I heard it over and over again -- if you wanted to criticize the White House on financial issues, your institutional funding would dry up instantly. The Obama campaign successfully telegraphed to donors that they should cut off Fund for America, which famously led to its demise. It wasn't the last time something like that happened -- just ask those who were receiving institutional money who criticized the White House and saw their funding cut, at the specific request of liberal institutional leaders who now principally occupy their time by brown nosing friends and former co-workers in the White House.And so the groups in the DC veal pen stay silent. They leadership gets gets bought off by cocktail parties at the White House while the interests of their members get sold out. How many have openly pushed back against the Administration on Don't Ask, Don't Tell or DOMA? Well, not many. Most tried to satisfy their LGBT members by outsourcing activism to other organizations, or proving their bona fides by getting involved in the Prop 8 battle that is not directly toxic to the White House. It's a chickenshit sidestep that betrays their members in the interest of personal gain, which they justify with feeble self-serving palliatives about the importance of "maintaining a seat at the table."
Where are they on health care? Why aren't they running ads against the AMA, the hospitals, the insurance industry barons who have $700 million in stock options, PhRMA, the device manufacturers and the White House for doing back room deals with all of the above?
Why are they not calling for the White House to release the details of those secret deals?
Because they are participating in those deals, instead of trying to destroy them. Well, that and funneling millions of dollars in pass-throughs to their consultant friends that they are supposed to be spending on the health care fight.
The truth is -- they've all been sucked into insulating the White House from liberal critique, and protecting the administration's ability to carry out a neoliberal agenda that does not serve the interests of their members. They spend their time calculating how to do the absolute minimum to retain their progressive street cred and still walk the line of never criticizing the White House.
Read the whole thing.
I am not sure how many are truly surprised at the mentality of Obama in the "vote for me then shut up and stay out of it", but Hamsher at FireDogLake is fed up with it and begging liberal groups to stand up to the White House.
I am not sure picking Van Jones as the rallying cry was the wisest move Hamsher could have made, but Barack Obama and his team have used up much of their political capital with these folks and the war between the far left liberals and the White House has begun.
Van Jones related pieces:
Glenn Beck's statement on Van Jones.
The American people stood up and demanded answers. Instead of providing them, the Administration had Jones resign under cover of darkness. I continue to be amazed by the power of everyday Americans to initiate change in our government through honest questioning, and judging by the other radicals in the administration, I expect that questioning to continue for the foreseeable future.
The Politico with "Beck up, left let down."
Keith Olbermann, via Daily Kos begging Kossacks to send him everything they can get their hands on about Beck.
Fox News with "Jones' Resignation May Embolden Administration Critics."
Previous Wake up America pieces on Van Jones:
Van Jones Resigns And Calls Truth A 'Smear'
Van Jones- Blogger Does What Obama And Media Didn't
Obama Official 'Truther' Outed
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