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In addition to his highly anticipated interview with Jon Stewart, President Obama yesterday held another interview that went practically unnoticed: his first-ever sit-down with progressive bloggers.
The bloggers who met with the president at the White House included AMERICAblog’s Joe Sudbay; Eschaton’s Duncan Black ("Atrios"); Barbara Morrill of DailyKos; Crooks and Liars editor Jon Amato; and Oliver Willis, who runs his eponymous site.
Sudbay focused his question on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and gay marriage. “As you say, I have been to this point unwilling to sign on to same-sex marriage primarily because of my understandings of the traditional definitions of marriage,” President Obama said when asked about his stance on same-sex marriage by Sudbay. “But,” Obama continued, “I also think you’re right that attitudes evolve, including mine. And I think that it is an issue that I wrestle with and think about because I have a whole host of friends who are in gay partnerships.”
Atrios is still processing what took place during the almost hour-long interview, he wrote for Eschaton. But he did offer a short impression on one of the president’s answers regarding spending. “This is a nice fantasy of a world of responsible politicians where the priorities of today remain the priorities of tomorrow,” Atrios said in response to Obama’s desire to boost spending in the short term but cut it down medium and long term.
Oliver Willis asked questions on crossing the aisle to work with Republicans and Obama’s status as a progressive. While Obama called himself “stubborn,” he said he would work to find any sort of common ground on an “issue by issue basis.” “I don’t give up just because I didn’t get cooperation on this issue; I’ll try the next issue,” Obama said.
As for being called “progressive," Obama quickly dismissed being labeled, but said that he did see himself as progressive, in that he believes in “that essential American Dream that everybody gets a chance to make it if they’re willing to work hard.”
Willis wrote on his blog that he was impressed by Obama’s ability to “give complex answers off the top of his head, working through his thinking in a clear and cogent manner.” He said Obama balanced being serious and being relaxed, “treating important questions with the gravity required but not afraid to crack a joke or two.”
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It continues to be about the message for Obama. He just doesn't have the intellectual ability to figure out that it's not that he hasn't gotten his message across, it's the results of his own actions that have sunk his Presidency.
B!tch, please!
Tell me, if its not about message, and the utter short memory and fickleness of many in the country, why are Republicans running ads blaming the dmocrats for the bailouts, for a start, in spite of this?
This same OCtober 2008, two years ago, the bailouts were passed after a near crash of our entire financial and economic system:
http://seattlepi.com/national/381680_bailout04.html
THE TEABAGGERS IN ANGER OVER THE BAILOUT PROMPTLY RETURNED BOEHNER BACK TO POWER IN TWO YEARS IN REWARD FOR THE VOTE AND FOR THE ADMINISTRATION'S PROPOSAL OF IT.
Our President understands that compromise is essential in any legislation. If purity of thought was a necessity -- he'd be Republican. They have only a few thoughts between them all -- Cut taxes for the wealthy (trickle down effect) & War. Period. That's the extent of their ideas.
Is the RNC forcing you to work over time tonight JoAnna for the pathetic performance of yours this morning?
@Freckles
Exactly. It seems the Republican answers to everything are Gold, God and Guns. In that exact order.
-BG
I love the way you stirred up the pathetic freelunchers. Talking all bad about their messiah like that. They think they are the free thinkers and I agree! All they think about is free health care, free food, free transportation, free housing, free phone, cable and internet and free spending money all provided by the hard working income tax paying minority. Yep, free thinkers alright!
Bgrngod, Sorry, but you are wrong!!
The order is:
First is God. Nothing is higher and nothing can replace god, when people forget this, they will be lost and life will be a struggle!
Second is Family. After God your family is your responsibility, do not let other people deal with your family challenge, be responsible and take care of your family, someday you might need them to take care of you!
Third is Work You need to have the means to do gods will and the means to take care of your family. Work to the best of your ability, don't be a slacker or do just enough to keep your job. Be the best you can be and have pride in what you do.
And the forth is Money. Be responsible with your money, pay your bills, save for a rainy day and think before you spend your money!
The Fifth is The right to be a free citizen. Vote to keep your freedom
In that exact order, liberals will never understand the feeling of having life in the proper order. Government dose not replace God! Government dose not raise a child....parents do! Government giving a free ride comes with no pride, and only good old work give you that feeling. Govenrment should not be your answer to your money issues. And Government has no place taking your rights from you to benefit others! Liberals and their feel good ideas never fallow this list. That is why liberals can never understand why other people can be so happy with out their agenda or their ideals. If you are a liberal and set in your ways, you will never get it or understand it.
And if you are Conservative, you will never understand that your rigid belief system cannot be codified into law. There is no requirement to believe in God to be a citizen of this country. The rest of your of your rant demonstrates the ignorance of your position. Nothing like stereotyping a whole group of people because they believe differently then you do.
It is you who is blinded by a rigid belief system that you can not even question. You state rights that you have at the same time trumping the rights of others. Everything in that post you argued with is spot on to any reasonable mind. It is your kind that historically has become despots, dictators and fascists, because you rely on your own defective character and fallibility instead of a sense of what is right and wrong. Just because you don't believe in God does not make God go away. You will lose that fight my friend.
Just because you believe in god doesn't make him, her, it, real. But it does make you gullible.
Which is funny, isn't it? Quoting Jed: "...instead of a sense of right and wrong". It is the Bible thumpers that must be threatened into moral behavior by a fear of hell. The rest of us know that we must live by an ethical code. Paul, this all brings to my mind the time that a religious college was trying to lure my daughter into attending by the offer of a full ride scholarship. She did show up for the competition, and was required to write an essay on Christian behavior. Now, she did not want to attend that school, and her essay was on how being an atheist is a moral choice. She won. I still laugh about it to this day, she did wind up at a Tier One school.
Hi newdayDAWNING.
Amazing how deep the brainwash goes. Good for your daughter, you have reared her well. The world needs more independent thinkers.
He doesn't have the intellect? Are you really serious? That comment makes no sense given what the blogger said about the President's ability to answer complex questions off the top of his head. Wow!!!!
She is that, Paul, Currently in Law School, will probably run for some office or another one day.
Those ethics are sure evident all around in DC ain't they? Do you guys ever think any deeper than a can of beer?
Make lobbying a completely transparent activity and most of our ethical and corruption problems in Washington will disappear.
Well, we certainly can find some common ground there! But one little question just nags at me. If ethics was enough why would this be needed to begin with?
Lots of lobbyists consider themselves to be good Christians. Religious faith doesn't preclude the partaking of sin or crimes, it just tells you who you are supposed to repent to and from whom you are expected to beg for your forgiveness. It also, oddly enough, lets you tell your prosecutors that they have no right to judge you, lest they be judged.
Agree that everything you just pointed out is hypocritical nonsense from religious folk. Here is the kicker. So does God! Jesus was not a religious man, he was a spiritual man. Religion is mans pathetic attempt to harness God for his own ends.
Will the Liberals anger go all the way up to 11?
...to match the Tea Party insanity?
I second Paul's comment and add, 9 "Bush" states and a 10 million vote margin from people who supported what he said he was going to do durring the campaign. It wasn't a week after the election that Republican'ts started telling us what "the american people", want. We voted for what we wanted! In less than two years the ADD generation has been bomarted with a non stop attack against the president and the policies we voted for! It will be interesting to see how obstruction works when "THEY" will have expectations to live (down) up to. Progressives will ultimatley win the real victories, this is a last gasp of the R's against change of anything! I predict if you really want to see a wave election wait for 2012, everyone will be reminded of who the R's work for and they will have played their last card. Say hello to a better America in 2012.
But man are the next two years goin to be a waist!
Well, at least it made it through the spellchecker.
waste...........not necessarily. The democrats will have the opportunity to show the public how the RE-peat-the-LIES-to the-PUBLIC-ans have sold their souls and their country to the international bankers.
Both parties sold their souls. The bailouts to the corrupt bankers were absolutely seamless going from Bush to Obama. Not even a whimper out of the Democratic party. They just signed over the trillions without even an AUDIT!
Obama and this Congress had those bankers on the ropes for the first time in our history and instead of breaking them up into hundreds of healthy competitive banks they handed them trillions so they could rid out the depression in style.
Then Obama and this Congress virtually removed any shreds of regulations left by putting the Federal Reserve in charge of all the too big to fail bank decision making with their bogus "financial reform" bill. Obama's tongue is raw from licking their boots so hard for the last two years. Give me a break. Both parties are a complete joke when it comes to the international bankers.
Both parties are equal experts at creating new debt for the bankers. One by unfunded welfare the other with unfunded warfare.
That's good stuff there Adams. Fraid it'll be a little to strong a drink for most of these lightweight liberals. When ya flip a quarter up in the air it don't matter weather it lands on heads or tails. It's still a quarter! And so it goes with politicians.
If the Tea Party existed two years ago, Sara Palin would be President
STTS a.york
Is McCain dead already?
Rachel Maddow is correct about what Obama does not understand. Naomi Wolf has also pointed it out in her article about how fascists (which the GOP now is) take power. Like in the Weimar Republic the Social Democrats kept begging Hitler for compromise before he took power and killed them all. Those who want to keep a democracy must understan that we are in civil war now and the GOP plans to kill you if you don't defeat them by being tougher than they are.
We don't have a "DEMOCRACY"! We have a Republic! We have a democratic form of voting and that is it.
A democracy is nothing more than "mob rule" which always turns into a snobocracy as an elite group takes charge of the mob and dictates the agenda. That group keeps getting smaller as they centralize all the power until it is a monarchy. We currently have 1 representative in Senate/Congress for every 700,000 people. Then you let a corrupt centralized banking system take over your currency. The bankers install endless politicians to create massive debt with unaffordable charity/entitlements and wars.
All that is left is to let corporations/unions "lobby or bribe" your political system and you have a perfect mirror of the British government we fought to free our ourselves from. Europe was doing it 100 years before the founders made this country with a decentralized government and powerful states. They looked at centralized bankers as predators worse than an enemy invasion. Anyone that does not is ignorant of history.
This has nothing to do with socialism. The socialistic government needs fractional reserve banking to carry the insane debts incurred as it slides into bankruptcy. It cannot exist with a backed currency. That is why our socialism started when FDR stopped backing the currency and started printing "funny money".
Fear-monger much R.G.?
The road to financial destruction is laden with good intentions (unfunded entitlements). We currently have $50 trillion in unfunded entitlements. Congress does not have two nickels to rub together to pay for them but refuses to discuss it because the necessary changes are not going to get anyone reelected.
You have great division in the country between those living off the government one way or another and those who pay all the taxes for them to do so. We cannot justify endless debt to support half the country with ornamental jobs or to sit home and watch TV or babysit their own children.
The political parties are just as polarized.
RG, You're a nut.
These bloggers are sympatico with Obama-dude. All of them are far left socialist liberal progressives. Obama has also met with George Soros many times. The same Soros that funds most all these socialist websites. Soros also funds many of the anti-America UN programs. As much as the liberal radical socialist Democrats rail against the rich and big business they are not shy about taking money from them on a scale far greater than the Republican. They have also taken foreign money. Remember the Clinton Chinese scandal? And some people think Obama is a moderate. What a laugh, he was born into a mixed marriage a communist and radical socialist. His whole life has been one of associating with radicals, socialists, terrorists, and Democrats. His only real job was teaching Alinskys rules for socialist radicals to ACORN activists. Also just look at his cabinet and cabal of czars. Radicals, activists, special interest organizers, admitted socialists and even communists. Now that is the most unusual collection of presidential advisors to ever serve an administration. The country is rejecting these radical socialist programs of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid.
Hypocrisy drips off libs like slime off a slug. There is a trail of it everywhere they go.
wow you communist/socialist are cry babies, we finally see who you really are. You have been hidding in the shadows and now that you are out and have to lead with your failed programs that haven't worked. "Ever" You sit here and cry. Well We know who you are now. Stay in your parents basements we will find you. News flash for you communist pigs call progressives>>>>> See what happen to one of your own the other day. She got her head just about kicked in well thats just the beginning. Come to a peacefull rally and be a as$. You will end up in a back ally...
Soros is a convicted felon. Isn't he wanted in several European countries for financial crimes. Pity I wasn't trained as a SAS commando. I'd turn him over to the European powers for no rewards at all. I guess I'll ask the Israelis to do the dirty work for me. He makes me puke.