The Republican Party has proven to have no ideas, no alternate plans, can’t even decide who leads them and what they stand for, and now to add to their problems, they have to scramble to keep up with everything they need to be against!
President Obama is pushing forward, and his agenda isn’t limited, but includes addressing all our nation’s concerns and challenges.
“The budget! The environment! Immigration! Why is Obama attempting so many big projects at once? It’s not a legislative strategy, Eric Alterman argues. It’s a way to drive his enemies insane.”
“Obama’s opponents will continue to look angry, unreasonable, unfriendly, and generally distasteful in more ways than one can comfortably count.”
Interesting observations! Read it all here:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-04-12/obama-on-overload/
fnord
PrairiePopulistsAndProgressives.net 
I watched on CSPAN yesterday a part of a summit on the future of the GOP. For once it did have someone on the panel that actually interjected some reality. He as much said that the party can not continue to be driven by the R.R. and the think tank groups. Though some did seem to agree to some of it.
That the party can not continue to be driven just be the issues of Gay rights and abortion as the society is focused on the economy, Domestic and foreign affairs.
He also said something I had not heard of before, that the GOP use to be the party of the higher educated.
That College grads tend to be more Conservative, but that the party has been losing those educated when the party became associated with trying to force the teaching of Creationism over Evolution. And the fighting of Embryonic stem cell research. I.E. being anti science and anti education.
Most were using a tone-down of the same old “we are the right thinkers and the Democrats are the wrong thinkers. We just need to continue to be the cranky ole man in the back of the meeting hall. Until the public realizes that Democrats is wrong thinking!”.
If you have ever attended a city council meeting, you have seen those cranky ole men. Every town, city and county has them that attend the meetings. You will also realize that the council never actually takes them seriously. The GOP has a problem, they have to continue to point out how badly the Obama Administration
is doing with the economy and the society in general. They have to make it sound as worst as it could be.
BUT, if the public is finally convinced that it really is that bad then it will raise the question of
“If you saw it really is that bad then why have you not came up with a solution?”.
Its the draw-back of be the most vocal in the arena of the public complaining about the bad decisions.
Once people finally start to listen then they will look to see what you have as a different solution.
But so far the GOP only solution is to be the cranky ole man.
I predict they will continue to sound like cranky ole wo/men until they have a better (or at least different!) idea, an alternate plan. Complaining sounds a lot like — complaining.
“The budget! The environment! Immigration! Why is Obama attempting so many big projects at once? It’s not a legislative strategy, Eric Alterman argues. It’s a way to drive his enemies insane.”
I thought of this the other day, too. By moving very quickly at the beginning of his term, President Obama is forcing the GOP to either acquiesce quietly or to disagree at a very high cost. The cost is the appearance of sanity.
In refusing to rein in George W Bush, since 2006 the GOP has invested tons of political capital in accusing Bush’s political enemies of Bush Derangement Syndrome. Obama is now using this against them. The cost I mentioned above is also the cost of appearing to be infected by ODS; i.e., of appearing to link the political success of the GOP with the misfortune of the USA.
In other words, by pushing hard quickly President Obama has forced the GOP to quietly acquiesce. The smart ones may be seething inside, but it’s a quiet seething. Those who can’t shut up about their seething now will probably be shut out of political success for a generation. Certainly many of them will suffer terminally from campaign videos juxtaposing their accusations of BDS with their public displays of ODS twenty months later.
In fairness, I’d point out that, while Obama may not have had a choice here (given the hand he was dealt and the overall rat-in-a-corner vituperativeness of today’s GOP), it’s hardly a recipe for uniting the country. If anything, in the future this will probably add to displays of rancor, not make such displays subside. Seething quietly inside may result in political survival, but I doubt it will provide incentive to play nice.
Yeah, obama is pushing on lots of things.
But I notice NONE of them concern DADT, DOMA, gay marriage, or any civil rights legislation.
It’s like a whole blind spot for him. I mean, as long as he’s pushing, why not make some progress on those issues as well?
I guess “teh gays” are just so goddam all powerful that we alone could sink his entire agenda and administration.
Big eye roll. Personal bigotry anyone?
I’m so sure equal protection under the law for us will be THE straw that breaks obama’s back. It wont be. But we’d damn sure be blamed for it if his popularity went south.
“The budget! The environment! Immigration! Why is Obama attempting so many big projects at once? It’s not a legislative strategy, Eric Alterman argues. It’s a way to drive his enemies insane.”
Why so many big projects at once? Maybe I listen to and read the wrong things, and I know I’m not good with economics, but could it be because these are the things that have been ignored for the past 8 years? Because these are the things that if they are not “fixed” or at least addressed NOW, we might as well kiss our @sses goodbye?
I’m sure not going to say what Obama is doing is the right way to go about it, nor can I predict if parts or even any of it will help. It’s always a possibility that we’re doomed. I’m not cheering on the bank bailouts. I’d sure like to have some of that $$$$$$$$$$ trickle into my empty hands. But what I’m seeing–and this is entirely my own opinion–is more greed from those being helped. Are the bailouts happening to save an industry that’s the backbone of finances and economy? Or is it because some in the administration are tied to it? I don’t know. All I can do is watch and learn.