Popular Opinion Starting to Stack Up Against Obama's Plan

As much as many of us voted for Obama and are inclined to back him up, this whole Wall Street/AIG Bonus/Failing Economy situation is starting to turn to shit. Writers, politicians, economists and just plain folks are starting to despair about the President's plan to deal with the current crisis.

For an excellent overview of the dire straits the country is in, and what Obama is going to face if this whole mess goes completely south, read this excellent article by Don Hazen from AlterNet entitled "The Voters' Uprising: President Obama What Are You Thinking?". You won't feel good after reading it, I guarantee you.

Be sure to also read William Greider's article from The Washington Post, and this from Frank Rich of The New York Times. These are gentlemen who want Obama to succeed, and they're not liking what's transpiring these days. And I hope you're also keeping up with Paul Krugman's always astute commentary on his blog for The New York Times. He's not very happy, either.

These are tough times, and Obama must step up to be the kind of President we voted for.

Frank Rich -- "The Moose Stops Here"

Columnist Frank Rich had a good article in yesterday's NY Times, taking apart the current Republican post-election desperate feeding frenzy. "The Moose Stops Here" cogently and accurately nails one of the most damning Republican party traits, the overwhelming racial-divide that formed a lot of their rabid rhetoric -- see Saxby Chambliss' campaign -- and that managed to secure their win in the South among voters who still obviously mourn Gen. Lee's surrender at Appomattox. (I lived in Georgia for well over a decade -- you didn't have to drive far out of Atlanta to find bastions of dejected Confederates with rebel flags plastered on their trucks, searching in vain for a CSA recruiting station.)

For a great read on the current economic mess, read NY Times vet Thomas Friedman's column from yesterday, too, entitled "Gonna Need a Bigger Boat". Friedman skillfully gives us the really bad news, using a nifty -- and completely appropriate -- Jaws analogy to make his point. I've seen Friedman on many TV news shows, including yesterday's Meet The Press, and he's always really smart and on the nose, plus delightful. (He and Paul Krugman both have tremendous telegenic presences, combining brilliant erudition and natural wit that makes them must-sees in any appearance.)

Whoever thought things were going to simmer down after the election didn't foresee a nation vitally interested in its future and wanting to learn. That's what happens when you have a smart President-elect. Lovely, isn't it?

Frank Rich on John McCain's Frayed Record on Economics

Please read Frank Rich's column "Truthiness Makes a Comeback" in the NY Times. It's a sobering examination of John McCain's involvement in the Keating financial scandal in 1989, and his distancing of himself from it and its lessons as the U.S. spirals down into a not-dissimilar crisis. Rich also skewers McCain's continued lying about Obama's policies; if we could count on voters to learn the truth for themselves we wouldn't have to worry about stuff like that, but we can't let up.

Go! Read! Volunteer!!