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The President sat down with Bill O’Reilly before the Super Bowl last night, and this exchange was absolutely appalling.
O’REILLY: Here’s what the Wall Street Journal said, I want you to react to this. Mr. Obama is a determined man of the left whose goal is to redistribute much larger levels of income across society. He may give tactical ground when he has to, as he did on taxes to avoid a middle class tax increase, but he will resist to his last day any major changes to Obamacare and the other load-bearing walls of the entitlement state.
This is The Wall Street Journal you know painting you as pretty left-wing guy. Are you going to go along?
OBAMA: Well, the Wall Street Journal probably would paint you as a left-wing guy. I mean, if you’re talking about the Wall Street Journal editorial page…
O’REILLY: I’ve got to tell you, that’s what this is.
OBAMA: You know, that’s like quoting the New York Times editorial…
O’REILLY: Do you deny the assessment? Do you deny that you are a man who wants to redistribute wealth.
OBAMA: Absolutely.O’REILLY: You deny that?
OBAMA: Absolutely. I didn’t raise taxes once, I lowered taxes over the last two years.
Unbelievable.
For one, all taxation redistributes wealth. Period. That’s what taxes do. My wealth was redistributed by the Bush administration to kill hundreds of thousands of Iraqis for no good reason, and I didn’t like it, but that’s the price of living in a free society. That should’ve been Obama’s first rebuttal — but he ran away from it. Way to reinforce the sophomoric right-wing frame that all taxes are inherently theft, Mr. President.
But even more depressing, this was a chance to make the moral case for a progressive tax — which by the way, was originally championed by a Republican president (Teddy Roosevelt), rescued the country from the Great Depression, won World War II and built the largest expansion of the middle class in our history.
Obama could’ve pointed out — right on Fox News — that taxes were much higher under Ronald Reagan and made the practical argument, in the face of an unprecedent gap between the wealthiest Americans and the poorest, for returning to those Reagan-era rates.
He could’ve quoted Louis Brandeis who wrote,
We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.
But “I lowered taxes” is all he could muster.
Absolutely pathetic.
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The worst thing about Obama’s interview with O’Reilly is simply this:
Seems to be a theme with Obama
He’d never dare to criticize the sainted Reagan. After all, he is a hero of Obama’s. He’s said it several times.
Murdoch owns the WSJ. ‘Nuff said.
Also, love the ‘redistribution of wealth’ spiel toward Obama when it was never touched under Bush. I wonder how Bill feels about the 300 Billion his Repub compatriots just handed to the top 2% by blocking a nuke arms treaty, benefits for 9/11 responders and unemployment benefits. Let me guess, he thinks it was Obama’s idea, as is ‘Obamacare’ with over 100 concessions to Repugs who still voted against it.
That was my reaction exactly.
Thanks for the post BT.
You guys survived the Texas Siberia did you? :)
Obama is unwatchable; O’Really is worse. The 2 of them together must have been stomach-turning.
Once again, President Pantywaist showed his true colors.
hiya, oldnslow. How be’d your w/e?
My middle child is “back in the picture”, on the couch, as it were. Mostly not talking to him about “plans”. I did get that he’s signed up for college and thinks his dad is going to pay. I sure hope he will. And, the amount of food being consumed in this household. Ha.
Solid red.
Agreed. For the President to give this joker any credibility by sitting down to an interview with him is repugnant, stupid, and foolish.
Only in the USA!
Only in the USA you can have a Phony Anchor Man Name Bill O’Reilly interview a Phony Democratic President Name OBAMA
One has to wonder is the FDR portrait still up in the WH.
See, eleventy dimensional chess works like this: the Presididn’t only appears to have been playing straight man to the great red baffoon and was so easily strung along on THIS plane. On another plane, he’s wielding a scimitar of progressive logic, laying waste to hordes of neocon apparatchiks and so delivering us and the planet into a newer and more honest and beautiful world.
…or not.
Wait a minute! Obama’s glorious and sparkly and everything he does and says is glorious and sparkly. Dear President Obama, I want my donation (and vote) back.
Rush Limbaugh doesn’t return his calls?
When I happened to pass the TV on the way to do something more important, I had to do a double-take before absorbing the truth of the sad picture, our president sitting down with that putz.
I didn’t listen, and now I know that was a good choice.
Took a snow day on Friday. Hope you are well.
It is extremely depressing hearing Obama make himself out to be what? A regular Reagan kind of guy? Heaven’s forbid Obama should even be like a British ” One Nation” Tory. How much further to the right does Obama want to go? He’s expanding wars, expanding Military budgets and when it comes to helping out the ordinary American he says there’s no money left. Obama only speaks to Oligarchs and wealthy pundits and has listened to them advocating a freeze in Federal spending when WE need more help to get through the recession.
O’Reilly is typical of all Republicans, utterly nuts to believe Obama is right wing, when Reagan would be proud of him.
{{{demi}}}
Kuroneko and I are hangin’ in there. She’s happy to be able to go outside again although at the moment she’s just making it very difficult to type.
Pathetic! Otherwise I am speechless.
Regrettably, you are correct, as the President has demonstrated over and over.
If I was the type to say “I told you so”, I would be crowing that on every website that used to badmouth me for trying to point out that Obama isn’t any kind of progressive at all. Wait! I am that type!
I never get to take snow days. Hell, we work during hurricanes until the water starts comin’ in the door. Then it’s PARTY TIME!
Yes, but when will he be a progressive President in THIS dimension?
We had a good time last night watching the Dora-cat be loved near to death by the 3 year old son of some visiting friends. She has a fairly wide deamon streak and seeing her have a hard time was fun. Glad you are both well.
He can keep my vote. Lord knows he’s never getting another from me. I could really use the money back though…
He’s so desperate to please these people for some reason? It’s like he can’t stand the fact that no matter how Reich wing he bends his whole asinine program they still hate his guts. He just doesn’t get it?
Never believed the President was progressive, and he certainly has done everything to confirm my original suspicion. But to sit down with a conservative wack job like O’Reilly, he has just sank to a new low.
It is actually kind of funny here. People can not drive with an inch of snow on the raod. In all fainess it should be noted that there was ice under the snow. ( There is no snow removal equipment in central Texas.)
Heh, he never got any dust from me. The only thing I can be thankful for regarding Obama.
Maybe we should send the President the book “He’s just not into you” for direction.
I’ve been to one or two hurricane parties and I worked in TS Charlie in 1998. I was trying to paint an LP bottle, (enormous white tank on wheels) in an open bay and when I sprayed the paint, it went parallel to the tank and out the door. Didn’t matter, I still had to keep trying through my whole shift. Dunno how much paint I wasted that night.
The beauty of eleventy dimensions is you only have to believe deeply enough in order to transport yourself to one. An occasional sip of kool-aid helps too.
Yeah, LowerOurBills™ for the bankster-captured profit center called central government.
I was never fool enough to think he was a progressive, from his 2004 DNC keynote address, it was obvious that he was DLC all the way. But I got several dump truck loads of shit before the 2008 election for having the temerity to point that out.
I lived in Denver for 3 years and there were people there who didn’t know how to drive in the snow. Cars, lots of 4 wheel drives no less, all up in snow drifts an’ shit.
….lots and lots of koolaid would be required for me to make that leap! :)
Yep. If snow stays on the road in central Texas, it’s because there is ice under it.
Never know what you’ll bump into in knee deep water while shitfaced.
As did many of us that had the temerity to point out this little fact.
Perhaps he could have comrade BT, but he didn’t have the luxury Monday morning quarterbacking like you do. Perhaps if you find it so pathetic you should get off the anonymous second-guessing internet ride and run for public office. Just sayin…
Thanks BT. I was yelling your thoughts above at my TV yesterday. After this part of the interview, I shut the TV off.
My kids thought it was interesting as I left the room, I shouted, “Teddy Roosevelt my dear man. Read some history!”
My younger children asked, “Why Teddy Roosevelt?.”
My oldest stated, “Progressive taxes.” And then explained to them what that means.
“That would be so helpful for all!” stated my youngest.
The problem is that physics doesn’t allow for eleventy dimensions based on observed phenomena. There is a school of thought however that if you raise it to eleventyseven dimensions, Obama then makes sense.
Keeps you from driving shitfaced though. :)
Until a Democratic president makes an affirmative case for a progressive tax, we don’t have a Democratic president.
The mistake was ever given a miscreant like O’Reilly an interview in the first place.
Gee….just when I threw my Heisenberg compensator’s out in the trash.
Classic troll behavior. VORE defending Obama in order to start an argument. Nice try but don’t you think you should get out of the computer lab and get to introduction to algebra before you get detention again?
I think it has something to do with string-us-along theory.
Bingo!
ROFLMAO!
Oh, we’ve got some of those idiots too. They don’t know what’s happening until the water’s up to the window. Too late.
I didn’t watch. The progressives already knew he is the Great Pretender. Why Bill O’Reilly thought he should ask those questions is more showing of his stupidity. Trying to corner a pretend Dem President into something he is not was just stupid.
M’eh. Heisenberg was a hack. WTF is a physicist doing being “uncertain”? ;)
the real case for a progressive tax is never made by anyone, not even progressives
the purpose bt is not to “re-distribute taxes” although as you say all taxes are a re-distribution”
the real purpose of a “progressive tax” (put into your context) is to counter act the “regressive re-distribution” of useage taxes
this is multi-level;
the middle and lower class spend all or the majority of their earnings and that spending is “retaxed” at the local level with sales, state, useage and fees
the wealthy who spend a fraction of their wealth are “re-taxed” only on that fraction
for the most part, “the less to do” pay a far greater tax over all then the wealthy even when we consider progressive taxes
but it goes even deeper then that;
if I pay 9 percent sales tax (I do) but for arguments sake I only made 100 dollars for the week, that’s almost a ten percent tax on my earnings just in sales tax
if I make 500 dollars for that week and spend that same 100 dollars, the “9%” sales tax is now 1/5th the effective rate against my earnings
so there you have it, the progressive tax is really not to redistribute wealth from the wealthy to the middle and lower classes but it’s to re-claim” the money that the wealthy have avoided paying
there is a big difference when we argue that “we want the wealthy to contribute more” vs “we want the wealthy to contribute the same as we do”
big big difference there
LMAO!
LOL!!!
Perhaps the Presididn’t should get off of Loofa-boy tv and do some frigging country leading.
Back to work.
Namaste
Your points are well taken.
In Alicia in 1983, I was the only person living on the top floor of my apartment building, though every ground floor apartment was occupied. I grew up in that area though and I had taken a top floor apartment and as a result, I had dry shit when it was all over, while everybody else spent the next week hauling whatever they could salvage upstairs.
Yes, that would be a refreshing change of pace, as opposed to being interviewed by a sexual harassment veteran.
Agreed. Of all the venues at the command of the president of the United States, and given all the demands on his limited time, Mr. Obama chose cigar chomping, druggie, rightwing performance artist Rush Limbaugh. It guaranteed he wanted to avoid all substance and appeal to the better natures of Rush’s audience. Funny thought that, like appealing to Dr. Jekyll shortly before Mr. Hyde reappears.
On the obvious topic Rush raised, lowering taxes as the one and only grace worthy of God, presidents and legislatures, Mr. Obama fed right from the hand of hundred millionaire Rush. Craven. Absolutely craven.
thank you bt
Ummm Rush and O’Reilly are a lot alike but I don’t think they have become the same person yet. :)
rush can control what oreilly says, the reverse not so much
Yes, Obama denied the WSJ’s Marxian assessment. I am not sure that is “absolutely pathetic.”
I normally agree with your observations, but I have to differ with you on this one. Obama said he was not into re-distribution in the classic liberal sense. He said absolutely not. He was not being timid, but he was being honest. At a time that the nation required stimulus, he provided mostly tax cuts. His balance to the Tax cuts for the rich was more tax cuts mostly for the rich supposedly aimed at trickling down faster than most for the middle class. He says the only trans-formative President he can think of was Reagan (Not Roosevelt). He tossed three robust health care plans from the house along with the robust plan from Ted Kennedy’s committee in the Senate and had Mad Max Baccus and Clark Kent Conrad rehab Bob Dole’s old alternative plan to Hilary’s health care. We have to face it. If the Repub party had a better treatment of Blacks, Obama would have run as a Repub.
But the WSJ piece and O’Reilly’s framing of it was a “Have you stopped beating your wife?” question. Obama’s response was “Of course I have!”
It’s a stupid, offensive frame, and Obama’s refusal to call it that and allow the likes of BillO and the WSJ to set the terms of the debate is pathetic.
Sorry, that’s how I see it.
What Obama is doing by
talking toperforming fellatio on the Chamber of Commerce today is desperately trying to make trickle down economics actually work and trickle down. He’s a delusional fool and anybody with such a tenuous grasp on reality shouldn’t be let loose in society, much less hold high officeI should have clarified my insult. I was wrong when I suggested the Presididn’t wasn’t leading. He actually is doing a fine job of leading. Leading us on, that is. That’s not second-guessing, Monday morning quarterbacking, or even dropping bombs by drone, that’s just an obvious statement of fact, VORE.
He does not believe in progressive taxation. What is really unbelievable at this point is that you do not realize that he is a conservative.
Anyone who thinks Obama is on our side is kidding themselves. He’s marginally less offensive than Republicans, that’s all.
great point there margaret, obama continues his attempt at a top down economy, I am not sure he’s part of their plan or simply moronic enough to believe in the concept of “trickle down” economics
I notice the Obama cheerleaders aren’t touching this. Kos, TPM, TP, none of them are touching Obama’s interview with O’Reilly.
On edit: TPM does have something but it’s way down at the bottom of the page.
obama is a downright creep. I pay less and less attention to anything he says or does.
we have all realized obama is a concervative dameocrat, we have been calling him a trojan horse for quite some time, some of us long before he was even nominated
From FT.com: “Obama vows to cut barriers to business.” Wheee! Wonder what the tax code is going to look like.
It’s pathetic as he allowed them to set the frame.
As one friend said, it was a “So, have you stopped beating your wife” style question.
Fine. But, I think you misunderstand Obama’s purpose for being there.
To do as you sugggest would have been counterproductive to the goal of tamping down Fox Nation’s extreme antipathy towards him.
Obama:
“Please, please PLEASE let the economy trickle down! I’ll do anything you want. Come on! Give me a break! I think they’re on to me”.
Douchebag.
I think I “get” what you’re saying, but speaking strictly for myself, I find Obama to be waaaaaaaaaay more offensive than self-identified Republicans/conservatives/libertarians/Tea Party. At least with those who self-identify as conservative/nutbar, I *know exactly who they are* and can pretty much *predict what they’ll believe & do.*
Obama is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, esp as far as *most* voters are concerned, no matter which political party they typically identify with. I find Obama more odious for his deceitfulness.
It’s pathetic that he even went there. FOX viewers are not interested in being persuaded. They have made up what passes for their minds and only seek reinforcement of their already established viewpoints. If it were otherwise, they wouldn’t watch FOX.
please it was all a show – Obama vs O’Reilly
People on HP were celebrating how Obama won? It was BS. I have yet to see the day that anyone in the press (left or right) nails any POTUS in an interview. Please don’t reference Nixon, his goose was cooked.
MSM is just a tool of the two party illusion to sell the perception of a democracy.
As for HP selling to AOL. Arianna is and has always been about the money. her book on third world america was elementary at best, and unless you have been living under rock said nothing new. Her solutions were a joke. Anytime she has been on msm, way too often, she adds nothing new to the dialogue.
Sadly, too many people are asleep to the pillage that is going on, and those that are awake are too few to usher in real change, and have to live in a world where the dumbed down majority guarantees this rape and pillage will continue
This site does not like Republicans and it does not like Pres. Obama. I am sorry, Hillary did not win — get over it! President Obama is doing the best job he can with what he has. Dems should be sticking with him and fighting the fight not with him but with Republicans. That is why Dems lost the house; they did not stand with Obama when they had the chance. Ted Kennedy would have. He understood DC’s ways and the need to compromise to get anything done. If Dems do not start uniting, they will lose the Presidency and also more seats in the house and senate.
Playing bottom boy to the Chamber of Horrors is a bit unseemingly for the an alleged Democratic President.
You really think Obama’s going to convert O’Reilly’s audience by simply denying the WSJ’s frame? I don’t.
Are they really? I didn’t know you could win a kabuki…
Note: Just saw BT’s response so looks like I have friends as smart as BT
No. That door swings both ways. The President abandoned his base. Don’t blame the victims.
Thanks for the post, BT. I adamently *refused* to subject myself to one abject LIAR bloviating to another abject LIAR for the so-called “edification” of the gullible populace. Spare me.
No offense to sports fans, but I found the Superbowl to be puke-making, as well… not so much the game, itself, but the whole ridiculous circus-like spectacle of it. Bunch of zillionaires hurling themselves around after a small ball, whilst a bunch of self-satisfied zillionaires sit around cheering for *themselves.* ICK. What a waste of corporate dollars… but oh yeah: all those elites worked *so hard* for their money.
To initiate the circus festivities with yet more lying crummy stupid bullshit from Fake was more than a sane person could bear.
It has nothing to do with Clinton. If you knew anything about this site, you would know that too but instead you just come charging in and see how far down your throat you can stuff your feet. Pretty far as it turns out…
Heck, I flipped between Puppy Bowl and Airplane!
Oh yeah, and I hate to point this out to you but Obama didn’t run in 2010. Just sayin’.
If, by that, you’re referring to being resoundingly bought off by the corporate elite & the Military Industrial complex, why then we’re probably mostly on the same page.
I’m not some Hilary Clinton fan, so you might want to change the narrative that you appear to run in your head. Most who post here regularly aren’t “disappointed” bc Clinton didn’t win. Stick around and read a little more, and you’ll better learn why we are so disatisfied.
I can tell you weren’t reading this blog during the 2008 primaries, or you’d know that it was hardly a haven for diehard Clintonistas. As for Obama, he’s only doing the best he can if you recognize that he’s a bloody corporatist whore. Thanks for playing, you’ll be taking a copy of our home game with you.
Gotta go do a double bike ride after last week stuck inside. Laters! :)
I watched a several old Bela Lugosi movies. I felt it was appropriate considering the real life horror show on Fox.
My snow shoveling cured that dilemma. Bye and have fun!
What’s incredible to me is the simplistic mindset that “Democrat” must = good. That’s no different than the party Republicans. No difference but a letter.
It will make little difference in the fascist corporatization of the US whether Obama and Blue Dogs win or the Republicans win. and it makes little difference to me if those are the only choices. (And the choice between corporatist Clintons and Obama made little difference in the presidential primaries.)
For those who are sincerely traditional Democrats; we best nurture our values and give the nation a choice.
An obvious lie. The Obama administration is repeatedly claiming that the Individual Mandate is a tax:
“Administration officials say the tax argument is a linchpin of their legal case in defense of the health care overhaul and its individual mandate”
http://volokh.com/2010/07/18/administration-now-says-individual-mandate-is-a-tax/
Obama is redistributing wealth – to big business. He’s a corporatist socialist out to pick the pockets of anyone who doesn’t own a corporate jet…and he’s a serial liar who will say anything to get his way.
I think we have a winner! That about sums it up.
I mostly had the tv turned off, but I did watch a bit of the first quarter, and I also watched most of the half-time show bc I was curious about the Black-Eyed Peas. That said, the gigantor spectacle of it all is no huge surprise, but I found it all rather depressingly “in your face” during a down economy.
So the corporate elite feed the serfs a big old circus… too bad there’s no bread to go with it.
P.S. I find the Black-Eyed Peas to be interesting but somehow a tad odd. What’s the deal with all synthesized music these days? I must be old fashioned; I prefer good old rock ‘n roll, myself. Oh well…
AngelLiight please read below, and tell us REAL PROGRESSIVES what about Obama says he likes Progressives.
1st Obama endorses the Bush agenda of spying on and killing americans
2nd Obama attacks Unions (the F! the UAW moment screams republican)
3rd Obama double downs on Bush Wars, (now they are Obama wars)
4th Obama attacks Teacher Unions (teacher unions now hate OBAMA)
5th Obama does not attack the Banks? he bails them out? (sorta like what the GOP does)
6th Obama passes the Bob Dole Health Care Bill (Bob Dole is a republican)
7th Obama kills the Public Option
8Th Obama kills Drug Importation
9Th Obama APPOINTS an insurance executive to manage his health care Bill
10th Obama does not APPOINT Dawn Johnsen
11th Obama hand picks the cat food commission to destroy Social Security
12th Obama supports Blanche Lincoln, a candidate who hates Unions, and has no chance of winning
13 Guantanomo still open for business
14.Patriot Act renewed
15. renditions continue
16. Bernanke reappointed
17. Americans targeted for assassination
18 Obama is all for sending more USA jobs off shore
19 Obama is for tax cuts for the RICH!
20. Obama and the TSA porno Scandal
21 Obama freezes federal wages for 2 years
22. OBAMA TARP Funds for Legal Services for Foreclosure Victims Blocked By Treasury
23. Obama lowers estate tax for the rich
24. Obama tax bill of 2010 GUTS Social Security
25. Obama wants WikiLeaks Assange charged with espionage.
26 Obama Fake Net Neutrality Caves to AT&T,Comcast
27 Obama Wall Street Buddies foreclose on USA soldiers Homes
Obama, Axelrod, Gibbs, Plouffes, and other Phony Dems better study the Egypt up-rising very, very, close, because come 2012 they will be dealing with an INTELLIGENT LEFT that is going to be very, very, PISSED OFF
Obama is not going to win anything!
the targets in 2012 will be the 23 PHONEY DEMS SENATORS up for re-election.
Angellight go find out how many Dem Senators want Obama helping them get re-elected in 2012?
By the Way the only issue in the USA the last 24 months has been JOBS!not the OBAMA/BOB DOLE HEALTH CARE BILL
Obama is the one that wanted to make Health Insurace Co. Rich during A Depression
and please do not use Ted Kennedy name, he would have nothing to do with OBAMA
For a while ive been saying that Obama should be impeached. But i think what should actually happen is his supporters should force him to change his party affiliation to Republican. Since its so blatantly obvious that he is a republican. When you think about the last election and pretend that actually a republican won again then it all makes sense. Same goes for 99% of the Dem party. When you pretend that they are actually republicans then everything they do makes sense.
I trully wish true progressives would start pushing for a candidate to run against him. I gather its still early in the election cycle by the idea of 2012 essentially being only republicans to choose from is depressing. If it is Oabama against a republican party candidate then personally im going to vote republican for the first time.
you have no idea ange, very few of us wanted hilary
I guess I am going to keep using the term but ange, you have no idea
he is doing the very worst with what he had, he bargained from weakness every single time, he gave away the bottom line before he even hit the airwaves and every single time he is experimenting with top down economics rather then bottom up, he has done NOTHING with what he had
<blockquoteDems should be sticking with him and fighting the fight not with him but with Republicans.
you are missing the point, obama is a republican, he has managed to pass bills that no republican could have ever gotten away with and only because he wears a blue suit
I can’t bring myself to say it again but really
we lost the house because democrats refused to vote for those following obama’s lead, we were promised progressive programs and he gave us wing nut concervatism
a republican calling himself a democrat does far more damage then a republican calling themselves a republican
obama has proven that point, we are better with a presdident wearing a red suit and acting like a republican then a president wearing a blue suit acting like a republican
I will be very happy when obama is gone
we are not like republicans here, we don’t root for the person calling themselves the captain if that captain is proving he is working for the other team
Thank you for putting the list out there succinctly. I think that about sums it up.
No votes for Vichy Dems!
That said, I am truly out.
Fault PBO for not turning this into a Schoolhouse Rock teachable moment for “why we pay taxes” but given OLiely’s knuckle dragging viewers, I’m not sure the lesson would have penetrated their craniums.
Which brings us to the real question…. Why the F was PBO on OLiely in the first place? That’s the problem.
I so wish you could go on every news talk show and say just that. That would be so helpful.
AMEN! But as BT points out, all taxation is a re-distribution of wealth – whether it’s from the 2%, the upper, middle or lower classes – ALL of us have SOME of our wealth re-distributed by taxes. And it’s been that way since we’ve had taxes.
Sheesh. Just once I’d like to hear Obama or some Dem pol actually tell it like it is, and in a gracious way, attempt to re-educate citizens about the *reality* of taxation and why it’s done. I won’t hold my breath, esp for the likes of a corporate whore like Obama to actually tell the truth.
Obama v. O’Reilly. It’s really like Alien v. Predator. I don’t really know who’s more “alien” and who’s more predatory, that’s for sure.
Let us not forget the unprecedented raid on the Social Security income stream with the payroll tax cut, something that has never been done in the program’s history. All under an alleged Democratic President. Not even a Republican. in the past. could have gotten away with that one.
Just in: O’Reilly interview, brings up hate a lot…
– Balkingpoints / www
Thanks, always a great list to pull up for educational purposes.
if obama’s people would contact my people it could be arranged
but sadly, my people have heard nothing from his camp
Write in a name, like Howard Dean or Mickey Mouse. That way the Dems will know it’s a protest vote. If you vote Republican, they won’t.
I think that Rupert Murdoch & the Koch brothers demanded that Obama do his “thing” with O’Reilly bc it’s yet another way for the conservative thinktanks and Fox to rile up the rightwing base “against” Obama. It provides grist for their mill, which the conservative base will reliably lap up and predictably get their panties in a wad.
Certainly I can no other reason for such an absurdity to occur. The elites must’ve figured it would enure to their benefit.
Superior post. Thanks for saving me the trouble of compiling the list.
see my post #118. My guess is: THAT was the goal! SCORE! A win for the elites!
David Dayen has a fresh cross-post up: Western Media Altering Their Lenses in Egypt
What next, an exclusive with Glenn Beck?
“Glenn, I’ve been very clear since day 1 of this administration that I will NOT be forming a caliphate. Not now, not ever.”
heh… to which, for weeks afterward, Feckless Glenn would screach nightly: see, see!!! Obama IS forming a caliphate… here *children* let me write that on a chalk board: c-a-l-i-p-h-a-t-e, Caliphate!!111!! I Told you Obama is a secret muzlin… boooga boooga !!!111!!
And Obama would think: I did MY job WELL. Now where’s my bonus???
I dont think the dems give a crap if you write someone in. Also Howard Dean has become a complete sell out and a hypocrite of the highest order. I cant believe i supported him in 2003. The only way to wake Dems up is to get rid of them.
Oh Valerie.
heh….
I think the most disappointing part of the interview was Obama allowing BillO to control the tone and pace, and allowing BillO to interrupt multiple times.
You’re the leader of the free world, OilBomber. Treat BillO like the dog he is when he cuts you off mid-sentence. Especially when he’s doing it in front of the largest TV audience of the year.
lol!
I don’t think there were many Hillary supporters at FDL. You might want to understand your audience a little better before you toss in a comment.
I’ll probably get flamed or banned for this, but Obama seems to be little more than Bush with an education and a darker complexion and none of his single-minded determination. This is not to say I like, approve of, or admire Bush; far from it.
Why would you be flamed or banned for that? People say the same thing in comments at least twice a day. It’s the truth. He’s a douchebag of the first order and the only difference between Obama and Bush is Obama’s an apologist.
Sysaphean, I know you’re new here (welcome, again!), but you’ll find that jedimsnbcko19 publishes that list (with timely additions) every so often, and it is always spot-on!
But, but…Obama is the President of Common Sense..haven’t you been listening to him?
I smell a hit show there. Why not? Since Obama is apparently willing to play the Alan Colmes role at Fox (wimpy, pseudo-liberal foil). Call it The Barry & Beck Hour, it could debut during May sweeps in 2013.
I watched Puppy Bowl. I watch it every year, but tell my kitties I’m just watching it for the half-time show.
I also watched Greg Giraldo’s “Midlife Vices” DVD. Very funny, but “Peanut Butter On My Cock” and most of his other bits are certainly not kid-friendly. His death is such a loss.
Is Obama only giving interviews to Fox News, or does it just seem that way? I’ve tried to find info on the number of interviews O has given, and to whom, but have not had much luck.
Fox News can’t afford Barry.
No.
But, I think he can take the edge off the extreme antipathy. And, I think that is worth doing.
I didn’t see the interview, as my satellite dish was under two feet of snow. The little bit I heard on the radio was of O’Reilley interrupting the President of the United States. It was worse than rude.
Actually, no.
If Obama were honest about his policies, he would have said: “Yes, I do believe in wealth re-distribution—UPWARD!”
At the gym, I had a choice between Puppy Bowl, two football somethings, a golf something, and the Food Network. I chose the latter while I rode the exercise bike.
That’s possible, though I think they’d respect him more if he stood for something.
I did manage to think of something that makes Obama different from Bush. Poppy and Jeb.
But it hurts my brain to think of anything else.
I think Obama is trying to run as a ‘unity’ candidate by having his name on both the Democratic and Republican lines. I’m not joking. He might just pull it off the way the current crop of bozo’s are going on the Thug side. It would definitely clear the air, probably improve the Republican party by several standard deviations, and leave space in two or three decades for a progressive Democratic Party. What’s not to like?
Maybe we can get him to do it himself.
Somebody needs to point at that the (D) next to his name makes him look too “partisaney.”
Edit: oops, looks like I was beaten to the punch by Knut.
My dear, I would strongly urge you to spend a lot more time on this site, reading and researching with an open mind.
This is a response to Angellite… What on this site gave you the idea that we supported someone to the right of Obama? Dems lost the house because they did not listen to us, they started to freak out just before the elections because they realized corporations did not get to vote. We have no intention of uniting around an administration who only represents the most powerful and wealthy people of the world. No, you will lose because more and more people know the truth and will not support arms dealers like obama.. First thing he did after losing 2010, made and arms deal with India. And supporting a torturer to run Egypt. Stick around. After you learn the truth, maybe you can figure out how to pull the democratic party back from the brink.
I don’t know why he is there. Right after the chamber destroyed many dems in the 2010 elections, they met with Obushma and told him they would not run any ads against him in 2012.
Excellent! Well said, jedi!
During calendar 2010 Obama average approval rating from Republicans was 13%. In contrast, his average approval rating from Democrats was 81%.
As such, your suggestion that he switch parties may need to be reconsidered.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/145937/Obama-Approval-Ratings-Polarized-Year-Year.aspx
sysaphean said,
“Gee….just when I threw my Heisenberg compensator’s out in the trash.”
Heisenberg was pulled over by a cop for speeding. The cop asked Heisenberg if knew how fast he was going. Heisenberg said, “No, but I know where I am.”
Bwahahahahahahahahha! Thanks so much for your comment. I’ve had an awful day so far, but your ~~~Edited by Moderator. Disagree without being insulting~~~ brightened it up a little.
Should we really be surprised by this? Obama idolizes Reagan, as he’s often testified. Didn’t Reagan ALSO start out as a Democrat with solid, if controversial positions before becoming president, at which point he sold out to corporate whoredom and decided the Democratic party was no longer his thing? (A la “I didn’t leave the party, the party left me?” Sounding more and more like something Mr. O will say every day… all those hippy drug using progressive professional left brats getting in his way!)
Also, both of their campaigns relied heavily on cult of personality marketing, did they not?
If Obama really DOES plan on being the Reagan of the 2000s, which I’m sure he does, may Heaven help us all.
could not have said it better.. thanks
Calling things/people what they are isn’t insulting at all, sir or madam Moderator.
~~~Mod Note: Attack the argument, not the individual – which means no name calling~~~
Old bad joke: Mortal sez: “Oh dawG make my arm like the other one!” { notice one arm damaged and the other isn’t } dawG sez: “Wish granted!” { guess what both arms look like now? }
Reagan left the Democratic Party officially in 1962 and was elected Governor of California as a Republican in 1966 (taking office in Jan ’67).
The bit about how the “Dem party left me” made a nice soundbite but it all happened years before he was elected President in ’80.
Obama is a right winger all the way. Republicans and Wall street have always worked together and now the Dems also work for them. The people have NO repersentation. We have taxation without repersentation. The Unions are weak and America will be a two class system. We have the uber rich, the wealthy , like Obama and members of Congress and then we have everybody else.
This administration is wholly on board with creating a society that owns nothing and can only sit and wait for the rent costs thrust upon them. We have that with business real estate. Now it will be like that with our homes. The for profit medical paradigm will take everything from everyone in the end and there will nothing to pass to children. Everyone will start with nothing. These are evil people and the only way to escape it is to throw gas on yourself and light a match.
Everyone here is so weak , dumb , and passive they will never stand up for anything.
You’ll have to forgive me, I was non-existent at the time Mr. Communicator was around. My knowledge regarding the man is limited, but there do seem to be several similarities of style and execution between him and Mr. Obama, at least going from what I DO know about Reagan. Although Obama hasn’t done anything like Iran Contra. At least not yet or not that we’re aware of.
LOL! You can only know for certain one of the two.
Then please do your research before making statements that can be so easily fact checked.
Apparently calling people weak, dumb, and passive isn’t insulting enough to be moderated.
Good. America need all the remedial reminders we can muster.
you are completely uninformed. Obama IS a republican. He is no Dem. He ran on complete and total lies and now completely ignored the people that got him elected and serves Wall Street so completely that he hires them to run the country. This after they have been proven over and over to be robbing us blind and conducting business like completely drunk idiots stealing in broad daylight. If you think people are gonna back him anyway just because they don’t want to admit the truth, you are very naive. It’s people like you that pay no attention to what is actually going on that are helping these people sell us out as fast as they possible can.
I think the rules at FDL allow public figures to be insulted and called all sorts of names but not for fellow commenters
Kind of keeps things from degenerating into the insult scrums that are so common on other web sites
Obama is redistributing wealth alright, but it’s all being redistributed upwards.
His policies are making the inequality in this country much, much worse. That’s going to be his biggest legacy, as far as I’m concerned.
At this point, the only sane thing to do is tax the rich up the wazoo until things even out a bit. But he won’t ever advocate that because he thinks business people are gods on earth.
A point that needs to be made more often, as we see the ruthless progress toward the disollution of the GSEs. This will leave Wall Street firmly in control of the mortgage funding business, end to end. And guess what? They don’t get excited about lending average Joes money, then making it back slowly at low interest. Good bye GSEs, then homeownership rates revert back to their pre-Depression levels.
That was sort of why the ‘didn’t’ appeared at the beginning of the question. I wasn’t 100% certain, and I’m willing to be corrected if I was wrong about it, but I was just inquiring from memory and less making a thesis paper about it.
Still, good to know the historically accurate information. Thank you.
I didn’t see it, but it sure sounds like Obama let loudmouth Billo “run” the conversation. Yet another reason to wonder WTF Obama thought he could “get” out of this so-called “interview.” It’s a win-win for Billo and his bosses, but a lose-lose for Obama.
That said, it’s just the way Obama rolls… as prior comments have stated, can’t stand Booosh, but at least he was decisive (in his dumb way). Obama’s just this passive pantywaist who says nothing of value to anyone.
In fact, about the only insult I can recall be borderline acceptable is when folks get called trolls for whatever reasons – and half the time that is just a misunderstanding it seems
That’s funny. Rhetorical question: why do people keep coming here presuming that we are all loyal Dem Obamabots, or that criticism of O equates with support for some other establishment douchebag?
Fixed it for ya…
Bush the Elder knew how to handle a hostile interviewer.
Get that your question is rhetorical, but it seems that some citizens still *confuse* the notion of being liberal/progressive/leftie as axiomatically being *for* any/all Democratic pols. Hence, if we *hate* Obama, it must be that we’re unhappy Hilary didn’t win.
READ the site a little; get a clue.
Well much as I cannot abide Poppy Bush (one of the world’s true evil-doers, like his father, grandpoppy Bush), yes, indeed Bush the elder definitely knew how to handle an interview and “own” the journalists. Bush the dumber did know how to stand his ground, even if he sounded teh stooopit.
Barry? All he knows how to do is fold like a deck chair… every time!
I’ll give them credit for learning the tactics of Reich Wing propaganda, and using straw man arguments, etc. This happens far too often to be chalked down to carelessness and not reading the site before posting.
Yeah. Agree. There are certain postings here, which *purport* to be from “Democratic voters” or leftists or whatever, yet sure seem *to me* to be rightwing plants writing very misleading stuff. You never know for sure, but bunk like that sure doesn’t pass the smell test, imo.
What do you expect from a Republican President? So, who will be our primary challenger from the left in 2012? If Obama believes that he will be challenged from the left, he will cut deals with the left to make the challenge to his reelection go away. He is now a kept creature of big business, therefore, he doesn’t fear his being torpedoed from the right.
The left only has leverage over Obama until the calendar closes the window of opportunity on launching a credible challenger. Then his true colors will emerge.
You’re welcome.
But you have to realize that when you make such simple errors with facts, folks will then question your credibility the rest of the way including the legitimacy of your analysis
So I can call idiot public figure idiots, but not random idiot commenters? Idiots are idiots regardless of status/level of fame.
That’s the way I understand it – it keeps FDL from becoming awash in a swamp of everyone insulting everyone they disagree with and comment threads becoming mired in playground and sixth grade insult fests.
However, if you prefer that sort of environment there are always options elsewhere in the toobz I’m sure
Nah, I like it here for the most part, even if I disagree with FDL on this particular issue.
“Unbelievable”.
That’s right, Tex; Bill O’Reilly can massage an interview better than Barack Obama.
(Plus, the notion that this corporatist shit is a Marxist/Socialist is black-humor hilarious.)
Next!
. . . they will lose the Presidency and also more seats in the house and senate.
Well, I certainly hope so. After what they’ve done over the past 20 years, its no more than they deserve.
Nicely said! Angelight doesn’t have a clue. The sad thing is I hear this same party line coming out of the mouths of family and friends who should know better but they don’t. The only thing Barry Zero has going for him is that the GOP has morphed into a goose stepping bunch of Visigoths and this makes anyone even remotely to the left of them look like a liberal.
Well, the Republicans get their policies enacted either way. And calling Obama a socialist just makes him swing further to the right, so they might as well go ahead and disapprove.
But one has to wonder about those democrats. . . . Obama’s approval rating with this group seems like pretty good evidence that the War-on-Drugs has done nothing to restrict some people’s access to mind-altering substances. ;-)
Or, maybe they just like anybody with a D next to his name, even if he is basically Bush III
I so happy I missed the whole thing. BTW – This really is the only real truth revealed from that interview: “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” I can certify that based on my own experience, the answer is no.
Or maybe the polls are bullshit.
No, actually that IS the answer, no maybe to it.
He would think they deserve it because they are supermen, and all the rest of us are mere pack animals.
Yeah, it really helps democratic government to avoid talking with the most widely viewed cable news network.
Look, I despise and deplore FNN, but it’s politically naive and also condescending to pretend they don’t exist and to give their viewers no progressive voices at all.
I know some of you hate Obama (most progressives don’t — check out real poll numbers) but he’s our best hope in the fight against the right. Keep pressuring him, but don’t give up the battle to the nuts.
Let me know where you get your drugs, dude.
Most progressives don’t?????
WTF???
Since when do progressives support:
Torture
Rendition
Assassinating American citizens whit NO due process
signing a piece of paper rendering a person a “non-person” with NO rights
a right wing (Heritage Foundation), corporate first health insurance bill
expanding the wars, and not ending them
NO ACCOUNTABILITY for the past violations of the law
NO return of the rule of law and constitution to the White House
NO aid for the little people, while trillions for the bankstas.
Sorry, those that support THAT are not progressives IMO.
Names I’ve never seen before, ever, standing up for Obama. Hmmm, why would that be?
I hope that you are correct about the bogus poll numbers.
However I do know a number of Democrats who, unfortunately, still support the Big Zero.
Also, I’m not sure how I’d fit into the poll, because I don’t really consider myself a Democrat any more. And, if the “Democratic” numbers in the poll represent “loyal” Democrats (rather than the ones who’ve become disenchanted), then maybe that is part of the problem. . . .
Obama IS on the right.
One thing I did not see mentioned about his interview is the fact, O was able to get the Fox news guys away from MUbarak thugs. How is that? I thought he had no control over Mubarak. And then it stands to reason, why is it Fox news got out and non of the other people reported missing in the last 12 days.
Progressive taxation is just a tool, not a religion. Don’t get too attached to an idea as circumstances could change and the tool might make a mess of things. Inventing the nuclear bomb and then finding it in the wrong hands, for example, isn’t good.
Look, distributing wealth in some way or other is just another tool of gov’t to make the overall economic system work better. Doing it for purely ideological reasons, to make more people happy, has been regarded badly by Americans who want to have a future where they too could get rich and not have to worry about having the fruits of their work taken away. Democrats today don’t argue for that. Most Democrats look to what FDR did and argue for gov’t spending on infrastructure, basic research, grants to states, grants to students and the like as a way of redistributing wealth in ways which are not getting done by normal means or which absolutely must get done for you to drive on the highway. But, that kind of wealth redistribution isn’t a lot of cash in the pocket of a lot of people. It is helpful during economic downturns, but that’s just a stimulus tool, not a communist uprising.
No, what we’re looking at today is something like the Roaring ’20s where wealth went to a minority in a hurry, but it’s different in that the majority are slowly sinking whereas the public in the ’20s was doing pretty well until the Crash.
So, why distribute wealth differently today? Consumption. The economy needs more of it and the people who have been gradually losing wealth aren’t able to buy so much. It’s a weight on the economy. We need to look at how things changed back in the ’70s to take us in this direction and consider some changes which stop this destructive trend. We have to consider the introduction of women into the work force in larger numbers, their movement into traditionally male-held jobs and the huge transformational effects of the micro-computer and the advent of global commerce which allows companies to ship jobs overseas.
What kinds of tools could we use to bring more wealth to the majority? More jobs, better-paying jobs, more gov’t infrastructure spending when we need it, changing incentives which would have companies investing more of their capital in America and improving education.
None of these is a kind of communist forced redistribution of wealth. They are all ‘grow the economic pie’ ideas which O’Reilly should be onboard with. But, today’s Conservatives are a stubborn lot and oppose everything because that’s a somewhat easier way to get elected and because they are completely bereft of creative ideas which would benefit anyone.
I don’t mean to sound demeaning Blue, but you do realize you’re talking about Obama here?
Very late to this thread but that’s a great bit of wordplay that deserves acknowledgement.