The Fake Disillusionment Con
By Shorter Thomas Frank and Cornel West: I’m going to pretend to be deeply disillusioned that Obama didn’t turn out to be the Scandinavian social democrat there was absolutely no evidence he was.
There’s not much point in dwelling in the individual arguments, which are the same lazy ones Frank has been making repeatedly in his profit-taking Salon column whether they’re being made by Frank or West. I did enjoy this question, though:
What on earth ails the man? Why can’t he fight the Republicans? Why does he need to seek a grand bargain?
Let’s leave aside the notable lack of any meaningful grand bargain pursuit in his second term, despite Republican control of the House. The idea that he “won’t fight the Republicans”…what can you say? Yes, who can forget the overwhelming Republican support for the ARRA, AVA, the consumer protection bureau, Dodd-Frank, the repeal of DADT, putting a Democratic majority on the D.C. Circuit, etc. etc. Why does Obama insist only on seeking longstanding neoliberal Republican priorities like huge expansions of Medicaid? WHY WON’T OBAMA FIGHT THE REPUBLICANS EVER?