HOPE FLOATS
Since The Original Average Man (TOAM) recently made reference to Naomi Klein's funny and insightful article in which she assigns hope-based terms to disappointed Obamaniacs, I was inspired to make a couple comments of my own ...
Like many Obama fans, it seems that TOAM woke up this morning with a nasty Hopover; defined as:
Like a hangover, a hopeover comes from having overindulged in something that felt good at the time but wasn't really all that healthy, leading to feelings of remorse, even shame. It's the political equivalent of the crash after a sugar high. Sample sentence: "When I listened to Obama's economic speech my heart soared. But then, when I tried to tell a friend about his plans for the millions of layoffs and foreclosures, I found myself saying nothing at all. I've got a serious hopeover."
Okay, maybe I'm still a little drunk on the Obama Kool-Aid, but I'm not quite there yet. Although, I do admit to being on a little bit of a Hoper coaster lately. At any rate, just to show that I'm not completely in the tank for Barack, I am jumping on Naomi's quest to banish Larry Summers from public life. I have to admit that I didn't know much about the guy before this election, but the more I learn, the more queasy I get. In fact, I'm currently in the middle of Ms. Klien's awesome book The Shock Doctrine, and it seems that Larry's embracing of "disaster capitalism" goes quite a ways back. And here's part what Naomi Klien says about him in this recent column:
... that's the problem with Larry. For all his appeals to absolute truths, he has been spectacularly wrong again and again. He was wrong about not regulating derivatives. Wrong when he helped kill Depression-era banking laws, turning banks into too-big-to-fail welfare monsters. And as he helps devise ever more complex tricks and spends ever more taxpayer dollars to keep the financial casino running, he remains wrong today.
So, yes, I'm still in love with the idea of hopey. But let's call a duck and duck: Summers smells fowl, and I hope he gets kicked off the island.
Having said that, though, my other great hope is that my lefty friends aren't running their feelings through the InstaHope-A-Matic and won't soon develop Hopelash.
Peace Out.
TL
Labels: barack obama, hope
posted by Trekking Left @ 7:13 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
P.S. Don't forget to vote out Summers ==> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/custom/2009/04/17/CU2009041702227.html
On the bright side the rest of the world seems enamored with hopey.
I disagree as much as all y'all about the sheer lack of integrity in Obama's economic team, but I think you need to cut the guy some slack, Edgar. You don't think he's been sat down by the Haves (and probably the CIA too, re: the torture memos) and told two words: "Jack Kennedy"...?
Not to mention that he's got congress and the corporate media to deal with.
If he (or any of us in his position) can make any significant changes to our system, it's not going to be from sheer courage and willpower. It's gonna require overwhelming support from the public.
You can keep on sitting here thinking "oh, well he's not doing what I wish he would do, so he sucks", or you can go out and rally support for the things you care about, and perhaps it will create the necessary political cover for him to act.
The dude's smart. From the things he's doing and saying, I think he knows what's right, but realizes the difficult position he's in, and is daring us to "make him do it", like FDR once did.
Bottom line: whether or not he does the things we want him to do is up to us, not him.
Hello AverageMan,
Heck, I've been cutting him slack on here ever since I said I would do so. If the people ever decide they want real change then the real powers that be must be dealt with, and I don't believe anyone has the stomach for that fight. However, don't expect me to heap praise upon a man who does as he's told and reads well from a teleprompter. False hope is the cruelest thing, and change is just a lie. I'm tired of lies, and that's all we've had for decades. If he were to come out and tell everyone about the PTB, and the great kleptocracy, they might Jack Kennedy his ass, but true state heroes always end up that way. The problem is that no-one who has the weakness of telling the truth ever gets close to the Oval office. He's fine, better than Bush, possibly the best we can hope for and I think that's a sad commentary on the times.
[A.M. will like this.]
I do indeed!
And here's William Greider making your case quite eloquently...
business as usual for the most corrupt CONgreff in the history of the world:
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
On the day the new Congress convened this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation to route $25 billion in taxpayer money to a government agency that had just awarded her husband’s real estate firm a lucrative contract to sell foreclosed properties at compensation rates higher than the industry norms, the Washington Times reported on Tuesday...The people love it! Vote name recognition! Vote (i)!
Obama's War on Labor
Post a Comment
<< Home