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I've heard some crabbing online about the future Obama administration already, which doesn't surprise me. Right-wing media and politicos* really have a hard time not taking any advantage to snipe, no matter how tenuous or contradictory to previously held positions while the left is forever biting its own foot off to escape from an imaginery bear trap. I speculate this is because the right is always feeling defensive and the left is always feeling the effects of self-loathing - the desire to be true to the cause (whichever cause) while feeling like as soon as someone has made it big (or just been elected), they're already subsumed into the greater mess that compromises integrity.
In this way, the left constantly turns on itself in order to keep its own credibility. I doubt it has much to do with being fair as much as it has to do with identification issues.
Obama is taking a centrist approach to cabinet picks, and my speculation is two-fold. One, he has never advertised that he was going to be a dramatically leftist president. Two, he is attempting to quickly build mainstream political goodwill and build a base to operate off of. Liberman gets his slap on the wrist and Clinton gets to opt on Sec. of State, since she didn't get Pres. or VP. The first is a nod to working across the isle and is a 'the devil you know' approach. The second is a nod to keep both Bill and Hillary happy. Hillary needs something after that fall she took, and a nod in Obama's speeches isn't going to do it.
I think the importance of this is two-fold. First, I hear grumbling from leftists, and I share those sentiments somewhat, being something of a radical myself. But I'm pragmatic when it comes to where our government is coming from - what I assumed is that Obama, no matter how far to the left he might feel that he is personally, is holding his ideas as a citizen to be different then his actions as a President. This is the same thing that I would do, and I can already imagine the dissapointment and surprise it might generate. Our political system is somewhat in shambles, so it needs to be handled with care. I imagine that the first impulse is to see Obama running as something of a centrist and then veer sharply to the left, punishing neo-cons and generally acting like the hand of a left that had spent 8 years disenfranchised. The left prayed for it, and the right feared it, but it's not coming to pass in the way they expected.
Second, i don't think Obama ever planned on veering into the relm of severe left-wing rhetoric. He's planning on operating as a centrist, but his policies are going to in a large part be things designed to mitigate the damage done over 8 years and that's a slow process. No matter what you do, you'll probably need to start from the center and pull because that's where we're at, now. In the long run, I don't think the Republicans will back Obama. I think they'll take what he gives them with a smile, and then whenever he tries to do something, they'll still dig their heels in. It's media capital I think he's expecting to get, so we'll see if his approach yeilds results.
I took a bit of a break from the news, so I might check back in soon with how I feel about what he's actually doing. Everything is second hand right about now to me.
* not 'people', or citizens, or whatever. I am talking media and political machinery in both cases.
In this way, the left constantly turns on itself in order to keep its own credibility. I doubt it has much to do with being fair as much as it has to do with identification issues.
Obama is taking a centrist approach to cabinet picks, and my speculation is two-fold. One, he has never advertised that he was going to be a dramatically leftist president. Two, he is attempting to quickly build mainstream political goodwill and build a base to operate off of. Liberman gets his slap on the wrist and Clinton gets to opt on Sec. of State, since she didn't get Pres. or VP. The first is a nod to working across the isle and is a 'the devil you know' approach. The second is a nod to keep both Bill and Hillary happy. Hillary needs something after that fall she took, and a nod in Obama's speeches isn't going to do it.
I think the importance of this is two-fold. First, I hear grumbling from leftists, and I share those sentiments somewhat, being something of a radical myself. But I'm pragmatic when it comes to where our government is coming from - what I assumed is that Obama, no matter how far to the left he might feel that he is personally, is holding his ideas as a citizen to be different then his actions as a President. This is the same thing that I would do, and I can already imagine the dissapointment and surprise it might generate. Our political system is somewhat in shambles, so it needs to be handled with care. I imagine that the first impulse is to see Obama running as something of a centrist and then veer sharply to the left, punishing neo-cons and generally acting like the hand of a left that had spent 8 years disenfranchised. The left prayed for it, and the right feared it, but it's not coming to pass in the way they expected.
Second, i don't think Obama ever planned on veering into the relm of severe left-wing rhetoric. He's planning on operating as a centrist, but his policies are going to in a large part be things designed to mitigate the damage done over 8 years and that's a slow process. No matter what you do, you'll probably need to start from the center and pull because that's where we're at, now. In the long run, I don't think the Republicans will back Obama. I think they'll take what he gives them with a smile, and then whenever he tries to do something, they'll still dig their heels in. It's media capital I think he's expecting to get, so we'll see if his approach yeilds results.
I took a bit of a break from the news, so I might check back in soon with how I feel about what he's actually doing. Everything is second hand right about now to me.
* not 'people', or citizens, or whatever. I am talking media and political machinery in both cases.
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