The Pragmatic President

[babylonsister]

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2011/08/11/the_pragmatic_president.html

August 11, 2011

The Pragmatic President


Fareed Zakaria: "Obama passed a large stimulus package within weeks of taking office. Perhaps it should have been bigger, but despite a Democratic House and Senate, it passed by just one vote. He signed into law an unprecedented expansion of regulations in the financial-services industry, though one that does not break up the large banks. He enacted universal health care, though a complex program modeled after Mitt Romney's plan in Massachusetts. And he has advocated a balanced approach to deficit reduction that combines tax increases with spending cuts.... Is all this dangerous weakness, incoherence and appeasement, or is it common sense?"

[elleng]

1. Common sense.

Guess there's an unreccer around. Sorry

[COLGATE4]

2. Balanced approach to deficit reduction that combines tax increases

with spending cuts???:rofl:

[Maven]

3. It was an abject failure to accept the Republican framing of "deficit reduction" in the first place.

As it was to pass the Heritage Foundation's health care plan without even PRESENTING more progressive options to the people or to Congress.

I'm not surprised that neocon Fareed Zakaria thinks these things are "common sense."

ETA: Calling that private insurance industry giveaway "universal healthcare" is a big lie of Orwellian proportions.

[boxman15]

5. Zakaria a neocon?

Give me a break...

[Maven]

6. Yes, he is a neoconservative.

He strongly supported the invasion of Iraq.

And consistently advocates for totally unrestrained trade without labor/environmental protections.

Among other neocon policies.

His latest rightwing cause celebre is austerity.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/fareed-zakarias-expertise_b_89586.html

http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/2/

"Asked how a neocon who edited the journal Foreign Affairs ended up as a favorite of the Daily Show crowd, he protests that he is no longer a diehard Reaganite but a firm centrist. "And anyway, in America the entire spectrum has shifted to the right. I still like the same kinds of people I always did—conservative Democrats, moderate Republicans, call them what you will. But we're an increasingly embattled phenomenon in a country with a president talking about intelligent design."

[babylonsister]

7. It's funny that you try to pidgeonhole him...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fareed_Zakaria

Zakaria self-identifies as a "centrist",<9> though he has been described variously as a political liberal,<10><11> a conservative,<12> or a moderate.<13> George Stephanopoulos said of him in 2003, "He’s so well versed in politics, and he can’t be pigeonholed. I can’t be sure whenever I turn to him where he’s going to be coming from or what he’s going to say."<14> Zakaria wrote in February 2008 that "Conservatism grew powerful in the 1970s and 1980s because it proposed solutions appropriate to the problems of the age", adding that "a new world requires new thinking".<15> He supported Barack Obama during the 2008 Democratic primary campaign and also for president. In January 2009 Forbes referred to Zakaria as one of the 25 most influential liberals in the American media.[

[Maven]

8. Yes, he likes to claim he's all over the map

Because it gives him credibility among people who believe that having no discernable viewpoint is an asset. But if you look at what policies he actually supports, his rightward orientation becomes clear.

Come to think of it, no wonder he supported Obama. They're two of a kind.

"I still like the same kinds of people I always did—conservative Democrats, moderate Republicans, call them what you will."

[babylonsister]

9. lol!!!! Nice try. nt

[Cali_Democrat]

10. Oh snap!

:)

[boxman15]

11. And, he has criticized Bush and co. for how they have handled the war in Iraq

With regards to foreign affairs, he is one of the best in the business. He'll be the first to admit he was wrong about the Iraq War. He's dead-on about foreign policy 99% of the time.

I find myself disagreeing with him occasionally when it comes to domestic politics (he advocates cuts in some areas I don't), but he is not a neocon. Not at all. I'd call him center-left, if you have to label him (which I don't understand, but whatever). He consistently pushes for investment in education, infrastructure, etc. He believes that the government can do a lot to help a struggling economy and to get the middle class, which he understands is the force behind our economy, back on its feet. He's definitely a moderate who leans to the left. Not a neocon. You may not like his political views, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that, but don't try to make him something he's not. That's not fair.

[Maven]

13. Dead on 99% of the time.

Right, except for that 1% when his judgment is behind an illegal invasion based on manufactured evidence that results in hundreds of thousands of needless civilian casualties.

I'll pass, thanks.

[Armstead]

12. He is...Look at his stands on economic and political issues

He is sophisticated about it, but he is one of those new breed of Neo-Con (Neo-Liberal) apologists who couch the corporate agenda in nice sounding terms.

[chill_wind]

16. Sourcewatch has some affiliations for him

(some of them more interesting than others..)


The following are both former and current affiliations for Dr. Zakaria:

Aspen Strategy Group, Member
Bilderberg 2003, Attendee
Council on Foreign Relations, Senior Staff
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Trustee
New America Foundation, Director
Director, International Freedom Center
Advisory Board (2009), Praeger Security International


http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Fareed_Zakaria

[Enrique]

4. it's not "change"

it's "playing the game better", which is what he said he wouldn't do. And I don't think he's playing it so great anyway.

[BackToThe60s]

14. Kick

[Vattel]

15. and he rescued the auto industry.

See, I can be positive.

[Number23]

17. I am LOVING the truth coming out of GD-P today

A very nice foil to the foolishness found here in other forums.