Nice Speech, Barack

I think I have not been commenting here much because I feel like I'm whistling into the wind. The Democratic Party has been hiding its head in shame since the Massachusetts election. The press has declared the Obama Administration a failure. I personally have not been as happy with the Obamanator as I would like. For a progressive, he has been disappointing in many ways. What a difference a speech makes. The President set the record straight. Obama started his administration with an $8 billion deficit, two wars and a rapidly declining employment rate. The GOOP has been nothing but obstructionist on every issue for the entire year. The Democratic Party cannot abdicate leadership even if it only has a 57 vote (I don't count LIEberman and Benny Nelson) majority. The President set a new agenda. There is money for jobs, small business, and the environment. Health care is not off the table and both parties are tasked with finding a solution for it. There is a big new emphasis on education. Transparency is still a high priority and he is still promising Don't Ask Don't Tell. Bottom line, he said most of the things that caused me to work for his election, he established a work plan for getting this done and he put the onus on the Congress, particularly the Senate, to get off its ass and get this done. He promised to get us out of Iraq this year, a wonderful thing. I am not happy that he is pursuing this adventure in Afghanistan, but I used to think it was a good idea and so I understand why he is doing it. I have never been happy that Obama abandoned any effort to hold the Busches accountable for the eight years of facism they forced on our nation and I think his failure to do so will result in a repeat performance, perhaps in my lifetime. One highlight was calling the Supremes out on their decision to turn government over to corporate fat cats, including foreign ones. The NYT reports that Alito reacted like the lying scum he is my mouthing "its not true." So is the court planning to reverse it's decision, create an exception for foreign corporations, or decide that foreigners cannot own controlling interests in American companies? Is he crazy? The President plans to hold the GOOP responsible by holding monthly meetings with the leadership. I recommend he get these meetings on tape. You can't trust the GOOP to tell the truth about what happened at those meetings. In a few days we will have some evidence of whether this speech has an effect. Hairy and Nan should be coming up with some plan to get health care passed. The GOOP will be meeting with the President at it's retreat this week. My guess is the GOOP will continue to obstruct, and Hairy will have to let them filibuster. GOOD!! Nothing like Armageddon to clear the decks.