Latest Column

"fetishistic pursuit of Republicans" "dropping some of the cheesier spending from the stimulus plan."
.
What is the purpose of describing the President's pursuit of Republican support this way?
.
What was so cheesy about the things dropped from the plan?

"He will get some GOP votes for his stimulus package, but more important, he is establishing himself as a relentlessly reasonable and polite presence in town — and his comity is making it all the more difficult for buffoons like Rush Limbaugh to influence the tone of the Republican opposition."
--
I initially read this as a bit tone-deaf given yesterday evening's developments, but not so much: the House Republicans may very well have chosen to follow Rush in lock-step nature of their opposition to stimulus package, but Obama has made it indeed more difficult for them to hold to this strategy in the long-term than it might have been otherwise (if, say, Obama had told Boehner and Cantor to go blank themselves).

He has reversed the tactical, win-the-news-cycle sensibility of recent presidencies.
_
this is just plain silly. Obama is simply using the media's own slavish devotion to Obama to 'win-the-news-cycle'. Indeed, columns like this, which praise Obama for his 'seriousness' are part of the news cycle. Obama knows that the Broderistas will provide him with accolades as long as all of his 'compromises' hurt the poor (and refill their own 401ks and Roth IRAs).
_
Remember when Bushco came into office, and the Villagers sighed with relief because "the adults were finally in charge?" We're getting the exact same nonsense from the Villagers today.
_
Obama wins the news cycle because he treats the Villagers as his most important constituency -- and the Villagers determine the winners and losers of the news cycle. Klein's inability to recognize Obama's tactics (pandering to people like him) for the pandering it is shows just how successful Team Obama's tactics are.

Joe, as a new commenter, I promise not parse your diction at every comma.

What was so cheesy about the things dropped from the plan?
_
precisely.
_
rather than recognize that family planning funds are necessary and appropriate for the Obama recovery package, Klein simply adopts right wing talking points because Obama has signalled that family planning is an unnecessary "ornament" on (to use Tumulty's phrase) "the Christmas tree."

You know Joe I saw Halerpin on MSNBC this morning and he made the same point you made in that article about things not being any different by the end of the year and Obama facing growing pressure because of it. But have you ever thought that MAYBE there will be some progress by the end of the year on several fronts? Let me give you some examples of progress that he might be able to hang his hat on by the end of the year.
.
1. The stock market. While unemployment and other indicators probably will still show that we are in a recession, it is likely that if the stimulus plan goes through the markets will see a definite uptick. A lot of people in this country have no concept of what being in a recession means, but most folks know its good if the Dow is up and bad if the Dow is down. Notice that the public concern over the economy came not with the pronoucement after months and months of denying it that by President Bush that the country was in a recession, but when the markets tanked after the first bailout bill failed to get enough votes in the house.
.
2. Relative calm in the Israel/Palestinian conflict. If Obama and Mitchell can step into the void and at the very least keep the aggression on both sides to a minimum that will be seen as a victory, especially after we opened the year in such a bloody fashion with Israel's heavy handed military assault on Gaza.
.
3. GITMO is closed. Enough said.
.
4. A green energy bill is likely to be passed at some point over the next year. The public is behind it according to every poll and even Republicans have weighed in with their support. That first step in weaning us off of foreign oil may turn out to be a bigger draw than the results of the economic stimulus package. People from all spectrums support a transition to green energy and it can be a unifying effort if President Obama plays it right.
.
Now thats just 4 accomplishments that have a better than even chance of happening with in this year so I think the premise that by the end of the year President Obama will face grousing is not something that will be set in stone at all and should be factored in to the equation.
.
By the way, did you ever hear back about the information you used in you post alledging that Susan Rice, a woman with tons of experience in foreign policy, made a "rookie mistake"? Inquiring minds still want to know.

I feel like a contributor to this column! I've noted at least three times that one of the biggest challenges Obama faces is dealing with the notorious impatience of American culture.
.
I'm glad that JK sees the importance of taking the long view and I hope his attitude rubs off on some of his colleagues. As he notes in the column, December 09 will be a better time to tell how things are going.

"He will get some GOP votes for his stimulus package,"
.
.
He must have written this before the vote last night where Obama got nothing for the concessions he made to the extreme Right.

This is ridiculous. This is not now nor has it ever been about the impatience of the American people. This is about the impatience of the American press. American public opinion will be formed only after hearing the media drone on and on about how long this think is taking to turn around and then the national polls will begin to reflect that discussion and the whole things starts feeding on itself. So Joke line, as a Washington insider and sophisticate why isn't that little b it of truth in your column?

He must have written this before the vote last night where Obama got nothing for the concessions he made to the extreme Right.
_
Obama got what he wanted --- the approval of the Kleins and Broders.... screw the poor, its the villagers who matter.

The actual bill will come out of the Senate, please know that. I am also dissappointed about the family planning and National Mall renovations being removed. But the vote last night was just the first step. And people may not realize but the House also upped the money for infrastructure in the bill before they voted on it. There is still a chance it will grow to what we want it to be. Or at least a closer facsimile

There is still a chance it will grow to what we want it to be. Or at least a closer facsimile
_
there is no way the bill is coming out of the Senate without the fiscally irresponsible tax cuts -- and true progressive realize that by conceding to the far right on hundreds of billions in tax cuts, his ability to pass further necessary spending programs is seriously impeded.

I say again, let this play out before passing judgment on Obama's political skilz.

JOe, would you care to comment on your fellow at Time:
.
HALPERIN BLAMES OBAMA.... President Obama went to great lengths to reach out to House Republicans, trying to get them to support an economic stimulus in the midst of an economic crisis. The president not only offered them more tax cuts than seemed necessary, he also acted swiftly to remove spending provisions -- family planning, National Mall renovations -- that they mocked. The entire Republican caucus, we now know, balked anyway. Time's Mark Halperin, naturally, is blaming Obama.

You know, re this column and re Halperin, as linked at the Washington Monthly above, our politics is driven by the weekly and daily news cycle. The weeklies with their end of the week articles set the agenda for the Sunday talk shows, which deliver the stories for the Monday dailies. This is corrosive; the real world doesn't really care whether it is Sunday or Thursday. But producers on the teevee do.
.
This observation is lifted from Fallows' Breaking the News. But it is interesting seeing Obama stand up against it, as he stood up against the daily news cycle during his campaign. McCain (and Clinton) won most of the daily news cycles. But lost the race....

I wouldn't bother with Halperin. He is a Republican shill: hasn't had an original thought in a long time, and feeds off Hugh Hewitt (nuff said).

This admin has been in office all of 8 days: what did we expect? We are in deep doo doo; it will take time to clean up. Obama is taking the measure of his opponents. He needs to focus on what people want and not pander to the urgent need of Villagers to fill space or airtime with vacuous platitudes (mistakenly believing that those are gems of wisdom and serious analyses).

What Dee said: This is ridiculous. This is not now nor has it ever been about the impatience of the American people. This is about the impatience of the American press.
.
But of course they write in the passive voice so certainly they can't be impacting events.

I know he'll never answer, but why does the media insist on perpetuating this mythical persona of the neutral observer? How they frame the debate drives public opinion and how they frame the debate seems to rely mostly on one factor: Will this instigate a fight between two disparate parties that is entertaining and dramatic enough to drive ratings and get print journalists TV time on cable and Sunday morning round table discussions on the networks.
.
Let's face it, if the media were talking in terms of 18 months before feeling the economy begins to feel the real effects of the stimulus, this is what the public would grow to expect and they would be less likely to lose patience with the process -- as it is the media seem hell bent on trying to make America impatient after just a week into Obama's presidency.

bitter - you must bother with Halperin, because Halperin is a "serious" journalist whose word is respected across the media, from Time to This Week to Cable teevee. We've been having a fine discussion with KT about media malfeasance over in the second page of her Davos thread. In response to this question from me:
.
And when are you going to develop the 12-step program for "journalists" from all walks of the profession, even TIME, whose worlds are ruled by Drudge? Like Tapper yesterday at the WH.
.
KT suggested:
.
Step 1: Rather than complaining here about something you found offensive somewhere else, write a letter or email to the actual reporter/organization in question spelling out your complaint and informing them that you are not going to read/view their product.
.
Step 2: Seek out other sources of information, patronize them, give them buzz. (When was the last time anyone here mentioned something they had seen on NewsHour?)
.
Step 3: Tell everyone you know to do the same.
.
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/01/28/the-high-sheriffs-do-davos/?apage=2#comment-37773

Yeah but I watched him this morning too and this isn't the first time I noticed that he flipped his script when John Heilman expressed a different point of view. Maybe what we need is a more manly presence around whenever he speaks to contradict him.

Halperin wins another award! Wanker of the Day

wvng: Noted. Halperin has a history of spreading manure and his attachment to Drudge is known: the stuff he wrote makes pathetic reading: Drudge Rules!. The crowd at Morning Joke have now gone into "let's repeat the conventional mode" and I have no use for it. Mika is a blithering i---t. Lots of pseudo indignation and what they think is profound thinking. He's lucky Time took him on. But does he get respect? From thoughtful people? I'd say "No".

I don't want to react to the anxieties of the Villagers. Have you heard anything original recently? Your ref to KT's guide: thanks.

dday, on the impact of Halperian journalism: The result of the recent conservative dominance on cable, even if not a lot of people are watching, is a growing amount of misinformation delivered to the public, over the course of many years. One of the reasons we focus on this and think it's so important is that progressives are cutting through 30 years' worth of rhetoric designed to push conservative movement ideas into the mainstream. And without a sustained effort to demystify those ideas, they will hold in the minds of the public EVEN IF the result of those ideas has been disaster. Republicans destroyed the country and people fully understand that, and yet their ideas haven't been invalidated. See this Rasmussen poll.

Dee
.
Carlos Watson pushed back a lot today too. I have been pretty lukewarm on him but he handled biz this morning

On KT's suggestions, well, we have stopped buying these newspapers, magazines. Their response to declining sales is to make the product worse....