"Looking for a Girl" - Teddy Thompson
A quick interlude from the airport. Sadly I had to book a later flight and am now in the C boarding group on Southwest, which almost assuredly means a middle seat, the small glimpse of hell we are occasionally afforded in this life.
So I am anxious as hell to see what Obama has to say today. I am hoping against hope that he is not going embrace the politics of austerity. It may serve his purposes electorally -- the reasonable man of the middle who embraces aspects of the Beltway consensus as contrasted to the crazy Republicans -- in 2012, but it will really be a serious blow to any notion of liberal governance and, more importantly, of creating a motivated generation of Democratic voters. Essentially, he will be trading what appears to me to be a pretty hopeful future for liberal-left politics for something that some people around him might imagine is in his short term interests -- and I would disagree mightily with that calculation as well. As atrios so often notes, nobody really gives a shit about the deficit when it comes to voting.
I was amused to see Lindsey Graham's paean to petty, pork belly politics.
For people who are Wall Street toadies, the Republicans sure don't understand what their financial overlords really want from government.
Alright, going to try to catch a little of the President's speech before boarding the aeroplane. What else is going on?
Update: I've listened to the first thirty minutes or so of Obama's speech and the tone is excellent -- but I dread the upcoming substance. He did some of the didactic work of explaining the budget a bit. He does seem to be willing to throw the defense budget into the mix. I will have to read the rest. Time to line up for the cattle car. Wait -- on the Bush tax cuts "I refuse to renew tham again." That's pretty strong. Also unequivocal endorsement of maintaining Medicare as an entitlement program. And a call for tax reform/simplification to cut tax expenditures. And a debt failsafe - not sure what that would look like. Not a bad speech -- actually I think it's quite good. Want to contemplate the substance and see what the Administration puts in writing. Alright, now I must really line up. I assume the Republicans will howl and the firebaggers will find hidden betrayals.