Liberals Betrayed?

Obama moves rightward.

 



Just as I and others predicted, there's a rising chorus of disillusionment among those who felt that Barack Obama would bring in a true era of change. As Yahoo News reports:

Liberals are growing increasingly nervous – and some just flat-out angry – that President-elect Barack Obama seems to be stiffing them on Cabinet jobs and policy choices.

Obama has reversed pledges to immediately repeal tax cuts for the wealthy and take on Big Oil. He’s hedged his call for a quick drawdown in Iraq. And he’s stocking his White House with anything but stalwarts of the left.

Now some are shedding a reluctance to puncture the liberal euphoria at being rid of President George W. Bush to say, in effect, that the new boss looks like the old boss.

“He has confirmed what our suspicions were by surrounding himself with a centrist to right cabinet. But we do hope that before it's all over we can get at least one authentic progressive appointment,” said Tim Carpenter, national director of the Progressive Democrats of America.

OpenLeft blogger Chris Bowers went so far as to issue this plaintive plea: “Isn't there ever a point when we can get an actual Democratic administration?”

 



When I went to the Northampton Nader rally, I reported that most of the people in the room appeared to be Obama supporters who had come out of curiosity. However, Nader had them squirming as he read the list of Obama campaign contributors, which included Big Oil, Big Pharma, and Big Business in every form. "Are these corporations clamoring for change?" Nader asked with a puckish grin on his face.

Now on his blog, Nader is relishing saying I told you so.

While the liberal intelligentsia was swooning over Barack Obama during his presidential campaign, I counseled "prepare to be disappointed." His record as an Illinois state and U.S. Senator, together with the many progressive and long overdue courses of action he opposed during his campaign, rendered such a prediction unfortunate but obvious.

Now this same intelligentsia is beginning to howl over Obama’s transition team and early choices to run his Administration. Having defeated Senator Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primaries, he now is busily installing Bill Clinton’s old guard. Thirty one out of forty seven people that he has named so far for transition or appointments have ties to the Clinton Administration, according to Politico. One Clintonite is quoted in the Washington Post as saying: "This isn’t lightly flavored with Clintons. This is all Clintons, all the time."

Indeed, it is hard to imagine that if Hillary had won the presidency she would have chosen more of her friends to join her in the White House than Obama has. However, in fairness to Obama, liberals always over-estimated his devotion to their cause. It was as if they ignored what he really was so that they could fantasize about what they wanted him to be. They wanted the black Ted Kennedy, but are finding out that they elected the black Bill Clinton, along with Clinton's caution, compromising and hesitancy to rock the boat. Liberals simply have to face the fact that their daydream of Obama as the Leftist Savior never existed anywhere but in their own imagination. 

Hey everybody, let's stop in at the Student Union Art Gallery at UMass and see what's hangin'. 

Talented portraitist Gage Delprete has a good display, featuring this life-sized self-portrait.

I hope this portrait wasn't of a friend, because he probably became a former friend after he saw this!

Student Jenna Fader did some portraits of llamas. I don't like llamas, they look goofy yet strangely evil. The ones they had at Forest Park in Springfield used to spit on you. 

Talented photographer Autumn Doyle offered a collection of her photos in a strongbox.

She also had some self-portraits on the wall, such as this one of her contemplating some sticks in the nude. 

There really is no better subject in art than the human form.

Stop by and see the show for yourself before the semester ends. 

Jack Frost was busy all night painting the windows in downtown Northampton.

We've been trapped in an arctic blast, but tomorrow is supposed to bring some blessed relief.

 

Walkin', talkin', breathin', tryin' to smile yourself to death - with your finger on the pulse of time there ain't no time to rest - it's a simple proposal to keep you walkin' the line - just tryin' to get back for what you borrowed in time - the moral of the story's for a limited crew, but we're gonna be there in the chosen few....