Kabuki Revival
by digby
There are very few people with whom I almost always agree, but it seems Robert Kuttner is one of them. This review of Eric Alterman’s new book Kabuki Democracy: The System vs. Barack Obama
Kuttner’s critique of Obama is on the money — in my view, if there was ever a president who had the economic circumstances and political mandate to challenge the prevailing wisdom, it was him. But for reasons about which we can only speculate, he didn’t do it. I agree with Alterman that the deck is stacked against progressives, but it always is. Money never welcomes the hippies into the country club. But it’s a rare president who has a huge mandate for change, a once in a generation economic crisis, a reputation for rhetorical brilliance and a congressional majority. I just don’t agree with the conventional wisdom that Ben Nelson had more power over policy than he did.
As for Wolffe — my God. I read the book in about an hour and a half and then had to take some Pepto-Bismol.I haven’t read anything this treacly and sycophantic since “Bush Country: How George W. Bush Became the First Great Leader of the 21st Century—While Driving Liberals Insane
[Obama] admits to Wolffe that he was acting when he stormed out of a meeting with Democratic leaders in the House and Senate after Nancy Pelosi shot down the Senate’s proposed $15 billion cut to the health-care plan. “I wasn’t really that frustrated,” Obama said of the scene, in which he sputtered, “Dammit, folks, this is history,” and stormed out of the room, telling Rahm to “clean it up.” “The truth was we were very pleased that it was going as well as it was. There are certain points during negotiations where the big issues have really been settled. Everybody knows where the agreement is going to be, and people are then dickering over stuff that is not worth another hour or two of lost sleep.”
That’s kabuki of another sort altogether, isn’t it? The kind where the outcome is preordained and all the “negotiations” are playacting. The question is who made the real deal?
You’ll notice that he’s talking about House Democrats there, not Republicans and Conservadems in the Senate — who won that round, by the way. And even Wolffe admits in the book that the cost of it was some very bad feelings and even more difficulties going forward.
More importantly, I don’t believe Obama was telling the truth. As Wolffe described the event, it was eleven o’clock at night and Henry Waxman had just pretty much capitulated to Obama’s kabuki deal when Pelosi stepped up and said, “Henry, you don’t speak for the House.” That’s when Obama got mad and
“clenched his jaw and raised his voice in righteous indignation — an extraordinary sight for members of Congress.” “Dammit folks, this is history,” he sputtered, “we’re this close to history.We’re 15 billion away. This is outrageous.I’m leaving this to Rahm. I’m going to bed. Good night. I’m out of here. You guys figure it out.” He promptly marched out of the room.”Rahm,” he said on his way out,” clean this up.”
I think it’s very convenient for the president to later claim that he was only acting to “knock their heads together” to make a deal. But let’s just say I’m skeptical. The White House had long before accepted that the Republicans would never negotiate so he was irritated that Pelosi was being equally stubborn. And isn’t that the crux of the problem in almost everything?
The deals were all crappy by that time, with months of GOP preening and Senate Dem foot-dragging so any presidential hagiography around that negotiation isn’t going to sound very convincing to me. At that point it was purely a salvage operation.
In any case, save yourself the money and just read Kuttner’s review and buy Alterman’s book. Both are well worth the time. Wolffe’s will only give you heartburn.
Update: MSNBC has Wolffe on right now extolling the White House as he does every day. To call him a stenographer is to be insulting to the profession of stenography.
.