Katrina vanden Heuvel: "The Change I Believe In"
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-11-14/katrina-vanden-heuvel-change-i-believe
Sigrid Estrada
When President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, progressives cheered what they saw as a chance for real change in the country. One of those was Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of the Nation. Still she cautioned, we progressives need to be as clear-eyed, tough and pragmatic about Obama as he is about us. Three years later vanden Heuvel takes stock of the president’s accomplishments and winces at the disappointment she and other supporters feel over compromises he’s made with republicans on critical social and economic issues. In a new collection of her columns, she addresses the challenges limiting political debate and why she's fighting for progress in the age of Obama.
Guests
Katrina vanden Heuvel
editor and publisher of The Nation, writes a weekly column for The Washington Post.
Program Highlights
As a proud progressive, Katrina vanden Heuvel cheered the election of President Barack Obama. In the years since, she has expressed a less enthusiastic response to Obama's accomplishments in office, and to the state of American politics today. Vanden Heuvel talks about what she sees as Obama's biggest challenges now and what she thinks the Democrats need to do ahead of the 2012 elections.
High Hopes in 2008
Vanden Heuvel had a message for Obama when he was elected, and it included things she wanted to see him do during his term. To her, one of the most important tasks Obama had before him was to put demands on the banks, which she says he has failed to do. Obama also made a mistake in what vanden Heuvel calls "demobilizing" many of the people who helped get him elected. "In the system we live in, you need countervailing power," she said. "You need wind at your back, and the wind at your back to take on establishment power and corporate money in your system would be people."
Disappointments on Health Care, Financial Reform
Vanden Heuvel knows that compromise is an essential part of politics, but she saw Obama as retreating from his ideals during the long debate over health care reform. She said he had run on audacity, but what he demonstrated was conciliation. In her view, Obama allowed lobbyists to gut both the health care and financial reform bills, rendering them ineffective.
Obama's Accomplishments
Obama's supporters are irritated when left-leaning writers and commentators like vanden Heuvel come out with such strong criticisms of the president. But vanden Heuvel doesn't want people to look at her writing and her book as a denigration of the president. "It's trying to take a measure of not just the presidency, but the interconnection of movement, of leadership, of conditions in this country," she said. Passing two major pieces of legislation, appointing two strong women to the Supreme Court, and repealing the global gag rule are all accomplishments she acknowledges.
What Would an Obama 2012 Win Mean?
A listener asked vanden Heuvel if she would be optimistic if president Obama is re-elected in 2012. In her book, vanden Heuvel wrote that she thinks we need to be as pragmatic and clear-eyed about Obama as he is about us. Right now, she said it's important for movements to keep working with the president, and pushing him when needed - criticizing, engaging, and supporting when called for.
You can read the full transcript here.
Author Extra: Katrina vanden Heuvel Answers Audience Questions
Q: Why do the democrats never come out and support the president when the Republicans mislead the electorate? I think there would be a benefit to more widely supporting the stimulus or "failed stimulus" as they like to call it, as well as the health care bill and some of the tax reform the president has been talking about. There never really seems ot be much fact checking on the part or the liberals. - From Patrick via email
A: But many Democratss do come out and support the President when GOP misinforms, misleads the public. But it also demands a White House and a President willing to frame and fight hard to support and promote their policies – for example, the stimulus, which this White House didn’t do enough to “sell.”
Q: The left is missing the bullhorn that Fox News provides for the right.The Nation is a passionate, smart, critical voice that needs to be heard. What does Katrina plan to do to make the Nation more visible, more relevant and more part of the daily conversation ... currently it is dismissed as a liberal almost fanciful weekly. - From John via email
A: The independent/progressive media infrastructure is stronger now than it was 20 years ago. But it does need to get stronger. MSNBC has become a platform for some strong progressive voices; the Nation now has 1.5 million viewers on its website, thenation.com and has its reporters out on all platforms, radio and TV and more….We are also working with media across the country to make our voice more relevant and connected to real lived experiences of workers and others fighting the Right in places like Ohio and Wisconsin.
Q: Progressives are too reluctant to publicly embrace the fact that Obama and most other Democrats depend on Wall Street financing as much as the Republicans do and that their policy decisions reflect that dependence. If we get policies that favor the top 1% from both major parties, wouldn't it make sense to start supporting alternatives like the Green Party as one way to work toward more humane policies? - From Josh via email
A: I believe our first goal must be to get corporate money out of our political system and create a small donor network so a new generation of gutsy reformers can have a stronger voice in our politics. Then, as I lay out in THE CHANGE I BELIEVE IN, we must fight for political reforms — I have a passel of ‘em in the book — that would give third parties a real chance, not just Ross Perot third parties, which are top down and run by corporate money, but real alternative voices. But we would also be wise to support and grow the small “d” democratic wing of the Democratic party and find through public financing and new media an end to corporate money in our system...
Read an Excerpt
Excerpted with permission from the introduction of "The Change I Believe In: Fighting For Progress in the Age of Obama" by Katrina vanden Heuvel. Available from Nation Books, a member of The Perseus Books Group. Copyright 2011:
Comments
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"Why Katrina vanden Heuvel Declines to Acknowledge a Mistake"
"Enough. Anyone interested in this little dispute can read vanden Heuvel's original column and my critique of it and make up her own mind about it. I am, however, grateful to vanden Heuvel for her non-responsive response because it illustrates a problem much more important than any squabble between the two of us -- the problem of pervasive intellectual dishonesty spawned by political dogmatism, blind partisanship, ego, and practically compulsive score-keeping."
Wendy Kaminer
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/02/why-katrina-vanden-h...
"political dogmatism, blind partisanship, ego, and practically compulsive score-keeping".
As if THIS is a singular sin commited only by the left? Really....
Teece Bowman wrote:
"political dogmatism, blind partisanship, ego, and practically compulsive score-keeping".
"As if THIS is a singular sin commited only by the left? Really....'
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Let's see if Diane Rehm (or flavor of the week host, Katy Kay) takes Hurricane Katrina to task for her sin in the same way she did the isolationist Buchanan.
ONE- will you marry me?
and TWO- how about adoption then?
no where else to go BUT occupy
would be willing to NOT kill for you...
BUT will leave options open-
like stealing food etc BUT
you seem sane AND
n i c e !!! Nothing ventured...
no mass deregulation and sellout of US...
WOULD give you ALL US have but government and 'friends' already took IT all and as NO longer bond by oath of life, liberty, etc. for corporate US...
willing to barter this life... for US???
not to mention obfuscation via fraudulent mathematics and studies pushing 'consumer' buttons both openly and covertly... weaponization of communications... semantics... and rigorous adherence to faulty ROI modeling... enough about 'successful' business model ideals
God $ave U$ indeed... truly US never experienced corruption, despotism, and moral turpitude before BUT never on this scale... at least to the ninety-one percent WHOM are NOT related or employed by Congress
Soylent Green anyone- IT is the latest trend for spreading the pain... and US?
and people think IT is a joke. Poor people. Never saw the scoopers coming.
Katrina. So respect your in depth reporting and knowledge. I watched then Senator Obama closely in the Senate for two years. I thought he was a fence sitter on many issues so when he was running for Pres it was clear that the timing, the PR campaign "hope and change" was working well for him and his team.
There was no way I could support Hillary Clinton because of her 2002 Iraq war resolution vote..so I jumped big time on Obama's bus. Was at the stadium in Denver at the Dem convention when Obama spoke. Dems, Republicans (I worked with some of them on the Obama campaign in Denver) and Independents were stomping on the stadium floor so hard you could feel the whole stadium shaking.
While I know the OBama administration is up against so much more than we can even fathom do you think they failed to continue to harness the outrageous enthusiasm of the public after the election?
I do
Liberals hate the word "socialism" and refuse to accept it's relevance in conversation over the discussion of debt and deficit. In the last hour we were reminded by the host that over time both political parties in Europe and the U.S. were responsible which to any critical thinker are obviously left and far left in their social engineering schemes. The inability of media to recognize left leaning policies is a big part of the problem. The liberal media aptly named because it's monocular only see things in degrees of government intervention, not if it should be used but by how much.
Katrina vanden Heuvel, just another modern day liberal empty vessel.
Jeez where is that crazy person objecting to people who put up questions before the show starts? Oh do you think they might be just a bit selective who they go after?
There was nothing in Obamas history to explain the enthusiasm that the public was demonstrating for Obama except the 8 years of disastrous Bush administration policies and a masterful PR campaign. I think his PR team was masterful.
Katrina what did you base your enthusiasm on?
While having watched Obama in the Senate I really did not expect that much but no way was I supporting Clinton.
I am especially disappointed in Obama's willingness to go along with many of the Bush foreign policy strategies. And the unwillingness to hold anyone accountable for the known lies that took the US into Iraq and torture that took and may still be taking place in our name. Katrina can you address this
Monte. Jesus was a socialist
It can't be very long before we hear about that crock called "personal responsibility" coming from anyone on the right as a defense of some imagined moral high ground.
Katrina I attended Obamas choice for Attorney General Eric Holders nomination hearings in DC. I counted how many times Eric Holder said "no one is above the law" in the first two hours of the hearings 26 times. How can Americans who want to believe that "no one is above the law" actually believe in the OBama administration when there has not been one person held accountable for the well thought out lies repeated to the American public about Iraq, for the torture, for the death and destruction by the Bush administration in our name. Not one.
Instead we heard Obama and our Reps repeat "next chapter, move forward, turn the page, don't be about retribution, witch hunts, vengeance"
Can you explain at what point did holding individuals accountable for very serious crimes start being defined as "retribution" and not Justice and accountability? Obama has failed in the "no one is above the law" dept.
God forbid that we ask our fellow citizens to exhibit some sense of responsibility for their actions, their well being, the well being of their family, and their beliefs. The guest is obviously intelligent and obviously well educated. However, she speaks from a position of never having had to struggle a single day in her life. You lives in a world of ideas and ideals, with zero comprehension of what might be required should she need to scrabble about, dependent solely upn her own motivation, guile, and person. She believes adamnetly that the wealth she inherited shold be shared and spread about. For this reason, she is completely ignorant of feelings associated with success and its just reward.
ST Louis..this is a remarkable woman who has never stopped fighting for the working class and those less fortunate. Katrina is an incredibly compassionate and brilliant person.
Katrina Professor William Black recently spoke at Occupy La about how there have not been any prosecutions of those who brought the US economy to the brink
Black “We can prosecute these frauds. The Federal Housing Finance Administration has just filed complaints saying 17 of the largest banks in America committed massive fraud. Endemic fraud.. And that there is a paper trail proving that they did so.”
“Where is the Justice Dept?”
“Why is is not indicting these frauds?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_AuvLTJNh0&feature=related
Do you think we will see the Obama administration's Justice Dept hold any of the fraudsters accountable?
Katrina you just said that there were examples of Obama giving us indications that he would head in a more honorable way. Besides saying that he would have voted against Iraq war....but we really do not know this.
what examples can you present that really indicated that Obama would be so brave and honorable in his two years in the Senate? Sorry I really like President Obama in many ways but just did not see these indications in hard evidence.
That last caller was spot on.... though misguided about a number of nominees and what they'd actually do if they got into office.
The corruption, and the rot is deep within the system, Wall Street is absolutely running the show and we will not see anyone elected to office next year who does not have the blessing, tacit or clandestine, of Wall Street.
Anyone who believes otherwise is a fool. Get rid of the money in politics and you will get to the root of the problem.
When I listen to vanden Heuvel speak, it reminds one of a negative feedback loop that never ends. When will these big government collectivist mindsets be eradicated? One thought after the failure of their Soviet Union crown jewel of a failed socialist experiment, they would have seen the errors of their ways.
Furthermore, we have collectivist countries in Europe such as Greece, Spain, Portugal, and now Italy failing because of these people's collectivist policies, and they still believe they can tweak their socialist engineering experiment for the good of humanity.
The only thing their socialist experiment is creating is despair.
vanden Heuvel seems to have been energized by OWS and sound less like a wishy washy liberal than someone who recognizes the enemy within. About time.
I am so tired of my friends who fall back on, yes, both repubs and dems are bad, but repubs are so much worse so you have to support the dems. All anti-democratic pols, from O on down, need their feet held to the fire.
Kathleen: Remarkable? The first adjective that comes to my mind is "narcissist". Exhibit "a" is the title of her recent book: "The Change That I Believe In". This assumes that people are hanging on her every word; that she acknowledges the need to satisfy the unquenched thirst of the populous to hear her every thought and every word.
Listen to this interview: it is a detailed elucidation of what she has done in the book: Her thoughts on reforming government. Her thoughts on reforming the economy. Her thoughts on reforming the political process. Utterly nauseating. You do not find this arrogance and hubris to be nothing more than self-fulfilling pontificating?
Her family gave her a magazine to expound her ideas on a on monthly basis. Her assumption is that the public needs to hear more. Nonsense. Her thoughts are tired, rehashed lukewarm socialism. Nothing new.
It is depressing to hear this guest speak about Obama. Notice the number of times she uses the word "I". She is obsessed with her own ideas. In effect she is exactly the kind of idealogue that she denigrates among the Republicans. She cannot accept a middle path, compromise, coming together around a central position the American people at large can accept.
Her position resembles a small child's whining when he doesn't get the ice cream cone. Her ice cream cone was the public option.
Stop already! Get real.
What are the problems that need to addressed to have a viable third party?
Eric
No way can I support Romney who would only continue to support the 1% no matter what. So all we have left is Obama.
He has said "make me do it"
Katrina so appreciate that you have continued to push the Obama administration. Many of us right behind you.
Do you think that there is any possibility that the Obama Justice Dept will hold anyone of the Wall Street banksters accountable via prosecutions?
St Louis the fact is Katrina has used her position and wealth to bring attention to working class issues, corruption in our government etc. Very remarkable when wealthy people choose to devote their lives to others
And I agree pretty much with [StLouis @ 11:42] too. But, ego aside, use her for what is possible.
Having written that, I heard her just now endorsing that O is now "responding" to what is happening in this country. That bleary eyed stuff IS a bunch of self serving crap.
People would be "shocked" beyond belief IF socialism were actaully tried. It never has been, not in any stretch of the imagination. Just like the argument that people have used historically defending against "communism".
It's never been tried, it's never be implemented.
Capitalism will not allow any form of competition, it destroys every competitor before it can even develop because capitalism is a cancer.
Until people understand that, no other form of economics will ever stand a chance.
Afghanistan is the good war - compaired to the war in Iraq
that caller sounded like Dan Rather
Teece and most americans do not have a clue that there is nothing about "capitalism" in the Us constitution. The big problem with "capitalism" is if you do not have extra capital...game over
kathleen:
Exactly! Could not have said it any better. But even Capitalists do not understand capitalism. It's the myth of a "rational system".