TDPS: Reality is TINY Liberal Changes in HARDCORE CONSERVATIVE Context

[celtics23]

Run time: 03:34 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBoveipWg-E   Posted on YouTube: December 21, 2010 By YouTube Member: MidweekPolitics Views on YouTube: 161   Posted on DU: December 23, 2010 By DU Member: celtics23 Views on DU: 731

 
From: www.davidpakman.com | Subscription: www.davidpakman.com/membership | YouTube: www.youtube.com/midweekpolitics

Look at the bigger picture, though. On the micro level, and this is related to Don't Ask, Don't Tell, but it is kind of its own topic, we are seeing some advances towards progressivism, right? Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal, more states legalizing gay marriage than ever before, a tiny push to the left on health care through Barack Obama's reform, bill, I call it a tiny push.

Louis: It was kind of a stalemate.

David: We'll get to that. Starting to really move forward on stem cell research, you know, making decisions based on science rather than faith. But to everybody who's going around saying Barack Obama's a socialist and we moved way to the left as a result of Barack Obama getting elected, come on. Please. Who... I know a lot of people really believe that, but take even a cursory analysis. Barack Obama, while to some is a socialist, in the grand scheme of things, I mean, let's-- if we zoom in on it, right, Obama on the left, Bush on the right, if we zoom out on this thing and the political spectrum, you know, is three feet wide, Obama and Bush are inches apart, are they not?

Louis: I think so. I think the only thing that people can point to if they want to call Obama a socialist is what, the bailout and health care.

David: I disagree, because you know why?

Louis: But you know, but the bailout, of course, was to help American companies, right?

David: That's right.

Louis: So that's really...

David: The bailout, which some call socialist, only reinforces the importance of the companies that got bailed out within the context of the economy.

Louis: Right.

David: The context, even though Barack Obama wants to get troops out of Afghanistan in 2014, the context is still one where he sent more troops there, right? I mean, how far left... and he won the Nobel Peace Prize, Louis. And within days, he sends more troops to Afghanistan. The power and influence of corporations and lobbyists are completely unaffected. And Barack Obama would say well, now lobbyists have to... they have to sign a logbook when they come to the White House.

The context is not a progressive, liberal context. One dollar, one vote, you might know it as Citizens United. Gay marriage and safe abortions, while we are making progress, those are considered valid discussions. If there's still a valid discussion about whether gays and lesbians should be able to get married, that's not left. It's the tiniest inching to the left, maybe. Banks, the role of huge banks has been validated through the bailouts, the lack of accountability. The health care system, while some say that we have moved to the left because we are insuring some more people and so on and so forth, as Wendell Potter says in his book "Deadly Spin", we are reinforcing the for-profit model through the health care reform bill. No question about it. And health care and education are still considered saleable commodities as opposed to every other nation at the United States's level of development. It's pathetic. How could you believe that we have moved significantly to the left?

Louis: It's the media's fault.

David: Is that what you think? Because they are validating this idea that it is a significant move to the left?

Louis: Of course. When you've got Rush Limbaugh and Fox News spewing whatever they want to spew...

David: We'll get later to, by the way, Louis, is Fox News making people stupid? We'll get to that study later. So don't jump the gun on that.

Louis: Well, not making people stupid, just misinforming people.

David: We'll see.

Louis: OK.

David: We'll see about that. Louis getting ahead of himself here. Let me make the case first before you tell me what Fox News is doing, because you don't have the facts, I have, that I will present at the end of the show.


Transcript provided by Alex Wickersham. For transcription, translation, captions, and subtitles, contact Alex at [e-mail].

[donthebun]

1. Couldn't have sait it better myself

[tins0404]

2. Agreed. this country was started by conservatives and is outrageously conservative still

[niceypoo]

3. Conservatives are satisfied with the status quo

The Americans who broke us away from Britain were definitely NOT satisfied with the status quo.

[tblue37]

4. Well, the leaders were propertied men who were ticked off that they

were not being treated with what they considered appropriate respect for their rights as propertied male English citizens.