Organizing For America/MyBarackObama.com/Democratic National Committee/Obama 2.0, whatever, same thing, is asking supporters to host house parties to rally support for the president’s stimulus bill. Why? Do citizens get to vote on it? What’s the point? And, what if you support Barack Obama (shudder) but think the stimulus package sucks? You and your friends have to eat alone? From a Politico article about Organizing For America’s (Obama’s campaign organization, now a part of the DNC) plans to promote participation in this strange new campaign for support is a portion of the e-mail the organization sent out:
Friend —
Last year, America lost 2.6 million jobs. This week, some of our biggest companies announced plans to cut tens of thousands more.
The economic crisis is deepening, but President Obama and members of Congress have proposed a recovery plan that will put more than 3 million Americans back to work.
You can learn more about how the plan will help your community by organizing an Economic Recovery House Meeting:
http://my.barackobama.com/recoveryhost
Join thousands of people across the country who are coming together to watch a special video about the recovery plan. Invite your friends and neighbors to watch the video with you and have a conversation about your community’s economic situation.
What’s the freaking point? So, they all get together for beer and brats, then watch a video over Doritos and dip, then, when the keg’s empty…what? I seem to remember the last time taxpayers got mad about the bailout, and we know how well that turned out. They called it a recovery program and did it anyway. Nobody seems to have a clue what’s going to be different this time, either:
Democrats involved in the process say the goal is not to get these supporters to lobby their elected officials or pen op-eds in their local newspapers advocating the president’s stimulus plan. But the group’s first call to action targets the Obama campaign’s most active supporters and includes state-by-state economic statistics, as well as information about how the stimulus package would impact each state.
“If we wanted to have a specific action after the house parties, we’d ask for it,” a Democrat involved in the process said. “What we want to do is to make sure that folks are talking about these issues.”
This is what happens when you elect a school teacher who moonlights as a part-time politician until he runs for president, you get roughly the same results as when everybody’s favorite substitute math teacher becomes head of the school board. A lot of ideas that sound good, but accomplish little. A real politician who raised more money than anybody in history and ended up with a surplus, might see the downside of using that money to ask taxpayers to party in an effort to stimulate the economy while he cussed out bailed out executives for taking “shameful” bonuses from the comfort of his overheated office. From the Associated Press:
The e-mail message carefully avoided any specific action: no phone calls to lawmakers, no e-mails to opinion-makers, no letters to the editor. Obama and his aides have been clear that the organization shouldn’t be considered an advocacy group for the White House’s policy agenda.
This is the stupidest idea I ever heard of. Can’t wait to see what’s next, sleep with a hooker on “Screw the Republicans” night? Economy stimulation and getting fucked all in one.
[...] Direct access to the validation seeking black Americans and their fellow hopeless country-men and -women desperate for change via the Bullies of the Blogosphere and the Mainstream Media Maniacs by way of the White House in 1 easy step through the courtesy of Corporate America. Thousands of employees of Citigroup, JP Morgan, Pepsi, Time Warner, MTV, BET, Dreamworks, Microsoft, Stanford, Columbia, etc., along with the other “small donors” on the list, now get to hear straight from the Astroturfing man with the office next door to the president any time he feels like telling them something. Now we know why Obama 2.0 wants us all to have stimulus package house parties. [...]
[...] Direct access to the validation seeking black Americans and their fellow hopeless country-men and -women desperate for change via the Bullies of the Blogosphere and the Mainstream Media Maniacs by way of the White House in 1 easy step through the courtesy of Corporate America. Thousands of employees of Citigroup, JP Morgan, Pepsi, Time Warner, MTV, BET, Dreamworks, Microsoft, Stanford, Columbia, etc., along with the other “small donors” on the list, now get to hear straight from the Astroturfing man with the office next door to the president any time he feels like telling them something. Now we know why Obama 2.0 wants us all to have stimulus package house parties. [...]
Cinie, I think the ultimate point of these parties besides indoctrination is to make people feel even more powerless. First of all, we don’t need no man thinking he’s the Black Jesus telling us that we need to discuss the economic problems of our states and cities based on his video production. That is so frickin insulting to even his supporters. The message is you can’t think without my direction. And the only action we are allowed to do is not independently from the Obamacratic Party which is really doing nothing (as you’ve so aptly pointed out), we are just allowed to discuss it til we’re blue in the face. Note to Pres 0: we are beyond the days of mere consciousness raising. We are aware of the problems and have solutions, we just don’t like yours! If Pres 0 and Congress were interested in real solutions, they would just increase the shared revenue with states and let them make the decisions based on their local needs. Then the public could have real input.
Instead we see our taxpayer $ being diverted into pay-outs for political support and for building new detention centers on US soil. All the while, Pres 0 is insulting Jessica Simpson for being fat during fluff interviews and flaunting his bod in button-down shirts without wearing a suit coat. He won’t be happy until every person in this nation has a life-size framed pic of them in their homes.
I wrote something similar about this at Pumaeyes – the whole thing is ridiculous and an insult to our intelligence. Wallstreet gets Billions and the Middle Class….a task force & a website! Host a house party – we don’t need more fundraising for the Obamas family nor the DNC….we need good paying jobs – not contraceptives infrastructure projects that discriminate against white men. If we want to know where this is headed, look at Chicago. What Obama did for them….he will do for us. (10.25% sales tax). I suggest we all get a warm coat, this is gonna be a long cold winter.
http://pumaeyes.wordpress.com/2009/01/30/wallstreet-get-billionsthe-middle-class-gets-a-website-a-task-force/
clarification: …key to house party goal for stimulus plan:
I believe this is the key to O’s stimulus plan:
“…You can learn more about how the plan will help your community by organizing an Economic Recovery House Meeting….”
… help your community …
I hear there is a website which provides how much $ each zipcode receives from his plan.
The old bait and switch routine. It’s great for nonthinkers, cultists.
i would love for one of those motherfuckers to come to my door.
folks are talking about these issues….just not the way they want them too, in my opinion…many are actually questioning their “representatives” & telling them to vote NO (again….& it looks like we are going to get similar action….why I am an INDEPENDENT)
I got an acronym I would like Pres O to explain & the address which might do a little something to improve the working mans plight….NAFTA/GATT…no I will not be attending any indoctrination sessions…think I got an AA mtg too pressing to miss…..
Sugar, don’t be sad, he doesn’t have a clue of what to do with his resources, and he ain’t got the huevos to slaughter anything. He’s too busy sucking up to Republicans and giving away Democratic stuff to cause any other real damage.
I agree, the why doesn’t strike me so much as the what. They’ve done a fantastic job of organizing and corralling the hopefiends into herds during the campaign, but they are keeping them stoked for future needs. Kind of like fattening up an animal, making it feel all warm and fuzzy for getting all of those goodies–loved–before you slaughter it and feast on it.
Thanks guys, I agree it’s all about indoctrination and propaganda, but to what end? Just like this, “let’s get a filibuster proof majority and then desperately reach out to Republicans for support thing,” why? What’s the ultimate point? Just seems like a waste of resources to me.
The TechPresident thing is interesting since they’re one of the web entities that have been a moving force behind Obie since day one. It’s gonna take a lot more than this for them to criticize anything he does too vigorously.
http://lessig.org/blog/2007/04/a_call_on_the_rnc_dnc_to_elimi.html
And the CEO bonus put-down is all scam, imo. These guys have been major funders/architects of Obie’s campaign along with the web frat/academia/arugula crowd. They’re the ones who engineered the bailout stick up in the first place, and most of them are tied to Obie either via Chicago (Paulson/Jamie Dimon, William Daley of JP Morgan) or Harvard.
http://cinie.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/obama-bailout-buddies/
I agree that the CEO bonuses are shameful. (That’s as opposed to bonuses for ordinary workers, a distinction many liberals don’t make clear.) However, to anyone who thinks Obama is really serious in his disapproval, I have a bridge to sell you.
Word probably got thru the bubble of one of his advisors that ordinary people are POed about the giveaways to the rich. It’s a little PR posturing. If Obama really wanted to check his buddies’ excesses he would have worked with his party members in Congress to put oversight provisions in the bailout bills, rather than rush to enact them.
And I agree that the indoctrination parties are creepy.
Indoctrination in all forms! Also, every day he is speaking in front of a camera to tell people what he wants them to do. We must listen to him and follow his rules. I really think even his “fans” are getting fed up with his orders and ideas! The honeymoon period won’t even last 100 days!
Great post, as usual, thanks!
TechPresident: Organizing for America Will, and Should, Fail
One thing is for sure, there is no truth in advertising. These are “Propaganda parties” meant to “indoctrinate” people to the goodness and greatness of the one. That is their purpose. If any Obot beliees that the PBO will heed any of their issues, concerns, complaints, then they are seriously deluded.
Cinie, I believe he just wants to keep them organized so that theyll be ready the next time he needs them. He probably has something else planned down the road, and it won’t be long before he comes out with it. Obama never does anything without having a sneaky reason behind it, IMO.