The Other Hurricane Katrina

The one named Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation. She wrote last night that Obama should double-down on his radicalism:

The Obama administration should act right away to use its executive powers to take steps to deal with long-ignored issues that need to be dealt with for the good of the nation.

This cannot be done quietly. To change the media narrative, issues acted upon will have to be controversial enough to dominate the news. President Obama should embrace good progressive public policy while expecting—indeed, hoping for—a massive outcry from the wing-nut section of the GOP.

Controversy is not the enemy here. And issue clarity—or issue polarization—can be helpful, if the administration seizes the initiative and chooses public policy issues on which to fight.

Hurricane Katrina leads with a call for executive amnesty for illegal aliens, but I especially like the climate agenda part:

Cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline before the right wing can draw a breath after your immigration actions. Then, Mr. President, elevate climate change as an issue, the way you took on healthcare reform (only without bothering to try to pass anything through John Boehner’s House).

Meet with China and India on climate issues, before the next round of global climate meetings. Set aside big chunks of public land and ocean, and hold photo ops in spectacular natural settings as you do so—very few executive acts are so popular with most of the public.

Host a national teach-in with real climate scientists, on C-Span, and use it to drive a nail in the coffin of the fake, corporate-funded, “climate denial” science.

This last one would make for some must-flee TV.  But also this:

Go up to the edge of normalizing relations with Cuba. Send Attorney General Eric Holder down to Havana to work out the details.

Be sure to have Eric look in on Elian Gonzales while he’s there, will you? Oh, and kiss Florida goodbye for Dems in 2016.

And:

Nominate Tom Harkin to the Federal Reserve Board.

Oh please please President Obama—take Hurricane Katrina’s advice.

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