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Called the "dean" of political journalists, he's distinguished more for supporting power and privilege than delivering real journalism, his December 8 column the most recent example headlined, "Obama takes his case to the independent center," saying:
"In opting to accommodate reality by acceding to the Republican demand for maintaining all the Bush tax cuts (ones benefitting Broder greatly) and obtaining a better price than many expected for his concessions, Obama (did) almost all that is possible to create a favorable economic environment for the 2012 campaign. (That's) a winning posture for a president seeking a second term, (placing himself) in the center of the American political spectrum."
In fact, he's far to the right of center, even further by his latest deal, proposing more wealth to those already with too much. He's offering most to fat cats and corporate favorites, chump change by comparison to working Americans.
Broder, however, wants more - "tough love budgetary changes outlined by the presidential commission on deficits," hitting ordinary American hard while lavishing more benefits on the rich and corporate America. He called it comparable to Clinton signing welfare reform in 1996, stiff-arming the nation's poor, including many single mothers with children sacrificed to win votes for a second term. "This was (Obama's) best showing....in many months," selling out to power and privilege for the same thing.
Broder, so-called pundits, other corporate media writers, and some progressive ones won't explain it, including Nation magazine editor Katrina vanden Heuvel. She's an establishment figure, a regular on corporate TV, a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) member, and unabashed Obama supporter, even when criticizing as she did in her December 7 Washington Post op-ed headlined, "Obama's disastrous path," reciting a checklist of objectionable policies, including, saying he's:
"on the verge of kowtowing to Republican bluster and cutting a deal to extend (Bush era) tax cuts for the rich in exchange (one hopes) for extending unemployment insurance," implying giving up lots for a little is OK.
Then despite criticizing his current course, while stopping short of condemning and exposing it as hard right, she inflated him unjustly, saying he "has a historic mandate" like Lincoln to end slavery or Roosevelt during the Great Depression. Otherwise, he "risks a failed presidency." She's, in fact, clueless how corrupted, lawless, and failed he's been for nearly two years, a record of shame, assuring his status as one of America's worst ever leaders, serving power, not loyal constituents who elected him, the same ones again being betrayed.
Vanden Heuvel, other Nation writers, and more from the progressive left think Obama is one of them. Their level of intellectual dishonesty is shocking. Calling it blindness is too kind, including Christopher Hayes in the Nation's December 27 issue headlined, "Tax Cuts Forever," criticizing the deal, but saying:
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