Buyer's Remorse Part II
David Brooks, in an op-ed in the New York Times, suggests yet more reasons for concern about St. Barack aside from the whole shameful FISA sell-out.
Campaign finance reform appears to be going out the window yet again, ushered out by
So, that's Wall Street bigwigs, high-profile lawyers, emissaries of the military-industrial complex and big-time property developers? Forces of social progress and enlightenment all, we're sure... and perhaps you'd also be interested in our attractive portfolio of Florida waterfront properties.
The champion of a so-called "New Politics" suddenly looks about as sincere and progressive as the champion of a "New Labour" once did. It's increasingly looking wiser and more astute to cease making Barack-Obama-as-the-new-JFK comparisons and to start making Obama-as-the-new-Tony-Blair ones instead.
The left has been cruelly and cynically betrayed before and, it appears, should begin lowering its expectations now before allowing its heart to be broken and its energy and idealism to be stubbed out yet again.
Campaign finance reform appears to be going out the window yet again, ushered out by
...a phalanx of big money bundlers, including, according to The Washington Post, Kenneth Griffin of the Citadel Investment Group; Kirk Wager, a Florida trial lawyer; James Crown, a director of General Dynamics; and Neil Bluhm, a hotel, office and casino developer.
So, that's Wall Street bigwigs, high-profile lawyers, emissaries of the military-industrial complex and big-time property developers? Forces of social progress and enlightenment all, we're sure... and perhaps you'd also be interested in our attractive portfolio of Florida waterfront properties.
The champion of a so-called "New Politics" suddenly looks about as sincere and progressive as the champion of a "New Labour" once did. It's increasingly looking wiser and more astute to cease making Barack-Obama-as-the-new-JFK comparisons and to start making Obama-as-the-new-Tony-Blair ones instead.
The left has been cruelly and cynically betrayed before and, it appears, should begin lowering its expectations now before allowing its heart to be broken and its energy and idealism to be stubbed out yet again.
Labels: 2008 US presidential election, Barack Obama, campaign finance
posted by Steve | 2:02 PM
1 Comments:
I'm more ambivalent about the campaign finance. Obama's been making the argument that, with campaign finance laws as they currently stand, public funding means that you limit your support base to those who can afford the legal means to circumvent them, so all he'd really be doing is hurting his small donor base.
So yes, it's hypocritical, given that he said he'd take public finance if McCain did. But the "masses of small internet donors change everything" argument isn't as totally vacuous and cynical as it might seem.
And of course, David Brooks is a tool of quite gargantuan proportions.
Post a Comment
<< Home