wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

re: "Is anyone else tired of listening to Andrew Sullivan think out loud!?"

only because i've yet to hear him ever once say anything even modestly insightful. i assume his success is due to some sort of informal affirmative action factor, since it certainly isn't based upon merit.

as for Congress and the WH, the Republicans refuse to get serious about expanding coverage to the people who need it the most, and the Democrats refuse to get serious about restraining inevitably ruinous increases in costs: lose-lose {sighing}.

btw, Brian, since you brought it up recently in a segment after the SOTU (i wasn't sure if you were kidding or not), although you try harder than any talking head i've ever heard to be fair to all sides, if you want the bottom line litmus test for whether your show has an ideological tilt, just plot the ideological midpoint of the above comments (or any virtually other segment's comments).

If President Obama could walk on water, the Republicans would say " He can't swim!!"
I completely admire our president, however I do have to agree with Hugh(5). There are some things at play they we as normal citizens will not be able to examine,report and confront to any one in power who will openely admit that big business run's this country, is taking over our lives and is demolishing the constitution.

It's seemed to me like the opposition has spent 2009 trying to out-do each other, like class clowns in the back of the room. It has been simplistic and tactical, the goal to get back in power regardless of the consequences. The best way to end the ridiculous games of the children in Congress is to shine a light on their behavior. I've been waiting a year for this from President Obama. I hope he does not let up.

The Republicans complain they're not part of the dialogue. So how many Democrats were part of the dialogue when the Republicans handed the insurance companies and the drug companies a "gift" when they changed the Medicare and Medicaid laws during the Bush administration?

Andrew Sullivan is right about the Republicans and about Obama. The GOP has hijacked the American discussion for over a generation using rhetorical tactics that the Dems have been unable to effectively re-direct.

Regarding health care, the Republicans seem to be ideologically set on eliminating the Government altogether; the ultimate end being that every citizen should fend for themselves. This divide-and-conquer strategy (see Gingrich, et al) only serves the interests of large corporations such as the insurance/pharmaceutical/banking industries at the expense of the People.

Their preposterous economic model, and the rhetoric which supports it, conveniently ignores the basic economies of scale which occur when individuals pool their resources, investing in insurance in large numbers, and reaping the benefits through vast coordinated efforts overseen by the Government. Our resources work harder and more effectively when pooled. The Republicans call this Socialism. I call it intelligence.

The Takeaway: Shine the light on these conversations (like between President Obama and the Republican caucus) and give the American people the chance to make up our own minds rather than having us fed information that is parsed by the media.
I had not had the chance to listen to The President's State of the Union or his weekly address but I found myself being disillusioned by what even so called balanced media like NPR and WNYC was parsing and feeding to us.

When I listen to The President in his own words my faith in his intelligence, sincerity and the correctness of his thinking and strategy and my confidence in him was rebuilt 100%

Tony from Brooklyn is right -- we've got to get off the Republican talking points -- are you listening, Lehrer? You're part of the problem here -- for instance, every time the Republicans say "Government take-over of health care" we need to say that it's better than fat-cat-corporate control of health care

I'm with Larry -- some of the most likely to be overlooked news here is that Fox News cut away from this historic live event that represented so many of the key players in politics just to offer mindless commentary -- and the fact that a fantastic two-hour special on MSNBC that night (with Olbermann + Maddow + Matthews reviewing all key clips) called them out for it.

If you go to the Olbermann and Maddow MSNBC video sites, you can catch all of Friday's clips. Half are on each of their sites.

1st thing I noticed - Obama is emotionally mature, more so than average.

2nd - the surprising amount of hurt expressed by republicans, who felt shut out (Leaving aside the fashion of republican government under Bush ((trying to be adult)) ) or blocked from participation,

3rd - while some Republicans seemed genuine and touched by the exchange, when approached by media, they first said it was a nice start, and then devolved back to same old talking points, as if it were too much to assimilate, or that they were afraid of ostacizing the other Repubs

4th - the complete unwillingness of Republicans to own the hysteria they have provoked and exacerbated by spurious claims like death panels.

I'm not tired of listening to Andrew Sullivan "think out loud(Robert 6). The idea that someone has to be a citizen of the US to opine on political issues here is absurd. He's more informed than the vast majority of native born americans.

What about Fox News editing out the uncomfortable parts for Republicans from their newscast. They're most watched but they're not news!

Yes, the Republican plan is to have no government bureaucracy in health care but rather a rapacious corporate bureaucracy; which has only one interest and one interest only to make profits for the shareholders.

Obama's composure may be solid in public. Reports do not support that view in private. For example, he has reportedly become enraged in private at leaks.

What has Obama reformed?

What is Obama getting right on the environment?

Unemployment IS at 15% -- higher -- when you count underemployed and discouraged workers.

The Constitution IS suffering.

I think it's easy for the WNYC listener demographic to overestimate the efficacy of the Obama/House GOP summit. It's gratifying for the minority of americans who wield democracy in their own best interests the majority of the time. But the reason that health care is stalled is because the right wing machine has gotten (mostly poor, uneducated, and white) people to vote against their interests.
This is a great thing for the MSNBC crowd which largely supports healthcare reform. It's almost useless for the NASCAR crowd which has been conditioned to vote against their best interests based on cultural issues and misinformation.
Democrats and progressives MUST make the case in simple terms to simple people in order to benefit those simple people with complex legislation and policy. So far they've failed at this essential task.

Andrew Sullivan is my favorite (former?) Republican. Even better than David Brooks.

The point isn't that the Republicans have failed to convince anyone they have ideas, the point is they've exploited the current reality that 60 votes are needed to do ANYTHING. And, the President very righlty pointed this out and should continue to do so, even with a 59 majority in the Senate

I thought Obama's comments on how the Repblicans use language was very interesting. Regarding the rhetoric on health care, the President suggested that the Republican language was so extreme that it boxes them in and prevents them from cooperating or proposing anything really reasonable. That's a real calling out of poor public dialog and refreshing to hear.

I hope we see more of these types of Q & A events.

The Republicans were asking the questions, so they weren't in a position to "compromise" - but I thought they did that a bit when they applauded some of Obama's points against them - like the Bolshevik line. There was applause to that, which surprised me.

Let's face facts: the Republicans are not interested in ANY sort of health care/insurance reform. Their primary interest is getting themselves reelected and taking back the two houses of Congress and the White House. They believe the way to do that is to "just say no" -- borrowing a line from Nancy Reagan -- to anything the Democrats and, more specifically, Mr. Obama proposes. Their intentions were made clear when that Republican congressman described health care reform as Obama's Waterloo. They are following the same philosophy on the reform of regulation of financial markets.

I agree with Mr. Sullivan that Obama came out strong and centrist, informed and energetic. The Rebuplicans came prepared as well, and thankfully, were able to add some substance to the issues of the day. It is probably true that not many people knew about Obama's centrism or the Republican's substance before the Q&A.

Is anyone else tired of listening to Andrew Sullivan think out loud!? He's not a citizen and has too much to say about our politics and policies. I don't care what he has to say.

Not too surprising that Andrew Sullivan should be relieved at Obama's exchange with Republicans. Sullivan is certainly within one standard deviation of what is the "center" in American politics (Center-Right by anybody else's standards in the US).

Still un-addressed by Sullivan or Obama or all but five or six people in Congress is the power of the Oligarchs in the US. As Simon Johnson noted on NPR, the top 6 banks control assets equal to 60 PERCENT of GDP. That's a controlling interest in the United States.

Still un-addressed are issues of human rights -- especially due process rights for US-held prisoners. There, Obama has done as much as Bush to increase the power of the presidency at the expense of the Constitution.

The fundamental facts remain: The Constitution of the US is still under attack by Republicans, most Democrats and large corporations.

Finally, Obama has proved repeatedly that he talks a good line and that's about it.

What reason do we have to believe that Obama is _doing_ anything different. Bernanke is in for another four. Geithner and Summers and Emanuel are dug in like ticks. Where's the change?!

If the Republicans choose to have these meetings more often then they will prove they are open to dialogue and bipartisanship and Obama should work with them. If they choose not too, Obama should stop trying to be bipartisan and do what is good for the country on his own.
He should do this with the Democrats too, on camera. They need a good spanking as well.

OH MY! He's the bravestest man alive! He talked to fellow citizens with differing opinions!!!

Republicans have ideas, but they won't admit that Obama has essentially put forward an Republican agenda. They are so full of it. They should love Obama.

Obama wiped the floor with House Repubs at Fri's Q and A which is why Repubs will never take part in another forum of this type. It was good to hear Obama call out Repubs for their over the top rhetoric. John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and Mitch McConnell have stood silent while Obama has been called a nazi and a communist. The failure of Boehner, Cantor, and McConnell to condemn this demonization of Obama proves that they men who lack honor, integrity, and decency.