Does the new "Obama Leading College Protest" video help him with OWS members?

[Motown_Johnny]

Last edited Thu Mar 8, 2012, 01:02 PM - Edit history (2)

I'm a pretty big Obama fan so my bias may be tainting my judgement on this one. To me it makes him look like "one of us".

I can't think of any other political figure, much less a President, who was out leading crowds of sign waving protesters while in collage.

Assuming Rmoney wins, the contrast here is striking. Rmoney went out and counter protested students who were protesting the Vietnam era draft (while he had a deferment and knew he had a two year missionary deferment in his back pocket for after graduation).


I consider this a positive development, am I wrong?

[ellisonz]

1. Probably not.

Who it certainly doesn't help is Andrew Breitbart. Even from the grave, he pathetically fails in hyping what PBS ran 4 years ago: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/pbs-editors-frontline-ran-president-obama-college-video-in-2008/ - you can watch the full PBS story including the released footage. Obama starts at 6:27 and is a little over a minute long.

Race-baiting douchebag - behave yourself Zombie Breitbart!

[Justice wanted]

2. Honestly As a lib who has been inspired by OWS I would say it makes me wonder what happened?

It is like I'm watching 2 different people. For me. My humble opinion he campaigned as a lib who was REALLY going to change things. Too me he has compromised and water down a lot of things.


Yes, I do realize he has DONE a LOT OF GOOD as well but to me the compromised has kept his first term from being GREAT.


And really I know I will probably be flamed and called a troll. I am just being honest. To a lot of us who will for him in Nov we are basically picking or voting for the lesser of 2 evils.

If he had that passion once before he needs to recapture that.

He needs to hold bankers accountable.

His program designed to help homeowners was a failure.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/01/michigan-family-says-obam_n_816684.html

[JNelson6563]

4. Are you really coming into the BOG to blame Obama for homelessness?

Wow. Church-bells my friend, church-bells.

Julie

[ellisonz]

5. This isn't the BOG - this is OUG. n/t

[JNelson6563]

15. LOLZ!! What a moron am I??

These tiny little menu items, OWS right under BOG in my subscriptions....emant to go to BOG this AM, apparently went to Occupy forum, my apologies. No .."like church-bells" would apply in this case!

Mea culpa!

Julie

[ellisonz]

19. Slow down on that keyboard!

This isn't a boxing ring, it's a discussion board

[UnrepentantLiberal]

27. You can't get much futher from the OUG

than the BOG.

[JNelson6563]

28. I love both

Pretty sure I'm not alone.

Julie

[truedelphi]

12. This is not the BOG, it is the Occupy Forum.

Last edited Fri Mar 9, 2012, 03:43 AM - Edit history (1)

one major cause of homelessness among those who are in the 49 year old to 65 year old set of people is medical bankruptcy. Health Care "Reform" with a public option would have helped those people, but it was never part of the Democratic Party's leadership to do much more than enable America's Big Insurers.

The Health Care Reform bill only helps people in that age group IF they work in Corporate America, and have benefits. And who have kids in college, who will benefit from being able to keep their children on their policy till the children reach the age of 26.

My household was wiped clean of everything, including our retirement savings, by a medical bankruptcy in 2005-06. At that time, we had medical insurance! We both hoped that Obama would understand the actual day to day parameters that people in this older age group face.

But his HC"Reform" bill did not address the needs of this population.

JNelson, please call around your local insurance agencies. Tell them you are 59 years old and have diabetes. Ask them how much of a premium you would pay, and see the answer. Then figure out how much you'd need to earn to pay that premium.

But it is not only that the equation -- percentage of net earnings subtracting how HUGE INSURANCE PREMIUM that is a hopeless concern.

Unemployed people in my age group (A huge group of people, BTW) who apply at decent places to work cannot get hired, because what employer in their right mind would hire a 59 year old and face that sky high premium, when they can hire a younger person and pay them less, and pay only 300 a month for the insurance?

If you cannot maintain your health, which is damn hard to do without insurance., and you cannot afford insurance,. and you cannot get a job because of the sky high insurance rates, then what?
To everyone in this group, Obama failed on health care.

[JNelson6563]

16. I am 48, unemployed, uninsured

One health-care episode would put me on the streets, I'm sure.

Still, in regard to the health care bill that was passed, it sure didn't provide what I would have liked to have seen but it is a start which is, apparently, more than any other President has been able to achieve thus far.

I'd love to see Dem majorities in Congress and see them pressured like never before to move forward, building and improving on the previously passed health care bill. I think it will be our best opportunity for a very long time.

I disagree that Obama failed in that he did more than has been done before. He got us further down the line to what we need to achieve. I'm all for continuing the push for more but we're not starting from scratch and that's due to what Obama got done so far.

Julie--who knows too many people personally getting good coverage they'd never gotten before to dismiss it as "failure"

[ellisonz]

21. "To everyone in this group, Obama failed on health care."

I wouldn't speak for everyone. I don't think he quite succeeded, but I don't think he failed - he's somewhere in the middle, and I'm not sure it's all his fault.

[truedelphi]

23. Okay, in my opinion,

Obama failed everyone in the above mentioned group.

Disagree if you want, but when I am writing I am expressing my opinion.

I wouldn't be so burned up over it, but the man didn't even fight a single time after being elected for decent policies in the HCR bill. Instead he was quite blithe about using the excuse that it was up to Congress to write the legislation.

[KoKo]

6. I myself have wondered about where the passion went.

Perhaps after serving in Government for awhile...one just loses it in compromise after compromise.

[Justice wanted]

11. Thank you for understanding.

[JNelson6563]

3. It clearly shows he understands.

That's a good thing.

Julie

[KoKo]

7. OWS isn't into supporting candidates....so

whether a video of a young Obama protesting has any relationship to what Obama thinks or doesn't think at this point in his life serving as President, probably isn't important to the movement.

[Motown_Johnny]

8. I did phrase that poorly

and should have said "with members of OWS".

[Leopolds Ghost]

9. I kinda agree with the person above who said "what happened?"

Same with Kerry.

[Leopolds Ghost]

10. I mean, I'd like to believe he cares, but even the social work he did was organizing

In neighborhoods to assuage the concerns of people whose public housing was about to be torn down -- I know a guy who did similar work.

And sure enough, he's solidly against public housing as President. That's the only social work I know about him doing...

There's an Occupy on his doorstep, he's managed to avoid even mentioning any protest about anything... when priotesters are deliberately ignored it is a form of silencing...

[truedelphi]

13. I watched the man carefully during the first

Presidential Roast, SPring 2009.

He and Michelle did not quite know what to do with the fact that Helen Thomas was up on the stage with them. It was just the three of them.

Obama ignored Thomas, to go over to the side of the stage and hear more closely a group of people who were shouting "Oh-bama! Oh-bama!"

Michelle finally gave in and starting chatting with Helen. But it was obvious she did this because what else could she do?

Any real progressive would have immediately gone over to Helen and thanked her for all her attacks on Bush while she was the only WH Press Person who bothered to throw difficult questions at the George the Lesser President.

This was quite some time before Helen's gaffe about Israel. So Obama shouldn't have been backing away from her, unless he didn't understand (or care) who she was and how tough a lady she was and how much she took upon herself to roughly question President Bush.

[KoKo]

14. I'm not sure this belongs in this Group...but, when I think more...maybe it does...

I posted this over at DU-2. If anyone thinks doesn't fit I will delete it if you let me know.

----------
"Sweet Baby James! A $100,000 per couple fund raising dinner" ..Raleigh News & Observer

Submitted by robchristensen on 2012-03-06 12:58


There was some major bucks paid out last week at the fund raisers attended by First Lady Michelle Obama in North Carolina.

The top price was $100,000 per couple event at the Ballantyne hotel in Charlotte to benefit the Democratic National Convention, reports Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times. That included dinner, a performance by singer James Taylor, and a photo with the First Lady and something called “a couple greet.” If you gave $50,000, you got basically the same thing without the couple greet. For $12,500, a couple got into the dinner, but no photograph and no greeting.

Earlier in the evening at the same hotel, a person could attend a reception with the First Lady and Taylor. The cost was $2,500 for platinum seating which included cuff links or bracelets with the convention logo, $1,000 for gold seating, and $250 for the cheap seats.

At the North Carolina Women for Obama reception downtown Marriott in Raleigh, the basic price was $500. But for $5,000 a person could become a table captain (ten tickets and a photo reception) or $35,800 to be a co chair.

Read more here: http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/sweet_b...

[JNelson6563]

17. Such things happen in politics every day

I've been active a long time and done many fundraising events. There is generally a pricing structure to these things and the higher donations get more access in return for shelling out the big bucks. Our state party's annual dinner has this sort of thing too. Has forever.

Sadly money is the life-blood of politics in the US. The answer is obviously publicly funded elections.

Julie

[KoKo]

18. What you say is TRUE, Julie. I've seen it here in NC Politics for sure.

BUT...does this mean "Pay for Play?"

Or could a better system be put in place.

You have to understand, Julie, that many of us in Democratic Party Stalwarts who vote YEAR AFTER YEAR...YEAR AFTER YEAR...are starting to get kind of "FED UP!"

From what YOU SAY...we have to WAIT...(things will get better incrementally) ...YET...we see NO CHANGE!

But, we will "stand in line like Sheep" and VOTE FOR THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS?

GIVE ME A BREAK. Is it CLINTON 3/4../BUSH 2 or 3/ or OBAMA 2...that we are voting for?

How long do you think a voting base can be snookered and betrayed BEFORE they REVOLT?

HUH?

[KoKo]

25. Julie, I apologize for shouting at you in the post below. What I said doesn't belong

in this group. I am popping off at you in frustration over politics. That is unfair to you and not something I wanted to be doing here on DU. Please accept my apology. I'm going to delete my nasty screed so that neither you or I will have to see it again. I carry on about "food fights" on DU-3 and here I started one myself.


regards,
KoKo

[JNelson6563]

26. Thank you for your eloquence KoKo.

I totally get the frustration thing, I experience it often enough.

I've been really looking at publicly funded elections as a special project, as it were. Can't tell you how much I hate, hate, hate the money game! I've managed too many excellent candidates who had to squander far too much time on the money part, it's quite a deterrent to recruiting them.

Thanks again for your eloquent post. It's all good.

Julie

[JNelson6563]

24. This discussion isn't making sense.

I certainly didn't mean to offend you. You posted about a pricing structure for a fundraiser and I commented on how common these methods are.

I don't like the money game that politics is and thought I made that pretty clear in my post. Would love to see publicly funded elections.

Not sure why you took my post as such an insult.

Julie

[unionworks]

22. During the 90's

As a progressive I had many a WTF moment with Bill Clinton. After 8 years of Bush, Clinton looked like the second coming of Christ. I'm sure the same holds true for Obama when compared to the current clown car show. But, we still deserve better and that is what Occupy is working for.