In the wake of the Goolsbee/NAFTA flap, in which Austan Goolsbee suggested to Canadian diplomats that Barack Obama’s protectionist rhetoric on trade might be just for politics, Camp Obama suddenly seems as though they have barely heard of the distinguished U of Chicago economist:
“I think Austan innocently went over there, half as a professor, half as a campaign adviser,” said Obama campaign manager David Axelrod. “He’s basically a volunteer. He’s one of the economists Barack talks to. He’s not in close and constant contact with the candidate.”
***
During the campaign, Goolsbee participated in an economic summit in New Mexico that Obama held Feb. 1. Other than that, his contact with the campaign has been almost exclusively with staff members, said policy director (Heather) Higginbottom.
Camp Obama has apparently not seen fit to inform Goolsbee of this, as he is identified as “senior policy advisor to Senator Barack Obama” on the blog he maintained on Obama’s own website. One of Obama’s hometown newspapers, the Chicago Tribune, listed Goolsbee as a key economic advisor. The Economist called Goolsbee Obama’s “chief economic adviser.”  Obama fan Noam Scheiber featured Goolsbee as “Obama’s top economic adviser” in The New Republic. And Goolsbee was a co-presenter of Obama’s economic stimulus plan in January before that summit in February.
That was then.  Now he is just someone The One talks to. Had the topic been Iraq instead of NAFTA, he would have been unceremoniously dumped along with Samantha Power.
Update: Insta-lanche!
The media will allow this to fade away. Watch.
Who are you again?
Pigs will not sleep in beds with sheets.
No problem here. Next!
What colors do I have to paint his piece on the People’s Chess Set?
Funny how this guy gets divorced from the campaign by selective memory but the Che flag sporting campaign aide still has a job.
Apropos of nothing:
Since we’re no longer allowed to use Barak [redacted] Obama’s original middle name, we need a replacement.
The first two that popped into my mind were “Mary” and “Nancy” but I’d rather not make him replace all his monogrammed hankies.
“Hillary” is much too butch for him.
But if you’ve ever seen the plurally eponymous movie, “Heather” has the perfect air of rich, spoiled, airheaded social-climbing fashion-plate.
So how about from now on, we refer to him as Barak Heather Obama?
In a few weeks, he’ll be begging people to start calling him “Hussein” again.
Let’s hope his administration isn’t marked by as many unpersons as his campaign.
Another heretic driven from the Messiah’s presence.
JD,
The media would be disposed to let it fade, but I suspect trade will again be an issue as the PN primary draws closer, at which time HRC will likely bring it up again.
You guys better watch your mouths, if you bring this up McCain will throw you under the bus.
The media is Obama’s chief economic adviser I think.
On the topic of middle names – I think “Donkey” conveys so much. Can’t you just see him as the Shrek’s Donkey? (Hillary would have to be the Dragon.) The next time Obama demands that McCain refute some utterance of the name that must not be spoken, I think an appropriate response would be for McCain to intone in a Shrek-like brogue, “Alright, leave the donkey alone.”
Face it, Barry’s a wimp, a schlemiel. He gets slapped around by women and Canadians, fer chrissakes. What’s he gonna do when the Rooskies jump ugly? Or the Chinese?
The Dragon in Shrek is much too nice to be associated with Hillary. She’s more of a “Lord Farquaad” kind of gal.
(Extending this out just a bit that makes Bill Clinton the Prince Charming guy from Shrek II)
Obama: Agent Goolsbee, your mission, should you choose to accept, is to infiltrate the Canadian government, gain their confidence and pursuade them that anything I’ve said regarding NAFTA over the last couple weeks is nothing but cynical election year pandering designed to win the votes of poor, pathetic schmucks in Ohio and other rust belt states. Needless to say, should you be discovered, this campaign will deny all knowledge of you or your mission.
Disavowed.
“Had the topic been Iraq instead of NAFTA, he would have been unceremoniously dumped along with Samantha Power.” Actually, he did, but nobody called him on it.
Goolsbee is a multifaceted political spinner and free market heretic.
Remember him calling BHO’s plan link a bailout of Detroit union benefits to command and control CAFE standards a “grand compromise”?
Goolsbee also used a NYT Op-ed Nov 11, 2007 to spin research that used low Iraqi bond prices as proof of “failure” of the Surge in Iraq. Goolsbee spun this defeatism without mentioning the possibility that confidence in the future could be influenced by his candidate’s promise to withdraw.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/business/worldbusiness/11view.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
Crooks and Liars and Down with Tyranny are think they work for CSIS or something and are trying to cover up Plame’s trip to Canada and Woolsey trying to stop her and the non authorized WMD work on Canada while she was there an how Toronto set up Rove to take care of the problem and rove is going to be pardoned because it was an intelligence operation that was not authorized and put into play by Plame and maybe it wasn’t CSIS that asked she be checked, but like Russians or something then C&L and DWT would like be committing treason against CSIS and their Canada and would have to be shot or something cause just deleting things is bad.
As far as Obama’s unpaid people, avoid the spy shit, the man’s name is Ghools Be(demonic being in habiting grave yards, don’t ask a Moslem about Ghouls and Gollums) go figure. You know, in the old days they’d be put to sleep and genetic material stolen.
Crooks and liars down with tyranny and protien wisdom really thinbk they work for CSIS. Gee, they’re real smart guys too!!!
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a narrow hallway, strip to boxer shorts, and step back inside a dank cell. a concentrated burst of tear gas over the boy’s head and close the door.
It.s nice to finally hear the President speak and not cringe like a soft tyranny.
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