I rarely post any kind of diary here on Kos, because the competition is of such a high caliber that anything I have to say seems to sink without a trace. And this post I admit, barely meets the requirement of three original paragraphs...
But I posted this in my livejournal today and I think maybe it deserves a larger audience as it gathers some useful links into one place.
One of the MSM's key 'talking points' against Obama is his apparent lack of substance. Well that substance is not hard to find IF you bother looking, which clearly they don't wish to do...
One of the 'talking points' that keeps getting shoved in our faces by the MSM is that Barack Obama hasn't done anything, that he's all talk and no accomplishments. Is this true, or is it just that the talking heads and pundits just like being able to say that it's true, so they have assiduously avoided doing any actual research (i.e. their f***ing job, because it involves actual "work" instead of just pulling smarmy comments out of their asses which is so much easier) into the matter?
Well I'm not a pundit or a talking head, and I'm only a journalist in the literal sense (i.e. this IS a journal I'm writing in), but I do know how to use The Google just a little bit, so let me help:
From 2006 hilzoy at ObsidianWings blog:
a lot of people are going on about how Obama has not sponsored legislation on any of the Vital Issues Of The Day. Personally, I think that he'd have to be delusional to introduce, say, his own solution to the health insurance crisis: no bill on such a topic introduced by a freshman senator from the minority party would have a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding, and the only reason to introduce one would be to grandstand. For that reason, I think that his failure to do so tends to speak well of him.
(Besides, consider how many Senators must have been watching for any hint of self-importance when Obama arrived in the Senate, given the press he had coming in; how many of them would have had to have been waiting for any sign that he was thinking: here am I, the wondrous Barack Obama, ready to set the Senate straight! The fact that he seems to have disarmed most of them is, I think, an achievement in its own right; it would have been impossible had he introduced his own comprehensive anti-poverty program, or something.)
But I do follow legislation, at least on some issues, and I have been surprised by how often Senator Obama turns up, sponsoring or co-sponsoring really good legislation on some topic that isn't wildly sexy, but does matter. His bills tend to have the following features: they are good and thoughtful bills that try to solve real problems; they are in general not terribly flashy; and they tend to focus on achieving solutions acceptable to all concerned, not by compromising on principle, but by genuinely trying to craft a solution that everyone can get behind. (More, including details at the link
Charles Peters Washington Post, Jan. 08. Obama's work in State legislature:
Consider a bill into which Obama clearly put his heart and soul. The problem he wanted to address was that too many confessions, rather than being voluntary, were coerced -- by beating the daylights out of the accused.
Obama proposed requiring that interrogations and confessions be videotaped.
This seemed likely to stop the beatings, but the bill itself aroused immediate opposition. There were Republicans who were automatically tough on crime and Democrats who feared being thought soft on crime. There were death penalty abolitionists, some of whom worried that Obama's bill, by preventing the execution of innocents, would deprive them of their best argument. Vigorous opposition came from the police, too many of whom had become accustomed to using muscle to "solve" crimes. And the incoming governor, Rod Blagojevich, announced that he was against it...
...By showing officers that he shared many of their concerns, even going so far as to help pass other legislation they wanted, he was able to quiet the fears of many.
Obama proved persuasive enough that the bill passed both houses of the legislature, the Senate by an incredible 35 to 0. Then he talked Blagojevich into signing the bill, making Illinois the first state to require such videotaping. (More at the Link)
Daewoo Kim From the Obama community blogs:
As Senator Obama notes, it's not that he hasn't given substantive speeches on nearly every major political issue, and written two best selling books that outline his political philosophy in greater detail than any of the other candidates. The problem is that the press would rather write about how he looks in swim trunks than to actually review his speeches and political platform. In this post, I've also referenced a few key themes from Audacity of Hope. I've also quickly reviewed his voting record in the U.S. Senate, compared it to Hillary Clinton's voting record, and will touch on some of the key votes, below. I've saved approximately 60 news articles that I've relied upon in writing most of this post, and will try to post them in the next 1-2 weeks.
Senator Obama has ten years of senate experience: eight years in Springfield, and two years in Washington, D.C. In reviewing Senator Obama's 10 years of senate experience, two themes are prominent: when his party was in the minority for 8 of those 10 years, Senator Obama seemed focused on looking for pragmatic, nonpartisan ways to pass bills while working with the Republican majority. In the only 2 years in which his party was in the majority, and he had the votes to pass the bills he wanted, Senator Obama was a champion of the powerless - while still considering Republican concerns and treating them with respect....
....In Springfield, Senator Obama demonstrated a remarkable work ethic. Not only did he tell Senator Jones he was ready to work hard, he followed through. When Democrats finally achieved a majority in the state senate, Senator Obama was elevated to Chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee; 2003-2004 were the only two years Barack Obama has ever been in a political majority in either Illinois or (until recently) Washington, D.C. During those two years, he sponsored 780 bills, and 280 of those were signed into law....
So, if you're interested you can follow these links and read a bit more. Whether you agree or disagree with what Obama has accomplished in his time in politics, you can now point and laugh at the willful and intentional ignorance of the likes of Chris Matthews, Brit Hume, Joe Scarborough, et al, when they shake their jowls and pronounce that Obama's never accomplished anything, when what they mean is they don't want you to know what he's accomplished.