Noam Chomsky, in an interview with The Young Turk’s Cenk Uygur, discusses whether or not Barack Obama’s is a progressive. The Huffington Post:
Chomsky went on to say that Obama was “kind of a mainstream centrist with some concerns for liberal ideas and conceptions, but not much in the way of principal or commitment.” Chomsky told Uygur that he regarded the president’s stance on some issues as “pretty reactionary,” offering civil liberties as an example.
The scholar observed that today’s Democratic Party has become what used to be called “moderate Republicans” because Republicans have “more or less disappeared.”
“The Republican Party has become overwhelmingly so extreme that it’s hardly a traditional political party anymore,” he said.
Chomsky commented on how the shift in parties is due to a “redesign of the economy since the 1970s.” He also attributed the shift to “two major elements … one was a shift towards ‘financialization’ … and manufacturing was moving toward offshoring.”
More on Barack Obama’s conservative credentials here.
