Krugman: Centrist pundits insist Obama now propose what he has already proposed

[pampango]

Centrist Self-Parody

I’ve written before that “fanatical centrist” is not an oxymoron; in fact, it’s a type that makes up a large part of our pundit class — people so wedded to their self-image as centrists standing between the extremes of the two parties that they cannot bring themselves to acknowledge that one party already advocates all that they are calling for.

And TPM documents the latest example:

President Obama would have this election in the bag, according to a number of leading columnists, if only he would act more like President Obama.

A number of pundits are turning up the volume on demands that the White House offer a jobs plan based on new infrastructure spending, a long-term deficit plan that includes taxes and entitlement cuts and a market-based health care plan, among other requests. Obama will have a hard time taking their advice, however, given that he’s already proposed those very ideas.

I kind of wonder about the state of mind that makes a professional pundit — you know, someone whose whole job is supposed to be following policy debates — unable to see, right in front of him, the fact that Obama has already proposed what he demands. But so it goes.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/centrist-self-parody/

Indeed, as the 'centrists' search for a 'bipartisan' criticism of Obama they come up with demands that Obama needs to do what he has already done. The pundits only get one guess which party blocked action on any of the proposals the pundits want from the White House.

[xtraxritical]

1. The Congress has tabled his American jobs Act legislation for over a year now.

Nothing gets done because we have an obstructionist do nothing Congress. Vote a straight Democratic ballot and let's get this country working again!

[progressivebydesign]

4. How can we hammer this point if the continues to ignore it???

I plan to post that fact every time I comment on a news article anywhere. We have to keep plugging away at it and throw the blame bac on the republican obstructionists.

[xtraxritical]

8. That's a big 10-4!

[Ship of Fools]

2. This pisses me off to no end.

Other thing: Jon Stewart did a bit about Mitt's statement after
SCOTUS and ACA ruling.

I saw the statement, and he talked about repeal/replace. He
even mentioned what he'd replace it with...things like:
No denying pre-existing conditions; kids under 26 stay on parent's
plans...

It was surreal. Stewart's jab was funny, too.

[Blanks]

11. If its the same clip I saw...

He pointed out that Romney would keep everything except the means to pay for it.

In other words everything except he penalty or tax.

[Ratty]

3. Kinda reminds me of Libertarians

"they cannot bring themselves to acknowledge that one party already advocates all that they are calling for. "

Not the party per se - I admit the democratic party still has a long way to go - but for individual candidates. How people can convince themselves that Ron Paul is the only antiwar, pro legalization politician out there boggles the mind. You have to either be supremely clueless or else harbor an inner meanness you're unwilling to admit to.

[Merlot]

9. The Libertarian Contortion: Anti big gov't unless it applies to women

"You have to either be supremely clueless or else harbor an inner meanness you're unwilling to admit to."

I'd guess it's the second option.

[Scootaloo]

15. Ratty, allow me to explain Ron Paul fans to you...

God knows, I endured nearly eight years of debating the fuckers on another forum, I feel entitled to call myself an expert.

Not a single Ron Paul supporter gives a shit about his stance on the war; In fact most of them just love the thought of big stinking heaps of dead Muslims, and would happily watch us stay in the middle east killing them regardless of who's "running the show."

Some Ron Paul supporters do care about pot legalization, but it's less about any reasons like the drug war's failure, insane incarceration rates, or even the "magical plant that cures all the world's problems" thing that potheads like to push, as if they never smoked a bowl and their only interest is in twine. No, for them it's mostly about obtaining legal justification for what they're doing. At heart, they're authoritarians, and are waiting for Uncle Ron to smile and light up his own blunt before they do.

No, these are not actual Ron Paul "issues." Those are screens used by Paultards to sell their magical elf to sane people. Sometimes it even works, until those sane people look up Ron Paul to see what his platform is...

The devoted paultards care about his being a racist, misogynistic motherfucker who hates the poor. That's the appeal.

[NoMoreWarNow]

5. most mainstream pundits are sociopaths protecting the GOP and the powers that be

fuck them and the GOP assholes and the criminal PTB.

[DallasNE]

6. Corporate MSM Is More Than Happy

With the current arrangement so they are not about to complain about anything. All they care about is the horserace aspect and how Citizens United spending will fuel their bottom line this year with a couple of billion spent on TV ads nationally. Nothing else matters to them, including/especially the truth. Because of this, what Krugman or anybody else writes that counters this will get no traction and be written off as disgruntled noise.

[girl gone mad]

7. So what has "Centrism" gotten us?

Nothing but failure.

[JHB]

10. There's a reason for this: "Centrist" means never having to hear...

..."you're fired because you're wrong all the time" and be escorted directly from the building by a security guard, and tomorrow you can come back for your personal items (and if you're really lucky, under the supervision of a manager and IT guy we'll let you retreive any personal files from your computer, but nothing business- or contact-related).

No matter how many times they are wrong, they still have their jobs. That's because their jobs aren't to follow policy debates, it's to follow gossip.

[TomCADem]

12. I Also Love It When Pundits Blame Democrats For Their Own Bias...

...for example, after endlessly repeating right wing talking points without question, pundits then turn around and blame Democrats for the poor media strategy as the reason why right wing talking points like death panels continued to have legs.

Likewise, pundits completely fail to hold Republicans accountable. For example, what about John Boehner whose most notable recent accomplishment was to hold Holder in contempt for failing to produce records supporting the right wing conspiracy theory that the Obama administration is plotting to take away everyone's guns.

[annabanana]

13. oh kick kick kick.. This has been driving me nutz for weeks!. . n/t

[Spitfire of ATJ]

14. These are the "They" Obama talked about.

[bvar22]

16. "Tax and Entitlement Cuts" to "stimulate the economy" is NOT Centrist.

It IS and always WILL be Conservative, Republican Dogma.

[yurbud]

17. this is the thanks he gets for ignoring base and listening to corporate "centrist"