We were placated around the public option. It wasn’t until the polls showed strong support for a public option that the politicians got serious about their real intention and fought for watered down HCR.

Better than I remember it: Cream’s Politician

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0o0l7ekKvk

Hey now baby, get into my big black car
Hey now baby, get into my big black car
I wanna just show you what my politics are.

I’m a political man and I practice what I preach
I’m a political man and I practice what I preach
So don’t deny me baby, not while you’re in my reach.

I support the left, tho’ I’m leanin’, leanin’ to the right
I support the left, tho’ I’m leanin’ to the right
But I’m just not there when it’s coming to a fight.

Hey now baby, get into my big black car
Hey now baby, get into my big black car
I wanna just show you what my politics are.

First and foremost, this was killed by the healthcare industry itself. This is not going to end well for them. I get a feeling that, not too many years from now, they will wish they had accepted a chance to keep the bonanza going.

Too bad for them.

Meh. You’re too nice Attaturk.

Get bitchy, like me, m’kay?

Robert Gibbs seems to have been studying Scotty McClellan tapes.

Or maybe not, but *someone* is evidently teaching him how to lie with a straight face.

and I’m not real thrilled with *anybody* being offered a less-gritty lubricant…

You’re certainly optimistic after having been stabbed in the back time and time again. We will never have healthcare because our oppresssive, unjust, pay tp play, capitalistic, legalized bribery system won’t allow it. Not only did the healthcare industry kill the bill but they had plenty of help from our whoring poloiticians including the biggest whore of the bunch, Barack Obama. And we on left need to bear some of the blame because we did not go to Washington and raise 7 kinds of hell. In the words of Frederick Douglas; without struggle, there is no progress. We did not struggle.

Back in June, 2008, I wrote this:

Rudely, the original youtubes are gone now, dammit.

The health care industry is going to get the economy-sized tube of Astro-Free Market. It’s CAMI 40. And they’re going to be most unhappy.

Pray that you are correct.

Good morning all. Thanks for the post, Attaturk.

It is rare that I delurk for there is not much I can add to any discussion. However, frustration is beginning to choke whatever joy was to be found in daily life and venting here seems safe.

The recent milestone of 54 yrs on the planet has left me wondering what it is I have labored for all these years. It has recently become painfully obvious that my labor has not been for the benifit of my family, as has always been preached in this country. It was solely for the enrichment of a privilaged class of which I am not, nor never will, be a part.

Perhaps the most telling thing in the “Health Care Reform” discussion is the use of the poverty level as a gauge for benefits. No longer is there any pretense of eliminating poverty, of “The American Dream”. Poverty is just a marker. A unit of measure. But more importantly poverty is a means by which We The People are being kept in our place. It is intentional. The destruction of the middle class is no accident. It is well advanced and bearing the intended fruit. The transfer of wealth to the aforementioned privilaged.

So, now, to relurk and prepare to serve my daily 8 hrs as a good serf in the service of those busy taking an ever growing share of my ever dwindling earnings.

Good day to all pups.

yup eblair, that was always a good one. I bought that album as soon as it came out.
And another great one from that era. I would like to see this one become a national mantra:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d8C4AIFgUg

EDWIN STARR lyrics – War
note: the lyrics do keep changing throughout.

War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again, y’all

War, huh, good God
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

Ohhh, war, I despise
Because it means destruction
Of innocent lives

War means tears
To thousands of mothers eyes
When their sons go to fight
And lose their lives

I said, war, huh
Good God, y’all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again

War, whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

War, it ain’t nothing
But a heartbreaker
War, friend only to the undertaker
Ooooh, war
It’s an enemy to all mankind
The point of war blows my mind
War has caused unrest
Within the younger generation
Induction then destruction
Who wants to die
Aaaaah, war-huh
Good God y’all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it, say it, say it
War, huh
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again y’all
War, huh, good God
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

War, it ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker
War, it’s got one friend
That’s the undertaker
Ooooh, war, has shattered
Many a young mans dreams
Made him disabled, bitter and mean
Life is much to short and precious
To spend fighting wars these days
War can’t give life
It can only take it away

Ooooh, war, huh
Good God y’all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again

War, whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

War, it ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker
War, friend only to the undertaker
Peace, love and understanding
Tell me, is there no place for them today
They say we must fight to keep our freedom
But Lord knows there’s got to be a better way

Ooooooh, war, huh
Good God y’all
What is it good for
You tell me
Say it, say it, say it, say it

War, huh
Good God y’all
What is it good for
Stand up and shout it
Nothing

Good day to you, sir.

Folks, I’m quit disappointed to see depression and defatism spread not only over there at OpenLeft, but even here at FDL, where I would have expectd it last. Shocking!

Come on, not all is lost yet. Senator Burris and apparently Senator Sanders are still making a stand for a more progressive bill. The Rahm/Reid gang doesn’t have the votes yet, and it’s increasingly questionable they will find them, when evn eventually gtting Snowe on board isn’t good enough. So, there is still a road to a somewhat happy end, and this is through Burris and Sanders forcing the WH and Reid to use reconcilation. With large parts of the bill needing only 51 votes, there is a much better chance to make the legislation more progrssive!

So, pretty pls, with a cherry on top, don’t put your heads in the sand, but rally the troops again, lik you succesfully did in the past! Sanders and Burris need our support and encouragement, and the meme that progressives refuse to simply capitulate has to be pushed in the media. Make the point that there is no need to pass th bill in 2010, and that reconcilation is the reasonable way to go! Come on, these may be dark hours, but the last shot hasn’t been fired in this battle yet.

And, risking that this may sound a bit ridiculous, but I want to paraphrase Winston Churchill: We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in Senate, we shall fight in the House, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the media, we shall defend our progressive convictions, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight the lobbyists, we shall fight the corruption, we shall fight the “can’t do” spirit, we shall fight the depression; we shall never surrender.

Me: “I bet on the boxer in the blue trunks and he threw the fight”.

My spouse: “Threw the fight?” He never even showed up for the fight!”.

But remember that Obama has given himself a B plus grade, not an F.

This diary simply doesn’t present any analysis of what happened. Obama from day one in the presidency has run away from single payer. He called a White House Conference in February of 2008 and failed to invite a single spokesman in support of it. Instead, he and Rahm came up with the idea of the “compromise” idea, the public option. But lo and behold, Obama and Rahm soon began to run away from that. After holding secret meetings behind closed doors with big insurers (breaking yet another campaign pledge, this one to hold all health care reform meetings in public and televise them on C-Span) Obama and Rahm, surprise, surprise, began talking about “insurance reform”. When he spoke on health care in Colorado, he described the public option as nothing but a “sliver”. Then Obama in September spoke to a joint session of Congress. He called for a mandated insurance program an approach Dennis Kuchinich called “the wrong approach, a sellout to the insurance industry.” More meeting were held behind more closed doors with little public leadership coming from Obama: he never let anyone know what he considered to be minimal for his health care plans.

Now we are where we are today after this history. With Obama, you cannot look at his words, or read his lips, you have to see what he does. It’s not been pretty with health “insurance reform”.

Recall too that Obama is the guy who campaigned for Lieberman against Lamont, and who protected Lieberman from having his Senate Committee chair taken away. Obama when he came to the Senate in 2005 selected Lieberman as his “mentor”. After Lieberman stuck the knife in the back of reform and expansion of Medicare, Obama greeted him warmly with “brother” at the White House.

As Sen. Feingold has said, one cannot lay the blame solely at Lieberman’s door. Obama is the President and he backs Lieberman and Rahm.

“there is no need to pass th bill in 2010″? Uh, make that 2009, pls. And sry for all the missing “e”s, but havy commnting in th last days brok my kyboard…

ya

berny is hedging his bet in there, he’s clearly indicating he is in fact voting for the bill once he adds a do dad or something

…people are pissed right now less at the fact that they didn’t get what they wanted, and more at the fact that they feel like their people didn’t really fight for it. Leaders don’t always get what they want. But people recognize when true leaders at least give it a shot. And people judge that leadership by what they say in public and how hard they see them publicly pushing for it. Closed door negotiations don’t count.

we’re gonna have to face the fact that we’ve been played, lieberman is obama’s go to boy so he can look like something close to a democrat and then push through a corporate proection bill

it’s amazing it took me so long to realize, the clear indicators were there from the very start;

obama insisted lieberman not be punished and keep all his leadership positions even though he ran AGAINST the democrat and undermines all our progressive bills

obama forced lieberman on us and if you heard biden, he actually said about liberban…”I am not going to question his motives”

obama is a corporatist and lieberman is his boy doing obama’s bidding

the only ingredient I cannot figure out is the fact that obama endorsed mccain….that’s the event that made it take so long for me to figure this out because that’s throws a wrench into the realisation

anyway, lieberman is now working at obama’s orders

And on top of everything else, the kabuki was really smarmy. Couldn’t even write a decent script.

Good morning everyone.

yup, you posted before me, lieberman is obama’s errand boy right now

Good morning, pups. It’s Collins and Kristof today. Ms. Collins says “Sorry, Senator Kerry.” Putting aside the theories about why Joe Lieberman is trying to hijack health care reform, let’s focus on a surprisingly good former presidential candidate — John Kerry. Ms. Collins is less than thrilled by the revolting little weasel from Connecticut. Mr. Kristof, in “His Gift Changes Lives,” says while world leaders have ignored Sudan, a former refugee made famous in “What Is the What,” by Dave Eggers, sets a tone of compassion by erecting a school in his hometown.

Here they are.

The coffee, tea and hot chocolate are ready, and I’ve got apple cranberry muffins today. I don’t really want to contemplate the loathsomeness that is Joe Lieberman so I think I’ll go out and feed the porch kittehs and get another cup of tea. Have a great day.

As Oh Bummah! watches his presidency slide off the table into the garbage he may wonder how did it happen and how did it happen so fast. He will not look to blame himself as I believe he thinks his own press clippings are true, he thinks he walks on water and can become the shining star that saved the country from bush…after all he has enough sycophants to help him believe. He is the one to blame, of course, as he is nothing but a bought and paid for tool of USACorp. He is too naive to see it however the USACorp knew it from the start. They did not care one whit whether it was clinton or Oh Bummah as both were buyable and pliable and their boy, Aipac Rham, was going to be in charge no matter what.

RIP

Wrong way around.

let’s focus on a surprisingly good former presidential candidate — John Kerry

Is that the same Kerry did not want to challenge the vote count? Is that the same Kerry that let Edwards hang out to dry?

Once again, I’ll say it: The republicans are going to regret this day.

It’s the reporting-for-duty Kerry.

So are the Ds.

To quote Ms. Collins:

I frequently made fun of Kerry for being a terrible presidential candidate. Which he was. But there comes a point when we the people have to move on. And Kerry has been a really good former failed presidential candidate. He’s been working hard in the Senate on climate control and trying to help the White House on foreign relations, despite the fact that Barack Obama stiffed him out of the secretary of state job in favor of a person who had been somewhat less supportive than Kerry of Obama’s early presidential aspirations. He actually seems more interested in doing stuff than being admired.

Ah, the too-little-too-late syndrome.

Obama greatest accomplishments before he ran was ?
He’s been brought and sold, then sold to us by rich pigs.
He will support single payer as soon as the poorest among us can outbid the corporations ( the filthy rich 1%ers ).
Its over and there will be no magical christmas miracle under the tree.

I have to say that I will never forgive the man for 1/ Handing the oval office to bush without demanding a recount and 2/ Handing the oval office to bush without a recount.
PS Also his family pub in Maine serves a lousy pint.

Daymn! *That’s* who he reminds me of!

they need to clean the pipes then, other then the source of ale clean pipes are the entire engrediant to good tap

Heh. I was wondering how a pub could possibly serve a lousy pint.

I don’t have a link but I’m reading that keith’s special comment lambasted the bill

I sure am glad we give his writers enough material to guarantee their jobs for some time

seems the more ale you serve the cleaner the pipes stay however if you’re doing tons of business it’s sometimes not practical cleaning those pipes when the time does finally come

till the word gets out your ale is bitter, then you stop selling the ale then you have plenty of time to clean your pipes

What intrigues me most about KO’s special comment was the part where he said that he would not buy forced insurance (not that it’s relevant to his particular situation I suspect). That’s the only way I can see this travesty of a bill from being lasting, if the people take it into their hands to revolt against the mandate.

Unless a miracle happens and a better bill is enacted.

you think obama is being shielded from his polls the same way boyking was?

I never thought of that

Who knows for sure. What is certain is that teh Villiagers live in a bubble that is fairly disconnected from the real world.

Besides, O’s polls have been surprisingly good, considering what shape the country is in. I think the tipping point for paying attention to the polls would be well below 50% approval rating, and then Rahm will blame the libruls.

I’m reading a quote from raw story and obama is pulling the double switch;

“If we don’t pass it, here’s the guarantee….your premiums will go up, your employers are going to load up more costs on you,” he said. “Potentially they’re going to drop your coverage, because they just can’t afford an increase of 25 percent, 30 percent in terms of the costs of providing health care to employees each and every year. “

what the frig?

he obviously seems to think he can scare us into a bill that will do more harm then good

the correct ansewr to this paragraph from 0 would have been;

“that’s right, that’s why you BETTER write a REAL bill and STOP playing the middle class for fools, they KNOW they’ve been made a feeding trough and you’re not folling them

No, they do not pour sufficient. A number of years ago Guinness decided that the average bar tender, nor customer, in the US did not have the patients for a good pint and so put in “new and improved” systems. Now it is possible to have an average pint but no more “perfect pints”. There are exceptions to the new system. Two places in Boston and one in NYC.

After selling my pub I was employed for a while by Guinness to show bar tenders how to pour the “perfect pint” Guinness gave up after a while and put in the new systems.

PS correct temperature of the storage and of the pipes is vital

Damn!!!! I was singin’ this song last night! (Much to my kids’ consternation.)

listen to this bullcrap from the zero;

“Because if we don’t do this, nobody argues with the fact that health care costs are going to consume the entire federal budget,” the president said.

now what does that mean?

the federal budget isn’t based on how much we pay out in health care, the man is acting like we already have single payer and it’s operating in the red

I said it last night and I’ll say it again for you mornin’ folks.

I don’t care if Lieberman was running interference for the WH. He’s still a worthless fucking douche nozzle.

I’ve just heard about a novel idea, hooking an extension to the tap so the pint fills from bottom up

keeps the head to a minimum, have you seen this yet?

Not to mention the fact that if something is not done about medical costs, they will soon consume households’ entire budgets.

now what does that mean?

Anybody?

Is he talkin’ about medicare & medicaid? Consuming the entire fed budget? What IS he talkin’ about?

if I had a pub I would offer both methods of pouring

and I would keep my pipes clean on top of that

Ka-DING!

here’s the link…see if there’s anything in there I missed

Reading a couple of Jon’s recent posts it looks like my health insurance is either gonna get shittier and I’ll pay more out of pocket for stuff or I’ll have to contribute more or the coverage. Great.

here’s a very nice snippet, bold is mine with comment below;

“Snowe? Stupak? Lieberman? Who left these people in charge?” Weiner asked. “It’s time for the President to get his hands dirty. Some of us have compromised our compromised compromise. We need the President to stand up for the values our party shares. We must stop letting the tail wag the dog of this debate.”

that would be the zero

Actually, Obama’s bill, which almost totally lacks any incentives for cost reduction and competition, while at the same time handling out billions of subsidies to the insurance corporations, will ENSURE that in the not so far future “health care costs are going to consume the entire federal budget”!

Since Obama can’t be that dumb not to see that, the only reasonable conclusion is that he’s deliberately spinning to the people. It’s a shame!

The cliche that the inmates are in charge of the madhouse comes to mind.

A U.S. prez spinning the people! I’m shocked! /s

Interesting but the theory is incorrect. Actually the head is vital to a perfect pint. As the air flows upward through the pint it “cleans” the liquid of solids (the head) The solids are actually white and so the slower the air flow upward the more solids are removed creating, one hopes, a white head… the whiter the head the creamier the pint. A head should be no more than a 1/2″ ( A priest) anything more than a 1/2″ (a bishop) is not good so…. to pour a perfect pint pour down the side of the glass just less than 1/2 a pint. Let that sit for 5 minutes or more to “clean” then continue the pour, slowly, down the side of the glass, let that sit for a few minute and you will ha e… as close as poss, a perfect pint which should have a thick white head and the Guinness should taste “creamy” underneath.

There….. a short lesson.

Yeah. Looks like he’s talkin about medicare & medicaid.

The president said that the costs of Medicare and Medicaid are on an “unsustainable” trajectory and if there is no action taken to bring them down, “the federal government will go bankrupt.”

And nobody can argue with that. Obama said so.

But he’s even more full of shit when he says my health care costs will go up if “we” don’t pass the bill. Yeah, they will. But as Jon has pointed out, mine and lots of other people are gonna see their costs go up BECAUSE of this fucking piece of shit.

Hey Obama, just stop it, huh? Your credibility is totally in the shitter. As my daughter says: “fail. epic fail.”

In addition to a grade of “F”, is it time to apply, relative to healthcare, the “F” word to Obama – Fraud or Fool? – or both?
You decide.
Regardless he seems to be heading for Failure.

I’m in the process of writing a Xmas card to Goldman Sachs:

http://whitenoiseinsanity.com/2009/12/17/help-me-write-a-xmas-card-to-goldman-sachs/

But now that I think about it, maybe I should be sending a xmas card (yes I know he’s Jewish….even better!) to Mr. Aetna!

yes. Fucking failure.

thanx for that

I had heard that distilleries said you need the head to activate the hops and barley

true?

does that go hand in hand with your explanation?

Sort of ish but not quiteish!!!!

I do suggest continuing your studies in a local pub.

Actually the fact is that the profit is in the head. More head less liquid= more profit.

(Not the Lewinsky theory)

The president said that the costs of Medicare and Medicaid are on an “unsustainable” trajectory and if there is no action taken to bring them down, “the federal government will go bankrupt.”

here’s the deal for this moron;

GET BACK THE SOCIAL SECURITY FUNDS THE GOVERNMENT GAVE TO RICH PEOPLE!!!!

jeeze, it’s like obama is locked into bush/reagan “we have to keep giving rich people middle class assets”

I really do not like this man, he’s using us to tell us promote reaganomics, as if we don’t know all the damage reaganomics did to this counry

Morning Swim is up…

aha

head is good for business

I will remember this and use the information to my gain in the near future!

Yup, it’s a horrible outlok. But right now, not everything is lost yet. There’s still a small chance for a better reform, because Senator Burris, and apparently Senator Sanders, too, are making a stand for “for a bill that achieves the goals of a public option: competition, cost savings and accountability”. That may not be the public option for all, but maybe at least a limited p.o. with a trigger, or a mediacare extension, are still possible. If the rebel Senators can keep Obama, Reid, and Lieberman from finding 60 votes for passing, reconcilation would be the only way left, and that would help progressives improving the bill. Pls contact the offices of Senators Burris and Sanders and show your support for them!

And also, it may be a good idea to show that people want a better bill by participating in this NBC poll:
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/Burriss-Health-Care-Demands-Grow-Louder-79410477.html

I’m pissed because O never fought for single payer OR a strong public option OR medicare buy in. I’m pissed because Rahm Emanuel (whom I loathe) is behind the scenes stripping out anything of value to american citizens from this bill. I’m pissed because the entire country (and yes I foolishly perceive the congress as a representation of *me*) was made to genuflect at the altar of Landrieu/Lieberman/Snowe/Baucus/etc.

But mostly, I’m pissed because these flags should have gone up, and this pushing back should have started when we found out that O made deals with the insurance industry behind our backs. Why was congress so silent then? Why is Emanuel ordering congress (3 equal and independent branches of government??) to make deals and telling them we don’t need a buy in? Who the hell is Emanuel and what in his self serving vicious little brain could suggest to him that he speaks for the american people?

Kill the damned bill and go for reconciliation in the House. Go Dean and thank you for taking the flak.

Capitalism REQUIRES an underclass.

They used to call them and treat them as slaves. But they created the illusion that the slaves were “free”, but functionally the underclass are left with no real choices so they were wage slaves but not called that. They are the poor and the underclass.

People were lulled into acceptance by consumerism, distraction and manipulation. They were kept uneducated and given little opportunity to rise in the pyramid scheme of capitalism.

Capitalism consumed democracy. Capitalist won labor lost.

I agree, he is nothing but a mouthpiece for capital.

perfect.

That is an outstanding comment by Keith. His statement against the mandate is key and may generate enough pressure from the base to kill off that aspect of the bill. If the mandate goes away, then I remain disgusted and disappointed in Obama and the Dems (and will work against those responsible) but I would be accepting of the bill. No mandate simply turns it into a bill that applies a few more necessary regulations and rules upon the criminal syndicates called insurance companies.

The mandate positing that I have to hand my money over to CEOs so they can bonus themselves and hand out dividend checks to shareholders is more than I am willing to accept. I am with Keith on this and I WILL resist. I will NOT hand a single penny over to the insurance companies under any mandate. Government-mandated profits for any private entity are illegal, immoral, fascist, and unacceptable.

Billions and billions for wars, but not one thin dime for healthcare, medicare, medicaid, or social security.

For the Obama drones, it is better business to murder people around the world for corporate profits than to take care of people at home.

Marcy did an excellent job also on addressing the obscenity that is the mandate, aka involuntary serfitude. We must come at this from all sides. [yeah, I know, I'm all alone here at an epu-ed thread, but still....]

Oh, and Scarborough gives Obama a D. For Deferer. Deferer to everybody else.

Maybe we’re going to need to switch to Pass-Fail….

Exactly! The system is so refined now that it has us at an overwhelming disadvantage. Our only hope rides with the progressive blogosphere and the likes of Jane. My fear is we won’t change this til we hit bottom.

Never underestimate the power of a Chicago Politician!
They are the “Cream” of the crop!

http://pavlovianobeisance.com/Chicago_Politician.htm

the recent debacle in the Senate over healthcare reform led me to wonder what would have happened if the Senate Democrats had been in charge of Emancipation. I can see it all now being reported by the media. ” The Senate Democrats today agreed to disagree on the Emancipation. The original public option which would allow slaves to choose what form of emancipation they would choose and how costly each form would be has been scraped. The second compromise of allowing slaves 55 and older to buy their freedom from the Planters for 400 to 600 dollars a month has also been dropped. The leadership said however that the present bill for emancipation though not a good bill was nonetheless a bill and would allow some 3 million slaves to purchase emancipation from the Planters and in fact would mandate these slaves to do so. Also a cap on emancipation has been removed except in the case of slaves that are older and or where a yearly cap on emancipation would be set by the Planters. There has been some rather public disagreement among the Democrats particularly those who favor emancipation for all the slaves. Others who insists that bill is better than no bill at all point to this bill as a start towards full emancipation even though they have essentially given the Planters Lobby everything they wanted.” I am happy that the Senate Democrats were not in charge of emancipation because had they been Barrack Obama could not have be president because he would still be waiting on freedom. Just in the case the Leadership and the White House does not know it yet but they are loosing the progressive base of the Party. In other words they can forget our participation in the 2010 election and perhaps beyond that to 2012!

Father Andrew Gentry
Asheville North Carolina

That’s what I’m sayin! Word to you, SanderO.

Did you see TRMS last night? Maddow had two segments on the topic of jacking public opinion with carefully scripted myths.

Health reform opponents resort to digital dirty tricks

GOP unrestrained in health reform opposition

The second segment features blatant use of weaponized mythology. First is a “prayer-cast” to stop health care reform. And then we see that C Street cult member Sam Brownback is listed just ahead of Lou Engle, who is shown preaching the apocalypse and then slipping in the politics. It’s an explicit use of the most powerful beliefs of a voting bloc to then jack them to hell. You can see Engle training his audience to become martyrs.

“God, mark me now! Mark me! As a man and woman of the cross of Jesus Christ! Say ‘mark me!’”

As one with a BA in psychology, I recognize those techniques. They’re based on studies that show getting someone to make a statement, even in favor of something they actually oppose, can change attitudes and thus behavior. With this propaganda, they’re making attacks, even suicidal ones, far more likely.

This is why I say, jacking public opinion with carefully scripted myths is the state of the art in manufacturing consent.

This is an excellent point that bears repeating: “With Obama, you cannot look at his words, or read his lips, you have to see what he does.”

That is true with respect to ANY politician. Having watched Obama carefully leading up to and during the primary, he was not my first choice for this precise reason. His rhetoric was lofty and inspirational but his actions left his words sounding hollow. For example, the FISA fight. He had said in the past that he opposed giving the telecoms a free pass, yet he voted for the bill anyway despite his assurances otherwise. I think he did it for political expediency, he made a political calculation that it would be more damaging to his presidential prospects to pick that fight at that time and he followed the path of least resistance.

This is what politicians DO. This is why you cannot take ANY politician at what they say, rather you must measure their words against their actions to determine their sincerity. And for me, Obama failed on that score before the primary even started.

Maybe that’s been helpful to me, I never expected Obama to behave differently than he is behaving now. I still support him when he deserves support and I will be one of the lonely few who will turn out in 2012 to vote for him again, but his actions, especially in the health care debate, have not surprised me. Disappointed me, yes, but I expected to be disappointed by this president.

This is one of the clearest examples of why we must continue to fight. I said before the election that electing Obama was only the first step, then the real fight begins. Obama is not going to give us what we want, we have to demand it. We have to make him give it to us, as he himself said. We have to force his hand and the hand of Congress to do the right thing. In short, we have to keep fighting and even harder now.

What also disappoints me is the sheer number of Obama apologists that will never find fault in anything he does, which is no more helpful to the fight for progress than worshiping George Bush’s cult of personality was helpful to the right.