TW: In contrast to the Hooverite, head in the sand (or wherever) Republicans, Obama is making bold moves. I said back in 2007 Obama had a chance to be a home run hitting POTUS. The Clintonian singles and sacrifice bunts were nice in the 90's but given where things stand today- we NEED a slugger. For too long the can has been kicked down the road on many aspects of domestic policy: fiscal/entitlements, education, infrastructure, environment. Foreign policy got totally sideways with W. Bush and the world is evolving...quickly, with or without competent American leadership. Western democracies are for the first time in a millennia losing relative power (think about that one). A myopic nationalist approach would only hasten the decline.
Obama is not our only hope but he is the best hope, bitch (whine) if u must but really who would you prefer in the office at this point?
From Jon Alter at Newsweek:
"Mid-tweet in last week's press conference, reporters were already complaining that President Obama wasn't making news. And by the old standards, they were right. Obama didn't drop any bombshells, or rein in his agenda, as so many have been urging, or tee up a YouTube-ready sound bite. The same gasbags who had blasted him for demeaning the presidency by cracking jokes on "The Tonight Show" and drinking a beer at a basketball game (hadn't some favored George W. Bush over Al Gore in 2000 precisely because he was better "to have a beer with"?) now claim Obama's boring. On Sunday he had to defend himself on "60 Minutes" from the charge that he was "punch drunk" with mirth; by Wednesday, he was derided as too serious and professorial.
...In doing so, I'd venture that he was making news in a larger sense. He was signaling that he actually trusts people to stick with him through a complex, long-term argument. This is a radical idea and a helluva bet for an American president.
...He looks steady and competent and accomplished. While it was sold poorly, the recovery bill he signed was actually four or five major pieces of legislation in one, and adds up to more public investment than at any time in nearly half a century. It was also the largest tax cut in American history.
...Obama is tripling down, wagering not just that his recovery plan will work but that he can simultaneously dent three huge problems (not fix, dent) that keep getting worse. He's telling the people exactly what to expect from him for the duration of his presidency. He's insisting that repairing the nation's "foundation" begins right now, in this year's budget. And he's set himself up for failure if he doesn't bring big changes in our new policy trinity of Health, Energy and Education
Washington isn't bored by Obama; it's dazed and confused by him. I was on Capitol Hill in early March on the day the president's proposed budget came out. It was as though an IED had hit the place. Congressional aides asked each other in amazement...Can you believe it? The guy is trying to do what he said he would!...Last week a Democratic senator told me with a mixture of awe and worry that "every time I think he's gonna step on the brake, he hits the gas."
The critique comes in many metaphors. He's overloading the circuits. Putting too much freight on the truck. Biting off more than he can chew. That might be right. It's much easier to stop an idea in Congress than to get it through. ..."They're accustomed to incrementalism in this town," says David Axelrod. "Their answer is to muddle through—take the path of least resistance. Their lesson is, 'We're in a tough spot, so let's do less..."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/191407
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