Charlie Rose

tartufe  07/21/2009 02:17 PM Report

Obama disappoints on two major issues: Af-Pak and finance.

Obama's overtaking Bush on inhumane maltreatment of prisoners. From NYT 7/19/09:

The problems at the existing American-run prison, the Bagram Theater Internment Facility, have been well documented.

The prison is a converted aircraft hangar that still holds some of the decrepit aircraft-repair machinery left by the Soviet troops who occupied the country in the 1980s.

Military personnel who know Bagram and the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, describe the Afghan site as tougher and more spartan.

The prisoners have fewer privileges and virtually no access to lawyers or the judicial process. Many are still held communally in big cages.

In the past two weeks, prisoners have refused to leave their cells to protest their indefinite imprisonment.

On finance, he has endorsed Paulson and Bernanke. And noone has gone to jail, a la Madoff, a bigger mistake than most believe. Bailed out the cronies. Little people remain tattered.

Financial and MI oligarches bought O during campaign and he is still a mere commodity.

JMM  07/21/2009 01:45 AM Report

Thanks, Tartufe, but I gave up the US part of my dual citizenship because I couldn’t bring myself to support (via taxes) a system that let insurance companies dictate health care to doctors.

I’ve just read the NY Times article about the White House negotiating with lobbyists; working with them on change. To lobby or not to lobby? What system works best for the average citizen? Charlie? What have been and are some pros and cons?

I have to make a distinction between the NAACP and other lobbyists too … as I think of the NAACP as voters / grassroots organizations, and other lobbyists as profiteers. My impression is that citizens need to help politicians get out of their “dependence on campaign donations” rut so that the Congress and House can make healthier / common sense decisions. Cap and Eject.

And I’ve just read David Brooks’ article about politicians not following the common sense of the President. The people just bought back that office but it looks like more needs to be done.

I’m now thinking that the people who voted for President Obama need to walk along with him as a rallying power he can rely on … like the Greenpeace antics that were discussed on Bill Moyer’s show last week? Or not? What does the White House prescribe?

NoPardonforMichaelMilken  07/20/2009 11:03 PM Report

I'm not going to let Lally Weymouth and her brood come on to Charlie's show and whine about the oppressed Neoconservative minority and the vicious attacks against Avigdor Lieberman and Benny What A Yahoo in Israel.

And I'm not going to let this chump run the same scam about the poor, downtrodden, ever-victimized African-American community in this country.

Does racism exist? You betcha. And that stinks. I don't put up with it. I don't allow that crap. And I'm not going to allow someone run the reverse racism schtick, either. You wanna do that, find Pat Buchanan and scream at each other on MSNBC. You deserve one another.

I voted for Obama. Skin color had nothing to do with it. The man was the best candidate. Period. The best leader. The best speaker. Has the best ideas. Has a way of getting people to believe in what he says. I didn't vote for the black man against the white man. I voted for the better man for president and that man is Barack Obama.

Bill Cosby has said it. Barack Obama said it to the NAACP. All of this victim crap has got to end. It's on the black community. Will there still be racism? Yes. Will people still disqualify the better "black" applicant for the job strictly on appearance? Yes. Will the white cop still pull over the talented, decent, hard-working black accountant, executive, doctor, lawyer, or professional some night just because that cop - NOT all cops - is an ass? Yes.

So what? The black community can either keep whining about that crap - and it is crap - or the black community can ignore it, hold its collective head high, and move forward. Anyone in the African-American community who thinks Obama and his family take that kind of garbage today and took that kind of garbage to get to the White House is a fool. Obama did it. Eric Holder, our attorney general, has done it.

Enough of this victim crap. Enough! Time to grow up. Time to take responsibility. Time to move forward.

Besides, every time an African-American succeeds, it must drive Pat Buchanan and his fellow racist sister, Bay, absolutely nuts. Do it for that reason alone. Do it to give the Buchanans, brother and sister, an endless taste of their own bile.

tartufe  07/20/2009 08:36 PM Report

JMM for president. Not sure i understood it all but cap and eject is too clever a title not to implement. Especially if it relates to politicians and lobbyists. Hear, hear!

JMM  07/20/2009 07:13 PM Report

I support efforts to build social equality and applaud those who work at making it a reality.

Would it help President Obama to achieve his goals if grassroots organizations put pressure on Senators to cap the costs for the election processes and to eliminate corporations and organizations from contributing funds to campaigns? Last time I looked, citizens were the only ones with the power to vote. Perhaps the vote to eject lobbyists and corporations from the election process needs to be a secret one … and maybe it needs to be done twice … once with every second Senator voting against the new rules so that it loses by 1 vote … and then again with every second Senator voting for the new rules so that it wins by 1 vote. That way when the lobbyists and corporations ask Senators why they didn’t do what they were paid to do, each and every Senator can honestly say “but I voted against the measure.”

If the Senators refuse to go along with the eject and cap idea, then grassroots organizers can rally support for the campaigns who show the most respect for the voters … especially at a time when funds spent on campaigns could be jobs … and they can do this by voting for the candidates who spend the least amount of funds for the election process.

Cap and Eject. Take back the system (?) and make it work again (for the first time?). All in the interest of making society function well, of course.

sereneserendipity  07/20/2009 04:46 PM Report

His message was great, but NAACP should have sent a better speaker, no disrespect intended.

REMant  07/20/2009 03:07 PM Report

I don't suppose the president is blind to these issues, either.