Has he championed the cause of single-payer, full coverage health care for all of the American people?
Did he even advise his flunkie Max Baucus to stop disallowing those voices at the table?
Has he pushed for a decent living wage?
Has he cracked down whatsoever on corporate crime?
Has he really attempted to end the MASSIVE corporate giveaways, handouts, subsides and tax loopholes?
Has he outlined any plan at all for the least among us?
No, no, no, no, no and no.
But he has put in place some additional consumer protections.
And he has ended the days of a science-free White House.
And he has undone some of the environmental damaged pushed through by the Bush administration.
To date, a mixed bag. And why I have given him a grade of C.
And I certainly have never accused him of being too liberal.
That canard belong squarely in the camp of the perpetually clueless right wing…
jm
May 19th, 2011
2:06 pm
Jay 2:02 but the chosen one endorsed it, so now its official policy….
John
May 19th, 2011
2:06 pm
And longtime NBC and ABC reporter Sander Vanocur: “You want to know what’s wrong with the press? The press is what’s wrong with the press.”
Great quote
jm
May 19th, 2011
2:07 pm
Oh, yes. Palestine is a distraction. Nothing is going to happen there. Ergo, Mitchell decided to punch the clock and go on vacay.
Obama blathers, the government’s finances meanwhile go in the tank.
DebbieDoRight
May 19th, 2011
2:08 pm
usmc: The truth sometimes hurts, doesn’t it Debbie
YOU CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH!!! (circa A Few Good Men)
PS: Got visitors yet?
jm
May 19th, 2011
2:09 pm
The Israelis will not be happy…
Jay
May 19th, 2011
2:09 pm
Again, jm, it always has been and never ceased being official policy, under every president going back to LBJ.