Eating Dinner and, For Some, Crow

These are “Rockefeller Republicans”.
They are not conservative Republicans like Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh, for example.

I wonder how many times Bush reached out to ultra liberals to get their point of view, or for any reason. I don’t think he would give them the time of day, let alone have dinner with them. Thanks goodness for a new fresh outlook on Mr. Obama’s behalf.

All I can say, is that it seems that Obama is doing more as the president elect than President Bush managed to due during his tenure as far as reaching out for support. No one says its easy being a world leader and to accommodate everybody, but all one can do is simply try to do something, anything. Flexible and viable government is a must, and everybody should show a little of the same ambition to get through this. Ideally we can imagine a perfect world, but realistically, there are steps that need to be taken to get us there. How about less negativity, complaints, and a little more action from everybody. You can spend 5 minutes arguing over whats wrong, or spend those same 5 minutes on coming to a solution. What you rather have?

Its funny to see the hard core right wingers flip out over something like this.
This kind of thing is what we should be hoping for restoration of in this country.
The tradition of civil disagreement.

“And as part of that, Mr. Obama wants to get his legislation passed with Republican support,”
He ought to get none. He’s looking to spread the blame around when it all fails.

“These are “Rockefeller Republicans”.
They are not conservative Republicans like Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh, for example.”
Coulter and the rest of the names you mentioned aren’t conservatives, nor pundits. They’re shrieking harpies who should have been kicked to the curb by the GOP years ago if they wanted to be taken seriously.

“These are ‘Rockefeller Republicans’.
They are not conservative Republicans like Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh, for example.”
IN OTHER WORDS, KAT, THEY AREN’T OFFENSIVE, LOOSE-CANNON NUTS.

Was some sort of ideological truce offered by Obama to this unmatched gaggle of conservative intellectuals? Will the likes of Bill Kristol and Paul Gigot really lay off Obama from now on? Very strange…

Bush is now being called a liberal because his failed conservative policies are now exposed as fraud. What BS! The conservative view of illegal immigration for example, are that it is bad (never mind it was big business that promoted it for decades) and we need to deport them all. Never mind that this is impossible to implement, as well as immoral and anti-American. You can’t win with conservatives, because they would rather see America go down in flames rather than compromise their sophmoric, and ever changing “values”.

Well you’ve gotta give PEBO props for sitting down to talk with this group and they are definitely not Rockefeller Republican’s….please. It would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall. I wonder who was counseling who? May be PEBO is taking a hard right turn after getting his in-depth intelligence briefing?

Larry Kudlow is the one who has no knowledge of economics. He was screaming “goldilocks economy” during the boom years, ignorant or oblivious to the rampant fraud in the mortgage industry.
Now he wants the government to stop the bailout, apparently clinging to market corrections, a busted theory to be sure.
Kudlow’s Republican friend Bush certainly helped destroy the economy with reckless spending and hands off management. I’m regularly amazed with these “experts” constant call for lower taxes but with no plans on how to pay for government.
RCG

“Bush is now being called a liberal because his failed conservative policies are now exposed as fraud.”
That’s because claims of conservatives taking personal responsibility as a matter of principle is a myth.
Its always someone else’s fault.

Double kudo’s to President Obama. ( I don’t use ‘elect’ because he’s doing more things Presidential than the one presently sitting in that oval office chair.) The first kudo goes to him for willing to reach out to the other side and recognize those more representative of core Republican values. The second kudo for shunning Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter & O’Reilly, who represent the farther right wing lunatic fringe, and have done extreme damage to the Republican party through their divisiveness and distortion of truth and facts.

Oh my goodness! First, Pat Robertson goes on the record feeling that our next leader could be one of the greatest Presidents ever… and now this? Pinch me! I must be dreaming! I SO look forward to our coming days!!!
Who ever posted the following; “…They are not conservative Republicans like Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh, for example.”
Please do not insult conservatives or republicans! The above mentioned ARE NOT conservatives or republican! They are nothing more than shills who would probably sell their mother up the river for a buck!

Bob: I have to say this made me laugh. “they would rather see America go down in flames rather than compromise their sophmoric, and ever changing ‘values’”
Did you somehow miss the past 8 years, and liberals not only willing to see America go down in flames.. but actively working towards that goal? And this group includes Obama and the entire leadership of the Democrat party. Sorry if decent Americans don’t get all gushy when he meets with a few newspaper writers.

I agree, devilkev. By having dinner with conservative intellectuals instead of elements like Limbaugh and Coulter, whose work undermines the credibility of conservatives, Obama demonstrated genuine interest in the conservative view. I am a liberal who listens respectfully to the likes of David Brooks and George Will, because they often have very thoughtful comments and interesting points to make. Coulter and Limbaugh don’t want me to listen to them–they want to shout at me and come up with clever insults. That’s not discourse–that’s a temper tantrum. I applaud Obama for reaching out to people who both disagree with him AND have respect for intellectually honest debate.

First praises from Pat Robertson, Karl Rove and Newt Gingrich. Then balking on repealing Bush’s tax cuts to the rich along with the bank bailout which will probably be the biggest trickle up transfer of wealth in US history. Obama apparently is intent on placating the right, big business and the wealthy and ignoring the needs of ordinary Americans.

Posted by: anonymous | Jan 14, 2009 12:40:40 PM
I totally agree. These republicans are not the run-of-the-mill conservative talking heads. These are elitists of which Mr. Obama is now a member. (and probably has been since Harvard) They likely all sat around and laughed and joked while enjoying the fellowship of the elite intellect.

Of course. Americans are still buying into that line of crap about the distinction between the two parties. Believe me, they have a lot more in common than they have differences. The trick is to get the average Joe to understand that. Sure, they both have differing platforms. But you could say that the items on the agenda (you know, the direction America takes regardless of who is in power) are “passed out” on two different plates, namely the republican “plate” and the democrat “plate”.

I agree that it’s time to come together. But not for the republicans and democrats. It is time for Americans to come together against the two party system. It is clearly written in the constitution that the govt. is wholly owned by the people. I’m not talking about nut-jobs who think they can overthrow the govt. I’m talking about Americans banding together their resources to legally fight the system. Articles such as this should be clear proof that they work together no matter what party they’re affiliated with.

I agree with you goyourownway! I’ve always thought the far left & far right were the same along with each corresponding point as you come center.
The nap may different, but the cloth is the same.

Pointless. In six months – after the collapse of Mexico – the American will discover they have elected one of the worst political administrations in history.

The rumor is that Obama calmly told them all that if they tried to smear him like the rightwing hate media did to Clinton, that he would have them all charged with treason and thrown into Guantanamo. And that William Kristol actually wet himself.
Obama is Michael Corleone and all the con pundits who don’t get with the new family will get theirs like Tattaglia and Barzini on election day. LOL

Kid Robot – I love that idea! Obama as Micheal Corleone getting inaugurated while Rush Limbutt and Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity all get strangled in their beds (metaphorically speaking, of course). We Dems have taken too much crap from these loudmouthed scumbags for too long. Now that we’re in power it’s time to fight back and shut those rightwing hate propagandists down for good.

“Real Hope For America”,
You completely missed the point.

goyourownway – what’s wrong with elites? They’re the natural product of our meritocracy. The best rise to the top. Let me put it to you this way – if you were kidnapped by terrorists, would you want to be rescued by our elite forces or by a bunch of kids right out of basic training? If you were having open heart surgery would you want to be operated on by an elite surgeon, or by an intern at the bottom of his class? I don’t understand why so many Americans demand the best of everything, but become suspicious of “elites” when it comes to our political leadership. That kind of backwards thinking, fake-populism got us stuck with that incompetent fool Bush for 8 years. Never again. I want the smartest guy in the room running things from now on…

Kid Robot – If Rush Limbaugh had been there it would have been more like the infamous “loyalty” scene in The Untouchables… Obama would have been Al Capone and Limbaugh’s fat head would have gotten the baseball bat. LOL

“what’s wrong with elite intellects running the country?” What’s wrong is elite intellects are ALWAYS lacking in common sense. I’ve never seen it to be any other way. IQ of 160 and can’t balance the checkbook. Seen it many times . . .

nooshwond – yeah right, how many “elite intellectuals” do you actually know in real life, dude? Sounds to me like you’re just trading on stupid stereotypes that you’ve seen on TV. Sorry, but “received information” isn’t the same thing as reality. And in the real world, elite intellectuals often run things very competently.

“I agree that it’s time to come together. ..It is time for Americans to come together against the two party system. It is clearly written in the constitution that the govt. is wholly owned by the people. …I’m talking about Americans banding together their resources to legally fight the system.”
Goyourownway: you’re not being very logical here… any time people “band together” they automatically become a group — and each party is a large group composed of smaller groups.
But an important thing to remember: a group organized for a political purpose but without a leader leads to anarchy.

“Accept the salvation of truly free markets– free of government incompetence.”
Again a right winger who only knows the history Rush talks about.
Familiarize yourself with the 19th century when laizze faire capitalism was the rule of the day.
Countless recessions, depressions and bank panics later, Americans figured out it was a bad way to go with too much inherent instability.

Land of Lincoln: apparently you are in need of more experience . . .

todays elitist seem to be silver spooned decendants rather then those of intellectual superiority. George W Bush had no business being an elected official at any level and yet because of his pedigree he ended up being president of the most powerful nation in the world. Look at the damage it has caused.
However there is no hope IMHO… there is way too much hatred between factions in this country, and the only way we are re-united with a common cause is if we all hit rock bottom togehter and put our petty differences aside and make a change that betters humanity. Right now the way it stands Ameirca is not doing much of anything to better humanity. We’re a sad joke

I’m sure that even Obama isn’t vain enough to think that these columnists can be convinced – bought for the price of a good dinner – to drop their political and economic beliefs and switch sides to support something they’re opposed to. On the surface, this story sounds good, sounds like Obama is reaching out, but as you read on, you learn, he’s not reaching out at all – he’s not listening – Obama’s doing a sales job.

leftyintexas: so shall we put you in the category with Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi? If you consider that a compliment, I’m ROFLMAO.

Yes, of course you are all correct . . . you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Bottom Line:
1. Conservatives who believe policy decisions ought to be based primarily on facts and logic, should be pleased by this gathering.
2. Conservatives who believe that ideology should drive decisionmaking, and who therefore unbendingly focus their efforts on the election of politicians those who share their beliefs, should be very worried.

I’m glad Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, O’Reilly and others like their views were not there………Limbaugh, Coulter and Hannity just are too critical of Obama….I feel they set a bad tone for radicals…..

Why can’t Obama just grow up and deal with the fact that “EVERYONE DOES NOT NEED OR WANT TO LIKE HIM”? He should stop running around trying to MAKE people like him. He just needs to do his job and quit wasting taxpayer’s money trying to “butter people up”!

Maybe this is a new Washington. Even after the bile Lindsey Graham spewed during the campaign Obama and he made nice today. I thought they were going to break out into Kumbaya.

These are “Rockefeller Republicans”.
They are not conservative Republicans like Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh, for example.”
Coulter and the rest of the names you mentioned aren’t conservatives, nor pundits. They’re shrieking harpies who should have been kicked to the curb by the GOP years ago if they wanted to be taken seriously.
Posted by: Metro | Jan 14, 2009 1:25:42 PM
^^^^— this is true

These are inside the beltway conservative commentators. They want to be invited to the cocktail parties in DC when the Dem. control everything. Obama knows their egos and will make them feel part of the in crowd in DC for the next 4 years in hope they will moderate their conservative views to be more people more like Democrats. I will be interested in their commentaries over the next six months to see if they will truly hold Obama to his actions like the drive bys with Bush or will be no more than lets just get along and forget core beliefs.

“No O’Reillys, Coulters, Hannitys or Limbaughs were on tap.”
Of course not. None of those people should be taken seriously. They’re entertainers.
People such as David Brooks, Peggy Noonan, George Will, etc., on the other hand — whatever you think about their politics, they’re intelligent people. They’re serious.
Finally, intelligence is in fashion again in our nation’s capital. After 8 years of the Bush administration, who’d have thought this day would come?

Core beliefs please tell me you don’t believe all the stuff the Repubs have out over the years you can not really think we are all safe and sound becasue of Bush and Co. or that we had a right to treat other humans as we have the last few years, or that spending money like madmen is right or that spending money we don’t have for wars we did not have to fight is right? I despear when my fellow AMERICANS SAY THIS HAS BEEN GOOD FOR OUR COUNTRY. I HOPE YOU TOO COME AROUND TO A MORE CENTRIST BELIEF. MAYBE YOU NEED TO STOP LISTENING TO THE FAR RIGHT WING AND DO A LITTLE LISTENING TO THE WISER FOLKS IN YOUR PARTY.

Bonnie Kimberly, please don’t tell me you think that the Republican policy caused 9/11. The enemy is real and the enemy is out to get you. We do need a foreign policy that recognizes that sometimes military action is necessary. You will see this the next years I am certain.

FYI conservative != Republicans.
And I do have a list of GOP politicians that made me real angry in the past as well.

“No O’Reillys, Coulters, Hannitys or Limbaughs were on tap…”
because they are not journalist, simply media hacks…

William Kristol is not by any means a Rockefeller Republican. He is one of the Neo-cons, brought to the table by an Obama — determined to make all sides relevant – for what it’s worth. Unlike when Newt Gingrich was Speaker, he and his GOP cronies were as mean-spirited as one can get. Obama knows how important it is to be about ALL the people’s business, and knows that the only way to do that is to bring all sides together. The GOP thought they would be left out in the cold, after being trounced so badly, but instead they are still part of the process — thanks to the high-mindedness of Obama.

Of course Obama wouldn’t CHANGE & dine with real conservatives like Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh & others for very good reason.
The Clintons sum it up best when they said….We belong to a mutual…. admiration society.

Another nice touch to reach out to people who have not been particularly supportive. I hope that it at least gives conservatives the idea that their views are going to be heard — and that Obama would in return like his ideas to be heard by them.
As to O’Reilly, Hannity, Limbaugh and Coulter, they are idealogues. They have no intention of hearing anything outside their own narrow prejudices, and they will certainly not give Obama’s ideas a fair chance. So why meet with them? Just to make them seem important when they are not?

So, Rush wants Obama’s administration to fail. Well, he can continue to wish and hopefully it will work out like his “operation chaos” did. Doesn’t this guy yet realize what a fool he is? Better yet, don’t his listeners? Why do so many misguided, uneducated individuals listen to this guy and others of his ilk like Hannity, Beck and Coulter to name but a few. What a bunch of losers they are!

When has Fatboy ever come out from behind his microphone? This clown is naked without his microphone. I still can’t understand why self proclaimed “educated” dittoheads would listen to someone this ignorant and ill informed. Seriously, what experience in politics or the ways of government does this guy bring to the table? He is always preaching personal responsibility, yet, he is the first to cry foul when something goes astray in his own life (which happens quite often in terms of illegal drug use and multiple marriages). This guy needs to be sent up the river with the rest of the druggies he always referred to. Al Franken was right, he is a big fat idiot. If he knows so much and has so many solutions, why doesn’t he run for office or do something constructive?

Limbaugh reminds me of the guy behind the curtain in the Wizard Of Oz. Bully, coward….all talk, but no action. Have you ever seen this nutjob debate with anyone outside of ditto lala land? Foremost, he can’t because he is an uneducated moron who has no expertise or experience in the subjects to which he speaks!

There is an amazing analysis of Rush, Riley, Ann & Hannity that they are just a bunch of dittoheads that don’t know & can’t back of what they talk about. While all the most brilliant educated leaders of all time are in Washington setting the policies for Our Country. Well forgive me for not getting it. Why is it that Our Country is going through the worst job & financial situation since the depression and is predicted to get much worse? I know blame it on that dittohead Bushes. But use your intelligence, for the last 3 years the Liberal Congress led by the World Most Intelligent Senator from NY has been out fund raising while sitting on their throne. So Sad!