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No doubt angering Gibbs, Tariq Ali's The Obama Syndrome is a “powerful boost to Obama dissenters on the left”

Clara Heyworth15 August 2010

Following Robert Gibbs' outburst against the 'professional left' and those who insist on equating Barack Obama with George W. Bush ("I hear these people saying he's like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested ... "), Bob Hoover offers a summary of Tariq Ali's The Obama Syndrome in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and declares the forthcoming book a boost to the left.

[Tariq] Ali is certainly a professional lefty and political activist and he lambasts the president from the radical left.

Many people, not just those labeled "left," believed Mr. Obama would reverse Bush administration policies that challenged constitutional rights such as habeas corpus, allowed torture, increased the defense budget, continued the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and coddled Wall Street. Wrong.

Little heard on Fox News could challenge Mr. Ali's relentless dismissal of the president's agenda and character, saying the president is "unwilling and unable" to deliver serious reforms.

From a seriously flawed health insurance law to a corporate mentality behind education policies, charges Mr. Ali, the president and his Chicago cronies are showing their true colors as politically motivated pragmatists, not idealists and far from the liberal or "socialist" leanings they've been accused of by the right.

The Obama Syndrome which goes on sale Oct. 11, will be a powerful boost to Obama dissenters on the left.

Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to read the article in full.

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