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flowerguerrilla 2008-07-19

Obama is a politician - in fact, the perfect front man the corporations needed to lure in a new generation of voters.

maninwarren 2008-07-07

ALTERMAN: What I'm saying is politics is the art of the possible. Politics is the art of compromise and cooperation in getting things done. So if you want to be effective in this country, you have to operate within the consensus. Are you s***ing me? Is that what we've seen in the last 7+ years, "compromise and cooperation in getting things done"?! And if not, has the Bush/Cheney regime NOT been "effective in this country"?! Have they had to "operate within the consensus"?! Answers: NO, NO, and NO! They have gotten everything they've wanted, and achieved a "revolution in military affairs" that makes Reagan's military build up and misadventures look like a minor historical blip. But the Left will keep on spouting this crap, patting themselves on the back for trying to achieve "peace in our time", while the wolves grow stronger and laugh at the sheep, the latter thinking they've achieved detente with the very predators that feed on them -- and who will keep on feed

morgan_gibson87 2008-07-03

Despite some of his (thus far) shortcomings, Obama has already done some positive things; like get rid of PAC money within the Dems. If this can be done on a wide scale then there actually may be hope for reform within the American political system. Otherwise, I fear someone like Clinton is as progressive as it gets... which is a scary thought.

fb2k2r3a 2008-07-03

my major qualm with this debate is that the pro-obama side relies heavily on an empty faith that he is a secret good guy. we see him playing the standard political game, like when he goes back on his former policies in an attempt to please everyone, and we just cross our fingers and pray he'll be different than all the others. unfortunately, crossing your fingers is no new method of voting, it has proven, historically, to lead to no change. alterman's method is the road to ruin.

help! 2008-07-02

Alterman is an imbecile. The prize for Obama pandering to the far right is power, the prize for the rest of us is more of the same. Seriously, if you go back and look at Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign you will find something very similar to "Change We Can Believe In" sloganeering and promises. It's over America.

ddrainie 2008-07-01

Alterman is right on. Speaking truth to power and not compromising your values is not enough. If you want to get power you have to figure out how to maneuver through the political minefield. America is basically a conservative country and if you are a left of center politician it is especially difficult. You'd have better odds in Canada. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080629/poll_us_canada_080629/20080629?hub=Politics

gunboat diplomat 2008-07-01

Yup - "the band of acceptable opinion on any issue" - we understand, and so does Obama - but who draws the boundaries of acceptable discussion? Why, the U.S. corporate media (both the for-profits and the non-profits). The same feed goes out to the left and the right, the top and the bottom, more or less, and the result is that most Americans live in an insidious and near-total propaganda environment. Remember, this is a media that served up the obviously blatant lies about Iraqi biological and nuclear weapons without any dissent, and then avoided discussion of impeachment for fear of where the finger of blame would also come to rest. . . But we must have victory, so we must pander. . . I have so little patience for these romantic and militaristic notions of victory and defeat, of "us and them" - the same mindless striving guides each hollow woman, each stuffed man, headpiece filled with straw, alas. . . Obama will not change our bipolar & dysfunctional foreign policy, he is no

AnteUp 2008-07-01

ALTERMAN: "Yeah. Well, I don't know what he really believes in heart." We know that Alterman feels that Obama proving he is a friend to Israel at the AIPAC Conference was mucho importante. But thinking I knew what was in his heart was a deciding factor for me - now, just like Alterman, I don't have a clue. It may not bother him, but it certainly bothers ME. When stating why I support Obama over McCain - an intelligent reply would be, "But that's NOT what Obama says". To which I say - what? But I KNOW that's what he means? By what method.........divination? Obama did not get where he is - nor did the Dems elected in 2006 - by NOT appealing to their base. That's me, not AIPAC or the fundamentalists on the religious right. As Pepe mentions, "Balls"? Well, I know whom I am voting for - but I wish he had some!

Ironchefnintendo 2008-07-01

What's the point of winning if you have to compromise your beliefs? When I hear the word "compromise" in the context of politics, I think of the phrase, "selling out." Any time a politician changes their views in order to pander to a group of voters, they're being deceitful. Why should we vote for deceitful politicians? I guess it's okay for Obama to say whatever he has to in order to win, right, because the end justifies the means? I don't think so.

aqs 2008-06-30

Eric Alterman is like every other Obama supporter. He gets testy when someone calls Obama's behavior into question. Anyone who thinks you can compromise with the likes of the neocons is crazy. Besides, democrats don't know how to compromise; they only know how to capitulate. You only need to look at their complicity in the last 7 years worth of legislation.

swapandas 2008-06-30

Mr. Altermn, Hillary was really middle of the road in today's political landscape. Only that she never pretended to be overly progressive. Any way lets see what happens. Personally, I think Obama is and always was on the right of Hillary politically. Hilarry is the maximum left one can get of Geprge Bush. Swapan Das

DJ2008 2008-06-30

True, TRUE change won't happen in America unless the people first realize the connection between the money powers and US/European banking trust and the political process. People are purposefully not educated about the Federal Reserve, its owning interests and the overwhelming influence money has in U.S. domestic and foreign policies. Exchanging parties in the White House and Congress doesn't equal change; just further deception. We need to demand that the Fed be done away with, our economy returned to sound money principles, and THEN we can affect viable change internally and directly.

keisarimeldon 2008-06-30

It's funny how Alterman can say naive things like "politics is the art of the possible" and then lambast leftists for being "romantic". He braggs about how he can figure out what The Powers That Be will permit him to say, and then brands anyone that has the self-respect to say anything different as "stupid". So for him its "stupid" not to grovel like a dog in front of AIPAC, because that's what the rich fatcats want. We have to do what Massa says, don't we? That's the only way to "win"- by proving to Big Brother that we don't do thoughtcrime. Basically, its OK to talk like a populist in front of the proles as long as still take your marching orders from the Money Power, because that's the only "realistic" option- anything else would be quaint.

patrice 2008-06-30

Eric Alterman simply retreads here the shopworn arguments of the so-called "political realist" or "pragmatic" school so admired by liberals. According to this crowd, winning is everything, politics is forever the art of compromise, the art of the possible, and all of these tired cliches are especially relevant today in the fight to throw the BushCheney criminal gang out of the White House. It's lesserevilism writ large. While it is TRUE that, in any historical context political acts must reckon with reality, this is not the same as accepting a bankrupt politics of perennial opportunism devoid entirely of content. From a progressive standpoint honest politics devoid of content is an absurdity, and because of that winning cannot be everything. And never is. If it appears that way it's because in the US, a nation historically anti-intellectual and hostile to "ideology" (except capitalism and hyper-individualism) we have been far too long in the pocket of a political class an

help! 2008-06-30

adrian and burningice are absolutely correct. To listen to the liberal left opinion makers is to swallow principles and just vote Democrat. The Clinton era proved this to be a sham (welfare reform, increased incarceration of african-americans etc.). What is the evidence that Obama will respond to pressure from the left? More progressive reforms were achieved under Nixon than Carter or Clinton. Electoral politics are a sham, we need to hit the streets.

realgone 2008-06-30

I thing the narrator makes a real good point. I think the majority of Americans are stupid when it comes to what is really going on in Politics and World matters because they get their news from Cable Networks. I think Obama is appealing to a broad range of people in order to get elected and that is what is ultimately important, getting elected. That is how the system works, sad but true, to deny that is silly. McCain is being portrayed as a Neocon and a Bush II, I am not totally convinced, I think he too is just trying to get elected by appealing to the majority of Americans that are uneducated, who help elect George Bush twice, but I don't think he is accurately portraying his views, I however, am not willing to take that chance to find out. We may not like everything that Obama says and would like him to stand up, that is what Kucinich did, and look how far it got him. This is how our system works, we may not like, but it is what it is and he is doing what he needs to get elected,

adrian 2008-06-30

There comes a point where the consensus or band of acceptable opinion within a nation is so distorted that people turn to alternatives. It seems that the alternative option the American people have chosen is to simply remove themselves from the political process. If the views of the mass of non voters in this country were part of the mainstream, the band of acceptable opinion would shift much closer to protecting the constitution and avoiding war.

burningice17 2008-06-30

Great, so all the times Obama goes conservative, we're supposed to eat that rotten mess and be grateful that we have someone that can compromise? We wouldn't want to be critical of Obama. That might make him . . . actually stand up for what's right.

DrNova 2008-06-30

Barack Obama is both wise and gentle, a cautious master of self-restraint. He is the brave, circumspect, anti-bully, "new male" leader of the 21st century--just what the Doctor ordered. OBAMA: brains over brawn, a Champ not a Chump, the winner.

nonplus.plus 2008-06-30

Van, you again. Please take that garbage elsewhere.