Wow. I have only a little to say about this smug, sanctimonious, self-righteous piece of shit op-ed in the NYT.

Excerpt:

When these progressives refer to themselves as Mr. Obama’s base, all they see is themselves. They ignore polls showing steadfast support for the president among blacks and Latinos. And now they are whispering about a primary challenge against the president. Brilliant! The kind of suicidal gesture that destroyed Jimmy Carter — and a way to lose the black vote forever.

Unlike white progressives, blacks and Latinos are not used to getting it all. They know how it feels to be unemployed and unable to buy your children Christmas presents. They know when not to shout. The president, the coolest man in the room, who worked among the unemployed in Chicago, knows too.

White progressives, hell, ANY PROGRESSIVES are used to ‘getting it all’? In.. America? God, Ishmael Reed must be the dumbest motherfucker alive. We’ve had 30, I repeat because literacy and history are obviously not his strong suit, 30 straight, continuous years of uninterrupted conservative governance, and progressives have been ‘getting it all’? Are you high? I seriously have to wonder. You can’t make an assertion like that and not be either profoundly stupid or in an altered mental state.

The second part is, of course, that white progressives must be inherently selfish. How dare they criticize a minority president, what with having gotten it all (at some point, in an alternate universe). How childish to oppose new NAFTA deals that will cost 159,000 jobs, or a foreclosure crisis that, amongst other things, is destroying the black middle class? How dare they want the EPA to act on climate change and smog instead of punting? How dare they oppose the ridiculous Obama tax cut deal, which will raise taxes from their current rates for 1/3 of Americans, the vast majority of those the working poor?

Wow. How selfish! How conceited!

It’s truly astonishing to see an argument that, because racists who don’t like black intellectuals might not like a black president showing some spine, we on the left have to shut up and ask for nothing from said black president because maybe someday the racists will like him?

Look, Obama had to know, if he’s not terminally stupid, about these stereotypes when running for office. He knew he’d have to work to overcome them, and he chose to take the job anyway. Using those backwards ass stereotypes now, as a shield to prevent legitimate policy criticism, is simply outrageous, hypocritical and passive-aggressive in the extreme. What if past Presidents had acted this way? What if FDR had said, ‘Well, I want to enact some major economic policies, but if the Republicans inform the public that my legs are crippled, I’ll surely lose re-election because of prejudice. Time to cut taxes instead!’

Fuck you with a rusty coat-hanger, Ishmael.

Naturally, this has led John Cole over at Balloon Juice (Motto: Dead-enders for life) to fawn over the piece because it gives him a wedge to attack his own commenters and anyone who dares criticize Dear Leader, using the old ‘We’re not saying you (racists) are racist for attacking our guy on the merits, we’re just saying you’re childish and far too immature to see his great wisdom. Also, you’re probably racists.’ tack.

Again, fuck you John Cole. And hey, while we’re at it, how’s that no-need-for-a-foreclosure-moratorium thing working out for you?

What with the banks outright theft of homes moving into what I can only describe as domestic terrorism:

One such suit was filed in March by Pennsylvania homeowner Angela Iannelli. She was up to date on her payments when, she says, she arrived home in October 2009 to find that Bank of America had ransacked her belongings, cut off her utilities, poured anti-freeze down her drains, padlocked her doors and confiscated Luke, her pet parrot of 10 years. It took her six weeks to get the bank to clean up the house.

Not only do they break in and vandalize homes, even the wrong ones, to further their reign of terror, they sell homes they don’t own:

A funny thing happened to DeBary resident Russ Vas Dais as he was about to buy a foreclosed home: He learned the bank selling him the house didn’t actually own it.

Fannie Mae had foreclosed on the property but, in an apparent paperwork problem, never took ownership.

“It was quite shocking to learn the bank didn’t have title to it,” said Vas Dais, who had worked in the real-estate sales and appraisal business for 18 years. “I just felt that there are a lot of incompetent professionals who aren’t paying much attention.”

And I guess since we don’t need a moratorium, the little people don’t deserve lawyers either, which explains why Treasury refuses to allow TARP funds to help out anyone but the banksters:

There are foreclosure mediation groups and activists, like NACA, who are setting up face-to-face meetings between lenders and borrowers. There are successful advocacy groups like ESOP in Cleveland, also mediating on behalf of homeowners. And there are the lawyers, foreclosure defense attorneys who have uncovered virtually every seedy game the servicers and the banks have been playing, who have effectively represented their clients.

If anything, the government should strongly support these efforts. The status quo is hopelessly broken, and it threatens economic recovery. The Treasury Department should demand that banks stop the rush to foreclose, and having effective representation for borrowers goes a long way toward that. But when given the option to allow TARP funds to be used for legal aid for foreclosure victims, the Treasury blocked it.

Here’s a lovely sideshow of the devastation that the banks get to wreak, thanks in large part to jackasses like Obama and Cole and Ishmael Reed.

Oops, I guess going out and documenting the horrors that Obama’s policies and Administration have allowed, nay, aided and abetted, why, that’s selfish and intemperate. How dare we want to get it all?