Obama has sold progressive soul at the company store – but Taibbi still cuts him a break

Not HIS progressive soul, necessarily, because he may never have had as much of one as we’ve thought, but his backers’ collective soul. Matt Taibbi, in his usual take-no-prisoners style, makes exactly that argument in putting Obama in the dock:

(M)any business moguls appear to be betting that the tax policies, like Obama himself, are only that: something that sounds good.

“I think we don't want to make too much of his promises on taxes,” says Robert Pollin, professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts. “Not all of these things will happen.”

Noting the overwhelming amount of Wall Street money pouring into Obama's campaign, even elitist fuckwad David Brooks was recently moved to write, “Once the Republicans are vanquished, I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for that capital-gains tax hike.”

That said, I think Taibbi is off base with this comment:

Look, we all knew this was coming. Once Obama vanquished Hillary Clinton, it was inevitable that his campaign would start roping in the Clinton moneymen for the fall confrontation with McCain.

This is just the flip side of what McCain worshipers are claiming, saying that, before this year, Schmuck Talk Express™ wasn’t actually, well, Schmuck Talk Express™.

Taibbi is making the same claim, that before Obama was, ahem, traduced by Clinton (insert “wily woman” someplace), he was a total innocent. Ain’t true.

The talk of the new campaign finance of small donors by Obama’s campaign, and how it’s only half true, at best? That was happening LOOONGGG before Clinton was vanquished.