This is it for me, at least for this chapter. I am off to join some people who don’t much appreciate voices singing out of key, and while they might be able to get over my public disdain for coaches who punt in opposing territory, it would be rather awkward to continue to point out the incompetence of the administration. So for now, it’s probably best to hang it up.
I never meant to write this in the first place. It was just my good fortune that a series of emails simply grew into a website, and all of a sudden instead of shouting at a TV screen I was typing at a computer screen. Which is far more healthy.
When I got up and running in February, the economy was in the tank. Breaking up accounts to get under the deposit insurance threshold was, for one brief shining moment, the stuff of practical people and not survivalists who have spent too much time with the SAS handbook.
It was also the time that it seemed real change might happen. We had a vigorous new President who, at the difference of his predecessor, did not seem like a twig floating down a rapid. Some early decisions were unfortunate – picking Rahm Emanuel and letting Rahm pursue his feud with Howard Dean, picking Tim Geithner and Larry Summers while exiling Joe Stiglitz and Paul Volker – and some were, perhaps, inevitable – telling the unions they would not get card check or a renegotiation of NAFTA, telling gays that they could keep waiting.
Still, change seemed inevitable, if only because the market meltdown was its own change agent. It only took about a week in September 2008 for the three-quarter-of-a-century Republican crusade to privatize Social Security to run aground. One more good push and the major banks were about to restructure themselves. And Eastern Europe looked set to provide that push.
Health care reform was inevitable. It was the Administration’s signature issue, the key project on which the team was all in. With a huge majority – 58 seats outright, 59 with Franken, 60 with Lieberman – the once-in-a-generation opportunity was at hand. The country could not afford to do otherwise.
The one question mark was carbon. A carbon tax would pit region against region – broadly, the coasts against the center – and with the public opposed to anything with “tax” in the name, there wasn’t that much support, even though it would come from guys in the Middle East who hate us and go to people in the midwest who are God’s children. Just ask them.
Those were the days.
Then the government managed to prove that it would really, positively, absolutely funnel as much money as was necessary into the financial services industry. All of a sudden – and it was terribly sudden – two things happened:
- The stock market rocketed;
- The government lost all power to change.
The first was evident off the bat, although of course the duration of the rally surprised me and continues to surprise me. You will note the current issues in Dubai and Greece, in case you thought the dead would stay buried forever.
The second was far more subtle. It was the discovery of a hollow threat. Like a parent who tells his misbehaving child that he will leave him at a faraway gas station and finds the child still unwilling to behave, the Obama team found that in their unseemly haste to shovel money into the market, the market had no reason to listen to them. Strange as it may be, Jake DeSantis might be 2009′s Man of the Year. Once he proved that you could go public and not cower in fear at the government’s Sternly Worded Letters, the rest of the country saw that the Administration could be crossed with impunity, at least as long as you were not a creditor of an auto company.
To skip ahead to the present, can you imagine – just imagine – some marginal senator who might or might not represent a filibuster-breaking vote jerking around Lyndon Johnson when Lyndon wanted something? A marginal senator hanging onto a committee chairmanship, a marginal senator with no natural allies in either party? But that’s why Lyndon fought so hard on every vote – he never wanted someone to get the idea that he could be beaten.
We are all products of our environment, and Obama’s environment was one where a naturally sunny and charismatic person was encouraged to appear even sunnier. He didn’t just have to beat Hillary Clinton – a task most would have described before the Iowa primary as only slightly easier than climbing Everest in early January dressed in flip-flops and a beer helmet – he had to beat her and get her and her supporters to like him. I find it hard to believe even now; a woman famous for holding grudges and her grudge-holding supporters decided at the end of a nasty campaign to circle up and support Obama in exchange for an uncertain claim at a meaningless position. If that’s not winning with grace, I don’t know what is.
The difference between campaigning and governing, however, is that when you govern you need to deal with the irreconcilables. Hillary Clinton could be convinced that Obama was the best deal she was going to get. Jim DeMint cannot, and if Socrates himself came back to debate him would not concede the merit of Obama’s actions. And quite clearly the various factions in the Afghan drama, or the Iraqi drama, could care less what happy thoughts come from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
What these people respect is victory. Jim DeMint doesn’t know his history any better than his politics, but this much is certain: if he knew Obama would win, as so many potentates around Europe knew Napoleon would win, he would be looking to settle on whatever terms were offered. It is Obama’s very refusal to punish that has made people so relaxed opposing him.
There is a great shame to it all. There is nothing particularly wrong about the country today; by the standards of virtually all of human history, we are blessed beyond comprehension to live in this place and time. With no great reforms, we will lead wonderful lives of overwhelming plenty.
Others could as well, if only the government tried. The big things. The lack of a meaningful carbon tax to take control of our energy policy. The lack of resolve in driving down health care costs. The compulsive need to bail out not only the financial system but also the risk capital profiting from the system.
And it’s the little things that have knock-on effects. If you are reading this, you know my perspective on rescission. But take, for example, the refusal of all parts of the political spectrum to recognize that the solution to a lack of affordable product is to reduce the price of the product, not to increase it and then try to come up with some sort of magic subsidy to more than make up the difference. And yes, housing is a product like any other. Or our lobbyist-driven insistence on ignoring the problems in our food supply, even though we know people are getting sick and we know how to prevent it.
The thing that was so refreshing about Obama in the primaries was the sense that he really understood the issues and had the courage to stand up for doing the right thing. And now that is gone.
So that was my year of thoughts and observations. I would be nice to imagine that I contributed to the national conversation somehow; about 69,000 people viewed my rescission post, so that’s a bit like getting the crowd at Lambeau Field to listen to me for a few minutes.
Mostly, though, I learned. I learned from thinking, I learned from writing, and I learned from interacting with the fascinating characters in this Mos Eisley of the internet.
I would have had no readers whatsoever without the help of James Kwak at Baseline, Mike Konczal at Rortybomb, Felix Salmon at Reuters, Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism, and of course the incomparable Paul Krugman for a plug he has surely forgotten. For all of you who did find this spot - the folks who commented regularly, Albrt, Anne, Bond Girl, CrocodileChuck, Cyrano, DMW, Dutch Richardson, Economista Non Grata, Joe, Mark Hartzer, Mike3550, Pete Muldoon, Ribald, Sparhawk, StatsGuy, Stephen Dodson, Twist, WiscoDude – thank you very much for making this such a wonderful experience. I am the better for it, and I appreciate it.
Taunter-
Say it ain’t so! I love your posts. Even though I am straight, male and married, I want to run away and marry you. (Just kidding of course – I don’t need marriage, can’t afford divorcing my wife).
Anyway, I only picked up your blog a few months back but it quickly became my favorite blog (out of like 25 read daily).
It is funny; not sure if this happened to you too but the latest pathetic piece of news about Obama vs Wall Street was the proverbial straw. Sucking up to Wall Street to help Main Street is a terrible joke. I just give up on him.
Sad to see you go but wish you the best with your next endeavor. You should consider writing if you tire of singing out of key.
Best wishes,
Dutch
I am one of the 69000 who started with rescission post and then stayed, quickly catching up on the archives and looking forward to each post. You have become one of the writers whom I would happily read on any topic. So I was startled when I woke up, scrolled through my favorites and pulled up Taunter only to find a goodbye letter. Who stops a successful blog? (Especially given the mighty proliferation of bad ones.) I guess no one gives away a product this good forever, despite what the internet has taught us. Anyway, good luck. I hope that if you start publishing elsewhwere, you will let us know on this site. You will be missed.
Very sad to hear that the blog is ending. Definitely enjoyed reading it each day. Good luck in new endeavours. Cheers,
cb
Thanks for all the funny and thought provoking posts. You will be missed.
I’ll miss reading this blog, which I have always found unusually well-written and thoughtful. Thanks for your efforts and best wishes.
Monsieur Taunter,
Thanks for the great posts, the incisive thinking, and the hilarity. We’ll miss you.
IMHO, you’re the sanest person on the Intertubes and one of the wisest– not to mention one of the funniest. Please “come back” when you’re ready. It has been an incredible lift to my day to see Taunter Media in my reader stack. And thank you a thousand times for what you contributed.
And then, depression set in.
This news just blew a nice, big hole in my must-read list. Always good, frequently great.
Best wishes.
Your posts will be missed. You are a great teacher and writer.
Good luck and best wishes
I’m with Giles.
Taunter, I have mixed feelings here. I’m depressed that you are going to give up the blog for a while. I always made sure I stopped in at least once a day. There are very few places anywhere that offered better commentary and analysis.
On the other hand, I’m happy to know there is another person on the planet that is an intelligent observer of the human condition, and that I don’t walk alone even if you’re not currently blogging. It was a pleasure, and thank you for that opportunity to share.
Good luck and godspeed to whatever endeavor life brings you.
Your loyal reader,
Mark.
This is the one blog I visit daily. The only one.
You write one of the best blogs on the web and I’ve read every single one of your posts. I agree with Mark above – I’m happy to know I’m not the only one with crazy thoughts about the world we live in.
Thank you for sharing your wit and intellect. You’ve enlightened many people.
While I once used to write long winded email rants to some of my friends, this blog allowed me to simply email a link to a person (you) who seemed to (at times) be channeling my thoughts. Except your writing is 10x better than mine could ever be. I guess it is back to email ranting for me – my friends are likely not prepared.
So thanks Taunter. It’s been a good ride.
Go forward!
Prediction: You will be back blogging within three months under a different alias.
I completely agree with your evaluation, particularly Obama’s inability to punish his opponents. There is no fear among them. In the movie “A Bronx Tale” the question is asked of the mob leader: Would you rather be respected or feared? Answer: Feared. Obama seems to have fallen in love with parliamentary procedure and the abstract logic of law, to his and our own detriment. He refuses to punish and instill fear. He must doubt his own authority in some fundamental way.
While I didn’t always agree with your opinions, I marvelled at your breadth of knowledge and your grasp of the dynamics hammering the events of the day into what they were.
Sorry to see you go. May your luck be good to you.
Taunter,
I’m really sorry to see you go. I hope that you come back.
Your writing is kind of brilliant.
smiles, and best of luck,
steve
Taunter,
Best of luck. You certainly have the most original and creative thoughts of any commentator I’ve read, and so even where I haven’t agreed with you, I’ve learned a heck of a lot.
As the others said, if your new work will be publicly available, let us know. That said, I’m not depressed, as I glean from the post that you’re going somewhere where you can effect policy instead of preaching it.
Say it ain’t so! I have really, thoroughly enjoyed your thoughts on the world, I find them insightful, thought provoking, and useful. I hope you’ll reconsider at some point. Let us know if and when you do!
What? Say it ain’t so, Taunter!
Do just take a wee bit of a break, not a total sayonara.
Good luck at the new gig. Definitely keep writing, though. Even if not for this blog.
And, Taunter – I think I speak for all of us when I say that you’ve got our email addresses from the comment system, so if you feel the need to rant or want some input on something, feel free to use them.
Good grief, Taunter, I can’t believe you’ve taken a gubbermint job.
What am I gonna read?
First Caijing, now this …
Good luck. Please don’t get arrested.
Dude,
You are seriously one of the best and most clear-headed writers I’ve ever seen. “It’s a loss” is such a cliched term, but in your case I really feel it. It is unfortunate that awful material seems to rise to the top everywhere, while blogs as amazing as yours stay as hidden jewels.
I hope that you continue to write somewhere else.
-Sparhawk
Best of luck.
Any tips on who is hiring for work that might possibly make a difference?
Sorry to hear. I hope you’ll again find a way to sing in your key.
Sorry to see you go. While the current state of affairs gives cause for great concern, the good analysis found on blogs like yours is cause for optimism.
Don’t go! Take a vacation and come back!
I’ve found that political discussion is less about advocating what you want in order to get it, but rather to provide adequate counter-weight against the things you don’t want.
It’s not so much winning as it is weighing in. Not many people aligned against you will admit to changing their minds but a good argument dampens their resolve and is propagated by likeminded individuals into thousands of similar discussions.
So it was for me and your comments on recision. Your comments have been truly insightful and necessary ammunition in countless discussions.
We need every voice we can get, and yours rings through with particular clarity.
I looked forward each day to reading your essay. I don’t recall how I found this site, but it’s been a part of my day for some time. I wish you well and hope you will find an appropriate place to keep your voice heard – it is important.
- best, Jim
Taunter:
I will miss you.
Best regards,
Econolicious
It’s been almost 20 months Taunter. How long can you manage to stay inside the beast?
Still looking forward to the day you are able to express your opinions publicly.