Post-Partisan

[algoreagain]

by Ezra Klein
American Prospect
February 29, 2008

"What happens when these independent voters find that Obama is offering little more than rehashed liberalism and the 'post-partisan' fantasy is revealed as just that?" Asks Daniel Larison. "Post-partisan" doesn't actually mean anything substantive, save being willing to talk about post-partisanship. Insofar as Obama says he's post-partisan and seems sincere in wanting everyone to agree with and like him, he's basically proven his case. After all, what's the post-partisan position on health care? On the war? On Social Security?

More likely is that, as time goes on, some of those independents will find out that they disagree with Barack Obama on various elements of his platform, while others will find that, lo and behold, his "post-partisan," traditionally liberal opinions closely match theirs! Some of those defections will be termed "post-partisan," but really, they're just people who disagree with Obama, but weren't paying enough attention to find that till fairly late in the process.

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=02&year=2008&base_name=postpartisan

[babylonsister]

1. Blah, blah, blah. What happens/ No one will know until someone with

a thinking brain, a great team, a winning personality to capture the rest of the world, and that special person who can pronounce 'nuclear', with a middle name of Hussein...am I dreaming?

[anonymeme]

4. ...if that's all that's needed to clear up the Middle East...

Goodness, if that's all that's needed to clear up the Middle East and stop the wars over there, Obama should send our troops home and march his "thinking brain, great team and winning personality" right into Iraq "to capture" Al Qaeda, into Afghanistan "to capture" the Taliban, and over the whole globe "to capture" all the evil in "the rest of the world."

What he does with Al Qaeda, the Taliban and Evil after he "captures" them, I guess is pretty much his problem. *L*

[Demeter]

2. Obama Will Be Responding To Reality, He'll Have No Choice

Whereas none of the GOP could admit that they ignored it and will continue to do so, in the effort to create their own Reality. And Hillary hasn't the resources for either course.

Don't get to thinking that you've seen it all already--there's a tsunami coming independent of the election and influencing the election, that will change the world and everyone on it. And no political force will be able to stop it.

The best hope is to be able to ride it out, stay on top, and minimize collateral damage.

[anonymeme]

5. Interesting, Demeter...

Re: "Obama Will Be Responding To Reality, He'll Have No Choice"

And we, the people, will have no choice in how he responds to it either, once he's in the White House... IF he gets into the White House

Re: "Whereas none of the GOP could admit that they ignored it and will continue to do so, in the effort to create their own Reality. And Hillary hasn't the resources for either course."

"Either course?" May I ask what you are talking about? And are there just two courses?

Re: "Don't get to thinking that you've seen it all already--there's a tsunami coming independent of the election and influencing the election, that will change the world and everyone on it. And no political force will be able to stop it. The best hope is to be able to ride it out, stay on top, and minimize collateral damage."

Could you elaborate on this by any chance, please?

And does it have to do with global warming, fuel and water shortages and general social upheaval worldwide? And maybe the return of a certain "movement?"

Whatever it is, you've definitely got my attention.

[anonymeme]

3. Obama and "Post-Partisanism"

Re: "'Post-Partisan' doesn't actually mean anything substantive..."

"Post-Partisan" is a clever term for what Obama will call it when he starts throwing his weight to the Republican side of the aisle, on a frightening number of things, once he's elected.

We can suspect he might do this since he has reversed positions on some specific things which now seem to reflect a rather Republican bent, like not protecting the Palestinians in Gaza from Israeli abuses, and he is also now willing to allow Israel to take a huge chunk of land from the Palestinians in Gaza, possibly displacing or killing many of 1.5 million people living there.

This may have something to do with his friend Joe Lieberman -- the man who Obama CHOSE to be his mentor in Congress, after Lieberman had dumped the Democratic party to become an "Independent" -- Lieberman who just happens to hold hands with GW Bush on the war in Iraq -- or anywhere in the Middle East-- as long as Israel and the interests of the Israelis remain protected while they bully all the other countries around them.

As a new Democratic Senator, Obama picked an Independent with a newly found tilt to the right... rather strange... but all in the spirit of Post-Partisanism, I'm sure.

But this one may feel more germane to the American people:

Obama is already making those "Post-Partisan" kind of noises about not only keeping troops in Iraq, but sending MORE TROOPS in if he discovers that Al Qaeda is forming a base of support in Iraq.

Well, he's been informed -- by Republican John McCain -- that Al Qaeda has a presence in Iraq as well as base of support in the form of a group called "Al Qaeda in Iraq" -- it's actually called "Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia" -- but that's pretty much just semantics, because, thanks to George Bush, Al Qaaeda is in Iraq and all over.

So there's Obama's excuse right there to behave Post-Partisanly, when he breaks it to us that not only is he not bringing the troops home he's going to send more into Iraq.

Then he can shrug and grin and claim that he's new at this Presidenting stuff and just didn't understand what an overwhelming problems there would be to pulling he troops and by then it will be too late, he'll be sitting in the Oval Office making paper airplanes less-than-happy-making decisions at the tax-payer's expense.

Re: "Insofar as Obama says he's post-partisan and seems sincere in wanting everyone to agree with and like him, he's basically proven his case."

Sincere?! What Obama has skillfully proven is that P.T. Barnum was right.
<"There's a sucker born every minute.">

Re: "What's the post-partisan position on health care? On the war? On Social Security?"

Exactly!