"Polar Opposites" - Modest Mouse
I'm trying, I'm trying to drink away the part of the day
That I cannot sleep away
Good Krugman column today praising Obama's speech, linked to by Atrios. But also at Eschaton within minutes of this, Avedon Carol links to a piece suggesting that primarying Obama would be a good move. This is so fucking stupid it takes my breath away. Almost the only time an incumbent president loses is when he is subject to a serious challenge within his own party, see e.g. LBJ in 1968 (driven from the race before the election), Ford in 1976, Carter in 1980, and Bush I in 1992. So in effect, Carol is either a historical illiterate with no sense of the practical politics of this -- I guess in London one can grow out of touch -- or she is suggesting that it makes no difference if Obama wins or loses in 2012. How anyone can make the latter claim after seeing the speech, reading the Krugman column, and seeing the GOP budget proposal is beyond me. It's both criminally irresponsible and profoundly childish. Once again, there are a whole lot of people on the left who need to grow the fuck up -- this is not a game we are playing and the stakes here are enormous. Whatever your quibbles and disappointments you've had from Obama -- and believe me I've had my own -- they do not amount to a hill of beans versus the need to preserve things like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and progressive taxation. Not to mention say abortion rights, gay rights, the right to bargain collectively, and hell, policy made with simply some degree of empiricism.
We better get our collective minds right about the stakes that will be on the table in the 2012 election and cut the bullshit.
On the positive side, I have always gotten along well with "the blacks."
Update: Jesus, I guess all of the stupidity doesn't lie on the left side of the left spectrum. This is a pretty idiotic tweet from everyone's favorite orthographically challenged neo-lib, Matt Yglesias. "Yes, I think converting Medicare into a straight cash benefit for seniors makes sense." Really? How the fuck so? How would this even work? I remain an enemy of both neo-liberalism and Twitter.
And I have to drive to New Jersey today. What's bugging you?