I have a problem with Obama, and it goes back to the day after he was elected. True to form for Democrats who appeal to liberals to get elected and then veer right again, he very quickly brought in Rahm Emmanuel to be his Chief of Staff. That meant that liberals were officially shut out. Emmanuel, a pro-war Democrat, is largely given credit for the 2006 takeover of the House by Democrats. In truth, most of his candidates, who he selected because they were pro-war, lost. The Democratic takeover happened in spite of him, and not because of him.
I just got done criticizing Republicans down below for their herd mentality and blind following. That’s target practice. Republicans are as Republicans are, and who really cares anyway. But Jeremy Scahill, a true progressive, has written a nice piece, Rahm Emanuel’s Think Tankers Enforce ‘Message Discipline’ Among ‘Liberals’, at Common Dreams. Emmanuel is gathering in the sheep to back Obama’s rightist agenda, and of course, they are following.
There were no blogs back in the 1990’s when I first became aware of this phenomenon. Bill Clinton led liberals over to the right and governed from the right, using what his adviser Dick Morris, now a FOX news analyist, called “triangulation”. Basically the strategy was to attack liberals from two angles, both to the right of them – Clinton and the “new Democrats”, and Republicans. It worked. Democrats supported Clinton as he starved kids to death in Iraq, bombed the place for eight years, and attacked Serbia, gave away large chunks of the commons, “reformed” welfare, sent guns and missiles to right wing paramilitaries in Colombia, sent massive aid to Turkey to aid them in a counterinsurgency against Kurds. A partial list. He had plans to privatize Social Security, but had to back off because of the Monica scandal.
Right wingers do as right wingers do. Not much we can do but sit back and enjoy the antics. It’s the art of roping liberals to follow right wing Democrats that annoys me most. Here’s Scahill:
Over the past several weeks, independent journalists and anti-war activists have tried to shine a spotlight on how groups like the Center for American Progress and MoveOn, which portrayed themselves as anti-war during the Bush-era, are now supporting the escalation and continuation of wars because their guy is now commander-in-chief. CAP has been actively pounding the pavement in support of the escalation in Afghanistan, the rebranding of the Iraq occupation and, more recently, Obama’s bloated military budget, which the group said was “on target.” MoveOn has been silent on the escalation in Afghanistan and has devoted substantial resources to promoting a federal budget that includes a $21 billion increase in military spending from the Bush-era.
MoveOn was a Democratic invention from the beginning, and we should not be surprised that they are now abandoning liberal and progressive policies in favor of their guy. Center for American Progress is probably just a front group for Clintonites. The question is, they own the administration now. Why do they even need a front group?
I guess the answer is obvious. Triangulation.
Piece of Mindful 