The Eye of the Beholder

"Mark, you are a fuckwit. Obama has betrayed us."
I didn't say anything as he was ranting. Sometimes it helps to let people get it all out.
"He is going to drive this country into the toilet. He is a traitor."
Finally I had to say something. I'd heard this so many times.
"What exactly is he doing to betray us or our country?"
"Everything. All of his policies," he spat back at me.
"So what are you saying, then?"
"Mark, Barack Obama is not a socialist. He's not a Democrat. He's a fucking country club Republican. In fact, all of the Democrats have betrayed me and I've had it. I'm joining the Socialist Party of America. There are not liberals in the Democratic Party."

The preceding conversation took place in my family room two Sundays ago with a friend whom we will call Greg. Truly, it was one of the most bizarre ones I have ever had. Greg spent most of the night getting drunk and screaming to me about a variety of issues. Needless to say, he is not a very happy person. He blames everyone else for his problems and feels that he is entitled to..well...anything he wants. No doubt, he would be a poster child for Fox News and Rush Limbaugh as a fine example the stereotype of the left. Glenn Beck would make a shit load of Greg and were he ever to find himself in the spotlight, it would be a fantastic coup for the Cult.

Of course, the most amusing thing about the whole exchange was how similar it was to the ones I have with my conservative pals. Take out the word "not" and everything else contains the same amount of anger and hate. On the one hand we have a group of people that think Obama is a socialist spewing vitriol and then we have others like Greg who spew equally that he is not.

So is he?

Well according to this poll, 55 percent of Americans say that he is a socialist. But we all know that polls are not always accurate.

A recent article in my favorite news publication, The Christian Science Monitor, looked at this issue in depth. For I think the first time in any news story related to the "Obama is a socialist meme," someone actually asked (gasp!) some socialists what they thought.

"I have been making a living telling people Obama is not a socialist," says Frank Llewellyn, national director of the Democratic Socialists of America. "It's frustrating to see people using our brand to criticize programs that have nothing to do with our brand and are not even working."Adds Billy Wharton,co-chair of the Socialist Party USA: "I am not even sure he's a liberal. I call him a hedge fund Democrat."

This jibes with what I have been saying all along. Politically speaking, he bears quite a bit more in common with Dwight Eisenhower than the socialists. The real problem is this:

What Mr. Johns [Heritage Foundation], Mr. Gingrich, and others brandishing the "socialist" s-word are really complaining of is a return to the policies of John Maynard Keynes, the English economist who advocated vigorous government involvement in the economy, from regulation to pump priming, says labor historian Peter Rachleff of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn."Socialism suggests getting rid of capitalism altogether," says Dr. Rachleff. "Mr. Obama is not within a million miles of an ideology like that."

That's pretty much where I am at although I think in the current environment, Kenyes is woefully outdated. The current financial overhaul is certainly a step in the right direction. Let's see if it actually goes back to controlling private industry more effectively as was the case with Glass-Steagall. This control means no more making money by changing the rules and/or engaging in criminal activity...which is why Johns, Gingrich and other Cult leaders are so pissed off.

Invariably, when this topic also comes up, we hear stories of the federal government and GM. This is where the Cult spins its yarns.

The government has already used its ownership stake to impose sweeping mandates and regulations on the companies, such as closing hundreds of dealerships, he says."They forced changes in management that should more properly have been left to the company's private shareholders," says Johns.

Not true, according to GM. The US did not exert pressure to close the 1,100 shuttered dealerships, says spokeswoman Noreen Pratscher. "The government has taken a very hands-off approach."

A "hands off" approach? Well, that simply won't do. How dare GM say that the government has been hands off. That's not in the script!!!! Noreen must be a Feminazi. Or a Marxist. Or Hitler. Just pick one.

And what about AIG? That's got to be a great example of Obama's socialism. The federal government owns 80 percent of it, right? That is socialism.

There are two flaws in this theory, however. First, the takeover was actually begun under George W. Bush. Unless he is also secretly a socialist, the whining about Obama running AIG seems silly in light of this fact. Second,

The takeover of an ailing company whose collapse might ruin the US economy is not socialism, says Van Gosse, a Socialist and historian at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. "Let's just say AIG was profitable, and you thought it was better if it was in public hands. That would be socialistic."

Yep. So, what exactly is Obama if not a socialist?

"FDR tried all kinds of things and was accused of all kinds of things," says Tom Cronin, a presidential scholar at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. "But in retrospect, he is someone who helped capitalism survive."

If President Obama is successful, that is exactly what he will be as well: The Savior of Capitalism...much to the chagrin of my pal Greg. I guess I better hide my liquor the next time he comes over.