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President Obama Told Me to Stop ‘Demeaning’ Him, says Rep. Conyers
President Barack Obama recently called Rep. John Conyers Jr. to express his frustrations with the Judiciary Committee chairman's criticism.
Obama's decision to challenge Conyers highlights a sensitivity to criticism the president has taken on the left. Conyers's critical remarks, many of which have been reported on the liberal-leaning Huffington Post, appear to have irritated the president, known for his calm demeanor. (File image) In an interview with The Hill, Conyers said his opinions of Obama's policies on healthcare reform and the war in Afghanistan have not sat well with the president.
According to the lawmaker, the president picked up the phone several weeks ago to find out why Conyers was "demeaning" him.
Obama's decision to challenge Conyers highlights a sensitivity to criticism the president has taken on the left. Conyers's critical remarks, many of which have been reported on the liberal-leaning Huffington Post, appear to have irritated the president, known for his calm demeanor.
Conyers, the second-longest-serving member of the House, said, "[Obama] called me and told me that he heard that I was demeaning him and I had to explain to him that it wasn't anything personal, it was an honest difference on the issues. And he said, ‘Well, let's talk about it.'"
Sitting in the Judiciary Committee's conference room two days after Obama delivered his speech on Afghanistan, the 23-term lawmaker said he wasn't in the mood to "chat."
Obama's move to send in 30,000 troops to Afghanistan by the summer of 2010 has clearly disappointed Conyers.
He said he intends to press his case in writing soon.
"I want something so serious that he has to respond in writing, like I am responding in writing to him," he said.
"Calling in generals and admirals to discuss troop strength is like me taking my youngest to McDonald's to ask if he likes french fries," Conyers said.
Many on the left have argued that military leaders routinely respond to crises by calling for more troops.
"I've been saying I don't agree with him on Afghanistan, I think he screwed up on healthcare reform, on Guantánamo and kicking Greg off," Conyers said, referring to the departure of former White House counsel Greg Craig.
Craig was a leading proponent in the White House of closing the terrorist detention center at Guantánamo Bay and releasing photos of detainees undergoing torture. Closing the military prison has proven to be politically difficult, and Obama reversed field on the photos, opting not to make them publicly available.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment for this article.
The liberal Conyers has been an outspoken proponent of a single-payer healthcare system and a critic of U.S. involvement in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He has also been at odds with White House policy on extending expiring provisions of the Patriot Act, crafting legislation that is to the left of the Senate's version.
Obama and Conyers have a complicated and nuanced relationship.
Conyers was the first member of the Congressional Black Caucus to endorse Obama over then-Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president.
Conyers earlier this year noted that he spent most weekends in 2007 and 2008 on the campaign trail trying to get Obama elected.
"I did whatever was necessary to be done to win. I met with ministers, I met with unions, I met with lawyers, I met with community activists, I met with healthcare people," Conyers explained in early April.
The 80-year-old lawmaker, who participated in the civil rights movement alongside Martin Luther King Jr., does not shy away from saying what is on his mind.
In mid-November, Conyers said on the Bill Press radio show that Obama and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel have been "bowing down" to "nutty right-wing" healthcare proposals in a desperate effort to get legislation passed.
The Michigan Democrat, a friend of liberal filmmaker Michael Moore, said he was "getting tired of saving Obama's can in the White House," after progressive Democrats were forced to vote for a healthcare bill that did not call for a "robust public option" and includes language opposed by abortion-rights supporters.
Since the House narrowly passed its healthcare bill, Conyers has grown increasingly frustrated with what he sees as the White House's willingness to weaken the role of the government in administering the proposed new benefits.
Conyers also said last month that Obama was "getting bad advice from ... clowns" on Afghanistan, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press.
At times, Conyers has shown his pragmatic side. For example, he has abandoned hope of moving his legislation calling for a commission to review whether the U.S. government should pay reparations to descendants of slaves. He has called his measure too controversial.
On the morning following Obama's landmark speech on the war in Afghanistan, Conyers sent around a "Dear Colleague" letter to Democratic and GOP lawmakers interested in joining his newly formed "Peace and Progress in Afghanistan Caucus."
In the letter, Conyers explained that the caucus "will serve as an informal bipartisan group of members dedicated to reorienting the United States' commitment to the Afghan government and people by emphasizing indigenous reconciliation and reconstruction strategies, rigorous regional diplomacy, and swift redeployment of the U.S. military."
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108 Comments so far
Show AllIf Mr. Conyers had not destroyed his own reputation by refusing to honor his oath to the Constitution others might be following his lead now.
Mr. Conyers let the entire cadre of Bush war criminals walk free and avoid subpoena.
Now Mr. Conyers wonders why Obama didn't give his health care legislation a second look or consult with progressives on Afghanistan policy.
NOBODY respects a gutless coward.
You sacrificed your brilliant single-payer health care proposal because you were afraid to hold George, Dick and Karl to account.
You had your chance, Mr. Conyers, and you BLEW IT.
No, he didn't. The one who blew it was Nancy "impeachment off the table" Polisi. Treating the Chimp with kid gloves so he could continue his reign of evil.
Stories such as this were commonplace from 2006-2008.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/37618
And this:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/25206
And this:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/25021
I think the Democrats and Republicans share enough blame to go around. Conyers? I would say that he talks a big game, but he votes with Bush and Obama. But is that a suprise? There is only a small minority of elected Democrats that are anti-war or pro-single payer...So why did so many progressives vote for them?... is my question.
I wonder about that myself. Wasted votes? How lame that sounds under the present circumstances.
She huffed and she puffed and she blew (loss of campaign support, committee placement, tenure...) the straw huts (Conyers, Kucinich,...polititians being politicians) down. Anyone got any bricks they can spare?
Elected officials around the world, including Obama have been envious of Dubya's success in becoming the most unitary president in history wherein the checks and balances the nation's founders adopted were jettisoned and it didn't matter what Congress wanted, the president prevailed. Since 1/20/09 Obama has exercised unitary authority whenerver it appeared Congress would not support his mandates.
Pelosi's debut speech as speaker of the house where she declared "impeachment off the table" can be interpreted in one of two ways: 1) total capitulation, or 2) confirmation that Pelosi and the Democrats don't have a clue when it comes to strategy. Irrespective of which interpretation you chose, the statement was so egregious that it stifled any impeachment effort any member of Congress might have pursued to such a degree that she owns that issue 100%.
For heavens's sake, those of you blaming Conyers for backing off impeachment, he had to make a practical decision. If he pushed it, Pelosi would have taken away his gavel and left him powerless to accomplish anything at all. He's still fighting for single payer (his bill) even though the freshman progressives in the House were blackmailed into supporting Obama's pile of crap "reform".
And yes, Obama is willing to fight back, as long as it's coming from the left. All his compromising is saved for the right.
I understand politics is the art of compromise, but Obama compromises before he arrives at the table. I haven't figured out whether Obama has bought into right wing philosophy or whether he's just been bought.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
Sorry-- Conyers is a charlatan.
For years, I admired him as a droll and roguish cynic. (I don't use "cynic" in the dumbed-down pop-culture pejorative sense.)
I even smiled during the bit in "Fahrenheit 9/11", when he slyly "enlightens" the interviewer (Moore?) with the fact that legislators don't actually READ the legislation they pass. This, IIRC, was in response to the question of how an anti-Constitutional bill like the Patriot Act could ever have been passed.
At the time, still charmed by Conyers, I somehow assumed that he was laughing WITH us. He wasn't-- he was laughing AT us.
Having the Capitol Police arrest Cindy Sheehan and her companions after a visit to his office went sour was "a practical decision" too. Cindy pissed off Conyers by daring to read arguments supporting the impeachment of President Bush from CONYER'S OWN BOOK!
He's a typical self-serving Elected Misrepresentative.
· Yr Obd't Servant
Great article. It looks like Obama is being treated with kid gloves. No criticism allowed. If you do you're a racist. It's like the Chimp after 9/11. Question him and you're with the evil-doers, that sort of thing. Obama is just fluff, navel lint, a bug on the windshield. During the next three years the right-wing will re-group and take back Washington. You can read my lips on that one. Barack will go back to Chicago and play with his peace prize and play golf with Tiger or O.J.
Last time I heard "read my lips" it was "No New Taxes" -- yeah, good way to get wildly popular as you steal all the old taxes. ALL OF THEM.
Your right wing relies on name calling, sabotage, disinformation (a euphemism for lying), humiliation and a devil-may-care attitude toward anyone but yourselves. Fortunately, you're isolating yourselves further and further into a Hitleresque bunker where control freaks "regroup and take" rather than participate in a free-thinking open society. Enjoy your dark amoral world. You deserve it.
Meanwhile the rest of us would like to see what's left of the Constitution.
"Barack will go back to Chicago and play with his peace prize and play golf with Tiger or O.J."
Wow, racist comment! He would play golf with Tiger and OJ because they're both criminal/immoral black men?
I'm not calling you racist because you're criticising Obama, I'm calling you racist because of your allusion to Obama being a seemingly squeaky-clean black men who was once embraced by white mainstream culture (ie. Grandma thinks he's a 'nice man'), but turned out to be criminal and/or immoral like Tiger and OJ.
Disagree with me? Why didn't you say he'd be playing golf with Mel Gibson or Phil Spectre or Bernie Madoff or Elliot Spitzer?
You mean, the man actually has emotions and actually told someone he has feelings? and then said he wanted to put that aside and talk about "the honest differences on the issues?" Hell no! No time for talking or listening. Talking and clarifying and finding common ground or at least, being clear about reasons and differences, never gets anyone anywhere. Attack! Attack! To hell with reason!
Obama needs advice from progressives like Conyers and others. He has, for the most part, surrounded himself with hawks (e.g.Gates, Mullen, Clinton, Holbrook) and Wall Streeters (e.g. Summers, Gaitner). Troop escalation, Wall Street bailouts before Main Street jobs program, weak defense of public option reflects unhelpful influense.
"Obama needs advice "? Why?, he is doing fine. His financial future is assured. He can work for one of the arms manufacturers, one of the banks or more likely float around the rubber chicken circuit like Clinton and Bush. Where do Americans get the idea that Obama "needs' anything from progressives, other than your votes, which he already has (no second term?, we'll see, but even then, don't cry for the Obamas, they are set for life.
"unhelpful" influence? He took the money from the arms industry, the insurance industry, who did you think would sit on his board of advisors? the anti-war movement? the single payer advocates? get serious.
I second that.
I looked down the drain with a telescope and I detected the U.S. far off in the depths amidst the foul bacteria of decaying rot!! I had a moment of compassion which was curtailed by the cries for war, torture and enslavement heard coming up from the depths!
"The Michigan Democrat, a friend of liberal filmmaker Michael Moore, said he was "getting tired of saving Obama's can in the White House,"..."
What was Molly Hooper's point on bringing up Michael Moore?
The point? An attempt at street cred.
So Obama ain't happy with Conyers? Who cares? The two deserve each other.
Conyers thinks Obama will respond to him in writing?
Ha!
He should have chatted with him about what was on his mind unless he is afraid to write about the chat as well.
another double click, I guess.
Conyers knows Obama is a wimp and is toying with him. The two deserve each other.
Obama whines to Conyers for "demeaning" him. I guess the big O hasn't been reading the posts here on CD.
I'm glad that Conyers is speaking out on these issues, but if my memory serves me correctly, he wimped out on chances to get rid of the PATRIOT ACT and other little gems that Bush and now Obama champion.
Poor John was "forced" into voting for a piece of crap health care deform bill. When it came to the wet ass hour, Conyers could have shown courage and stood with Kucinich & Massa by voting against it. Instead, he carried water for the White House. Now Barry acts all butt hurt and Conyers just talks tough. What a couple of drama queens.
LAW OF ABSOLUTE LOGIC
As two things known to be absolute will establish an unknown as equally
absolute, let us apply such logic to see if this news is new truth to
force the darkness to give way, or new fiction to keep the truth at bay.
For it is absolute, government is run by big business as the Obama
Administration has done everything in its power to enrich big business.
For it is absolute, Rep. Conyers gets all his campaign donations from the
upper half of society, as only they have wealth, as only they vote, as the
laboring class lower half of society never show up at the polls.
And so, we have a make believe government and paid actor Conyers
will do his best to maintain the smoke screen, that which best blinds the
mind by burning the emotions.
Obama is only demeaning himself.
How can a right-wing tool, dedicated to government by the rich, for the rich, and of the rich either be demeaned or demean itself?
Demeaning escapes me.
It's the initial downturn on the slippery slope leading ultimately to: Denigration.
Considering Conyers SHOULD be charging Uncle 'Bomb with impeachable unConstitutional WAR CRIMES, the precedent should calmly shut The DUCK UP! Or better yet, tender his resignation to We the People who elected him for reneging on just about everything he DEM campaign-promised!
Doesn't Conyers know that Afghanistan is all about an oil pipeline?
And oil reserves and natural gas in its north.
Wow, he thinks Conyers is demeaning him, when he says nothing about the birthers and other assorted yahoos who are making him out to be the antichrist? Obama is worse than we thought. As Nader said, he has an "excessively concessionary personality" or more bluntly, a slave mentality. Only such a mentality would have him attacking and putting down his staunchest supporters, while obediently serving the elites.
exactly ..
he is the HOUSE NEGRO.
the one that got comfortable with being "raised" in his position by his white masters...whether in the chicago school of economics, being "accepted" among the corporatocracy, becoming a politician, getting the "build up"...
and "elevated" in his rank
but STILL a HOUSE NEGRO tasked with holding the WHIP or the SCREW to tighten the enslavement over people - not JUST in america but EVERYWHERE.
that's what he is.
someone "elevated" to be "all man to all people" but in reality the "face" for enslavement.
it is ironic that right in the bossom of the country that built its power and wealth by ENSLAVING africans and others...
the black president obama is now the CHIEF ENSLAVING OFFICER of the ENSLAVING institution called the USA.
i have always said for years -- well before I was as informed as I am today - that the USA is really just the modern, continuing version of what it STARTED as:
a nation of ENSLAVEMENT.
the world becoming its "plantation" of slaves.
and the irony is -- its highest "officer" is a black president enslaveing not just his own fellow black or colored people but all others. at the behest of the SLAVERY business.
I have NO doubt that Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi , jesus christ, frederich douglass, and so many others
they would all be shedding tears at what Obama represents.
"Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi , jesus christ, frederich douglass, and so many others...they would all be shedding tears at what Obama represents."
And then would do much more.
and if any of them were here today - and said the things they are remembered for - towards obama and his policies and positions , he would ring them up and berate them for "demeaning me".
then he woudl throw them all under the bus- just like he did with Reverend Jeremy wright, and those that voted for him.
that's how cynical and craven he has become.
he is a coward; of that , there is no question.
Yes...and is it just me?..."You demeaned me" is not exactly a leadership-type thing to say. It's like Quayle, "That was UNCALLED for!"
Lightweight suits.
When O.J. Simpson got off for murder, I thought to myself it's only a matter of time before we have a black president. Oh Afro-American, your time has arrived. You are now able to become just like your white masters if you have enough money to hire a good legal staff, or enough education to enter into Chicago politics. We have made great strides. This could never have happened in the 20th century. The problem is, of course, that Afro-Americans have not been elevated to the status of equality, but that the office of the presidency has been demeaned to the level of a second class citizen.
Fuck Obama. Demean away. Call him by his rightful moniker: Public Enemy #1.
Hear! Hear! Well said!
Is O a war criminal? Yes. Is O bought and paid for? Yes. Is O a liar? Yes. Is O is a lying, bought and paid for war criminal? Yes.
a politician is an arse upon
which everyone has sat except a man.........e.e. cummings
was MLK a polltician?
was Malcolm X a politician?
was Fred Hampton a politician? No. They were men.
is C. Rice?
is C Powell? O is in good company..
As you point-out, Obama isn't the only one. It's more like we have 5,000 Public Enemy #1s--from Politicos to CEOs to Presstitutes. And as many observed, Conyers is part of the problem.
Cicero: "Freedom is participation in power."
Obama and Lofty Emmanuel will threaten an old man who marched with King to do more for American blacks than Otoken ever will, but they will piss their gabardines down to their shoes in ecstatic genuflection and obeisance before their oligarchical campaign finance masters (dreaming all the while of the lucrative lobbying and speaking money they'll make once they're out of office) before they stand for anything that requires integrity, principles or guts.
According to the lawmaker, the president picked up the phone several weeks ago to find out why Conyers was "demeaning" him.
Well, perhaps you deserve being demeaned, you corrupt, lying, miserable coward!
agreed. he brought it on himself. he had PLENTY of chances to use his platform ..clearly with a hurting american public desperate for some decency leadership ...and when it came down to the boil -- he backed away.
the leadership that ought to have been in position to do good has no courage of its own convictions.
Is it just his youth and inexperience or is there something nefarious lurking?
Jeevee Using "four-letter words" does nothing but demean our cause.
such as H-O-P-E
So that's why you support Dick/Palin for 2012, right? I'm sure Cheney can show her what the Vice's duties entail. Far better than those dirty democrats, Cheney and Palin will lead your party back to where it belongs in national politics. I'll be waiting to see you marching on the streets promoting them...