Rot in the System

Here is a bit from a Robert Reich posting on the woes that the Democrats have self-inflicted:

If there was ever a time to connect the dots and make the case for government as the singular means of protecting the public from these forces it is now. Yet the White House and the congressional Dem’s ongoing refusal to blame big business and Wall Street has created the biggest irony in modern political history. A growing portion of the public, fed by the right, blames our problems on “big government.”

Much of the reason for the Democrats’ astonishing reluctance to place blame where it belongs rests with big business’s and Wall Street’s generous flows of campaign donations to Dems, coupled with their implicit promise of high-paying jobs once Democratic officials retire from government. This is the rot at the center of the system. And unless or until it’s remedied, it will be difficult for the President to achieve any “change you can believe in.”

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But our President is not comfortable wielding blame. He will not give the public the larger narrative of private-sector greed, its nefarious effect on the American public at this dangerous juncture, and the private sector’s corruption of the democratic process. He has so far eschewed any major plan to get corporate and Wall Street money out of politics. He can be indignant– as when he lashed out at the “fat cats” on Wall Street – but his indignance is fleeting, and it is no match for the faux indignance of the right that blames government for all that ails us.

Obama has proved to be the black Jimmy Carter, i.e. ineffective as a leader. Lots of promise, but no delivery. He will make a wonder after dinner speaker once he is out of office. Maybe he will join Jimmy Carter in pounding nails to help house the homeless. But in terms of getting the US back on track and firing up the economy with jobs. Obama is a bust. He is too busy trying to find "common ground" with cynical Republicans.