Except for celebrating it, the color of Barack Obama's skin never really became an issue.
The thickness of it is, however.
Both the president and his press secretary have repeatedly attacked critics in the media for their -- surprise! -- criticism.
Press spokesman Robert Gibbs has called out critics by name, from CNBC's Rick Santelli to Mad Money host Jim Cramer. And the entire administration seems to have turned all its guns on conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh.
"Barack Obama's administration has uncovered a new Public Enemy No. 1," writes Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr. "From the War on Terror to the War on Talk Radio."
In one sense, you can't blame Obama for being blindsided by the criticism of his policies: The national news media were in such a hurry to get him elected that they didn't bother to stop and question what he might do once elected.
So, of course, no one saw the major shift in policy coming toward America's nuclear waste storage.
Hidden in the president's budget is a move to end the country's development of Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a central depository for nuclear waste.
The country has spent two decades and $13.5 billion on Yucca Mountain. No other feasible long-term alternative for commercial nuclear waste storage has been put forth. But in the blink of an eye, and without so much as a "boo!", the Obama administration has radically changed national policy on the future of nuclear energy.
How confident will nuclear reactor developers be that the federal government has a solid plan for waste? How will that affect the growth of nuclear power -- which, by the way, needs to be instrumental in the Obama camp's desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
Meanwhile, in the midst of the most painful recession since the Great Depression, the president is also attempting a radical reshaping of American health-care policy. But he's started that, as well, in an insurgent fashion: simply including $600 billion for it in his budget.
These are just a couple of examples of how extreme the Obama administration has been in its infancy.
"This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before," says Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
"Things," responds columnist Charles Krauthammer. "Now we know what they are."
The nosedive by the stock market since Obama won may, in retrospect, have been in large part a reaction to Obama's radicalism.
Writes former Council of Economic Advisers chairman Michael Boskin in a Wall Street Journal column: "It's hard not to see the continued sell-off on Wall Street and the growing fear on Main Street as a product, at least in part, of the realization that our new president's policies are designed to radically re-engineer the market-based U.S. economy, not just mitigate the recession and financial crisis.
"The illusion that Barack Obama will lead from the economic center has quickly come to an end."
If the country was under that illusion, it was because the national media failed miserably and utterly last year in its sacred mission to inform the electorate.
As a result, the president is seeing a severe backlash, in some cases of the Boston Tea Party variety. And the criticism is surprising and downright irksome to the former presidential candidate who experienced none of this harsh questioning in the cocoon the media spun for him.
The president can write the criticism off to conservative talking heads if he likes. But he needs to understand that criticism comes with the territory. You would think he would understand that, after disparaging his predecessor's performance for the entirety of the presidential campaign.
And it would be nice if he'd answer the criticism with logic and reason rather than putdowns.
Krauthammer wants to know, for instance, why Obama has responded to a housing and banking and credit crisis with a radical remaking of government in other areas.
"Health, education and energy -- worthy and weighty as they may be -- are not the cause of our financial collapse," Krauthammer writes. "And they are not the cure. The fraudulent claim that they are both cause and cure is the rhetorical device by which an ambitious president intends to enact the most radical agenda of social transformation seen in our lifetime."
What a pity we couldn't have had these policy debates before the election.
Comments
Editors: "...it would be nice if he'd answer the criticism with logic and reason..." It is impossible to logically reason with jackasses; therefore, it is best to go forward with ones business and ignore the idiots that would throw up verbal barriers in the path of progress. No, I'm not a fan of this administration but I'm tired of the sniping from the peanut gallery. Give the man the time to prove his own the error, or perhaps, to glory in its success. GGpap
In your article "Blindsided by Criticism" you state that no one saw the major shift in nuclear waste storage policy. Actually, President Obama said in his campaign that he questioned the science of Yucca Mountain and although his statements were not as strong as those of his opponent in the primary, Hilary Clinton, who stated that she would not open the Yucca Mountain repository they were strong enough to indicate that it was questionable that he would want to continue with the repository. This was carried by several major newspapers.
Susanne Vandenbosch
O can do no wrong. All of his policies are gospel. The AC is just trying to keep the black man down. Mean AC. Bad AC. Really smart people would just shut up and take what ever our messiah give them and feel lucky they get anything. Mean AC.
Dr. Steven Chu, Obama's Sec. of Energy negates the billions of dollars in studies that searched everywhere for the best place and solution for nuclear wastes. Yucca Mtn was the choice. Dr. Chu, going along with Obama and Harry Reid, who doesn't want the waste in his state, says other solutions will be worked out in the future. He gives no indication of what these solutions may be. He has none and in the meantime the wastes will build up at reactor sites around the country in an unsafe manner unless it is determined the wastes should be sent to existing federal facilities. Yep....SRS. Yucca Mtn by default because of the politicians.
The attacks on ANYONE who questions anything about the administration are bizzare. It is impossible to question the math or logic of the grandiose plans. You are not loyal if you point out something doesn't make sense. Reeducation camps next?
Yes, Riverman1. Reeducation camps are next.
PT he is NOT the Messiah he is the anti-Messiah (anti-Christ). His little demons were set in place long ago (Reid, Pelosi and the like) to do his bidding when he finally came to power. Reid happily took all that money for his state for decades to develope Yucca Mtn and now that it is near completion got his Master to abolish the project.
Boy the CONs really hate to lose don't they? A bunch of them still can't get over the civil war loss. What does it take for them to just exhibit a little patriotic sense of duty and give the president a chance?
You know the " Keep the black man down" routine is as old as your underwear. When you cannot debate the issues, you resort to the black man this , black man that routine. Just like you and Bush, it should be retired. Save it for your rallies and gatherings.
Reeducation camps might just work, though I doubt it. After wrecking this country and now, after two months of praying for Obama's failure, Republicans certainly deserve to do time. Each one would have to be placed in solitary, though. Otherwise they might think it's a "town meeting," and we all know how viral those can get. Nobody seriously believes that a self-important methane smuggler is the spiritual leader of the Republican party. In addition to this Rushblow, the Grand Oil Party also boasts two other spiritual heads: "Little Goofy" Jindal and "Shuck-n-jive" Steele. Altogether, these three are known as The Axis of Drivel.
I think it is absolutely bizzare that the AC, a member of the all white media, should pretend it had no idea of how radical this guy thinks. It was discussed daily by many in the r&r's. Besides, as part of the all white media, don't you have investigative reporters? Why didn't you investigate & report? Why didn't you go to all of his campaign circuses and ask meaningful questions? It's great to place the blame now, but...too little...too late
The Democrat plan is to personally attack anyone who questions Obama. Read this thread to see evidence. "Little Goofy" Jindal and "Shuck-n-jive" Steele"
LOL dashiel. Very witty.
When a President doesn't offer up a plan, be very wary. He has a plan, but it's probably something that no one is going to like very much and that is going to cost taxpayers billions.
overburdened taxpayer, messiah doesn't = Messiah.
Keeping the black man down is a mean statement, Hypo? After the past 45 years of hearing it, it's now a "N" word? Will we have to say "ktbmd" word? By the bye, Bush is out of office. It seems after 8 years, a president must end his service. Something new in D.C. I guess. They'll send us information on the change when O gets a chance.
And again we can count on hypo to use the race card. Conservatives must remember that anytime they disagree with 'the annointed one' and his followers; they have to be racist, bigots, haters, etc. Couldn't be because in less than 7 weeks he has increased our debt trillions more than any previous prez, jobs are being lost daily because no one has any confidence in this prez and his policies, the dow has lost billions, businesses are closing because no one have faith in this prez and his policies and he has caused a divide in this country like none before.
I see a lot of racism in that 9:17 post, dashiel. Shame on you, hypocritical Dem. We sure don't want any town meeting during this administration. The truth might get shared.
convertedsoutherner, give O a chance, he's just getting started. He can do much more. Pray for this president while he preys on us.
For years Nevada's elected officials have used Yucca Mountan as a way to spend billions of dollars in their state with no results...Plus the citizens of Nevada don't want their state to become the national dumping ground for nuclear wastes, and the transportaion of nuclear wastes across the country by rail poses significant environmental and security risks...For one, the message is clear that we should not be creating this type of wastes, and the President agrees with Sen. Reid, who represents Nevada that storing thousands of tons of nuclear wastes along a VOLCANIC RIDGELINE is not the best option!!! Also, this not so well devised idea was projectd to cost $96 billion dollars, which is too much money to spend on something that is still considered a political concept and not a smart one...There are other options, and the current storage method use pools and concrete at reactor sites, which doesn't require hauling wastes across the country...I wonder if the AC would have a hissy fit if rail cars full of nuclear waste was being transported across and through the CSRA? Once again the AC is showing it's "red spine", which is as twisted and bent like the letter "S"....
obamaclock.org
Rail cars and trucks have transported nuclear waste throught the CSRA for years. Are any of you other than tatas glowing yet?
Hypo, have you visited, www.black-and-right.com ,? You may be surprised.
...LOL....you sheeple were warned for a year before you elected this empty suit and now the truth starts to sink in..you were lied to..youe were duped..you fell for the smooth talker...the snake oil salesman....now you reap what you sow....unless of course History takes a dramatic turn.
And for the AC to be a media outlet to criticize the national media for supporting one canidate over another is hypocrisy in it;s most truest of forms...Is it just me or is the AC bitter about the election??? I find it ironic that eveery single editorial criticizes the president but offers no true credit to his ability to get people behind him...Yeah, the national media was behind him, but if McCain wasn't such a dinosaur he would have spent the money he raised to advertise on the internet, major networks, and video games and outlets that young Americans watch...Besides, enough outlets backed him, but unfortunately FOX/Faux News isn't accepted by those who have an IQ over 30....Instead he made the mistake of showing how old and out of touch he was, using PAC's and those annoying phone calls that nobody in their right mind stays on the phone listening too...McCain used the karl Rove playbook, and Americans were tired of being afraid, which is why Rove fit so well in Bush's administration....
PT: Only a old racist like yourself would cite black-and-right.com as a reliable voice for black republicans... i've been there and there is nothing new to see there..You probably are the webmaster...
The Augusta Chronicle editorial staff (ACES) quotes radical right neoconservative columnist Charles Krauthammer & the economic adviser to President George H.W. Bush, Michael Boskin, as objective, credible critics of President Obama. I don't think so! And ACES, Rush Limbaugh had it coming! I applaud President Obama's heathcare reform initiatives. This is long overdue. Ultimately basic medical insurance must be made universal in this country if we hope to become a cohesive society again. Our national hopes to become a cohesive society again also depends of President Obama ending U.S. wars of choice in Iraq & Afghanistan. The world's hope to avoid a massive conflagration in South Asia in general and specifically in Pakistan rests on President Obama ending U.S. aggression there. Obama's stimulus package has money that will reach schools in a matter of weeks. That may forestall massive layoffs in that sector. I also applaud President Obama's decision to fund rapid rail projects which are long overdue as an alternative to building more highways and roads. We need a country at peace if we are to reinvent ourselves out of the political quagmires and economic doldrums we made for ourselves.
Obama broke SEVEN lies with the stimulus bill - 1. Make government open and transparent. 2. Make it "impossible" for Congressmen to slip in pork barrel projects. 3. Meetings where laws are written will be more open to the public. (Even Congressional Republicans shut out.) 4. No more secrecy.
5. Public will have 5 days to look at a bill. 6. You'll know what's in it. AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST 7. We will put every pork barrel project online. Funny, but not one of Mr. Obama's promises were met with the most expensive spending bill in our nation's history.
Of course anyone that disagrees with 'the annointed one' and his followers have to be bitter. *** 'I find it ironic that every single editorial criticizes the president but offers no true credit to his ability to get people behind him'. Yes he needs those people behind him to defend/excuse and cover for his destruction. *** 'Besides, enough outlets backed him, but unfortunately FOX isn't accepted by those who have an IQ over 30'. Guess you haven't heard that FOX is rated much higher than your cnn, msnbc and other liberal news.. *** Why does ALL the clintonese fit so well into the O cabinet? As is proven; this new cabinet of 'the annointed one' is: crooks, thieves, tax cheats, liars, socialists, etc. O is right at home with those he likes to surround himself with. Is this what we're suppose to call 'CHANGE we can believe in'?
No, Motorman, it just seem all of the brothers don't know their place. I know you don't believe this, but not all brothers feed at the government trough. Some are independent businessmen. Honest and honorable.
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