tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post6533993588592876963..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: Read Stuff, You ShouldJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-6903326375925134872013-07-11T16:01:02.491-05:002013-07-11T16:01:02.491-05:00The most plausible explanation is that Obama just ...The most plausible explanation is that Obama just isn't a civil libertarian. After all, we now know that he's lied to the American people about the extent of domestic surveillance and is now moving heaven and earth to catch and prosecute the man who exposed the lie. It's hard for me to imagine that this is all just a political calculation to appease the security state bureaucracy. If so, that's a rather chilling revelation as to our President's character.Couveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00926561539205771774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-58125897436020859352013-07-10T15:47:15.653-05:002013-07-10T15:47:15.653-05:00After Obama had his ass handed to him over Gitmo b...After Obama had his ass handed to him over Gitmo by his own Democratic Congressional colleagues at the outset of his presidency, it was clear that the locus of resistance to improving civil liberties protection wasn't the presidency, but rather median/moderate Democratic and Republican congressional members. And arguably one could say their disappointing but accurate read of their own constituents' indifference to civil liberties. It remains the case: only a minority of Democratic senators, for example are interested right now in pushing for tighter oversight of the NSA; after all they just re-authorized all the rules 1-2 years ago.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-66187677271319314982013-07-10T13:58:16.281-05:002013-07-10T13:58:16.281-05:00Yglesias and Krugman have lauded Argentina's e...Yglesias and Krugman have lauded Argentina's expansive monetary policy, but have been queerly silent about its effects. Does anyone wonder <a href="http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-05/argentina-applies-law-that-jails-hoarders-as-bread-prices-double.html" rel="nofollow">why</a>? <br /><br />Oops. Hyperinflation, anyone?backyardfoundrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-25192640745851554712013-07-10T11:07:44.923-05:002013-07-10T11:07:44.923-05:00The other thing to consider is that Obama could we...The other thing to consider is that Obama could well be slightly (or even significantly) more pro-civil liberties than the median Dem congressperson. Whatever else you could say about him, he's not standing athwart a tide of civil liberties legislation, from either Dems, Repubs or a bipartisan coalition, yelling "Stop." I wish he were, or rather, I wish there were enough votes in Congress to rein this stuff in. If Obama pushed back against that, he'd deserve all the criticism we could throw at him. <br /><br />I'm happy to deprive Obama of the benefit of the doubt with respect to areas where he has more control - in other words, I'm willing to believe that he's worse than he needs to be given institutional constraints and all the stuff none of us on the outside can know, but even if that's true, he's a small part of the problem.<br />Geoff Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17117921607237662932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-48492214878403265542013-07-10T10:14:04.240-05:002013-07-10T10:14:04.240-05:00I'll confess to being disappointed that the do...I'll confess to being disappointed that the domestic surveillance is/was going on, and I expected better of Obama, but I think I understand how and why it happened. It was already going on. And if Obama stopped it, and then there was a successful attack, even a small one, the political blowback would have been enormous. A president has to use all the tools in protecting the nation, and leaving tools unused is going to have political consequences. James Eppersonhttp://www.civilwarcauses.orgnoreply@blogger.com