vastleft's blog

Krugman continues to wade through the shallow end:
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Some of the best left-of-center bloggers (along with all the shitty ones) continue to mourn the "public option."

This is despite "public option" meaning no fixed thing and being a bait and switch that distracted progressives from advocating for real health reform... and for the barest transparency and legitimacy in the HCR "debate." Read below the fold...

Katrina vanden Heuvel:

Ronald Reagan famously quipped that the Democratic Party left him before he left the party. Like many progressive supporters of Barack Obama, I'm beginning to have the same feeling about this president.

Not much swifter than Emo Philips's clueless twirp persona:
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[The live blog has ended as of 5:00PM Eastern, but it was certainly lively, and I encourage you all to read and continue the conversation. --lambert]

In a few moments, we'll begin our chat with Paul Street, author of two books that uncover Barack Obama's "deep conservatism." Read below the fold...

Please join us for a Q&A with Paul Street, who has written two (count 'em, two) books about Obama's conservatism! Read below the fold...

Maybe someone who, unlike me, can stand the visceral pain will care to count the category errors is an op-ed called "All the President's Captors," which describes Obama as a man with "once-considerable abilities to act, decide or think," who's succumbing to Stockholm Syndrome. Read below the fold...

It would be some sort of good thing if some of the big blogs fomented a Primary Obama movement. Heck, maybe I'd sell a few more T-shirts.

Naturally, no one could have anticipated that Obama would be dreadful, and we must look forward and learn no lessons from the debacle, nor should we forgive the prematurely correct. Read below the fold...

So, having your site attacked makes you unacceptably disruptive:
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Krugman sez the Prez is "drifting," a relatively benign and presumably course-correctable situation, rather than realizing/admitting that The World's Most Powerful Man is steering the course he believes in. Read below the fold...

Monday afternoon, please join us for a chat with Paul Street, author of The Empire's New Clothes: Barack Obama and the Real World of Power! Read below the fold...

Krugman resolutely persists a fantasy Obama with good values and poor tactics:

Would he stand firm for the values he believes in... Mr. Obama effectively conceded the policy argument... [his Republican] opposition [is] calling his bluff in the belief that he can be counted on to fold... [Obama's making] gestures of appeasement to the G.O.P. ... a complete failure of purpose and loss of direction [... not doing] his part [... , not providing] the leadership [the Democratic Party] needs.

In this fantasy world, Obama wants good things but is a "Kick Me" sign-wearing wimp, ineffectually fighting conservative policy against "scorched-earth competition." Read below the fold...

Arthur shows how, "at the request of the Obama administration," reporting on the State Department leaks is sanitized for the Empire's protection. Read below the fold...

Go, read Chris Floyd on the Nobel Peace President and the end of both "excessive caution" and "career damage if civilians were mistakenly killed." Read below the fold...

cnn.com headline: "Obama tells Republicans he should have worked more with them"

(h/t Blue Lyon) Read below the fold...

[no-glossary]Fuck "civility".[/no-glossary] Read below the fold...