An answer to Richard Cohen

August 2, 2008

Guest Post by Morbo

Increasingly erratic syndicated columnist Richard Cohen wants someone to “Just tell me one thing Barack Obama has done that you admire.”

OK, I’m up for fielding that one. How about, “He stood up, boldly and without apology, and powerfully articulated a progressive vision for this country better than I’ve heard anyone do in my lifetime”?

Moreover, Cohen’s premise — that Obama hasn’t “done” anything “admirable” — is also mistaken. Obsidian Wings’ hilzoy has written a couple of very strong items (here and here) about a great number of things Obama has “done,” which should more than satisfy Cohen’s curiosity.

But in some ways, Cohen’s request is the wrong question. It’s not so much what Obama has done that interests me. It’s what he’s going to do – if we’re smart enough to elect him.

To wit:

* Obama will implement a foreign policy based on collaboration with our allies and tough-minded negotiation (when necessary) as opposed to cowboy antics and constant war. Obama will restore our nation’s standing in the international community.

* Obama will bring our troops home from Iraq instead of keeping them there for the next 100 years.

* Obama will take global climate change seriously and make America a leader in this field, instead of a prominent denier of a reality the rest of the civilized world long ago acknowledged.

* Obama will spearhead efforts toward real energy independence instead of just leaving us at the mercy of autocratic Middle Eastern despots and their enablers in the international criminal conspiracy known as Big Oil.

* Obama will put men and women on the Supreme Court who respect, not abuse, the core values of our Constitution.

* Obama will end the national shame of state-sanctioned torture as official government policy and will stop indefinite detention of people charged with no crime.

* Obama will put grown-ups in the charge of the economy, not rapacious robber barons or those who embrace magical thinking and insist “tax cuts pay for themselves.”

* Obama will advocate for the Americans who most need help – the middle class and below. Obama won’t refer to tax-dodging plutocrats as “my base.”

* Obama will make us proud to be Americans again. We’ll have a president who is intellectual, curious and engaged as opposed to a bull-headed, dithering underachiever, the mention of whose very name makes one cringe.

Does that answer your question, Dick?

Looks like you might have missed one really big one, so I’ll add it (with due credit to HuffPo):

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/18/obama-race-speech-read-t_n_92077.html

On March 18, 2008, Obama addressed the issue of race in a way that no one even remotely connected to the Bush/McCain political cartel—an organization dedicated to power through division and fear—could even contemplate.

  • Most admirable in the “has done” category is that he’s appealed to the better parts of our nature, instead of fueling and exploiting our darker sides.

  • apparently, Cohen was speaking with an Obama supporter who couldn’t list a single Obama accomplishment; his conclusion is that Obama, therefore, MUST have NO accomplishments. At the risk of being redundant, does THIS pass the smell test?

    By this turn of logic, I can’t list a single woman (or man) stupid or suicidal or self-loathing enough to let Cohen get inside her (or him), even if money’s involved; therefore, Cohen must be a virgin.

    Spread the word.

  • Granted, Obama has done admirable things and is a higher-quality candidate than the Democratic party deserves.

    Still, I read your list of what President Obama would accomplish, and I wonder. This post is worth bookmarking. Let’s check on this list at the end of his first term and see. Let’s see, for instance, what happens with Iraq. Let’s see what energy policy is in fact. Obama is an accomplished legislator as well as orator, but the orator and the legislator have not always worked toward the same goals.

  • It’s not so much what Obama has done that interests me. It’s what he’s going to do – if we’re smart enough to elect him.

    If an Obama administration runs anything like the Obama campaign has so far it would be awesome. Considering what they are up against, I think they are doing very well so far. However, if an Obama administration fails to do what they said they would do after they are elected then it is up to we-the-people to hold them accountable.

    “The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else.” -Theodore Roosevelt, Kansas City Star, 149 May 7, 1918

  • I have to agree with Algernon.

    I would also agree that Obama has instilled “hope” in a large segment of society.

    He is certainly the only candidate (presumptive nominee) left who offers any kind of progressive (it remains to be seen what that really means) vision.

    He certainly has changed and has the potential to change even greater the dialogue and thinking about race here in this country and potentially the world.

    Your list, however, is mostly what we hope he does and not what he has accomplished.

    I’m not convinced, for instance, if he is elected that the US troops will be leaving Iraq anytime soon. I’m fairly confident that the US involvement in Iraq will look different, but not necessarily without US presence.

    I am clear that Obama represents the only choice that offers the chance for change, growth, and a new enlightened path – but the question remains, to what extent.

    I have great reservations about Obama and regrettably I’m starting to see those fears come into fruition as he continues to move further and further to the right. Now I read that he might consider off shore drilling. I can only surmise that this is what he thinks is necessary for victory. If that’s true than the question arises – just how different is he if at his fundamental core he differs slightly from almost every other politician – do and say whatever is necessary to win.

    Taking that notion to its logical conclusion the questions are – can we trust Obama and who is he really?

    Again, at least to this point, we the citizens are left with the less than optimum option – instead of holding our noses and voting, this time we may very well be holding our breath as we hope we’re voting for what we thiink we are.

  • As revealed over the past few weeks: Obama has integrity, McCain doesn’t.

    I’m waiting for the ad where they put together all the clips of McCain promising that he’s going to run a “respectful campaign” and then compare that to what he’s actually doing and saying. If he can’t keep basic promises about how he runs his campaign then how can he be trusted?

    What McCain is doing is very risky– yes, most campaigns devolve into negative campaigning eventually, most often using surrogates to launch attacks on their opponents. But McCain chose to personally START negatively campaigning in JULY and used lies to smear Obama. McCain is defying convention and taking a big risk, it could very well backfire.

  • Richard Cohen should not be (but often is) confused with:
    Richard M. Cohen, journalist, Emmy award-winning television news producer, MS survivor and husband of Meredith Vieira,
    Richard E. Cohen of the National Journal,
    Richard I. Cohen, a professor of Jewish History at Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
    Rich Cohen, author of Tough Jews, The Avengers, Lake Effect and Sweet and Low,
    or my favorite, Richard A. Cohen, advocate of “conversion therapy,” who “assists men and women with unwanted same-sex attractions.”
    According to his Wikipedia biography, however, he “received a bit of rather unflattering attention in 1987 when it became public knowledge that he was having an affair with Kati Marton, the wife of ABC News anchorman Peter Jennings.” So not quite a virgin, but not quite a George Harrison/Eric Clapton moment, either. Wikipedia also has an entertaining selection of his opinions over the years, prompting the question “Why does anybody pay attention to this guy?”

  • I have great reservations about Obama and regrettably I’m starting to see those fears come into fruition as he continues to move further and further to the right. Now I read that he might consider off shore drilling. I can only surmise that this is what he thinks is necessary for victory. If that’s true than the question arises – just how different is he if at his fundamental core he differs slightly from almost every other politician – do and say whatever is necessary to win.

    After 8 years of Bush’s refusal to compromise or reconsider options this is a breath of fresh air. I don’t think Obama is moving to the right, HOWEVER, I do think he is willing to compromise to get things accomplished– which is exactly why he said he’s open to some drilling BUT that we can’t drill ourselves out of this crisis. Acknowledging this kind of maturity is risky since McCain will probably turn it into an ad calling him a flip-flopper, which is funny since McCain claims he’s some kind of aisle-crossing maverick.

    Obama is not perfect but he’s as good as we’re going to get as far as having anyone with progressive values in the White House. I’m very liberal but I’m also a pragmatist– a true liberal progressive is never going to get elected in this country. But at least Obama can start pushing this country back to the left, away from the far right direction that Bush and his corrupt cronies have taken us.

  • zoe from pittsburgh said:
    “After 8 years of Bush’s refusal to compromise or reconsider options this is a breath of fresh air. I don’t think Obama is moving to the right, HOWEVER, I do think he is willing to compromise to get things accomplished– which is exactly why he said he’s open to some drilling BUT that we can’t drill ourselves out of this crisis. Acknowledging this kind of maturity is risky since McCain will probably turn it into an ad calling him a flip-flopper, which is funny since McCain claims he’s some kind of aisle-crossing maverick.

    Obama is not perfect but he’s as good as we’re going to get as far as having anyone with progressive values in the White House. I’m very liberal but I’m also a pragmatist– a true liberal progressive is never going to get elected in this country. But at least Obama can start pushing this country back to the left, away from the far right direction that Bush and his corrupt cronies have taken us.”

    I certainly hope you’re right. I hope Obama realizes just how much people are depending on him and how disappointed they will be be if he does turn out to be just another politician and very different from what many hope he is.

    I too am very left leaning. so much so that I feel no one, as President, has ever come close to representing my views or vision. But being pragmatic also, I recognize that closer is better than farther in terms of public servants’ views and what I would like to see.

    That being said, I think we all can agree that Obama benefits greatly from the comparision to Bush and even McCain. but I think it would serve us all well to not let that comparison be the standard to which we ultimately measure and judge Obama – that bar is way too low to be of any use to the citizens of this country or the world.

  • The problem with Richard Cohen — as with some many other members of the layabout Washington commentariat — is that he places grave overimportance on opposing one’s own party.

    If you’ll notice, with the exception of McCain’s heroic act of denying early release in Vietnam, all of Cohen’s other examples deal with McCain sticking it to his Republican base. This relentless centrism is the same kind of approach that makes David Broder incredibly tiresome, as well. It’s as it there is no higher virtue than jabbing the people who support you most ardently. You’ll also notice that Cohen devalues the currency of Obama’s opposition to Iraq by qualifying it as nothing more than political expediency.

    Cohen is certainly entitled to his opinion, but the Washington Post’s editorial page is not exactly awash in moral authority due to its flag-waving support of Bush’s jingoism for the last 7.5 years. If Cohen and others on that payroll had, from time to time, showed some admirable courage in standing up to Fred Hiatt, then I might grant his judgmental attitude toward Obama a bit more space. As it stands, Cohen is nothing more than another natterer who laid down on the tracks and let the current administration wreck the nation. If he wants to indicate someone is cowardly, he should look in the mirror.

  • Cohen is the guy who said he didn’t see any use for learning algebra a while back. I have no use for Cohen.

  • As an Illinoisan, I can tell you some very specific things Barack Obama has done to help this country. It’s why a Republican state senator was willing to make a campaign ad for him. It’s why my own state senator calls him “one of the most effective legislators I’ve ever worked with.”

    He was instrumental in passing health care for Illinois children. He worked for a solid year with fellow legislators on both sides of the aisle to get a bill through, getting input from doctors and insurers, too. And it’s been a fiscally sound program — even doctors like it, because they’re actually getting Medicaid payments — on time.

    He sponsored and passed legislation requiring police to videotape all suspect interviews in Illinois. Years ago, we had a team of rogue cops in Chicago who were beating false confessions out of suspects, and ultimately some of those convictions got thrown out because of it. Initially, police didn’t like the idea of videotaped interrogations. Obama worked with police across the state, convincing them that this bill was in their best interest, besides protecting those in police custody. It ultimately passed with the full support of police across Illinois.

    He passed ethics legislation at both the state and federal level.

    He helped reduce taxes for working class families in Illinois.

    He passed a bipartisan bill (with conservative Republican Dick Lugar of Indiana) on tracking down loose nuclear materials.

    There are more, but that’s enough to start with. And what can we say about John McCain’s accomplishments in his 25-year legislative career?

    He did pass McCain-Feingold, but he’s not even following it anymore.

    He did an effective job during the Abramoff hearings, I’ll give him that.

    He introduced a good immigration bill, but then backed off when he was it was a losing issue for him.

    Other than that ? He schmoozed with reporters and went on Sunday talk shows a lot and built up a media fan club to call him a maverick (my college roommate, a Washington reporter, has always said he’s “charming”). But I have a feeling that fan base is starting to turn on him a little.

  • I’ll add my own $.02 to Obama’s US Senate Accomplishments:

    In a nut shell:

    Senator Obama has sponsored or co-sponsored 570 bills in the 109th and 110th Congress.

    Senator Obama has sponsored or co-sponsored 15 bills that have become LAW since he joined the Senate in 2005.

    Senator Obama has also introduced amendments to 50 bills, of which 16 were adopted by the Senate.

    His record is in fact quite impressive for a junior Senator from Illinois.

    Most of his legislative effort has been in the areas of:

    * Energy Efficiency and Climate Change (25 bills)
    * Health care (21 bills) and public health (20 bills)
    * Consumer protection/labor (14 bills)
    * The needs of Veterans and the Armed Forces (13 bills)
    * Congressional Ethics and Accountability (12 bills)
    * Foreign Policy (10 bills)
    * Voting and Elections (9 bills)
    * Education (7 bills)
    * Hurricane Katrina Relief (6)
    * The Environment (5 bills)
    * Homeland Security (4 bills)
    * Discrimination (4 bills)

    Read the VERY lengthy details at the link above. I’ve posted this in many threads here (in full) but the list is literally pages long, and I hate to keep taking up CB’s bandwith).

    Nexttime someone says Obama is an Empty Suit, send them here:.

  • Morbo: ….powerfully articulated a progressive vision for this country….

    Like supporting public campaign finance? Like supporting FISA with no telecom immunity and no immunity for Bush illegal syping? Like supporting NAFTA reform? Like supporting universal health care? Like supporting gun control? Like supporting ending the racist death penalty?

    Obama has in no way articulates a progressive vision for this country. He is a rightist and was the least progressive candidate in the primaries, and no amount of spin from fauxgressives can hide the truth about his positions. His only positive accomplishment has been the promotion of Barack Obama.

  • I suppose that a counter question to Cohen would be, “Over the last eight years, what has the right-wing done for this country that would be worth preserving?” or “What have neocons done that can be pointed to with pride?

  • All of the accomplishments above — yes, and thank goodness some of us are paying attention. For me, the singular gift of this primary/campaign season was Obama’s speech on race: this is the terrible schism that America, its blot and nagging guilt, it’s been going on a long time, we’ve made progress, and now — maybe just maybe we can make even more, definitive strides. As he said, it’s not a matter of a single moment or discussion, and the flip side was seeing in his chief primary opponent’s campaign, a stunning and repellant reliance on, or last ditch resort to, racist innuendo and arguments. So even as he opened the door, we got a glimpse inside of how, even in the good guys’ party, work must be done (and not just with the Blue Dogs). This adds little to the above, but you’ve all pretty much covered it, and a good job too.

  • As much of of question of what “Admiral things Obama has done” is the question of what horrible things Obama has NOT done and WILL NOT DO.

    Sometimes it’s more difficult to figure out what you do want but easy to see what you definitely don’t want.

    The most admirable thing Obama has accomplished is being the alternative to the current disaster rather than a continuation of it. He brings hope that has been lost and integrity that has been sadly missed. He represents the best of what American can be.

    The times call for a leader ready and able to accomplish great things not one willing to continue the very same policies that got us into this mess. McCain has already delivered a speech of complete fantasy about what he would accomplish without any plan as to how it would be done. He represents flip-flop- after flip-flop, lie after lie, smear after smear and the end of an era of deceitfulness, secrecy, dishonesty, and incompetency.

    Everywhere one looks there is republican corruption, obstructionism, incompetency, waste, deceit and dishonesty…every area this administration has touched is compromised. McCain is more of the same. What more admirable thing can there be than the effort to free us from the disastrous republican policies that have enslaved us.

  • Whoops…correction here to above comment, “…the end of an era of deceitfulness, secrecy, dishonesty, and incompetency…”
    should read…and a member of an era…etc…but you get the idea.

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