It’s a classic New Yorker cover. We’re at the point where figuring out what Obama is doing has become a painful exercise. The latest rumor, that he will announce a 3-year spending freeze at the upcoming State of the Union address, seems to confirm that the Democratic Party has become Wall Street’s party. Main Street, whether it’s in Ohio, Flushing, or disguised as Martin Luther King Boulevard, has become the definition of afterthought. How else to explain the health care reform debacle, where the Democrats acted like they were the minority, or the embarrassing defeat in the Massachusetts senatorial race? How was it that the public option, a poor substitute for what the majority wants, single-payer health insurance, is a gutted carcass of giveback to the insurance companies?

I’m no longer interested in comforting myself by trying to find logic in Obama’s political strategy. That it’s some kind of game where centrist cards are played only to allow for a sudden trump by the progressive agenda. This administration is aggressively pursuing the demise of democracy in Latin America just to keep military contractors bent on perpetual counterinsurgency policies happy! Is it any wonder that Obama seems to be floating the idea that he doesn’t necessarily want to stick around for two terms?

The media floats the idea that “populism” has abandoned the left and taken up residence with a vaguely defined teabagger right. Obama and the Demos are portrayed as powerless to stop a disastrous midterm election. Hope sinks.