Liberals Aren't Helping With the BP disaster
| Download | Duration: 00:40:55
Of the liberal shows I've listened to, only Rachel Maddow is covering the oil spill with any kind of objectivity and deference to science and not emotion. By contrast, Keith Olbermann and Ed Schultz and Bill Press and Bill Maher and blaming Obama for not stopping the spill NOW. No one knows how to do it NOW and believe it or not, torpedoes won't make it better. Oddly enough, the GOP noise machine seems to have been
I have come to the conclusion that anxious liberals are more of a threat to Obama's popularity than lying conservatives. WIth 6 months left until the midterm elections, Liberals are screaming at the top of their lungs for Obama to RIGHT NOW do things that are not in his power to do.
The music used was Danny gets it from Predator 2 and Percy Faith's A summer Place.
Obviously there are those foaming at the mouth extremists who do not realize that the logistics of stopping the oil spill instantly is impossible. A majority of the liberal apparatus are concerned that the oil spill disaster will not be used to motivate a more significant change in our current regulatory and energy policy. This would be the perfect time to beef up regulation, increase penalties and make it look like government is doing something. You are correct that the spill is BP's fault but this disaster should be utilized to stir up progressive change. I actually disagree with your podcast which states that the energy legislation is friendly toward renewable energies. The problem is that the legislation and current policy along with market advantage are all overwhelmingly friendly to non-renewable energies. So if i were to give one child 1 dollar and then another child 10 dollars was a really friendly to the first child relative to the second? The energy policy is not sane or moderate its a very corporate status quo friendly piece of legislation. It does begin to move America towards a different type of energy economy it sort of throws a few bucks to a select few small industries while giving an even larger sum to industries which need to shrink so the smaller industry can grow. I think that the more you try to see things as moderate the more you loose sight of what progressivism is about. Its about change and shaking up the establishment not trying to ride the middle ground. Last point no one expects Obama to be a messiah that will rid America of all its problems, but we did expect him to place America on a better path. We did expect him to make some of the right decisions sometimes. He has not made any progressive decisions since he has taken office. He has not made any liberal decisions since he has taken office. He has made several conservative business friendly decisions, he has made several unpopular decisions, and last but not least he has made several bad decisions. Obama is not a messiah, he is not a progressive, he is barely of the center left persuasion in the most conservative political arena since the gilded age.
Reply to this
I'm gonna shock you and agree with everything you said. My only difference with you is that I never expected Obama to be anything but what he is. He ran away from the liberal progressive tag all through the election.
Reply to this
I would like to take this time to apologize about the grammar. It appears I may have forgotten how to use commas and periods when needed.
I want to ask you a question though. Do you think that there is a corporatist power structure seeking to undermine all the gains during the progressive era? Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky, and even Howard Zinn seem to believe that.
Reply to this
Yes, but not because they are evil. It's because they are greedy monster locusts. The Liberal talking heads have removed the evil intent from the corporations and replaced it with blind hunger. They now say that CEOs have a fiduciary to push at the edges and make the most profit possible, which mutates to the absurd. They say you can't blame a pack of hyenas for attacking a little calf. They're hyenas with lawyers and lobbyists. Even some republicans half say that they need regulation to stop the absurdity, but they resist all regulation later.
Reply to this
I guess what you are trying to say is that we are not dealing with a thing we are dealing with greedy powerful groups of individuals? I agree, but we have to acknowledge that these structures/groups have always existed in every civilization and they are here to stay. The problem is that we would like to think we have left this all behind and that we have advanced forward as a society. In many respects we have but the power of the economic strategy has worn away most meaningful information outlets and thus the masses are blinded separated and crushed.
Reply to this
Jeff I'm sad to say this but OBAMA is absolute garbage. The corporatist democrats need to be voted out due to their lack of commitment to their constituents. The republican party was hijacked by extremists, but the democratic party needs to be taken over by true progressives. If you watch therealnews.com they highlight Obama's connection to the corporatist master plan from day one. There is no defense for him period. Right now America is in a struggle. Corporate interests versus the well being of the society as a whole. The only reason this is not recognized is because of the media.
Reply to this
What an absolute statement. I mean you really used the word absolute when you called Obama garbage. So with him being absolute, I guess he's in that area of pure logical noise where nothing or no one can be worse. There is no room for any decent debate here, so I won't debate it.
Reply to this
Magnitudes of garbage do exist. But I think in this case when you look at Obama and his policies he fail to do anything to reverse the dangerous conservative trends that have taken over our politics. So far he has pressed further rightward on most decisions put before him. How can you support or try to see the good in that? The difference between conservatives and liberals is when liberals donate and vote for their candidates without any expectations as to how they should govern. When conservatives support someone they hold them accountable and give mandates on what they want. Call it what you will but its purely democratic and it has been very successful at moving the republican party rightward.On the other hand liberal complacency, realism, or whatever you call it has been instrumental in moving the democratic party rightward. Obama is a symbol of that rightward movement. If we allow him to ignore his base and be owned by corporate interests we as progressives, liberals and moderates that do not make several million a year have lost.
Reply to this
Seriously, He's done "nothing?" Wow! Nothing at all! Zip! May as well have been bush eh? There is a world of difference between nor far enough and nothing, between tepid and frozen or tepid and boiling hot.
Reply to this
If Bush had advocated to make gay marriage legal do you think he would have been reelected? Bush Senior lost his second term bid mostly because he raised taxes. Its no0t about being fickle its about being honest. Look at his record and all the shortcomings. Jeff in your attempt to be "reasonable," your enabling your own disenfranchisement. If Obama really has done something that will move the country in a direction we need to go please name it. If you can't then he has done nothing in grand scheme of things. I think history will look on Obama as a man of beautiful words without action. I will let him have his terms and we will see the full record, but as of right now his presidency is a failure in terms of his promises versus what has actually been achieved. I challenge you to prove that he has made good decisions for society as whole and not corporate interests. Nothing he has out there is not business friendly.
Reply to this
Nick said: If Bush had advocated to make gay marriage legal do you think he would have been reelected?
Reply to this
Dude, I thought you disappeared!
Reply to this
That's not what my waistband is saying!
Reply to this
Wow, that was one hell of a conversation, and I have only read it now...
I missed it. =D
- Joe 6 Pack
Reply to this
Excellent podcast & observations. I enjoyed your Pink Panther opening and found it amusing. I appreciate that you take a very well-balanced view of everything and even when I disagree with your opinions, I feel like I can respect your opinions. Your discussion about the Gulf Oil Spill in particular was perhaps the most rational/sane/non-hyperbolic discussion of it outside of the Rachel Maddow segment you featured on the podcast. If only we had a corporate media had more shows that were as fair and balanced as your podcast consistently is..........Keep up the great work!!!!
Reply to this
Thanks! Comments like these are sure to be read to my Republican friends! There was no greater compliment that to say "non-hyperbolic."
Reply to this