Shocked and Persuaded

I am starting to realize (finally!) that the institutional forces at work in the Democratic party are as nefarious and opaque as those that guided the outgoing administration (see Pelosi, Reid, et al) (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/opinion/13divoll.html?scp=1&sq=Congress%E2%80%99s%20Torture%20Bubble&st=cse; http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20090515.html). Their inability to look in the mirror erodes at their credibility in the eyes of those of us on the left that don’t walk lock-step with their rhetoric. This further buttresses the idea that institutional Democrats are complicit in tactics aimed at, in the words of the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan “defining deviancy down” (http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/formans/DefiningDeviancy.htm).
It is clear that the Obama administration is not the Obama campaign and that deceit vis á vis language is still the coin of the realm. This surficial change in how DC presents their case is as petty as not using “surge” when referencing the 21,000 troops being sent to Afghanistan, or changing the war on terror to “overseas contingency operations and terrorist attacks to “man-caused disasters”. Or this notion that it is really hard to convey to the American people why bailing out these financial institutions is so important. I have an idea why such an explanation is so difficult. I simply recall back to my teenage years when I came home late or went into NYC when I wasn’t supposed to. Well it was much easier at the time to tell my parents a boldfaced lie then the truth at the time and that is what Treasury Secretary and Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers are perpetuating right now with their PPIPs, non-recourse loans, and loosening mark to market regulations (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-sachs/the-geithner-summers-plan_b_183499.html). They know that telling us the truth should and potentially will lead to nationwide revolt (Peacefully of course!) so they have instead chosen the path of least resistance, which is the legerdemain and shenanigans they and the rest of DC have grown so accustomed to shoving down our throats. This is a cross-the-aisle issue and was initiated with Grover Nordquist’s “Starve the Beast” paradigm that seems to have infiltrated every fiber of the Republican party. It is now being escorted through some pretty difficult times by the party of Roosevelt and for that the Democrats, specifically Christopher Dodd, Charles Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid should be ashamed of themselves. What I ask makes Geithner and Summers more qualified then say Elizabeth Warren, Paul Krugman, or Dean Baker? The answer is the unabashed love of the former for Wall Street dogma (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/opinion/30krugman.html?scp=1&sq=America%20the%20Tarnished&st=cse). Sure I know academics don’t live in the real world and would therefore not construct plausible alternatives. Well from where I sit the guys at Treasury absolutely don’t live on this planet. If you want capitalism you have to be willing to let it bust at times and you have to accept scorched earth. If you want to come into the White House as a proponent of change please don’t tell us how your AfPak solution is so novel and your willingness to surrender the power accrued by the Bush administration is genuine (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/opinion/17tue3.html?scp=3&sq=On%20Signing%20Statements&st=cse; http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/16/nsa/index.html). Remember Democrats you are entering an office at an all-time low with respect to credibility here and abroad. Show us that you are listening President Obama don’t just tell us, because seeing is believing and aside from some very insightful and encouraging rhetoric you seem quite comfortable with the bed that Bush/Cheney made for you and that to someone who is awed by your intellect is quite upsetting. The country needs your sincerity and transparency. We know that you see much substance in the words of people like Russ Feingold, Dennis Kucinich, and Ron Paul now embrace this sector of the political spectrum. DC needs the political/intellectual equivalent of a Rainbow Coalition, it needs it now, and there is no one more qualified to lead in this regard than the current president. President Obama could start by increasing the overall transparency of the government via full disclosure of Congressional Research Service reports (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/opinion/12tue3.html?scp=1&sq=Sharing%20congress%27s%20research&st=cse)