We live in an era of perpetual campaigns. The 24 hours news cycle doesn't favor the deliberative, professorial repertoire of president Obama. With the opposition looking for eletoral advantage in every uterance or lack thereof complemented in this endeavor is their vast network of media outlets ( fox news been the most egregious and prominent), they end up setting the narrative for most last year. They stymied progress on most of the president's agenda. This is what frustrates Obama supporters like me. We expect him and like to see him use his bully pulpit at times to advocate for things he campaigned on. Is that passionate advocacy on our part? You betcha. Having said that, what I am not advocating ( and this got lost in translation) is not talking to the other party. On the contrary, I am saying he should get some reciprocity to his overtures. You can't negotiate with an individual who is demogueing your position for electoral gain ala pulling the plug on grandma. Negotiating the farm away without getting anything tangible will demoralize your base. In off key elections like Massachusetts, they either stay at home, will not canvass and don't even think about phone banking. You end up losing. Lamin, thanks for the book recommend. I will look for it. Sent from my iPhone On Jan 30, 2010, at 9:29 AM, Lamin Darbo <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > This is because you haven't completely made the transition from > campaigning for President and being President. > > > ATT Jr > > A beautiful summation of the difficulties inherent in executive > leadership in a mature and complicated democratic system like the US. > > The Massachusetts debacle was too much for Ousman, and it was the > advocate in him that was speaking when he lamented the inclusive > tendency of Obama. It was difficult to resist your lucidly germane > intervention, but I had to let it pass for I opined your "Caesar" > (Ousman Ceesay to me) was too traumatised to accept your larger > point. In that exchange, he defeated you hands down on passion, but > alas, the overall logic of your take was unassailable in its > relevance to US political reality. > > Obama is not Caucasian and cannot therefore travel the extremely > partisan road of his predecessor. He has no realistic alternative to > practical inclusiveness if his legislative agenda, especially the > critical component, is to avoid debilitating paralysis. In any case, > I do not necessarily regard Massachusetts as a referendum on his > watch. > > On whether Obama should cavort with political opponents/'enemies', I > recommend to you, and to Ousman, the newly released Robert Harris > book entitled LUSTRUM. Magnificent novel on Cicero's time as Consul > in Rome. Part one deals with your little discussion on how the > current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue should relate, not only > with members of his own party, but with others on the opposite side > of the ideological pond. > > I resent your calling me a part-timer on the L, but since it came in > the same piece as your suggestion for an elected Supreme Court, I > attributed the "part-timer" jibe to tiredness. I am here full time, > reading everything you and other colleagues authored personally, > with emphasis on 'personal'. An elected Supreme Court? You might as > well incorporate the Judiciary in either the Executive, or > Legislature. > > > > LJDarbo (JDAM to you) > > --- On Sat, 30/1/10, Haruna Darbo <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > From: Haruna Darbo <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: Re: Obama clean their clock > To: [log in to unmask] > Date: Saturday, 30 January, 2010, 10:01 > > Caesar, > > I truly admire your acumen for recognizing value. Thank you for > being you. At least now you see why the idea "Forget the > Republicans" is actually not valuable for you or Obama. The reason > is you will deny yourselves the opportunity to disable gridlock on > its sheer demerits. In other words there is a reason gridlock is not > desirable for any democracy. But if you deny yourself the > opportunity to identify the tumors in gridlock, you cannot bring > idiots along with you. > > I am absolutely, I mean without equivocation, in the superlative > merit of your ideas and Obama's ideas, and I am awed by Obama's > ability to reduce the oft-complicated in more Republican terms. The > most significant part of this Retreat that wasn't was that it was > televised, at the chagrin of some Republicans. They said the > healthcare debate was not all on C-Span, but they recoil at the idea > of a Retreat being on regular TV. So you see that what was driving > the gridlock was charlatanry and cavortin', but if you had ignore > graft and graffignette you would not have been able to harness value > from it, albeit minimal. > > So Caesar, I want to encourage you to resolve once again as you have > been instrumental in electing Obama, to accompany him with > confidence and assist him in completing the tasks you assigned him. > He is good for the money. And I know you are too. I think a great > mirage had been placed between you and Obama that hindered your > appreciation of him. This is because you haven't completely made the > transition from campaigning for President and being President. And > Obama has already. He had to. I suggest now that you jet the Toga > and don the overalls and pinstripes and come along. We ain't waitin' > on you. Leave the mortar and pestle behind. > > Haruna. > > In a message dated 1/29/2010 8:05:58 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] > writes: > If you love prime minister's question time on C-Span, this > engagement between President Obama and the Republican caucus in > Maryland is a smack down, drag down of republicans on live > television. It is Obama at his best and he cleaned their clock at > their own retreat. This is Mr. Obama at his best. Without further > adieu: > > http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/1/29/831945/-Presidents-Question-Time > > > > > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/ > subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web inter > face at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html > To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l > To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/ > subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web inter > face at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html > To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l > To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/ > subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web inter > face at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html > To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l > To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤