hilarious. and quite enjoyable to read. and i guess now we know, if we ever wondered, that huckabee doesn't even understand that "soviet" doesn't mean "russian."
On Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 2:34 PM, Jim Devine <[email protected]> wrote: > > washingtonpost.com > > Obama's No Socialist. I Should Know. > > By Billy Wharton > Sunday, March 15, 2009; B01 > > It took a massive global financial crisis, a failed military adventure > and a popular repudiation of the Republican Party to make my national > television debut possible. After 15 years of socialist political > organizing -- everything from licking envelopes and handing out > leaflets to the more romantic task of speaking at street > demonstrations -- I found myself in the midtown Manhattan studio of > the Fox Business Network on a cold February evening. Who ever thought > that being the editor of the Socialist magazine, circulation 3,000, > would launch me on a cable news career? > > The media whirlwind began in October with a call from a New York Times > writer. He wanted a tour of the Socialist Party USA's national office. > Although he was more interested in how much paper we used in our > "socialist cubby hole" than in our politics, our media profile > exploded. Next up, a pleasant interview by Swedish National Radio. > Then Brian Moore, our 2008 presidential candidate, sparred with > Stephen Colbert. Even the Wall Street Journal wanted a socialist to > quote after the first bailout bill failed last fall. Traffic to our > Web site multiplied, e-mail inquiries increased and meetings with > potential recruits to the Socialist Party yielded more new members > than ever before. Socialism -- an idea with a long history -- suddenly > seemed to have a bright future in 21st-century America. > > Whom did we have to thank for this moment in the spotlight? Oddly > enough, Republican politicians such as Mike Huckabee and John McCain > had become our most effective promoters. During his campaign, the > ever-desperate McCain, his hard-charging running mate Sarah Palin and > even a plumber named Joe lined up to call Barack Obama a "socialist." > Last month, Huckabee even exclaimed that, "The Union of Soviet > Socialist Republics may be dead, but the Union of American Socialist > Republics is being born." > > We appreciated the newfound attention. But we also cringed as the > debate took on the hysterical tone of a farcical McCarthyism. The > question "Is Obama a socialist?" spread rapidly through a network of > rightwing blogs, conservative television outlets and alarmist radio > talk shows and quickly moved into the mainstream. "We Are All > Socialists Now," declared a Newsweek cover last month. A New York > Times reporter recently pinned Obama down with the question, "Are you > a socialist, as some people have suggested?" The normally unflappable > politician stumbled through a response so unconvincing that it > required a follow-up call in which Obama claimed impeccable free > market credentials. > > All this speculation over whether our current president is a socialist > led me into the sea of business suits, BlackBerrys and self-promoters > in the studio at Fox Business News. I quickly realized that the > antagonistic anchor David Asman had little interest in exploring > socialist ideas on bank nationalization. For Asman, nationalization > was merely a code word for socialism. Using logic borrowed from the > 1964 thriller "The Manchurian Candidate," he portrayed Obama as a > secret socialist, so far undercover that not even he understood that > his policies were de facto socialist. I was merely a cudgel to be > wielded against the president -- a physical embodiment of guilt by > association. > > The funny thing is, of course, that socialists know that Barack Obama > is not one of us. Not only is he not a socialist, he may in fact not > even be a liberal. Socialists understand him more as a hedge-fund > Democrat -- one of a generation of neoliberal politicians firmly > committed to free-market policies. > > The first clear indication that Obama is not, in fact, a socialist, is > the way his administration is avoiding structural changes to the > financial system. Nationalization is simply not in the playbook of > Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and his team. They favor costly, > temporary measures that can easily be dismantled should the economy > stabilize. Socialists support nationalization and see it as a means of > creating a banking system that acts like a highly regulated public > utility. The banks would then cease to be sinkholes for public funds > or financial versions of casinos and would become essential to > reenergizing productive sectors of the economy. > > The same holds true for health care. A national health insurance > system as embodied in the single-payer health plan reintroduced in > legislation this year by Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), makes > perfect sense to us. That bill would provide comprehensive coverage, > offer a full range of choice of doctors and services and eliminate the > primary cause of personal bankruptcy -- health-care bills. Obama's > plan would do the opposite. By mandating that every person be insured, > ObamaCare would give private health insurance companies license to > systematically underinsure policyholders while cashing in on the moral > currency of universal coverage. If Obama is a socialist, then on > health care, he's doing a fairly good job of concealing it. > > Issues of war and peace further weaken the commander in chief's > socialist credentials. Obama announced that all U.S. combat brigades > will be removed from Iraq by August 2010, but he still intends to > leave as many as 50,000 troops in Iraq and wishes to expand the war in > Afghanistan and Pakistan. A socialist foreign policy would call for > the immediate removal of all troops. It would seek to follow the > proposal made recently by an Afghan parliamentarian, which called for > the United States to send 30,000 scholars or engineers instead of more > fighting forces. > > Yet the president remains "the world's best salesman of socialism," > according to Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina. DeMint > encouraged supporters "to take to the streets to stop America's slide > into socialism." Despite the fact that billions of dollars of public > wealth are being transferred to private corporations, Huckabee still > felt confident in proposing that "Lenin and Stalin would love" Obama's > bank bailout plan. > > Huckabee is clearly no socialist scholar, and I doubt that any of > Obama's policies will someday appear in the annals of socialist > history. The president has, however, been assigned the unenviable task > of salvaging a capitalist system intent on devouring itself. The > question is whether he can do so without addressing the deep > inequalities that have become fundamental features of American > society. So, President Obama, what I want to know is this: Can you > lend legitimacy to a society in which 5 percent of the population > controls 85 percent of the wealth? Can you sell a health-care reform > package that will only end up enriching a private health insurance > industry? Will you continue to favor military spending over > infrastructure development and social services? > > My guess is that the president will avoid these questions, further > confirming that he is not a socialist except, perhaps, in the > imaginations of an odd assortment of conservatives. Yet as the > unemployment lines grow longer, the food pantries emptier and health > care scarcer, socialism may be poised for a comeback in America. The > doors of our "socialist cubby-hole" are open to anyone, including > Obama. I encourage him to stop by for one of our monthly membership > meetings. Be sure to arrive early to get a seat -- we're more popular > than ever lately. > > [email protected] > > © 2009 The Washington Post Company > -- > Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own > way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l >
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