Well, well, well...
After spending the first two months of his Administration convincing Wall Street (and the financial sector as a whole) that he is their mortal enemy, President Barack Obama is, at this very moment, meeting with the complete roster of Robert Gibbs' bi-weekly "Enemies of the People" lists to bring everyone together in the spirit of Hopey Changey and solve the world's probelms.
Isn't that special?
The purpose of said confab? Mr. Obama has decided (for this week, at least) that he wants - and needs - all the help he can get from these fish-faced enemies of the people in restoring the banking sector to health. Evidently Tim Geithner can't do it by himself, even with all the help Barney Frank has provided lately.
Given that bankers and Wall Street executives are renowned for their lack of short-term memory, and have no doubt completely forgotten the roles of Mr. Obama, Mr. Summers, Mr. Geithner and Mr. Gibbs in last week's AIG Clownshow, I'm sure they'll all happily embrace Dear Leader in the sort of ecstacy of comardeship that has, to date, enveloped us all.
However, in reading the linked Wall Street Journal article, I can't happen to notice these two howlers put forth by Obama Administration officials...
"The president's not going in with a real agenda," White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee told CNBC on Friday. "I think likely he wants to do two things. One is get a sense from them about what is the state of the financial markets, what's the state of the economy from where they sit. But two, convey to them his long-standing view that, you know, we've all got to be in this thing together."
And...
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president, who has struck a populist tone on the controversy over American International Group Inc.'s bonuses, won't change his message behind closed doors.
"The president isn't going to say one thing out here and a different thing in there," Mr. Gibbs said Thursday.
First of all, wouldn't it have been more productive, to say nothing of constructive, to get the opinions of the most powerful financial sector executives on the state of the financial markets and the economy before proposing a $787 billion economic stimulus package, bank rescue legislation, and more financial sector regulation?
Secondly, if Mr. Obama wasn't going to say something different than what he's been saying for the past two months, why in the Hell is he meeting with these executives in the first place?
The Obama Clownshow never slows down, does it?
Dear Great and Powerful Ob,
'Hope' is not a plan, son.
And on a related note, PJM has been undergoing its 60 minutes of scheduled maintenance for about nine hours now. Best check the airports for departing Rogers...
Posted by: richard mcenroe | March 27, 2009 at 02:49 PM
"Ob"?
Posted by: Dennis The Peasant | March 27, 2009 at 03:14 PM
Perhaps the bankers should wear red noses to the meeting. They have not exactly covered themselves in glory of late.
Posted by: Pug | March 27, 2009 at 04:52 PM
Appropriate for some, perhaps, but if you check the roster of who Dear Leader met with, you'll find a number of them don't deserve red noses.
Posted by: Dennis The Peasant | March 27, 2009 at 05:08 PM
As in "The Wizard of... "
Posted by: richard mcenroe | March 27, 2009 at 08:27 PM
The president isn't going to say one thing out here and a different thing in there," Mr. Gibbs said Thursday.
Dennis, I feel relatively safe in saying that statement is a lie. Obama will be singing a different tune behind closed doors. It's called politics. What makes this Hopey and Changey? Nothing.
For reference see Canadian Free Trade Nafta
Posted by: wayne fontes | March 27, 2009 at 08:56 PM
C'mon, Dennis, be fair. The Great and Powerful Ob is a very busy man, what with having to Prove we're a long-term reliable ally to Afghanistand Pakistan while coming up with an exit strategy from Afghanistan and Pakistan...
Posted by: richard mcenroe | March 28, 2009 at 12:08 PM