What We're Seeing

I watched a few minutes of Bill O'Reilly tonight and found it dreadful. Then I watched a few minutes of Keith Olbermann. Just as dreadful. Dogmatic, too. Can't newscasters do better than attacking one another.

Something I cannot help but conclude from the auto bailout . . . President Obama has simply intervened to make sure that the costs of Chrysler's (and GM's) collapse fall more heavily on capital than on labor. Is it without precedent? Probably. Is it against the long-term interests of the nation? I think so. (As George Will opined, what investor in his right mind would invest in the arbitrary environment we have now?) Yet the political brilliance of it is pretty shocking to look at. This subtle repositioning of the state's shield over labor (rather than creditors, who in a normal bankruptcy have a higher pecking order) is happening beneath the hue and cry of commentators.

The president is positioning himself nicely for 2012 - organized labor won't forget what he has done here, the Organizing for America (OFA) network will continue to motivate the young and idealistic. The Republicans, until they can figure out some message, are helpless unless teh economy fails to reverse.