I like your analysis and your prescription. I too hope we can shrink the defense budget and lessen the dangers of empire.

Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSSIlx9hiu8

rotwang,

thanks for that video and the others to choose from at the end. My wife and I watched a number of them for the nostalgia. We remember the songs well, but the visuals really hit home for me.

I found The White Cliffs of Dover on that site, one of my favorites, as was Lili Marleen.

You caused me to look for another old song on YouTube, something I never thought of in this particular case.

When our Division was being pulled out of Normandy and going back to England we boarded an LST already loaded with a bunch of German POWs. Not long after we got into the channel the Germans started singing what we later learned was "Horst Wessel", and that melody stuck with many us all throughout the war. Regardless of where we were or under what conditions, it was never surprising to hear someone whistling that tune. I added the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYIU09o1gsI

"I agree with you," Roosevelt reportedly told labor's Sidney Hillman. "Now go out, and make me to do it."

That quote is so on point. If the electorate wants change the electorate has to change and start holding leaders in Congress and the Whitehouse accountable. The way to help Obama fulfill his potential to be great it is to keep the pressure on him and everyone in Congress so that he has leverage with those trying to replace what's best for the American people with their own narrow agendas. He and Congress members have got to be able to say, "look at the numbers, we'll all get voted out if we don't do what is in the best interest of the country this time."

Rotwang, Great post.

One of the ways Democrats always stumble when trying to put pressure on the government is that "we" don't all have the same priorities or goals. Those of us who are peaceniks want the Iraq and Afghanistan military activity to cease, almost immediately, but many of us want to continue to try to kill bin Laden. Those of us who believe that it is our bloated military budget that holds everything else back want a substantial cut in military spending, but many of us want to be protected above all else.

Some of us think gay marriage is a liberal issue to be pushed for very hard, but many of us don't see it as a major issue at all. And, don't even think of finding a common ground on "immigration" issues.

I don't have any idea how to get around this problem.

I'm all for principled criticism, but Rotwang's criticism is based on a fundamental fallacy.

The fallacy is that Obama can't afford to implement his stimulus strategy without making cuts elsewhere. Not so. It's a misunderstanding of the nature of stimulus in economic crisis, monetary supply, and mistakenly presumes a zero sum environment, robbing Peter to pay Paul.

We have an elastic monetary policy for good reason. Exactly for times like this.

Stimulus in a crisis is simply put: allocating new money to exiting wealth which has been undervalued due to market failures. Such as unemployed workers for example still have their skills, they just aren't being utilized.

So no, Obama doesn't need to cut the military or anything else to pay for stimulus. The wealth already exists in our economy, it's just undervalued due to market failures.

The mistake wasn't in keeping rates low. The laissez faire mistake was the presumption markets are always optimal and rational, and resultant failure to target monetary policy into growth infrastructure or even predict the death spiral.

It's critical to understand this is pro-growth stimulus. Programs that are inefficient should be cut on that basis. But, it's unnecessary to cut the military for example to pay for healthcare.

It's not zero sum. We don't have to rob Peter to pay Paul. Pundits really need to educate themselves and stop repeating that myth as though it were a fact.

Excellent post Doctor R!

You write:

"There is the view that the public is plenty progressive already, it's just that Democratic politicians are pussies and sell-outs who are afraid to do the right thing. I would say mendacity is distributed all along the political spectrum."

You are correct insofar as you point out that liars are in both parties, but I have to say that the main criticism of Democrats is that they are pussies as in cowards and sissies and poltroons. The Democratic leadership in particular seems overloaded with these people, though I must say that with a few exceptions most Congressional Democrats fit in the catogory of cowardly pussies. That's the biggest problem we have in American politics on the left or among progressives or however you prefer to put it. People expect politicians to lie regardless of party but once in a while we demand they have some balls. I find the Democrats in Congress to be partcularly lacking in courage particularly the courage of their convictions. The illegal/immoral invasion of Iraq is the Big Kahuna of cowardice for Democrats but there have been dozens of examples since such as caving in on FISA and other such matters.

I hearily agree with you that if genuine liberal policies that will actually achieve the substnatial change people seek and that Obama promised daily for two years, are going to be adopted, then we will have to pressure the new President into doing so a la the quote you cite from FDR.

Howard Zinn has eloquently pointed this out time after time in reference to the 2008 election and making progress for average Americans. He points out that FDR only adopted the agenda he came to be known for because of the extreme circumstances of the times in combination with demands and protests calling for the sorts of actions he took. We will need to do similarly in the present crisis if we want Obama to be the change we hoped he would be.

Sorry Kozmik.. didn't mean to coopt your logo. I meant to copy and paste the quote. Can't edit our posts here!