Now that the intoxication of the Obama victory is over (or should be
over), one wonders how long it will take the pro-Obama left to wake
up to a hangover. For the last few days, news reports should have
given them an Excedrin-sized headache. Instead of ushering in a new
New Deal, Obama seems to be all about ushering in Bill Clinton's 3rd
term but in this case we are dealing with America's first real Black
president rather than the claim made on Clinton's behalf by Rep.
Eddie Bernice Johnson in 2001 that he "took so many initiatives he
made us think for a while we had elected the first black president."
First and foremost, Obama's selection of Rahm Emanuel is a clear
indication that he will promote DLC type politics of the sort that
characterized the Clinton-Gore years. While some liberals are
surprised by this choice, they should remember that Obama came to
Connecticut to back Joseph Lieberman in 2006.
On the economics front, the possible choice of Lawrence Summers as
Secretary of the Treasury is just as disgusting. When he was
president of Harvard University, Summers became notorious for
claiming that women did not succeed in science and math careers
because of their genes. He also called African-American professor
Cornel West on the carpet and lectured him about how his scholarship
was not up to snuff, thus convincing West to find work elsewhere.
But perhaps Summers is being considered for the job because of his
experience as head of the World Bank. If so, Obama is obviously
insensitive to the rights of his fellow Africans in light of the fact
that Summers once proposed exporting pollution to poor African
nations stating "the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic
waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up
to that". For all of the talk about Obama being the second coming of
Martin Luther King Jr., I doubt that King would have ever had
anything to do with the Lawrence Summers of the world.
full:
http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2008/11/08/progressives-for-obama-still-intoxicated/
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