Obama the Middle Man

I think it's fairly obvious now that President Obama is definitely NOT a raging Marx-Loving Socialist Liberal.

With this tax & stimulus deal The White House is working on, it is clear that Obama is a pragmatist... a maddeningly moderate pragmatist.

I'm an Independent, but more often agree with policy positions that are so-called 'progressive'. Even if I don't agree with an idea, though, I'll often try to see things through the lens of someone with a different view. Obama & the tax/stimulus bill in development have led to a strong debate on issues like taxes, the national debt, & entitlements. Initially, I had a knee-jerk response from my lefty instincts to the ridiculous concessions to the super rich - such as the extensions of the top tier tax cuts, fiddling with the estate tax, etc. The seeming lack of a Presidential fight over this deal & the scolding of his supposed left-wing 'base' over their criticism has liberal politicians & bloggers flipping out.

KC Star:
What’s in the Tax Compromise
for Ordinary Americans?

It's actually amazing that he (or the government in general) has the ability to get anything done with a country full of us 'sanctimonious' maniacs- all trying to get their own Utopia. As even-headed as I usually am, I would never be able to patiently deal with the numerous loathsome characters in Congress & all of the political shenanigans.

His refusal to cater only to either party's hardliners is why Obama's inhumanly persistent efforts at building consensus have the ideologues on either extreme of the political spectrum freaking out. I think he would probably like to institute more progressive social policy, but he is working within the constraints of political & legislative realities.

Tonight I heard some lady on CNN saying Obama was "Bush on Steroids". This is a laughably silly statement. If Obama disappeared, & Dubya magically popped back into office... she & most of the country would soil their pants in despair!!!

I don't care what anyone says, Obama's still trying to salvage a flaming car wreck that would have violently exploded if 'McPain' were running things now. Thankfully, McCain is back to grumbling about gay soldiers in Senate hearings, while The Alaskan Banshee only maintains power over the lives of wild animals & her Twitter followers.

(... FOR NOW!)