From my piece on the Alinsky philosophy reflected in Obama’s decision-making as president:
As conservatives size up their new foe, they ought to remember: It’s not about liberalism. It’s about power. Obama will jettison anything that costs him power, and do anything that enhances it — including invite Rick Warren to give the benediction at his inauguration, dine with conservative columnists, and dismiss an appointee at the White House Military Office to ensure the perception of accountability.
This puts the recent reversal on the Uighurs into perspective — Obama wanted and needed the praise of civil libertarians and Gitmo opponents earlier, but the risk of one of these guys doing something dangerous would seriously damage Obama’s power, popularity, and trust with the public. Thus, they will not be released on U.S. soil, despite earlier comments from the attorney general.
A recent Daily Kos diary, pointing to Rasmussen’s numbers showing a slight decrease in the president’s approval rating:
Why are the numbers thus? I can only guess that it represents the far more accurate reflection of public disapproval with Obama’s continuing shift to the far right. Obviously some of the disapproval numbers are coming from extreme right-wingers (the ditto-head segment). We cannot, however, discount the growing number of left-wingers outraged by the dashing of their hopes by the new president.
For those who insist on doubting the president’s right-wing extremism, in spite of all evidence attesting to his ideological beliefs, I must point out that his positions on everything from continuing and amplifying the Bush regime’s system of torture, war-making, destruction of civil rights, and lawlessness to dismantling safety net programs and writing blank checks to Wall Street can hardly be called left-wing.
It is worth noting that most of those commenting on this Kos diary think this assessment is insane.