Category Archives: Consensus

Nonviolence And Politics

Posted on December 23, 2010 by Matt Osborne

Nonviolent civil disobedience works by exposing the aggressor. The opposition party lockstepped so much that the media consensus has turned and the president’s approval numbers are going up. Continue reading →

Posted in Consensus, President Barack Obama, narratives, nonviolence | 5 Comments

Speak Softly And Carry A Big Stick

Posted on April 19, 2010 by Matt Osborne

From WaPo, a background article on the Obama administration’s quiescent approach to gay rights issues: Soon after Obama’s election, staffers from the Human Rights Campaign presented the transition team with a list of 70 actions the president could take without … Continue reading →

Posted in Consensus, gay, nonviolence | 1 Comment

Lagging Indicators

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Matt Osborne

From Sam Stein at HuffPo: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pledged on Wednesday to take a serious look at revising the filibuster rules at the beginning of the next Congress, calling the current level of obstruction in the Senate … Continue reading →

Posted in Consensus, Harry Reid | Leave a comment

Nonviolent Reform

Posted on March 4, 2010 by Matt Osborne

A few months ago, Booman noted the difficulties and complexities of getting health care reform passed. In doing so, he pointed out some inconvenient truths about the process — truths that, upon annoying the lefty ‘sphere with their truthfulness, invoked … Continue reading →

Posted in 11-Dimensional Chess, Consensus, Obama Conspiracy Theory, Obama Derangement Syndrome, Obama White House, President Barack Obama, Psychological Projection, Republican tinfoil hattery, conspiracy theory, health care reform, nonviolence, public option | Leave a comment

Wheat-From-Chaff: Deficit Reduction

Posted on February 24, 2010 by Matt Osborne

The chaff is settling. If the Democrats cannot muster a 60-vote majority in the Senate then they must pursue majority rule; Evan Bayh has chosen not to take part in that. Meanwhile, the GOP’s two-faced approach to jobs is mirrored … Continue reading →

Posted in 11-Dimensional Chess, Consensus, deficit spending, health care reform, public option | Leave a comment

Wheat From Chaff

Posted on February 23, 2010 by Matt Osborne

We’ll be seeing more of this: Reid said that the Senate will have the opportunity to take up other job-creation provisions in the future once this first bill passes. “The answer is not to do nothing,” Reid says in prepared … Continue reading →

Posted in Consensus, Harry Reid, The Teabagger Fail | Leave a comment

Whip Count

Posted on February 21, 2010 by Matt Osborne

Harry Reid joined the whip count Friday and pledged to support a public option via reconciliation. He might have started a whip count for reconciliation in September or December; but if Obama couldn’t have bipartisan support, he wanted a consensus … Continue reading →

Posted in 11-Dimensional Chess, Consensus, health care reform, public option | Leave a comment

Afghanistan Preemption

Posted on February 17, 2010 by Matt Osborne

Around Marjah, a preemptive wintertime offensive aims to nip the rumored Taliban spring offensive in the bud. What with the successful arrest of Mullah Baradar, there’s been an unusually-high level of Pakistani-American cooperation lately, too. From the NYT: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan … Continue reading →

Posted in 11-Dimensional Chess, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Consensus, Pakistan, The Obama Effect | Leave a comment

11-D Chess Online

Posted on February 17, 2010 by Matt Osborne

If Obama had written a health care bill a la Clinton 1993, that same fiasco would have happened all over again. So he chose the opposite strategy: identifying three key elements of reform, he described the same plan he’d envisioned … Continue reading →

Posted in 11-Dimensional Chess, Betsy McCaughey, Consensus, GOP health care plan, Intransigence Rule, Obama White House, Virtual Reality Living, fiasco, health care reform | Leave a comment

The Full Nelson

Posted on February 14, 2010 by Matt Osborne

So I got tweeted this FDL link to a complaint about Ben Nelson, who’s trying to pull an appointee-hold of his own. I have little good to say about Ben Nelson; but consider what happened to him last time. In … Continue reading →

Posted in 11-Dimensional Chess, Consensus, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) | 2 Comments

Wheat From Chaff: A Visual

Posted on February 12, 2010 by Matt Osborne

Republicans have blinked on appointments. The wheat-from-chaff technique requires a hard shake every now and then: “Mitch, this is unprecedented,” the president said, gesturing forcefully on the Cabinet Room table, according to aides. “If you don’t move any, I’m going … Continue reading →

Posted in 2010 Elections, Consensus, GOP obstructionism, Richard Shelby, republicans suck | Leave a comment