Ever since he emerged as a possible favorite for the Democratic nomination, right-wing pundits have been trying to paint Barack Obama as an "unrepentant liberal", a "wild-eyed progressive", and even a "leftist with Marxist leanings".
I'm paraphrasing here, but this is essentially what the disparate and desperate conservative noise-machine has been proclaiming loudly and endlessly throughout the campaign. In the three weeks since Obama won the election, the pundits have been closely watching his staffing choices and projected cabinet nominations for any hint of an unreasonably liberal slant.
And you know what's been happening? Obama is largely proposing centrist choices for his cabinet. He even wants to keep Robert Gates as Sec. of Defense, a Bush appointee who isn't even the slightest bit Marxist as far as I can see. Although you never can tell; those dirty Commies are quite gifted at hiding their true leanings, sometimes for decades if you believe the more radical right-wing talkers!
As Jane Hamsher (the Godmother of this blog) discusses in the video below from Rachel Maddow's show, this sort of thing is effectively putting the "Obama = Progressive" meme to rest. The only people more disappointed than the right-wingers in this matter are the true Progressives, who are somewhat guilty of projection in trying to shape Barack into their ideal Progressive leader; but who in reality happens to be very much a centrist Democrat.
The first couple minutes of the video Rachel spends discussing the John Brennan controversy that the liberal blogosphere successfully affected. I love the way she introduces Jane!
And a note to Rachel Maddow: yes, "netroots" IS a word, inasmuch as "blogosphere" is a word.
2 comments:
Centrist, wild eyed, liberal,Progressive. All this hooey from so called conservatives who are too goddamned dumb to balance the budget. J.C.Sr.
"Online Marketing Guru?"
You gotta be shittin' me!
Post a Comment