Some very smart, excellent writing about the “Obama-socialism” meme from Andrew Koppelman at Balkinization:
Obama properly belongs in a specific anti-socialist movement on the left, Social Democracy, which accepts a capitalist economy but demands a strong state to moderate its failures and excesses. Today there are no Leninists left in American politics, and almost no Democratic Socialists, who hope to use electoral means to abolish capitalism. The principal rivals to Social Democrats today broadly fall into two categories, whom I will broadly denominate Market Fetishists and Sentimental Fools. The following, then, is an anatomy of contemporary politics that will help to understand Obama and his adversaries.
It’s not short, but it is well worth the read.
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Chris Geidner is the award-winning senior political editor at D.C.'s Metro Weekly and has written for The Atlantic Online, The American Prospect, Advocate.com, Salon and other publications, as well as at his blog, Law Dork. In 2011, he received the Excellence in News Writing Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his coverage of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal. Prior to moving to D.C. in 2009, he served as an attorney on the senior staff at the Ohio Attorney General's Office and had earlier worked for a leading Columbus law firm. An extended biography can be found