Category Archives: Obama

Is Obama a Socialist?

Is Obama a socialist?

This is a question that many are asking. Right-wing pundits, from Hannity and Beck to Palin and Gingrich, are claiming that President Barack Hussain Obama is a socialist. I have actually never heard of a Indonesian Muslim, black liberation theology-believing, socialist (as conservatives are alleging).

As a genuine socialist, Maaass sums up his view of Obama like this: “Barack Obama’s journey from ‘Yes We Can’ to ‘No We Won’t’ has been a bitter disappointment to his supporters” (p.138). “Like Bush before him, Obama’s policy is shaped by the interests of the U.S. corporate and political establishment and expanding American empire around the world” (p.60-61).
What does Obama really think about our free market capitalist system? He has said, “I believe in the free market, competition, and entrepreneurship, and think no small number of government programs don’t work as advertised” (The Audacity of Hope, p. 10). Hardly the words of a socialist. Yet Sean Hannity insists that Obama “sees the world in Marxist, class-warfare terms…every fiber of his being exudes resentment toward the productive, successful, and well-off in society…[he wants to] turn this nation into a full-blown socialist state…[he doesn’t] believe in the inherent fairness or goodness of the capitalist system…he is a leftist to his core…” (p. 68-107).

Short-Changed by Obama?

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama’s message of a people-first public policy inspired people all over the world. His rhetoric was a breath of fresh air, especially copared to the unilateral approach of his predecessor. Many of us were looking for a return to New Deal-style governance, a truly progressive leader who would improve democracy in America. So has he lived up to his promises? What can we say about Obama after his first year-and-a-half? Has “change come to America,” or have we been short-changed?

Obama’s Katrina?

One thing that seems certain. It is not Obama’s Katrina, Iraq War, Mission Accomplished, My Pet Goat, or Enron. It is BP’s oil spill. But in the minds of Americans, it could quickly become Obama’s “poorly managed spill” if the current effort does not make progress soon.