It's eleven-dimension chess alright, but we are the opponent.

[immoderate]

Consider this thought experiment: How best to implement right wing, oligarchic, corporate objectives in the US? Things that even GW Bush could not accomplish because the majority did not trust his ass. You need stealth, -- such stealth that even the stealth is undetectable. Because this job cannot be done without the cooperation of the victims.

So it falls to a Democrat, who is unassailable. Being a minority is helpful (woman or a Jew could also do the job) because, past incredulity, a layer of protection is automatically provided that questions the motives of questioners. Being "moderate" (read reasonable) placates some criticism from the left. ("He's thinking 47 moves ahead. We don't understand this brilliance.") And there is the occasional liberal gesture, mostly for gays these days. Oh, and he acknowledged there are atheists once or twice. Not much for women, the poor, immigrants, workers, education. Nothing against military and prison industrial complex. Supply siders get respect. Hard to be worse than Bush/Cheney on regulation enforcement. There's always budget cuts.

Occasional liberal feints are made. This is chess, after all. The hero always gets defeated somehow, but the end goal of retaining the base, is actually advanced, because credit is given for apparent effort, even in defeat. Even for bad play.

The president never does anything to remedy the overarching economic and social problem we face: wealth and income disparity. This disparity, sometimes represented by the Gini Index, is the worst it's been since 1929. After that crash, and recovery, Gini was low (good) until Vietnam. Since then government has morphed gradually into an organism that transfers wealth to richest few. By tweaking a percent here and there, they have pretty much looted the country, and are down to selling off the assets. But there is always more to take, they think.

Obama, since taking office has not done a thing to slow that conveyor belt that delivers the wealth of the people to the very few. And he has kept the support of the people that should be opposing him. That is the objective of the game, to preempt opposition from the left.

It's ironic that a main obstacle to the corporate Republicans is the tea party. They oppose the things that Bush Republicans would "grudgingly tolerate," seeing as how it's coming from a Kenyan.

I don't have an answer. We're kind of boxed in and stuck with this situation. We don't have any moves. You could say we're in "check mate."

--imm

[Uben]

1. Chess? No, more like tic tac toe......

....you know, like a perpetual game where no one can win unless someone does something different, except neither of them want to do anything different, so we go on...and on...and on. Or like the game of thermonuclear war where the computer eventually learns that there is no winner, only losers, if we continue the game. Let's hope someone in DC has the ability to learn.

[immoderate]

3. Partly agree.

Except the ties in t-t-t go to the rich.

--imm

[immoderate]

2. So I got recs and no responses.

Strange :shrug:

--imm

[Marr]

4. Yep, that's why our corporate media unanimously hailed Obama as

the "Democratic Party's biggest new star" for giving one speech at the 2004 convention. It was the unveiling of a new product.

That's why Obama and Hillary Clinton were pronounced the only "viable Democratic candidates" before a single primary vote had been held.

It's pretty obvious that Obama is a fiscal conservative. And only a person with the Democratic label could do some of the things Obama has done and proposed.

[immoderate]

6. Hillary could have played the same role. The fix was in.

I presumed Hillary would DLC us as president, so I voted for Obama in the primary to forestall that.

This "thought experiment" goes beyond fiscal conservative. :)


--imm

[Marr]

8. Coke or Pepsi, those were the choices.

Do you want a DLCer in a suit, or a DLCer in a pantsuit?

So much choice!

[FiveGoodMen]

11. Yes. Just exactly right!

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[immoderate]

7. Oh no, it's not criticism! It's a *thought experiment*

How would those people execute a bloodless right wing coup of the gov't? :shrug:

--imm

[BeFree]

9. Yeppers

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=125&topic_id=317639&mesg_id=317639

They have us fooled again.

[FiveGoodMen]

10. "That is the objective of the game, to preempt opposition from the left"

Yup. That's it exactly.

[Raine]

12. TOTALLY on point! nt

[Stinky The Clown]

13. How many Svengallian chess levels do we need to reach before the boards fall over?

Boo

[immoderate]

14. Don't blink.

--imm

[readmoreoften]

15. He hasn't done anything of substance for gays either. Just the bare minimum to prevent a mutiny

And then only policies like DADT which he barely supported and had 77 % approval ratings. And Log Cabin Republicans have been pushing harder than the Dem president, which is really shameful.

[immoderate]

18. Right. Not a champion. It's a place he could shave the points.

His game is to do nothing that would stop the looting by the oligarchy.

Works for two reasons:

1) Costs nothing to allow GLBT people rights.

2) It stimulates homophobia on the right, which forces the left toward Obama.

--imm

[blkmusclmachine]

16. Gonna go put "The Manchurian Candidate" on the queue.

n/t

[TheKentuckian]

17. This is what is up or at least is the most likely.