Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Illinois Gov. Charged With Trying To Sell President-Elect Obama's Former Senate Seat

roachboy · 12-17-2008, 07:47 AM

dc---if my leftoid friends are any indication of a broader trend (and it's obviously impossible to say, given how odd we all are), left folk seem to be witholding judgment for the time being. the cabinet appointments are differentially alarming, but like i said above governing from a center coalition does not necessarily lock in anything at the level of policy. these are extraordinary times and i suspect that most of the old distinctions left/right are going to come down.

given the astonishing incompetence of at the level of the bush squad both at the level of reactions (in the strongest possible sense of the term) to the various modalities of implosion of the neoliberal order (talking a different game then they play, writing a blank check to the financial sector while looking to fuck the uaw in manufacturing and playing chicken with the american auto industry in the process; doing fuck all for people who find themselves in danger of losing their homes on and on) and on regulatory enforcement (madoff-ponzi confection anyone?)--and the political miscalculations--and the squandering of american credibility internationally--and so forth---i think the relief over the fact that these idiot reactionaries will soon be gone is very considerable indeed.

i'm torn about obama's position on afghanistan---the more i dig into information about what's happening there, the more ambivalent i become, simply because the logic of his statements on policy leads directly to military action against pakistan--not against the central government, but rather against the staging areas for militant groups that pakistan has de facto condoned and which are fundamental (along with astonishingly stupid and badly executed policies) for the deteriorating situation in afghanistan.
what concerns me about this is the regional spiral this could very easily unleash, one that would involve india as well...but even here, i'm waiting to see what actually happens.

what's sure is that obama will have no honeymoon. a more massive pile of shit passed from one administration to its successor i have never seen or read about even.

edit:

one thing i was wondering about with respect to governor rod is whether he actually committed a crime or if he simply appears to be a sleaze---which is not illegal.
i heard this question raised somewhere on the vast pool of idiocy that is television last night...the correlate question is why the district attorney moved when he did, and whether this leaves the investigation more or less dead in the water.

what it looks like happened is that the fitzgerald moved early in order to maybe
(a) save his job
(b) prevent a compromising situation linked to obama from arising very early in his administration

but most likely it's

(c) stuff i don't know about that motivated it.

any ideas about this?

12-17-2008, 07:47 AM	#55 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	dc---if my leftoid friends are any indication of a broader trend (and it's obviously impossible to say, given how odd we all are), left folk seem to be witholding judgment for the time being. the cabinet appointments are differentially alarming, but like i said above governing from a center coalition does not necessarily lock in anything at the level of policy. these are extraordinary times and i suspect that most of the old distinctions left/right are going to come down. given the astonishing incompetence of at the level of the bush squad both at the level of reactions (in the strongest possible sense of the term) to the various modalities of implosion of the neoliberal order (talking a different game then they play, writing a blank check to the financial sector while looking to fuck the uaw in manufacturing and playing chicken with the american auto industry in the process; doing fuck all for people who find themselves in danger of losing their homes on and on) and on regulatory enforcement (madoff-ponzi confection anyone?)--and the political miscalculations--and the squandering of american credibility internationally--and so forth---i think the relief over the fact that these idiot reactionaries will soon be gone is very considerable indeed. i'm torn about obama's position on afghanistan---the more i dig into information about what's happening there, the more ambivalent i become, simply because the logic of his statements on policy leads directly to military action against pakistan--not against the central government, but rather against the staging areas for militant groups that pakistan has de facto condoned and which are fundamental (along with astonishingly stupid and badly executed policies) for the deteriorating situation in afghanistan. what concerns me about this is the regional spiral this could very easily unleash, one that would involve india as well...but even here, i'm waiting to see what actually happens. what's sure is that obama will have no honeymoon. a more massive pile of shit passed from one administration to its successor i have never seen or read about even. edit: one thing i was wondering about with respect to governor rod is whether he actually committed a crime or if he simply appears to be a sleaze---which is not illegal. i heard this question raised somewhere on the vast pool of idiocy that is television last night...the correlate question is why the district attorney moved when he did, and whether this leaves the investigation more or less dead in the water. what it looks like happened is that the fitzgerald moved early in order to maybe (a) save his job (b) prevent a compromising situation linked to obama from arising very early in his administration but most likely it's (c) stuff i don't know about that motivated it. any ideas about this? __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite Last edited by roachboy; 12-17-2008 at 07:53 AM..