They've moved onto trade. Goolsbee is dodging and weaving like George Foreman at the Rumble in the Jungle. He claims that the agreements are riddled with loopholes. This makes no sense. The loopholes in bilateral trade agreements all run in favor of protected industries in the US--not surprising, since our partners get more out of trade agreements than we do. The protectionist movement in America isn't upset about the bits of the trade agreements that have loopholes; they're upset about the bits that don't.
More reasonably, he points out that we'll have more support for free trade if we take care of the people who lose out. Kemp rejoinders, also reasonably, that we don't have any very good way to make them whole.
Now Kemp loses it by claiming that NAFTA was negotiated by Clinton. This does not make him look like a genius, especially when Goolsbee corrects him. Still, the fundamental fact that Goolsbee is advocating a platform which I, for one, certainly hope he doesn't really believe, kind of shines through.
They've moved onto trade. Goolsbee is dodging and weaving like George Foreman at the Rumble in the Jungle.
Neither Ali nor Foreman bobbed and weaved at the Rumble in the Jungle. Ali leaned against the ropes and Foreman whaled on him until he tired himself out. Ali knocked out Foreman in the eighth round.
Still, the fundamental fact that Goolsbee is advocating a platform which I, for one, certainly hope he doesn't really believe, kind of shines through.
That pretty much sums up the mindset of many Obama supporters who are not from the far left. They want so hard to believe in Obama that they are willing to believe that his words don't mean anything... He can be trusted to do the right thing once in office in spite of promising the exact opposite...
It's a triumph of hope over reason.
This is a stark contrast to the McCain supporters on the right and in the middle... They are fairly confident that McCain says what he means and means what he says. He says some things that we really don't like. But, on balance, there's more good than bad. This is a multiple choice test, after all, and McCain is a known answer.
Obama is for AND against tariffs, FISA, listening generals about Iraq, late term abortions, punitive capital taxation, fiscal discipline...
Supporters just hear the narrative they like and ignore the facts to the contrary.
Kudos to you for admitting Obama's team embraces policies that you disagree with, even if their support is only Mondays thru Wednesdays and every other Sunday.
You have taken the interventionist bait. How can you call this, as you do, "free trade":
The loopholes in bilateral trade agreements all run in favor of protected industries in the US...
The protectionist movement in America isn't upset about the bits of the trade agreements that have loopholes; they're upset about the bits that don't.
True free trade agreements don't have loopholes, and they don't go on for pages and pages. This would be a free trade agreement:
"The United States, Canada and Mexico have agreed to allow free trade between their countries."
Anything written beyond that may be many things, but it's not free trade.
And, JB is correct. Ali employed what became known as the "rope-a-dope" technique
That pretty much sums up the mindset of many Obama supporters who are not from the far left. They want so hard to believe in Obama that they are willing to believe that his words don't mean anything... He can be trusted to do the right thing once in office in spite of promising the exact opposite...
It's a triumph of hope over reason.
Uh, from my experience, a candidate saying something makes it less likely that they'll actually do it, not more (see: Bush on nation-building). In my opinion, it's believing the candidates that's a triumph of hope over reason, not the other way around.
Uh, from my experience, a candidate saying something makes it less likely that they'll actually do it, not more (see: Bush on nation-building). In my opinion, it's believing the candidates that's a triumph of hope over reason, not the other way around.
Reagan promised tax cuts, increased defense spending, and hardball foreign policy with the Russkies. Done and Done.
Clinton promised to socialize healthcare. He tried so hard that he managed to lose control of congress in 2 years. He also promised to raise taxes on the rich, which he did.
Dubya promised to cut taxes and attempt social security reform. He tried very hard for both... Congress fought him too hard on the latter. As for Bush's promise on Nation Building... Oh, come on... The 9/11 thing was a game changer. Liberal Democratic Senators were fully behind a "neocon" president and a policy being sold by Cheney of all people. Holding Bush to that promise would be like holding FL governor Christ to his position on offshore drilling that made much more sense when oil was $110/barrel cheaper. By analogy, if US mosquitos suddenly started to spread a new West Nile / Malaria / Ebola / AIDS super disease in massive numbers (millions of cases per year), you'd see a lot of environmentalists embrace DDT in a friggin' hurry.
I agree that all politicians lie... But McCain is an order of magnitude more honest than most senators... He's a stubborn old coot that sticks to his principles even when they are wrong, unpopular, or, thank goodness, when they are right (cough - surge - cough).
Thank you, JB. That metaphor hit me like the combo that eventually knocked Foreman out.
Ancillary point: Is Obama's recent positioning on FISA and Iraq a flip-flop...or the political equivalent of Ali's rope-a-dope strategy? If you remember, Ali went into the ring with Foreman saying "I'm gonna dance!" But after realizing that dancing with Foreman just wasn't going to happen, he switched to the rope-a-dope. Ali took his lumps, and then when Foreman was exhausted, he went in for the kill.
I guess we'll have to wait until November to see if that metaphor holds up.
Don't worry, BHO knows the score.
"Still, the fundamental fact that Goolsbee is advocating a platform which I, for one, certainly hope he doesn't really believe, kind of shines through."
Why would you even think of trusting someone you hope is lying?
Hmmmm.
"This is a stark contrast to the McCain supporters on the right and in the middle... They are fairly confident that McCain says what he means and means what he says. He says some things that we really don't like. But, on balance, there's more good than bad. This is a multiple choice test, after all, and McCain is a known answer."
*Except* when it comes to illegal aliens.
Then it's amnesty, amnesty, amnesty.
And for the conservative base? Uhhhh. fence?