Obama’s selection of conservative Democrat William Daley as his new chief of staff didn’t surprise anyone.So reporters were left to explain the political shift behind the move. Some saw little movement at all, since Daley’s political views would seem more or less in line with his predecessor Rahm Emanuel. The Washington Post (1/7/11)offered this somewhat confused explanation:
His moderate views and Wall Street credentials make him an unexpected choice for a president who has railed against corporate irresponsibility and tried, with limited success, to appease restive liberals who think he has not been tough enough on bankers.
Actually, the opposite would seem more accurate; the choice of a right-leaning banker with deep ties to corporate America would suggest that Obama doesn’t really “rail” against corporations, and certainly has done little to “appease restive liberals.” Daley’s selection is more evidence of this general trend. Tell that to USA Today, which headlines its piece “Daley Choice Puts a Moderate in Play”–as if there weren’t many “moderates” around to begin with. The piece leads with this:
President Obama’s choice of Chicago business executive William Daley to run his White House operation is the clearest sign yet that he intends to move toward the political center as he approaches a likely 2012 re-election campaign, members of both parties say.
And over at the L.A. Times, “Obama Chooses Former Clinton Staffers in a Move to the Center” is the headline; readers are told that these moves are “a signal to business leaders and independent voters that he is resolved to steer a more centrist course after two years of intense partisan clashes.”
Theobvious pointhere is that Obama “intends to move” towards the center–meaning that he’s not there already. The media preference for a Democrat is one who continuously moves to the right. In order to convince readers that Obama isn’t already there, reporters magnify certain political disputes in order to prove this point. Today’s Wall Street Journal headline, “President Revs Up Campaign to Make Peace With Business,” isa perfect example: Obama’s been too tough on corporate America, and now he’s moving the other direction by hiring a businessman to run the White House.
Obama has been so hard on corporate America that they have had records profits and bonuses under him. He’s a regular Stalin doncha’ know.
Well, that’s just bad journalism, wishful thinking masquerading as researching and then reporting. The soul-less hack (or the team of them) that wrote that nonsense no doubt make a nice 6-figure income (maybe even 7), and that’s all that matters, isn’t it?
Well, considering he fought tooth and nail to have the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy expire just a few weeks ago, risking all sorts of political capital to demonstrate that he firmly believes the rich must pay their fair share, this IS an unexpected move, don’t you think? Oh, wait…
And remember when his previous chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel, was heard saying ‘fucking retarded’ Blue Dog Democrats aren’t going to stand in the way of a strong public option in the health care bill? Oh, wait…
Steve S., you just don’t get it!
Oh, wait….
One more piece of the Chicago machine moves into the White House
and this one IS a friggin Daley and then you have the Balls to say
O shit head is moving to the center?
Center of what?
The MOB.
Obama has never been against corp America because he is arguably smart enough to know the term has no meaning.Sure he used the rhetoric to inflame his base and their well developed class warfare mentality.So this switch is a simple pragmatic save yo ass jump.
Every president has a learning curve of what is ,and what is not.I think Obama has learned a lot of his beliefs were simply philosophical fluff.Worked about as well as a sub with screen doors in the real world.Problem now is he does not have a clue how lead in the direction that will recreate wealth.It is anthem to his DNA.So he has fallen back to his Chicago political base to plan the next snow job.
Everything looks left / center when you live in and promote a pre-fascist society. Sadly it is also easy to fool morons like the last two posters above me from the pertinent issues via the use of simple diversionary tactics
Don’t like to name-call (difficult to hold my e-tongue sometimes). But I like the term that Bill Moyers uses in his piece “Welcome to the Plutocracy”: “Sucker-Punched”, refering to the working-class who fall for the money-propaganda. I have great difficulty also believing that there are so many on the internet that are more intelligent and better-informed than President Obama. As for the “Center”, exactly where is that? During the brainwashing of the better-dead-than-red era, we threw the baby out with the bathwater. There is NO real left in the U.S. // Jean Clelland-Morin
for obama to move to the center at this point would require him moving to the left…..not holding my breath here…
At this point Obama will continue to have a mentality that plugs in what is most likely to work on a small scale.A scale that plays both sides of the fence.He wont/cant cause as much damage.It wont be as bad as when he road in all a flustered, and wrong way Feldonish, with a packle of insaniacs like the bereaved maddam speaker.He will appear a little a this, and a little of that, and go into hiding mode for the coming run.It is disingenuous, and may not fool anyone.But who knows.As always we suffer because we dont even have the courage of HIS convictions to weigh in judgement.
Jean…Im sure many on the internet are more intelligent than Obama. Statistically speaking that is a given.No-one is more informed.As no-one was with Bush, and so on.More informed does give them the benefit of the doubt all things being equal.What changes that equal rating is ideology.It forces you to choose paths that common sense tells you are dead ends.In this country we attack success and subsidize failure as one example.We create a country where government will support an underclass on the backs of an over class keeping the underclass in place by design.Real slavery.An Education of slavery.I could use the “teach a man to fish”context used in the Bible ,but I don’t want to start the gnashing of teeth with the Bill from Mars crowd.
Obama knows this does not work.Never has.But he believes he can make it work.So far it has not.And truthfully we know that it wont.So long story short…a new team is up to bat.I believe they will do much better.
R bobert…still with the name calling?Come in and see me.Im gonna write you a script to see a neurologist.There are some anger issues we may be able to address.Cat scan is the first test Id run.Colonoscopy and barium enima is the second.(Ok you got me one has nothing to do with the other but Im laughing)
You are wrong prove it
mikey, maybe you should learn how to use the space and enter keys before moving on to pretending to be a doctor, it may make people less unlikely to read your deranged incoherent rantings.
Let’s not get into your perverse preoccupation with peoples backsides.
@ R bobert
Little Mikey is really into Rushbo…and Limpblow is always going on about “grabbing your ankles.”
Small minds, with 12 year olds sense oh humor.
We know, I think, that Joe Mudd and Michael e. are butt buddies, why do we insist as a group on giving them any kind of attention. I know I said “we” and “group.” I guess I am going by the fact that what they say is diametrically opposed to any kind of good sense and reasonableness of others who comment here. I know that e will try to say that we are all clueless liberals, but then why does he spend so much of his time here? e is a contrarian, he opposes simply for the sake of opposing. I don’t know what Mudd’s game is.
It seems I have done just what I said shouldn’t be done, which is, give them any attention, sorry.
Raymond/R bobert/Helen Bedd/FD – – – this is why the Internet admonition ‘DFTT’ was invented! Save your time/brain activity for worthwhile activities…
Just love you progressives
If I were a crazy political insurgent with the goal of starting a civil war
I’d target the (from my vantage point) weak base threatening members
of my own party sending a message to both my party and the opposition
that this is serious business for serious participants.
Well here we are counting casualties. Instead of blaming talk radio and
we the people tea parties you might want to ask Van Jones to stop
pumping up the jam with his “Bottom up top down inside out” increase the pressure
rant because somebody was listening and like I said we got casualties now
and they are on your side of the fence. Victims and perpetrator.
Raymond I came here because of the title of the site
and I have found that it is neither fair nor accurate.
I was hoping for so much more. Such is life
I came here(and stay here)because one of my pet peeves has always been the politicisation of the press,and its effects on reporting.FAIR seemed right up my alley. Instead what i found is a hive of like minded folks who see everything through one prism, and are supported by a group of writers who feed into this mentality.My attempt is to say “there is an alternative viewpoint people that is just as passionately held”.I may be a poor envoy on behalf of conservative beliefs.There are certainly better qualified.But i will continue to try to help those FAIR-locked people see that there is not just one path.
R bobert you are usually insulting.Nice to see you are still swinging.What is your political belief system by the way?Just interested
Helen thanks for another young at heart comment
Raymond…discourse is important even though we disagree diametrically.Isnt this the mantra the left has just discovered as of the swearing in of the new Congress?
Don’t say I didn’t warn ya about the trolls, folks. Don’t feed the ducks, and we’ll all be better off.
They always call people ducks who let the drips just roll off their backs.
Michael e., How arrogant and filled with so much hubris you are. You really think that you have something to say to clue in the misguided liberals. You add nothing of substance in most of what you say. You spout Rush and beck and FOX noise talking points and have nothing of any substance to say. Most of what you do say is debunked point by point.
I do have discussions with conservatives who do not use all the right wing nonsense, but instead they make a lot more sense than you do. You come off as nothing but a troll and misguided teabagger. I’m sorry to disagree with you, but I think that FAIR does a good job in what it does for criticizing the media. I also go to other websites, and sure most are left leaning as you would say, but I also go to the nonsense right wing sites. I follow for as long as I can at the right’s disillusional views, but a person can only take so much bulls**t, before I just want to tear my hair out at the ridiculous stuff coming from the right.
So just don’t do us any favors by hanging around, we don’t need you and can think critically without you, oh and take Mudd with you. I don’t know how it is that you cannot see that we are really trying to address your crap, but you really have a hardhead and are impervious to letting facts get into your head. You consistently deny, distract and refuse to address the issues put before, instead you bring up something barely related and then you think you are engaged in true debate and presenting a different view.
On the Ed show there was a discussion about John Boehner’s behavior in not accepting an invitation to the White House and the fact that he did not go to Arizona along with Obama on air force one. The person of the conservative view, instead of addressing Boehner’s turning down the invitation, began talking about Harry Reid which was not the issue, it was related, because Reid was the head of the Senate, but the issue was why Boehner chose to turn down the invitation as Speaker of the House to attend the dinner with Obama and the Chinese delegate. That is what you would do. The fact is that the conservative could not defend what Boehner did, so changed the topic of the discussion, just like you usually do.
Oh, please just go.