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News & ArtsThursday, December 3, 2009
Politics Upset With Obama: It's Not Just the Gays Anymore
Posted by Dan Savage on Thu, Dec 3, 2009 at 1:23 PM
The long-simmering family feud between the Congressional Black Caucus and the first African-American president burst into the open on Wednesday, with members boycotting a financial overhaul vote as a warning shot at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The 43-member caucus—which included Illinois Sen. Barack Obama from 2004 to 2008—has chafed against President Obama and his top aides since the Inauguration, complaining that the White House takes it for granted and plays favorites with conservative Blue Dog Democrats.Ten CBC members decided to boycott the House Financial Services Committee vote en masse after a tumultuous morning meeting at the Capitol between Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel failed to yield a deal, according to people familiar with the meeting. The bill passed easily, but Waters suggested the CBC’s 43 members could vote with the GOP to scuttle a variety of Democratic bills if Obama and Emanuel don’t address what she thinks is a lack of understanding of the CBC’s wide-ranging goals of reducing urban unemployment, home foreclosures and bank failures.
They just don't understand that the president has a lot on his plate. The economy, two wars, global warming, blah blah blah.
2
I know, Obama's weaker than Carter and we all know how THAT ended for him in 1980! But he sure gives a pretty speech....
4
@1 ..Really. I'm so sick of it.
"The worlds not a completely different place after 10 months. I'm moving to Canada."
Big babies.
"The worlds not a completely different place after 10 months. I'm moving to Canada."
Big babies.
6
How embarassing! The first black president can't get along with the CBC? It's a wacky, upside down world.
7
What's with all this criticism before Obama's first year is even over? Bush was being praised left and right around this time in his term, and he was a complete bigot who wanted to hang homosexuals and pollute the world.
It's a well established fact that those with a darker skin complexion tend to be perceived as more dangerous, more stupid, and all that. Anyone recall that Harvard study? No wonder people are so critical of Obama - it's racism plain and simple.
It's a well established fact that those with a darker skin complexion tend to be perceived as more dangerous, more stupid, and all that. Anyone recall that Harvard study? No wonder people are so critical of Obama - it's racism plain and simple.
9
Has anyone seen Maxine Waters in action? She is an embarassment to her district and humanity in general. Completely clueless about virtually any topic. Just a total joke. Not the person you send anywhere for a high-level meeting. No wonder she was laughed out of Rahmbo's presence - she'd be laughed out of a elementary school spelling bee. She's so stupid, she plays the race card face down!
10
Obama has had important meetings all over the place. Those crucial meetings with the Chicago Bulls (How many decades too late) Kool and the Gang, the Steelers, the Def Poetry Slammers and more. How can he be expected to get anything else done; between handshakes with Superbowl winners? Come on people.
In all seriousness, has he actually come through on anything that wasn't a bill that was introduced during Bush's last few days in office?
In all seriousness, has he actually come through on anything that wasn't a bill that was introduced during Bush's last few days in office?
11
"Waaaa, I'm not getting enough attention from the President, so I'm going to fight him from now on unless he stops doing everything else and just addresses my super-important needs!!!" said [fill in the blank of the deeply offended minority group here].
Does anyone think they'll be better off with Jeb Bush or whatever other republican that replaces Obama in 3 years? No? Then stop moaning, squealing and otherwise acting like a petulant child and get politicking. It's how stuff gets changed.
Does anyone think they'll be better off with Jeb Bush or whatever other republican that replaces Obama in 3 years? No? Then stop moaning, squealing and otherwise acting like a petulant child and get politicking. It's how stuff gets changed.
12
Oh my! it sooo nice to know that Dan now cares so much about the issues that the Congressional Black Caucus faces. Could've fool me, Who knew?
Wait, i think he is just enjoying the family scuffle and as any good opportunist wont miss the opportunity to take a cheap-shot at the President no matter where it comes from. Rest assured Dan that at the end of the day this will resolve itself no matter how much people like you want to blow this out of proportions for your own gain.
Come out, Dan! the grand o'l elephant is waiting for you to join him.
Wait, i think he is just enjoying the family scuffle and as any good opportunist wont miss the opportunity to take a cheap-shot at the President no matter where it comes from. Rest assured Dan that at the end of the day this will resolve itself no matter how much people like you want to blow this out of proportions for your own gain.
Come out, Dan! the grand o'l elephant is waiting for you to join him.
13
@12 - Just like you enjoy opportunistically inserting your bigoted ass into every gay rights issue that comes down the pike? Hypocrite much?
Oh, and your "dan is a closeted republican" line is old now. It wasn't funny - or true - to begin with.
Oh, and your "dan is a closeted republican" line is old now. It wasn't funny - or true - to begin with.
14
Nader comes to mind here. Know why he ran for president? Because he couldn't get Democrats to pay as much attention to him as they did in his heyday. So he ran in 2000, helped Gore lose, and now? NO ONE takes him seriously. That's the end result of political purity. Each and every time.
17
But remember, you have to follow the 10 doctrines of republicanism if you're gonna join these days loveschilden'sundies. You know, that list that even Ronald Reagan couldn't cut it with?
18
#7 Yes, and Dan Savage was one of Bush's biggest supporters. Politically naive people like him were one of the reasons why we're in one of those two wars that are so fucking pointless. And I'm saying that as someone who thinks Obama just seriously fucked up on the jobs/war front. Even though I have lots of problems with Obama, most of Dan's reasoning still sucks.
19
@15
Sorry Kiddo! label yourself a mutt all you want, but the President knows who he is:
"Barack Obama at ALC: 2005-2008
Senator Barack Obama of Illinois participated in CBCF’s Annual Legislative Conference during each of his four years as a member of the Congressional Black Caucus."
http://www.cbcfinc.org/newsroom/cbcf-new…
Sorry Kiddo! label yourself a mutt all you want, but the President knows who he is:
"Barack Obama at ALC: 2005-2008
Senator Barack Obama of Illinois participated in CBCF’s Annual Legislative Conference during each of his four years as a member of the Congressional Black Caucus."
http://www.cbcfinc.org/newsroom/cbcf-new…
20
OK, Dan...I know you're in Seattle now but you're from the Chicago area (not sure when you last lived in Chicago?) And I was always well aware of the tenuous relations that Obama had with Chicago's black community for sometime.
Are you really surprised by this Dan?
Because I am not surprised by this at all.
Are you really surprised by this Dan?
Because I am not surprised by this at all.
22
@21
Uh, sorry Loveschild, but the President hasn't always been the beloved of the black community, exactly. This has always bubbled under the surface even as he enjoys record highs in popularity with the black community, for a change (when considered over his entire political career).
Uh, sorry Loveschild, but the President hasn't always been the beloved of the black community, exactly. This has always bubbled under the surface even as he enjoys record highs in popularity with the black community, for a change (when considered over his entire political career).
23
What they just don't understand (and a lot of upset progressives on SLOG apparently don't either) is that the vote that matters is the marginal vote. The CBC can play around with symbolic votes, but the white house can be pretty sure it has their votes to pass leftist legislation. Not so for the blue dogs.
24
For the record: it was never "the gays" that were mad at Obama. A bunch of whiny bloggers don't speak for "the gays".
26
@19 - ok, but the only reason he's African-American is his dad was African and he's American.
We're all illegal immigrants, actually. OK, maybe I'm 1/16th legal but ...
We're all illegal immigrants, actually. OK, maybe I'm 1/16th legal but ...
27
@19 I'm pretty sure I recall certain black people talking about how Barack Obama wasn't exactly the same as them. And there is indeed a distinction between African-Americans and recent African immigrants. It's unhelpful that there isn't a term to make the distinction, but African-Americans are the descendants of slaves who arrived in the Americas between 150 and 350 years ago. While they came from many different tribes, due to the loss of connection to their homelands, they essentially form an ethnic group themselves (Ethiopians and African-Americans are both black, but they're not the same ethnicity, and in fact, since Ethiopians are from East Africa, they probably aren't even that much more closely related genetically than other groups). There isn't a term that captures that ethnicity exactly while excluding black people with a different heritage. But Obama is the half-white descendant of an East African international college student who was raised in a white/Southeast Asian household (depending on the period of his childhood). And I seem to recall this being mentioned by other black people during the campaign.
To be honest, if Obama got on board with the CBC's agenda, I'd like him more. I'm not black, but I'm very aware of the racism out there. And Obama is too afraid of being "the black president" to do anything about, for example, the widespread, pernicious, and untalked about segregation in our cities and schools.
To be honest, if Obama got on board with the CBC's agenda, I'd like him more. I'm not black, but I'm very aware of the racism out there. And Obama is too afraid of being "the black president" to do anything about, for example, the widespread, pernicious, and untalked about segregation in our cities and schools.
28
@24: Some of the larger gay organizations are too, just not lap dogs and political opportunists like the HRC.
30
It's a giant domino effect, it's not that Obama is escalating the wars, not that he's been holding out on judicial nominees, not that he's more than willing to give up everything on health care just to get a bill passed, not that he's totally neglected the economy, save for a weak stimulus bill that was watered down to dust by republicans and their tax cuts, it's all those things.
Obama is walking on thin ice, and he's starting to jump up and down. Unless Obama can show that in some way or another he's going to stand up for democratic values and take charge everyone's going to have a short fuse. I think many people are looking at what Obama's plan seems to be, more war, shitty health care ridden with loopholes that will need to be closed if we ever want reform, a climate bill being swift boated by e-mails, an economy that is only working for wall street, the same exact problems that cause this ballout shit and rumors that Obama's economic team is going to be pushing for a bail out mechanic that the Federal Reserve would build into itself with the president having the sole authority to pick and choose which companies get to survive. This is not a progressive future Obama seems to be working towards, and while it might not be tyranny, I have every right to be upset. I feel like Hillary would have been better, the war would certainly be escalated but at least we'd have health care.
Obama is walking on thin ice, and he's starting to jump up and down. Unless Obama can show that in some way or another he's going to stand up for democratic values and take charge everyone's going to have a short fuse. I think many people are looking at what Obama's plan seems to be, more war, shitty health care ridden with loopholes that will need to be closed if we ever want reform, a climate bill being swift boated by e-mails, an economy that is only working for wall street, the same exact problems that cause this ballout shit and rumors that Obama's economic team is going to be pushing for a bail out mechanic that the Federal Reserve would build into itself with the president having the sole authority to pick and choose which companies get to survive. This is not a progressive future Obama seems to be working towards, and while it might not be tyranny, I have every right to be upset. I feel like Hillary would have been better, the war would certainly be escalated but at least we'd have health care.
31
you girls are probably
too young to remember-
21% interest rates and
hostages in Iran and
the Misery Index and
Malaise and
international impotence and
international humiliation
but the shorthand formula
for what is to come is:
Obama=Carter
can't wait for 2012
too young to remember-
21% interest rates and
hostages in Iran and
the Misery Index and
Malaise and
international impotence and
international humiliation
but the shorthand formula
for what is to come is:
Obama=Carter
can't wait for 2012
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