Maybe Obama has figured out that he's gonna get smeared and pummeled no matter what he does; So he's might as well do the right thing.
I hope he's not just dangling carrots to fend off the left and those that voted for true change.

Maybe Obama has realized that he'll have to answer to history and the universe, so he better do his part to be on the right side of those two judges.

But nevertheless Brad...this is good news. Despite the total sellout on healthcare, FISA, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Banks...

Where have the progressives gone? I think that was a famous song.

Still waiting for O to fix the big issues: the reversal of police state measures by the Bush mafia/administration.

Also I don't give the O administration any kudos for doing what he/they should have been doing from the beginning. It's like saying kudos/thank you for not screwing the people. They should have known better and they still have a lot to do.

"Or is it possible someone at the White House has begun to see some light?"

Oh, my. 99's gonna snap her cap...

Brad, add this to the mix:

"The Obama administration has developed possible alternative plans for a missile defense shield that could drop hotly disputed sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, a move that would please Russia and Germany but sour relations with American allies in Eastern Europe," the New York Times wrote on August 28.

All of these are modest but right moves. None of them is without cost. When a vehicle (the administration) is hurtling down a mountain road called "the first two years" one false move can be deadly, if one is challenging the Deep State. Remember what happened to JFK, who challenged the MIC, the CIA, and the Fed, thinking he could do all the things his office entitles him to do.

Then count the open death threats in the news lately toward the 45th president, and the recent deaths of others contemned by the "dog on a chain" who "ain't a got no name".

Fuck off with this "hope" shit...

I'll even add another, although it won't make a difference: Obama's also deigned to allow *some* of the White House lobbyist visitor logs to be released... but only by his consent and not as a right of the people to know whose Obama's masters are and exactly when they came calling.

And as for "why?" it's really very simple: Obama is about to capitulate completely to his corporate masters on health care and is trying to gin up as much support as possible by these meaningless distractions.

I saw on Raw that The White House opened up the visitor logs and CREW dismissed their suits also.

Kick the Pukes to the curb and git on with the peoples business dammit

I dunno cowboys, I'm not getting my hopes up yet. And if we get to a point where I can start having some hope, I think these batshit crazy wingnuts are gonna start taking some string hints from Beck and Palin...if you know what I mean...

Don't drink the water because it has pesticides and other poisonous chemical contaminants. Re-read your green report.

HOPE is something that should never be squandered but to talk about the White House puppet government of the criminal New World Order Illuminati rulers taking a position of critism against Israeli settlements is a sign of NOTHING.

I admittingly know very little about the issue except my guess from what I have read is that these said settlements probably do not belong there. So the murderous anti-enviro U.S. leaders may have picked the correct side in an argument they really have no right to engage in.

Israel has not been recognized as the 51st state and thus the Federeral U.S. government, an Imperialistic corporate dictatorship has no actual rights to police the said state of Israel.

The U.S. government and their U.S. privately owned corporate mass media continue to pose as a "Democracy" of mainly elected people by the people (U.S. citizen voters) to Americans and world people, however, this IS NOT actually how the greedy lying secretive government of the U.S. is run in 2009.

While reference is often made to a piece of paper called the Constitution signed over 200 yrs ago by some white settlers who conquered the geograpical area of U.S. mainly by killing North American Indians with their European diseases, this document has NO APPARENT BEARING on the current corrupt U.S. government except as a convenient point of reference.

The U.S. Federal government is a network of different groups and agencis run by and mainly representing the interests of a greedy super rich militaristic group of multi-national bankers, fossil fuel industrialists and bomb makers that make up about maybe 5% of the actual U.S. population of 300 million.

The Federal Reserve bank, a private secretive group of super rich individuals who were given the right to take over the U.S. money system in 1933 thanks to President Wilson. In conjuction with the Military Industial CONGRESSIONAL Complex, a title coined by former 5 star WWII general turn U.S. President Eisenhower in his final address WARNING to the U.S. people prior to leaving office are the extremely dangerous faction that runs this nation.

Sorry Brad, your careless New World Order rulers and their puppet President Obama HAVE NOT and DO NOT care about Americans or world people except to keep them medicated, stupid, and mislead.

Brad!!!!!!

Are you trying to drive me off a cliff?

OMG!

I'm busy celebrating my Mom's race horse winning tonight, but when I'm done with that I'm going to give birth to a full grown cow right here on your blog!

Sheesh.

"Are you trying to drive me off a cliff?"

Not a long drive, is it, 99?

No.

It's entirely too short. Partly because of this "hope" crap, and partly because I'm "a finely-tuned high-performance vehicle with a loose steering wheel"....

This page is hanging up on the "Twit This" icon... [appropriately enough]... and I mean it's hanging up in a major way... which does not help.

I cannot be the only one experiencing this offense to all Outer Blogistan....

"Hope?" Sheesh. NOOOOOOOOOOOPE!

Jeannie seems to have her finger on my pulse here.

with ES&S about to engulf Diebold/ Premier, I'd say we're only gonna get crumbs of hope from the government in order to prevent mutiny from here on...

WTF says the Tunga.

GBD #9 you mean 1913 not 1933 right?

Or; How a cute Turkish woman won the world in 3 weeks.

Putting U.S. history aside, a man's skin color was never a concern of mine as a pre-requesite to hold the office of U.S. president.

It is my opinion that this important leadership position for Americans and other nations as a role model who desires to save and protect the place we all live including earth's other inhabitants does not require ones skin color to be white.

The #1 World Super Power USA continues to spends billions and billions of dollars every year on guns, bombs, and of course it's current wrong-headed military occupations in 2 countries but who is really making the decisions?

Worried about about what he saw as this powerful group of individuals and military contractors took power, 2 term President Eisenhower envisioned that this greedy corrupted group was now at the helm represented DANGER for the U.S. people and world citizens.

Justified or not at the time, the U.S. is the only country that ever dropped a nuclear bomb and then became they became the police of the world?

A debatable retorical question but unfortunately MOST U.S. Illminati/war machine political puppets in government DO NOT and HAVE NEVER REPRESENTED THE GOOD GUYS.. the Free, the Brave, great American inventors, OR THE WORLD'S OTHER INCREDIBLE SPECIES.

I have to bring up this point because if this President has any soul, it is my position that he is being tortured by his inner light. The greedy criminal New World Order killers have already made his decisions for him.

Rigged stolen elections aside, I did not cry when Obama was elected and did not shed a tear when his super rich corporate campaign donors gave him the presidency.

So many people of different colors (like Brad) still pin their hopes on him however, this must in fact feel like a big bag of rocks and lead weights around his conscious.

When Presidential candidate Barack Obama took all the corporate money from the New World Order Pentagon war machine contractors, oil/coal/nuclear company heads, and the greedy U.S. banking thieves that already received a blank check from Congress to cover their ace after destroying the mortgage industry, his Executive vote was cast.

THEIR INTERESTS WILL BE HIS FINAL CONSIDERATION OR.. Patrick Henry

Too much hope. Way toooo much. He says "bad doggy" and then gives the doggy more bones under the table....or in this case "smart" bombs- GBU 39's, tanks and caterpillars....

Thank you for the correct date Tunga. It was typo that is correctly 1913.

The Federal Reserve Bank IS NOT a government entity AND THUS DOES NOT HAVE TO ADHERE TO GOVERNMENTAL DISCLOSURE LAWS AND CANNOT BE REGULATED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT.

So this private questionable institution act can act outside the scrutiny of the legislative branch even if they did their intended job AND use the word "Federal" just like any number of legislative bills that passed during the G. W. Bushit era as a completely misleading title.

The act of Congress passed after the majority of the legislative branch had gone home for X-mas recess. The Federal Reserve with help from the Congress under President Roosevelt ended the gold standard in 1933. This means that American currency that use to be backed by gold or silver you could receive by goint into a bank prior to that time is now backed by NOTHING and can be considered worthless paper.

President Kennedy was going to do away with the stranglehold of this secretive unknown group of multi-national banker who's power has been greatly escalated over the past few decades.

He started printing silver coins and was going to end "The Reserve" but we know what happened to him and we know the amount of silver that has been removed from minted coinage since 1964.

President Kennedy also refused to go along with the government's false flag 9-11 of it's time called Operation Northwood and removed the commander. The plan was to stage a fake attack and riat in Florida so the U.S. would have an excuse to counter attack Cuba.

The official story about 9-11 is a cover-up because the 3 World Trade Towers destroyed into pieces no larger than 2 inches, strew steel, and smoke was caused by controlled demolition. Architect and Engineers have produced a DVD called Blue Prints For Truth that you can watch for free on their website.

All world people must learn about how the trace signature of high tech military thermate cutter charges have been positively identified in peer reviewed studies on the few steel samples not destroyed in the cover-up from all 3 demolition sites. www.ae911truth.org

You want to know about terror? The war criminals are in the Pentagon and the White House. 3000 U.S. lives sacrificed to get the Bush Administration war machine going.

Whoopee!!! Oh boy we are going after the lyndie Englands of the torture scandal. Oh man he is going to show us some logs of people going into the white house. No, I ain't biting. He is greasing us up for the big sell out by Roy Rogers
and triggers, the horse, on wednesday night. Obama's speeches have gotten tired and mundane.
He got what he wanted, the presidency, and now its time to pay back the corporate benefactors.

The HOPE should be called "THE GREAT ESCAPE II." The Great Escape was called THE GREAT ESCAPE because it never was done before.

600 captured Allied forces working together escaped from a Nazi POW camp (that held up to 10,000 soldiers at 1 time). Around the hour they carefully worked together as a team in a code of silence and using hand signals to monitor every move of the Nazi guards trained to stop an escape.

Watch the movie. I never saw it but to escape from the debt enslavement of these evil loser greedy criminal killers who lied us into their wars and and remove them from control of the Federal government and the U.S mass media propaganda machine will take nothing less than the RRR teamwork.

In the end, just 3 men out of a planned 250 made it to freedom.

The HOPE is: THEY did it and so can WE!!!

Brad look forward to hearing you on Malloy next week.

By reading the rants of the so called progressives, then reading the rants of the projectionists in congress (Broun, Bachmann, etc.), we are in deep shit.
Especially Broun, this is exactly where they are going to take us after the so called left abandons Obama and we don't kill wingnut media, or electronic voting and the kooks start running the show.

The baby steps you note are nice baby steps, but he's left too many campaign promises out in the rain while eating steak tar tar and sipping sherry with CEOs around a cozy fire in the Oval Office, using the Constitution for kindling, to warrant more than an eyedrop of hope.

Brad, you may want to take a look at my 09/04/2009 update to the Lanny Davis piece, at the same time the State Department was cutting off $30 million to the coup regime, the U.S.-controlled IMF was providing $160 million.

While Prof. Grandin's position is that the IMF monies can in no way overcome a nearly $2 billion Honduras already lost as a result of the coup, recall that the IMF, per John Perkins, has been a traditional tool for debt creation that maintains Empire's control.

Even if the coup plotters are tossed out and replaced by a democratically elected regime, the problem of debt will remain.

Also, the State Department carefully avoided calling this a "military" coup, although that is precisely what occurred.

[1] Holder's baby step toward partial redress of egregious breaches of the Constitution doesn't closely enough approximate action in accord with his oath;

[2] the Honduras coup would not ever have happened if someone in the administration had not told them in advance that we would not interfere [and that's the kindest scenario for our involvement, which was fairly obviously more "hands-on" than that], and we have defied the consensus of the OAS by not cutting off aid and breaking diplomatic ties weeks and weeks ago, and the election is now only a month away... big whoop;

[3] the White House has been speaking out against the outright illegal Israeli "settlement" of Palestine from the git, and Israel has ignored it, still is ignoring it, stepping up their "settlement" and so that ought to have taught the White House just how much weight their words carry in the matter of the annexation of Palestine and the murder of their people; and

[4] as for opening the visitor logs, zap stated that eloquently enough for me... my immediate take was, "Oh, they're going to start keeping two sets of books," but it looks more like they are just going to open up the parts they don't mind people seeing.

None of this stuff constitutes a step in the right direction. It's all in response to outraged criticism, but not dispositive, just politically less egregious looking, while staying as egregious as before.

I think many are missing the point that all the political cover we are giving him for doing the right thing is being turned into ways to do a more politically astute job of continuing to do the wrong thing, and this is what we can expect from this administration.

It's not "too early" to tell. They're giving us mountains of indications that they intend to keep up the fascism, and polish it with our help.

brad,
great article...it always pays to look at both sides of any question

i have been very disappointed with our new president but if we look at our countrys history i think every1 would agree it has always been run by "the rich guys",but once in a while some pres sneaks something by that is actually good for the people

examples off the top of my head
1.public education
2.social security
3.subsidized housing for the elderly and the poor
4.medicare
5.medicaid

hopefully our current pres is the "compassionate" branch of the "rich guy rulers"

something ernst said struck me tho

"Even if the coup plotters are tossed out and replaced by a democratically elected regime, the problem of debt will remain."

this isn't just how "they" control the masses in emerging nations...this is what they have been doing locally here in illinois and i would bet across the nation

first we built a civic center(that the people had voted against) costing ovr 2.5 million a year for over 20 years
then it was built a baseball stadium at the jr college
then it was 92 million in bonds to redue unit 5 schools (and add some )
now district 87 is talking about another 5% raise in our property taxes
and of course our assessments have sky rocketed while the bottom was falling out of the market

and all of those things were brought to my county by diebold and or the leaders diebold picked for us

If Republicans are turds, Democrats are tur[d] polishers, and there is no way a third party can break in anymore. That too has been made plain. Plus, they are relaxing into their clamp on an unbreakable oligarchy, getting too lazy to even make elections look as though they've been free and fair.

COMMENT #24
... Agent 99 said

The White House has been speaking out against the outright illegal Israeli "settlement" of Palestine from the git, and Israel has ignored it, still is ignoring it, stepping up their "settlement" and so that ought to have taught the White House just how much weight their words carry in the matter of the annexation of Palestine and the murder of their people...
____________________

Israel is entirely dependent on the U.S. A just peace, which would require full compliance with UN Resolution 242, could be accomplished if the U.S. simply threatened to end the billions of dollars in military aid annually devoted to that State unless Israel agreed to not only to end new settlement activities but dismantle those that exist, tear down the apartheid wall and negotiate a two-state solution that would include at least the temporary placement of a UN buffer force and mutual guarantees of security by both sides.

None of that is likely to happen any time soon given the inordinate power of AIPAC and the Israel lobby, which, I suspect, if ever fully uncovered, would make Sibel Edmonds' revelations about the Turkish lobby seem like child's play.

99,lol turn polisher

[ed note: Either I need more coffee than this, or I'm catching my dad's multi-infarctions... well... or Brad is fooling with me... because I keep finding these horrifying typos and brainos that don't seem to have been there when I posted the comments to begin with! I got a little potted last night from celebrating race horse glory in the midst of all this emotional upheaval around here... so I guess ALL these brain malfunctions could be doing it. --99]

[p.s. That video made me dizzy!]

Ernie, at #27... exactly, precisely, right on.

I think Obama is running scared and might be really pissed at Rahm, the new Dick Cheney, who is basically running the show and O is pretty boy front guy. This health care "thing" has gotten waaaaaaay out of hand. They let the genies (Blue Dogs & Repubs) out of the box and cannot put them back in. Any meaningful reform is out of the question. I think Rahm was thinking Americans are too stupid to notice. O's popularity is sinking fast. Speech next Wed. is fear-based. I am completely cynical because I think Rahm's only plan was to make sure corp & lobby $ goes to Dems not Repubs. Unfortunately, these morons forget that Repubs still own the voting machines and are kicking Dems off rolls as fast as they can. He is not going to have a landslide in 2012 and Rove is licking his chops.

GBD —

I used to love to watch you dance that Grizzly Bear

Did you go to Frisco, to dance it there?

Your comments are filled with real facts and concerns. But you have not addressed the chief weakness in the Kennedy model, which you seem to be espousing. It leads to a less-than-one-term presidency. JFK could have been more shrewd in his effort to accomplish some of the lofty goals he set for himself:

1. US out of Viet Nam (and Laos, which was more likely to raise the hackles at the CIA, since their main source of funding was the Golden Triangle, as it is now Afghanistan and Colombia)

2. Reining in the Fed, continuing the printing of Silver Certificates

3. Removing, as you say, Lyman Lemnitzer from the Chair of the Joint Chiefs, as well as firing Allen Dulles, probably the greatest traitor ever to hold a position of power in the US

4. Refusing to send the military to save the botched Bay of Pigs, by which the deposed latifundists of Cuba (and Dick Nixon, Ike's own personal Dick Cheney — truly a couple of dicks) hoped to restore the glory days of Havana as the heroin capital of the western hemisphere, which it had been under Batista with Lucky Luciano's lieutenant Santo Trafficante there on a full-time assignment. Don't forget that besides the Cubans and sympathizers like the crazed Yaqui Indian David Morales, there were the first shining generation of CIA crazies, including E. Howard Hunt. Their first work of art, according to Bamford, was rigging the U2 spy plane so Francis Gary Powers would have to abort over the USSR and spoil the peace talks between Ike and Khrushchev (peace? we don't want no stinkin' peace!)

Ike of course was right about the MIC. "The disastrous rise of misplaced power" done happened. But he did precious little to stop it while he was in the Oval Office, and himself did supposedly warn "God help any man who sits behind this desk who doesn't know the military like I do." And he did try to put the brakes on SAC and the war machine.

In my view there is only one power great enough to stand against it. That is the whole people of the United States, speaking with one voice, and ready to lay it all on the line. Only by virtue of our numbers could we win.

But a president can make inroads, can slow the train. But not by getting himself shot or otherwise booted. Shrewdness is absolutely essential. Frank Church made inroads that can never be taken away. Revelations of outrageous crimes, like Brad and Sibel are working on, once out of the bag, cannot be lost.

You put me in mind of a Londoner during the blitz who is self-righteously impatient with the bomb disposal expert, accusing him of not really wanting to disarm the bomb after all.

"Hurry up! Disarm this bomb" (i.e., the Deep State, in our analogy — which has existed in its present form since 1947, and, let's face it, since the Perkins china-white dynasty was taken over by the Russell china-white dynasty. That's where all of today's Republicans spring from — families of untold wealth based on the basest moral turpitude. And that's where Yale, and its grandchildren: Skull & Bones and the CIA, spring from too.)

"What are you waiting for? Get the drill! Get a hammer! Here, use this cutting torch!"

#27 — you saved me a lot of typing! I was gonna say that, but not as well

I think these little in-roads are just to appease part of the Left. I think Progressives and everybody will be getting the "big green weenie" on Weds. The progressives problem is who will be their 2012 candidate? Speculation is Scarborough may be the Republican Candidate. I hope the Left gives Obama such a hard way to go after he blows off the PO. Obama's Administration seems almost like W's 3rd term.

Also, they stepped down from attending the Sibel Edmonds testimony and thwarting it, right?

...not that that's nearly enough, though.

#31 - You put me in mind of a Londoner during the blitz who is self-righteously impatient with the bomb disposal expert, accusing him of not really wanting to disarm the bomb after all.

If Obama is the bomb expert, I would step away from the steel concrete building if I was you.

U definetely possess a good sense of humor in your writing UNFORTUNATELY patience is a virtue and I wasn't blessed with much.

There are plenty of "non believers" that say the planet is not rapidly heating up from greenhouse gases and or that man's enviro destruction, pollution, and growing weight of it's human population has NO BEARING on RRR earth home. The reality check is that real earth science is not popularity contest and I am painfully in tune to the current situation.

For example, careless greedy fossil fuel industrialists will have no problem digging and ultimately destroying the last prestine Actic forests instead of the right thing. That is changing to using clean energy.

In the face of the dire threat to all life on earth, these individuals will now pollute and mine mainland U.S. coastal waters to line their pockets regardless of the reprecussions to world species, their survival, or the impending collapse of the world's ocean's fisheries.

These oil/coal/nuclear interests basically write U.S. energy policies and spend millions on propaganda and lies telling people how good a job they are doing.

Where is the transition to solar, wind, and geo-thermal clean energy and why isn't the Green Peace paper about how to make it happen by 2050 before shit real collapses taking place?

NO CRICKETS?

At this point, the 5% super rich multi-national banker thieves who control the U.S. military with unlimited DEFENSE dollars flowing their way are going for total control of this country and it's resources.

Do we really need another slap in the face Czar political position created by U.S. Federal government or shred of overwhelming factual evidence to know these people don't care who is killed in the process of this total takeover?

The candle burning at the other end is an out of control war machine started, controlled, and run by General Eisenhower's favorite group of dangerous incompetent liers. This New World Order group is on the verge of complete monopolistic control of all U.S. affairs.

Does anyone have an idea how many worker bee Americans are drawing a salary from defense contractors in the creation of weapons of mass destruction? This entire industrial must be broken down and coverted to a more useful task like clean energy or growing food locally.

9-11-2001 is the biggest perpetuated lie and vulgar display of U.S. militaristic power in my lifetime. In memory of the 3000 people, brothers, sisters, Dads, and Moms sacrificed to start the sale of this whole bogus war on terror campaign that has killed well over a million people in the 2 war torn nations attacked and occupied by American forces illegally I have NO PATIENCE. www.ae911truth.org

The real killers responsible have gotten away with murder another day while I am just another day older. I must deal with the fact that these same dangerous loser criminals are still running my country.

Rahm is the democratic Karl Rove, complete scum through and through. Great analogy. Obama is like W stumbling along for the ride, now having squandered any possible chance of getting any meaningful legislation through in these four years. What hope do we have now? He is a total right winger, barely to the left of Bush.

Just look at who Obama picked for his cabinet, before he even got started:

http://www.rollingstone..../12/the-whore-factor.php

All retread insiders.

Does he think we're stupid?c

And they sold it to us as "Lincoln's Team of Rivals". That's not the same thing. These insiders are not rivals even between parties! Team of rivals? The two parties recycle the same globalists. Let's hope some of these things mentioned in this post ARE a good sign.

A little lesser evil isn't good enough, at least for me.

phil point's out the obvious

Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth (Atlantic /Atco)

Come on I need a break too! o;)

Zapkitty EXACTLY right.

As my ole daddy used to say:

"Don't listen to what they say, watch what they DO."

People who see hope in these meaningless words are delusional.

and, don't mention 911:

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's adviser Van Jones has resigned amid controversy over past inflammatory statements, the White House said early Sunday.

Jones, an administration official specializing in environmentally friendly "green jobs" with the White House Council on Environmental Quality was linked to efforts suggesting a government role in the 2001 terror attacks...

So here's our problem....regardless of Obama's (and those around him) intentions, as Abe Lincoln said, I believe public perception is everything in politics. So there are two issues, if majority of US population is united against somthing, no one should be able to stop us (see Abe quote below) and second, do we have a leader that will chose the unselfish act of trying to appeal to the better angels of people and assist in moving public opinion towards good and right or will he take the selfish, easier road, and lead peoples opinions toward thier worse angels and the agenda of bad and wrong.

Abe managed to move the country by appealing to the better angels of people and move public perception without demagoguing or riling up fear.

Think Repbub fomenting on health care and those yelling at town hall meetings are intense, think what it was like to try to build consensus and support, in the North and in the Border States, for a war that was largely about standing up to the expansion slavery being promoted by the South and about not letting the South just abandon the Union if they did not get what they wanted.

Now that's a tough sell, with lots of crazies against it. Look how hard white people resisted intergration in the South 100! years later. Thought they were going die if discrimination of black people ended.

And Lincoln had the aboltionist who righlty wouldn't candle anything less the complete removal of slavery. They were sorely dissappointed with Lincoln at first. But see what Lincon did and read the second inaugural address...no way the guy that wrote that was not an abolitionist at heart all along, good luck finding even a progressive politician these days saying a similar thing that Abe said, that the civil war was likely karmic pay back for the evils and earnings of slavery that the South and North enjoyed... but more than anything Lincoln advocated for, and worked within, the rule of law/democracy and his belief that we could appeal to our better angels and move public perception for the good even in the face strong public perception manipulated against good.

to quote the Lincoln institute: In a speech to fellow Republicans in Chicago in December 1856, Mr. Lincoln said: “Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change public opinion, can change the government, practically just so much. Public opinion, or on? any subject, always has a 'central idea,' from which all its minor thoughts radiate. That 'central idea' in our political public opinion, at the beginning was, and until recently has continued to be, 'the equality of men.' Mr. Lincoln always believed that most Americans shared his belief in the centrality of the Declaration of Independence. At the initial Lincoln-Douglas debate in Ottawa, Illinois in August 1858, he had said: “In this and like communities, public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. Consequently he moulds public sentiment, goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions.”But he understood that his opponents were also seeking to mold public opinion. In his House Divided Speech, Mr. Lincoln said of Democrats’s goals: “Auxiliary to all this, and working hand in hand with it, the Nebraska doctrine, or what is left of it, is to educate and mould public opinion, at least Northern public opinion, to not care whether slavery is voted down or voted up.”

there is more here

http://www.abrahamlincol....asp?ID=124&CRLI=172

Its hard to know someone's intentions, but I suspect if Obama had perfect, pure intentions, he would still leave progressives dissappointed given need to work within system and deal with "deep state" "shadow govt" greedy men, whatever you want to call them, just as Linocln could not have gained the power he did and gotten border people and Border States to work for good if he had said "consitution and rule of law be damned, slavery is wrong, it should be gone tomorrow," when he ran for or entered office.

Having said that, is Obama as purely and sincerely intended as Lincoln???? Lincoln appears to have been an exceptionally moral, uncorrupted, and good/kind-natured man as even his enemies often mentioned, so that is a tough standard for anyone to measure up to. However, just as it is with all of us, Obama could choose to follow his better angels, it is his free will, and I hope he, just as I hope I and my fellow humans, all choose wisely everyday. Besides acting morally and unselfishishly in the manner of the Golden Rule, I think it is all our parts in this is to try to move public perception towards all of our better angels through positive persuasion which Lincoln was the ultimate role model

Karen,

Lincoln was no saint. People have to stop this cult of past and present presidents mentality.

http://ideas.blogs.nytim...1/rape-and-the-civil-war

{Ed Note: Comment deleted. You may insult, attack, condemn public figures and/or "Democrats" and/or "Liberals" and/or me, all you like. You may not, as clearly spelled out in the very few rules for commenting here at The BRAD BLOG, personally attack other commenters, Doc. You've been warned about that before. You're very close to losing your posting privileges here all together. So knock it off, if you want to stick around. And though it's not required, it would be much appreciated if you hit ENTER every now and again between your paragraphs. Avoiding the ALL CAPS SYNDROME will also make your posts both easier to read, and make you appear less like a crazy person. Thank you. - BF}

PSS - this is absolutely HILARIOUS !
" ...If not, as we spend so much time around here critical of so much that he's done wrong,..."
---
OK I'M GOING TO THE ARCHIVES TO SEE HOW MANY EVIL SCOWLING OBAMAFACE ARTICLES THERE ARE - I BET A THOUSAND BUCKS THERE'S NOT EVEN A SINGLE ONE! NOT ONE FOR YEARS, YEARS YEARS ON END!!!!

We have to remember it is the people who rule the USA not some saintly idea of a president. People only have to assert their power by peaceful protests in every state and city hall and let their voices be heard.

The more the mainstream media ignores protests the louder the voices of the people become since the only way to stop people from being heard would be to cut off communication channels between people and restrict people's travel and movements since as it says in the constitution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Here's some more on Lincoln and the cultish admiration of presidents:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbFty9nZUac

'Interviewed by Brian Lamb on C-SPAN's "Q & A" television program, Dr. DiLorenzo discusses Lincoln, academia, and his two books: "The Real Lincoln" and "Lincoln Unmasked".'

Thanks for the great Lincoln quotes. But as you are reading the Second Inaugural, which puts in perspective those who call God alongside their cause, remember that he was to die a month later. Then don't stop there. Read "When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d", almost surely begun though not finished immediately after those days.

And remember the great loss, and the great cost, of great lives like the sixteenth president, and the thirty-fifth a century later. We can't afford to lose another tall stately brilliant pioneer until he has broken down our prison wall. May he live to see his commission fulfilled, and shame the bloody oligarchs and their in-bred ignorant packs of dogs.

'Scuse the unbridled sentiment, but I see Kennedy in B.O. when he walks. I was in ninth grade when JFK won, and when I came to class the next day, Diana Brown said, "Oh, boy, it'll be 'fish on Friday' from now on".

Re Kim Kaufman: Comment #30. I respectfully disagree. Obama isn't "running scared." He is not "pissed at Rahm" Emanuel.

Obama knew exactly what he was getting when he picked a corporate sell-out like Emanuel as his chief of staff, just as he knew exactly what he was getting when he picked the Goldman-Sachs connected Tim Geithner to head treasury (as opposed to a true progressive economist like Paul Krugman).

Whether, at some point in his life, Obama was a progressive (e.g., when, as an IL state senator he supported "single-payer"), it is clear that he sold out as a result of a cynical political calculation --- the corporate media only covers "viable" candidates. A candidate is not "viable" unless they amass a fortune to spend on deceptive 30-second spot ads. Only those candidates who sell-out to corporate America amass the funds necessary to become "viable" candidates.

Obama is doing precisely what his financial backers expect him to do, and what they expect him to do is to betray the millions of ordinary American citizens who bought into the slick "change we can believe in" campaign.

Yep. Right on, again. When Obama picked Rahmbo it was one of those moments like that Blue Collar Comedy guy, Bill Engvall, would say, "Here's Your Sign."

Obama is doing precisely what his financial backers expect him to do, and what they expect him to do is to betray the millions of ordinary American citizens who bought into the slick "change we can believe in" campaign.

BUMP that.

Obama is doing precisely what his financial backers expect him to do, and what they expect him to do is to betray the millions of ordinary American citizens who bought into the slick "change we can believe in" campaign.

Isn't itstrange, or maybe should've been expected, that some scholars have been saying Obama would do this even before he was elected like during early part of Jan 2008. Nobody listened.

BF YOU ARE A LIAR ! liar ! liar ! liar ! #47 - NO I HAVEN'T BEEN WARNED ABOUT THAT BEFORE! YOU'RE A LIAR! YOU WANT TO POINT OUT THAT WARNING MR LIAR ? COME ON LET'S SEE EXACTLY WHEN THAT HAPPENED! GOOD LUCK LIAR! YOU'RE FULL IT OF - AS USUAL - AND JUST LIKE THE PIECE OF SHIT YOU ARE, YOU WHINE ABOUT CAPS - WELL SHOVE THE CAPS UP YOUR ASS LIAR.
---
SEE YOU LATER YOU PIECE OF LYING SHIT !

{Ed Note: You're right. I had only advised you about the ALL CAPS thing. My apologies. So consider yourself now well-warned, multiple times, and placed on moderation, since you seem to have trouble doing things like following rules (which are linked above every comment box) and playing nicely with others. You may wish to review those rules before attempting to post here again, unless you decide to leave after all. You know where the door is, right? - BF}

And, Ernie, on the "viable candidate" requirement to get coverage by the media: it isn't just the buying of the spots. It's the ability to get the play from the pundits. This is part of why I think people dreaming of a third party are only dreaming, that such an alternative has already been closed off. All the main media outlets are stakeholders in the party with two names. Actual change has been locked out, and the people in positions to unlock the door, obviously, won't.

For sure we're not in Kansas anymore; Dorothy is whacked out on crack; Toto has rabies; and the man behind the curtain is the wicked witch. It would take an entire nation of people clicking their ruby slippers in unison to get home back.

#55 -

Phew! Glad you were able to get that off your chest.

See ya!

The engines from flight 93 were 7 miles from the final impact site.

Boeing engineers have been working for 8 years now on explaining this curiosity.

The so called "dead cat bounce" is a financial term arising from the dupes last hurrah in the stock market.

What ever happened to that missing cruise missile Dick Cheney had stuffed in his King sized unsinkable Molly Brown water bed?

It's too big to fail.

Konstantin

I agree with your general point and am really for the idea that people have to take responsibilty for being and making the change they want in the world. My whole point about Abe and what he said about public perception meshes with that.

However, I think its limited to say good and talented leaders do not make a differences. Often the leaders come from ordinary people trying to do good, but in the end they are leaders and they can make a difference.

It seems the people that made the Am. revolution had belief in their power as a people, but there were many Tories that resisted it and the revolution was barely won...if a few of the good leaders were not there, say Washington, Franklin, things could have ended much differently. That does not mean I think a slave owner Wash. was a saint, but he was a example of an effective and uncorrupted leader. His own self-constraints on power (lack of a huge grab for it) helped set a pattern/ideal which future leaders were held. His general-ship and persistance in the war also made a huge difference.

By trying to emulate leaders that have been successful in the past, by trying to learn from what worked and did not work for them, by holding up the best of their acts as a standard of culture which we expect other leaders to match, we are not necessarily making them icons of worship but rather as some one that showed a way of doing things that may still help us now.

I am not naive about Lincoln and well aware how everyone now thinks he apparently loved slavery, loved the power and the rape and pillage of war, advocated for all types of oppression, killed Indians, called black people bad names etc....but come on, are you saying he was worst than most people, and exactly who else among the population would have done a better, a more saintly job?!?! And is the collective group of people advocating for change likely to act in a more moral way as a group than the best, and most moral of its leaders. I don't find this to be true in my reading of history. Public perception is everything but generally I find good leaders are an effective check on their groups potential for bad behavior more so than the other way around. Ghandi being an example (and yes I know he slept beside young women etc...but please don't try to tell me he was not a good leader) Having said that, no leader can succeed if the group following are not virtuous and attentive to their democratic duties.

And also, I don't care about the personality as much as the logic and analysis and effectiveness of ones actions. Even a real jerk can say something that provides insight for generations to come. Is Abe's argument about public perception and the best means to sway people and his example of public persuasion compelling or not? regardless of whether Abe was a saint or a flawed person.

Don't kid yourself, there will be times when one person's free will decision can and will make a big difference for millions of people. Sure people can force leaders to follow their will but until we have perfect democracy, leaders, because of their power, matter, and thier intents and personal morality matter, dearly.

1. Through his actions as President until now, Obama has cynically forfeited the trust of his supporters, most sadly tens of millions of idealistic young newcomers to politics. He will have to do a lot to win it back.

2. In reference to numerous comments attacking Israel's policies on this and other progressive websites: It is not a contradiction for an American progressive to be basically supportive (not uncritically) of Israel. The Israel/Palestine dispute is historically complex and unique, and does not easily fit into progressive vs. conservative categories. With your often vociferous comments, you are losing the full support of many friends of Israel who agree with you on virtually every other issue. All of us need to stand united against the reactionary forces that threaten to destroy the world as we know it. It is fine to take a pro-Palestinian position, but please realize that there are many well meaning, progressive people to whom the continued and safe existence of Israel is vitally important.

{Ed Note: Comment deleted. As you know, GBD, rules disallow personal attacks on other commenters. No matter how obnoxious and loony they may be. - BF}

#55 - Well that's amazing, you almost admitted your massive fault. If anyone goes to the link you provided, you post to me as just another poster, so there is no warning whatsoever, just another poster complaining by anyone's look, especially a new person such as myself who has no idea that you might be a moderator, especially since you didn't chime in as one, but just as another poster.
So no, I wasn't warned at all, before.
Plenty of posters can complain about other posters styles and it means nothing other than the usual.
So, you didn't warn - you chimed in as a regular poster, haven't warned multiple times, and have lied therefore, again with the word "advised".
In that link here are those who attack me, whom you haven't chastised:
#12 " Either SiliconDoc knows better and is a bald-faced liar, or, SiliconDoc typifies the blind faith of the true believer who really doesn't require any fact-based reality to support his/her beliefs."
#18 " SiliconDoc aka Lanny Davis "
#34 Agent99 attacks quite outright someone he calls "Haystacks" :> " And, oh, crap, Haystacks, my coffee is just now kicking in. Will you just go the fuck away? You have been told a thousand times, in a thousand ways you are no longer welcome here. What kind of a jerk wants to just keep on coming back when he knows he's not welcome? A stalker. A stalker. "
---
I'd say calling someone a stalker is an attack,wouldn't you ? Apparently you don't enforce your rules on your regulars, therefore someone like me coming in finds " It's ok to do it ! " Same thread those were in - same place you falsely claimed to have wanred me, while your buddies ripped away with personal assaults and you said not a word to them.
----
What you're really doing is lying to try to get rid of a person who not only doesn't always agree, but can point out the distortions and excessive lies, and does so, effectively. Here comes more:
I'll point out now the names you've called me !
You should warn yourself, but of course, you can do whatever you want, right...
#44 Personal Insult from you: " Do you have *any* values of your own? Or just what the wingnuts tell you to beleive? "

#60 Big Dan attacks me " Is the name "SiliconDoc" supposed to be ironic???

silicon - plastic - fake - astroturf "
#67 Ernest A Canning Attacks Me : " What a piece of work this SiliconDoc is."
That is also a personal insult.
-------------
Shall I go on, are you going to issue the Multiple Warnings you failed to issue ?
Go see who attacked whom first, won't you ?
--
I dare you to be honest enough to post this and not censor it.
I bet you won't do it.
Here you make more insults, who they are directed at is unclear to me, but the person who was being responded to knows you just called them obnoxious and loony -
" {Ed Note: Comment deleted. As you know, GBD, rules disallow personal attacks on other commenters. No matter how obnoxious and loony they may be. - BF}"
Yes, even in your moderation, you hurl insults at posters.
You can do it, right, your buddies here who agree with you can do it, but not anyone else ?
I see that is exactly your current rule set.
I'll wait for all the hard work at moderation you missed in the thread where you claimed you advised me.
I'll wait to see if you dare post this!
Let's see if you are honest, worthy of being held in regard higher than those you attack.
Try to not to disappoint me.

As noted in the rules, and in my comments to you, you are welcome to personally attack me, public figures and moderators here all you like. We have the bully pulpit, so it's only fair that you can have at us.

In return, of course, we get to have at you, in a way that mere "commenters" aren't allowed. Nonetheless, we try to encourage civil conversation here, even with those we disagree with, and try to avoid such personal invectives when possible.

You may *criticize* other commenters and their points of view all you like. You may not personally attack them. Sorry you see the above as personal attacks, but we don't have time to babysit you, or other commenters 24/7, and yet we try to keep this place open as possible for conversation. (You'll notice, for example, that we don't require sign-in membership to post comments like so many of the wingnut blogs, etc.)

Act like an adult, and you'll likely have little problem here. Good luck with that.

I see, so what you are saying without saying it, is Big Dan, Agent99, and the others who attacked me are the bully pulpit- moderators, etc.
No actually you aren't saying that, they are not, but you won't moderate them, of course.
You on the other hand, of course, have your special attack rules for yourself- LOL - and others of the elite tyranny. ROFL
This is hilarious. This is how the left runs everything - with one set of rules for the elite where anything goes, and another set for their underlings, to which they grant special exceptions for special butt kissing.
hahahha
So were back at you moderating only those that disagree, and everyone else has a big fat pass. That's still the rule - Grizzly ruffles feathers here too, so he gets deleted.
I see, well what a pathetically biased system, misapplied, with prejudice.
Now one just has to ask, where is the big list of big shots that can attack me - where is the special privvies list of mods and above the rules personages?
Then it would be helpful to have a special pets list. It's already apparent those that you gave a pass to in this and the other threads are on that, but is there a larger list, just I know who can rip away, and then I'll have to check if I can rip back, or if they're just "my equal" and I'll have to take it, because you won't reprimand them....
Yeah, what a wonderful pile of crap you've got going.
I don't even have to look at the other thread, I know you didn't touch your little pets with the warning they deserved, and still do, if you had any integrity at all, which you obviously do not.

Nice insult too, your last sentence, you just couldn't resist, telling me to act like an adult, with the implication that I haven't been.
I see, so the rules are really in place for people like you, who cannot control their insulting to others... and don't even intend to, ever.
That's really something.
I see you didn't admit I was attacked first, and repeatedly, you tried to lie about it, and you're still on a roll, with your latest insult.
So, this has been quite educational, and it certainly has helped me form an opinion about who is running this place, what kind of people.
If you really do encourage getting along go moderate and delete the posts in the thread where you claimed you said something to me. Yeah, come on, let's see what should be done, done.
Without doing it, you've given thme permission again, to attack, with impunity.
You probably want it that way, huh. It certainly is the way you're running things.

Little suggestion: If you don't come in loaded for bear, splatting offensive argumentation all over a thread, people won't react so negatively, and then nobody will have to make judgment calls about who's attacking whom. It's really that simple.

It's perfectly feasible to make your points, which so far have been obnoxious enough without any dressing, in my view, without further angering people with the inflammatory way you choose to articulate them.

It's doable and it's optimal... for EVERYONE.

Hey I came in, saying and claiming what Lanny Davis did was tell the truth, and I still have all the proof that is exactly what happened.
In fact, although most everyone attacked, they had to agree (often silently) in the end, and even then they fell short of admitting their own man's crimes, Zelaya's crimes, the initial crime of the ballot call - which is pretty amazing, unless you're a zealout who could care less about any rule, or gets away with breaking them all the time. (of course that was a hint)
I gave Goodman the one piece of credit she deserved, the illegal removal from the country point, but throwing Zelaya in prison apparently is (would have been) 100% legal, perhaps still is.
So I made my points, period, and they needed to be made because the piece didn't refute a single thing Lanny Davis said, it just personally attacked him, over and over and over again.
A lot of the chiming in was simply that.
I guess since I elicited a very valuable in depth conversation and set of links on lot of the other issues surrounding the ouster, you could easily say I was the most valuable in the thread, the only one challenging the bland, attack and forget it mindset.
Yes, the truth is, I deserve an award.
Thanks for your complaint, another attack on my style, which of course you'll get away with, again, as usual.

Comment #24 Agent99 point2: " [2] the Honduras coup would not ever have happened if someone in the administration had not told them in advance that we would not interfere..."
Although this is not the right thread, I'm sure I'll be the one reprimanded for talking about it, not the rest of you, but here goes anyway:
What you fail to admit, logically, and honestly, is the coup would have never happened had Zelaya not tried to force an illegal ballot initiative for which he has zero power to do, is unconstitutional, and for which he had another coup dictator print up the ballots and fly them in - at which point he didn't back down after warnings, but stormed the air force base after firing a military leader who would no follow his illegal order, and hand out the illegal ballots.
So, if you claim it was our call, saying we(the USA) would not interfere, and that is the bottom line, one must surely ask if you will afford the very same ideas and policies toward the former Bush administration and the current one ... ?
Can they do whatever they want illegally, fire a military commander who refuses to go along with the illegal order, then you'll support them 100% anyway, and blame someone else, like the UN perhaps ?
Of course you won't. Of course you have not (except probably early on for Obama and perhaps even now, right?), you've done the exact opposite. So what you claim is good for you here, you deny the people, and the other parts of the government- save your pet Executive Zelaya, in Honduras, or former pet Obama to a degree. ( his Czars for instance come to mind - have you called for his impeachment ?)
No one with common sense and a fair outlook can overlook that. No one. Come into the light. You can still have your other disgusts at the Imperial money powers, but having the gumption to see the criminal errors of Zelaya will actually teach the movement a very valuable lesson!
Are you willing to support an honest movement forward, that is beneficial for the future of your goals, instead of covering up, which is likely harmful ?

[ed note: That "ballot initiative", for the umpteenth time, was NOT a ballot initiative: It was a POLL... no force and effect and so no breach of their constitution. PERIOD. If you don't KNOW you are spewing lies, go do more research before continuing. --99]

[p.p.p.s. Besides, do you really think the ENTIRE Organization of American States would have condemned the coup if it were a lawful revocation of office? Really? You have THAT little regard for the leaders of everyone in the Western Hemisphere? What kind of morons do you think we are? Seriously, dude, your position is OUTRIGHT untenable and if you don't know it, you ought to. This isn't a matter of opinion. It's a matter of fact and of record and so continuing in this vein becomes then, clearly, the spreading of knowing disinformation, and we don't provide a forum for that action here.]

Oh! I know! You're such a besieged saint! How could anyone who came in trying with bogus material to turn liars into truth tellers and truth tellers into liars, be so egregiously maligned!

And the nerve of Brad to impugn your style! OMG! An ogre! What a reprehensible cad!

Now you've got me crying, which is so unmanly.

I'm so ashamed!

So ashamed!

Can you ever forgive me?

SiliconDoc -

Big Dan is not a moderator here. GBD has not "ruffle feathers here". His comment was removed because he personally attacked you.

And yes, since you're allowed to personally attack me, I have the right in return. Sorry for that level playing field, boss. I know you're not used to such things in your wingnut world.

Beyond that, don't have much time for blog lunatics. Got plenty of your brethren who have actual power to keep my eyes on. Good luck to ya.

Thank you Brad for clarifying.

Silicon Dic: FYI I have complete diregard for the super rich lying treasonous criminals rulers who run are country. That has not changed even though Obama is now their New World Order Illuminati puppet President.

This secretive group of greedy incompetent lying killers used the highest levels of Federal government in conjuction with the U.S. military and to pulverize 3 World Trade Towers on 9-11. They carried out this false flag event to provide the "oil" to grease their wheels in their plan to increase their extraordinary Executive powers and network of control both legally and illegally as well documented.

Carl Rove used "their" private corporate U.S. mass media to amplify the official cover-up, and wage the campaign to get Americans and world people behind their wars using fear and anger.

It has worked. Today these calculated liars still have manipulated and beaten down the common man imploring preditory debt enslavement by Illuminati multi-national bankers while increasing their personal wealth at the great expense of American lives 1st sacrificed on 9-11-2001.

The result of the care-less Bush-Cheney terrorist rule after 9-11 was the death of more American with their incompetent use of the U.S. military, thousands and thousands of civilian lives in 2 war torn nations, and their most dangerous effort, their care-less war on nature.

People who post disrespecting Brad, Bradbloggers, and those trying to communicate, expose, and remove the cunning deceptive hijackers of RRR nation are part of the problem and therefore part of my problem.

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL!!!

The Obama Administration, run by Rahm Emmanuel, has an obvious strategy. Give the corporations all the valuable jewels of our country's commons, but make sure that the people don't revolt by letting them have a substantial amount of low hanging fruit. Please forgive the mixed metaphor. Rahm famously claimed to be 13 and 0 in legislative victories, but I'll bet not many of us can point to one of real substance.