Stephen, there is some guy in Australia who has translated some of Sombart and has printed some of it on the Web.  Quirkly but insightful.  You can find him by looking under Werner Sombart.

One can apply Weber’s theoretical foundations to the examination of Marxian class warfare.  This was a major part of the agenda of C. Wright Mills, one of Weber’s earliest American champions.  It is all a matter of sorting out theory and practice, just as Marx tried to do.  It remains to be seen where Obama will come down on class warfare issues like that of Lapham’s “American ruling class.”  Presumably the bean counters know the extent to which the “annual income under $15,000” set put him into office:

http://therehearsalstudio.blogspot.com/2008/11/who-made-most-difference-on-election.html

P. S.  I know about Sombart but have not progressed beyond reading ABOUT him;  too many books, too little time!

So there are those who are so unaccepting of the world’s joy about our election, and so distrustful by their projected fears of this black man we elected president that they are already set to undermine him?  Is that what Senator McCain is doing, or said he would do?  Didn’t McCain give you some clues on how best to react?
Obama has proved he can run a decent well run campaign with good people. Why can’t we expect the same management skills applied to his new job? 
Look in the mirror, and see your own projected ugliness——Outraged unregistered and your ilk.  You are trapped in negativity.  My advise for you and your kind: work for the betterment of all, not just your selfish agenda:  what you don’t want, what you can’t accept.

Weber, Stephen, is the bourgeois counterpart to Marx.  A great favorite in American social science, as he no doubt is one of yours.  For Marx the state is the instrument of the ruling class.  Obiden, then, is serving ruling class interests rather than population interests in the Marxian view.  Needless to say, this is not the Weber view, which is why he is such a favorite.

An interesting so;ciologist who had a bigger reputation than Weber during and pre WW1 was Werner Sombart.  Although his six volume history is still used by scholars, he has been neglected because he was a marxist in his youth and capitulated to German nationalism in his old age, although not to Nazism.

Folktruther, I prefer to take my definitions from Max Weber, in this case his “Politics as a Vocation” lecture (not that I would oblige you to accept my definitions).  Weber begins with the proposition “that a state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.”  Within this premise he then defines “politics” as “striving to share power or striving to influence the distribution of power, either among states or among groups within a state.”  Thus, at the end of the day, any “head of state” has to make decisions about exercising power (i.e. physical force legitimately used) and the effectiveness of those decisions will depend on effective “power resource management.”  This may sound abstract and cold-blooded;  but it can still serve as a lens through which we can few such things as the human dimension of values, be they progressive or regressive.

From this point of view, all questions of agenda are secondary to whether or not Obama will be able to assemble a team that will enable his own “effective power resource management.”  Unless he has such effective management skills, all questions about WHAT he does with his power are academic.  From this point of view, the crucial flaw of the Bush Administration is that they were so gung ho on amassing power that little thought was given to exercising it effectively.  If Obama can function effectively in the world of Weber-based abstractions, I have more hope for the future than I had with a President who could never seem to get beyond a faith-based concrete opposition of good against evil.

Folktruther,

Progressive imperialist? Seems oxymoron to me, like saying right wing liberal. Twisting of the English Language, like a progressive neocon. Guess you could have a progressive despot? Seems we have different definitions of progressive.  I do not believe Obama has mostly progressive tendencies on issues.  Progressive promotions would alienate most of the nation if not a large majority. May be confusing the definitions of liberal with progressive?  Since I prefer not to stereotype, I have difficulty with labels. 

To believe a leader of my country will support all my choice picks on idealism, would be naive.  Though, a few would be nice to see, especially after Bush.

You are quite wrong, Leefeller, it is ONLY by negative spewing, as you term it, that progressive policies will become a reality.  Many people do not like political polemic—Why can’t we all just get along?—but political discourse is the only substitute for violence Which Obama is obviously going to pursue.

I don’t think America is devided ENOUGH, and not in the right way. we need INCREASED polerazation to get people off their asses while Obiden sells out the population.  It may be too soon for you to think so, but I and many others have thought so all along.  Indeed, his imperialist bent was concealed in plain sight, but most progressives didn’t want to see it.

The first distinction necessary for negative spewing is perhaps the distinction between pro-imperialist progressives and anti-imperialist progressives.  This distinction was made by James Petras and Pablo Ouziec on countercurrents. org.
Obama is obviously pro-imperialist, as the Dems have always been, and will try to steer a sinking ship of state to such domination as he can.  That is why he needs Biden and Emmanuel.

  I wonder if they would permit an anti-imperialist wing in the Progressive Dems?  I would tend to doubt it.

Using divisive technique’s with relish, was expected coming from the McCain camp, now it is coming from the alleged left?

Any thinking person should realize, Obama is not going to change things overnight, now if cynical predictions prove right, I will be the first to agree.  Obama has already stated this, so it takes the NY Times for someone to get it? 

For now I say give Obama a chance. Sour grapes and divisive posts permeating from both sides is going to be so very old very fast. Nader annoying fly buzzing around the holiday picnic. 

Negative divisiveness has become unpopular and is a turn off. Sure,  we could use a sold third party,  Obama critics, sound like Repub Rehashing. 

Progressives touting their qualifications as progressives almost sound presumptuous and pompous, sowing much doubt on their progressiveness. Change real change, progressive change will never become a reality by negative divisive spewing and will always stay on the fringe.

Sure Obama needed to move to the center or he would never have won, what he does from now on will be the telling of the story.

Keep the predictions coming, seems making noise is necessarily important for palm readers.

The new era of Hope has ended. It lasted, for the politically naive, about 20 hours.  The NYTimes today has a front page article of the Obiden camp horrified by the expectations they evoked, and are telling people to Lower their Expectations.  ( I can’t unfortunately, they can’t go any lower.) They are saying not to expect a 100 day rush of legislation, perhaps we should think in terms of 1000 days, or maybe 10,000.

It is increasingly obvious, except to the cynical, that Obama is going to serve the third term of Bush.  The Bushite counterrevolution of war, increasing class inequality, the bailout swindle, the bipartisan police state, all are going to be contiued by the Obiden regieme.

The election was a no- win disaster for progressives. It merely changed the enemy from the Bushites to the Obaminations, to our disadvantage.  It is a much more effective political force.  He is going to rule with Compromises with the Gops, isolating progressives from power.  He will put Cyrena-types in power, people who suck up to power and want to be Insiders, to justify the unjustifiable.

There is no way to mobilize the population against it because there is no population narrative that vigorously and comprehensively confronts the mainstream media narrative.  The values and truths of the American population have no power. They have been deluted and neutralized by fake progressives who justify the policies of the power structure to the population.

Progressives have to regroup to form such a people’s narrative.  This is an historical undertaking, especially as people of color tend to identify with Obama, at lest for a while.  Just as non-White soldiers are recruited to fight imperialist wars, non-White power figures are recruited to lead the masses to power structure policies. 

It is going to be a long, difficult struggle.

What happened to Nader?  nowhere to be seen, did I miss his concession speech?  Morons of the right meet the morons of the left!  Since I lean toward the left, but willing to accept a central stance, for it does not take very many brain cells to know the 50 50 vote, signals something, which the morons on both sides seem to ignore.

Even a mental midget, should see the hand writing on the wall.  Obama moved to the center for reasons not very profound, except to those with blinders on.

Blame the media, blame the right, blame, blame the center, but do not blame Nader, for he is just right.  Political ideals need to make concessions, maybe even to the point they are not even close to the original Political idealism.

Sometimes we have to accept what we do not really like, grow up.

AMerica’s black population has always been more
sceptical and questioning of the political elite
and power than whites. They have been less willing
to blindly accept what it says.

This is especially the case in foreign policy,
where blacks are generally more anti-war than
whites.

Now I wonder, will they still retain that scepticism
or abandon it and becomes as gullibly accepting
of Washington as whites are, because of Obama?

If Obama launches any new wars, will American
blacks still be as anti-war as they’ve been so
far?

Whatever Obama may have said about putting cynicism aside, reality checking never hurts.  However “sweeping” the electoral vote count may have been, the popular vote showed that this country is as divided as ever;  and, as middlepath observed, the destructive force of that division revealed itself in a California electorate that chose to ban same-sex marriage while giving the state’s electoral votes to Obama.  Bush talked about uniting the country after resorting to the Supreme Court to win the Oval Office, but the divisions remain seriously disruptive.  We can say that Bush did not know what he was talking about;  we can say that he did not particularly care what he said;  we can even say that he was being cynically manipulative in talking about uniting rather than dividing.  Whatever the explanation, he was tragically ineffective in achieving that goal;  and we need to think about what it will take for Obama to be MORE effective.

Meanwhile, we still have to remember that the Bush-Cheney fat lady has not yet sung her final aria.  The more important reality check is that no one should underestimate the damage that the Bush Administration can do between now and Inauguration Day.  If we are to believe the observations in David Bromwich’s piece in Cheney in the latest NEW YORK REVIEW, we need to understand him as a man motivated by nothing other than acquiring and exercising power.  As long as he is in that position, our country is at risk, no matter how few days remain for the current Administration.

Hope may have been reborn last night, but it is still a helpless infant.  History is full of stories of power wrested through infanticide.  We are all responsible for whether or not this baby grows up to lead us to that “change we can believe in!”

Forced to walk a plank,  swim through a river of garbage , our feet now on soft ground, we must climb this steep hill piled high in front of us looming lies, death and division,  mixed in with a huge dung pile of hate. We must sort though many years of garbage strewed over truth.  Ignorance must be abolished, racism buried,  let’s bury the lies, rid the air of the smoke and mirrors, we need this strange thing called change.   
Us, a key word in many ways, “us” becomes so much more important when we are lead by union as compared to ruled by division.

Dawns sun light streaming through hopes window, is such a giddy feeling.  `

I voted for Obama because I believe in hope for myself, my neighbor, our country and the world. We have been on the wrong path for too long, and now it is time for change, no matter how small it may seem.

But, as a Californian waking up to our election results, my sense of victory is bittersweet: Californians, fueled by the ignorance and bigotry of out-of-state groups such as the Mormon church and Southern Baptists, voted for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Ironic, isn’t it? Californians voted for Obama and change on the one hand, yet turned their faces and voted for institutionalized discrimination at the same moment.

I guess Obama is right. Our struggle to repair this nation is merely beginning. We have a long road before us and at times it may be steep. I maintain my faith and hope in our ability to build a better nation. I’m an optimist at heart.

‘Everyone Around the world is dancing in the Streets’
This is not just a change form George w. Bush, It is the Death Rattle of CheneyCorp! 40 Damn Years of the same nastiy self centered self serving meglomania. I can hardly beleive it, I have waited for this moment since I was 17 and watched as that Scary SOB Puppet Reagan took office. I feel like I’ve been holding my breath the entire time, only gasping a breath for Clintons 8 yrs -which has since come back to bite US in the Ass.That’s what happens when you lose sight of you roots. The DLC came in to combat the Moral Majority and in the Process lost their perspective. We held our nose for Gore and Kerry while we cast our votes, We made it clear we would not ocmpromise again with Hillary. The Corp Rule (Trickle Down and the ‘Third Way’) and Social Oppression are finally Defeated!!!
We have reclaimed the Demcratic party, We can help Reclaim the Republican party. Both Industry and Religion or OUR Own Creations, not the other way around. Let them Now Serve US,since We are the Producers, the Consumers and the Stewards. Chalk this one Up as a Win For Humanity. Now we must rein in and manage our Public Servants, Our Gov’t and our media.They are no longer controlling and manipualting US, We are THEIR Masters too.
Come to the table with some ideas, not useless critism or Don’t come at all. Speak the Truth, not what you think or what suits your purpose.It is Time You are used as a Reflection of US, not Projection of Your own bias and ignorance.
These Tools have become beast which have created havoc to their creators, it’s time we put them back in their Place.
These are the Four Horsemen which have plagued Humankind. What other species has the ability to intellectualize solutions to problems even nature presents.What other species has the ability to imagine the future.What other species can Philososphize as to WHY we should use these innate gifts? WE are the Stewards and We have Reclaimed our Rights and Respsonsiblities as Such.‘The time is Now, the Moment is Here’ will we Answer the Call to Seize the Day? YES WE CAN!!!

Hope is so transitory. Elusive and temporary. The last eight years of Bushco left many painful scars. Speaking of which, hey Crackerman how’s that dual citizenship gig working for you? I’ve not forgotten. Nope. Ain’t about to let it go either. Eight long, interminably long years, and so many scars. Brandings! Epithets and slander. Criticism of Israel has NEVER been “anti-Semitic” nor anti-Semitism. “Yes We Can” and would that mean holding Bushco and the war criminals to account? How many fine American service boys and girls are dead and worse than dead for the Bushco lies? How about the truth and 9/11/01? Did American government allow that atrocity? The ‘renditions’, the illegal detentions, and that John Yoo torture! Yoo is a bastard and I’ll say so until my dying breath. Yes, with the landslide of Barack Obama comes hope. However, there are remaining memories and painful memories at that. Anti-Semitic? Hey Crackerman, I’ve got your “anti-Semitic” right here. You punk! We just might get to meet face to face one day. I look forward to that. Oh yes I do.
Eight years of horrific treason are at last coming to an end. That being stated, Bushco is in office UNTIL January 20, 2009. I hope that silly genocidal maniac can be held in check. Wow, checks and balances. Does America still celebrate that? I hope so.

Millions of us shared in your triumph and marveled in amazement that despite all the threats and dangers we were actually seeing you standing before the nation accepting the presidency of the United States!

There are many things to talk about, but the first order of business is what to do with the extraordinary, unprecedented mass movement your campaign has become. My appeal to you in this moment is to call on that campaign to stay together, to incorporate ourselves as a permanent ongoing mass movement with sections and chapters and branches, in order to defend and promote your program for change, and to organize and represent the interests of the common people. You are going to need this, need us, if you are going to succeed where so many others have failed.

As an organizer and a student of history you know the value and potential of such a movement. You’ve seen enough of Washington and how the centers of power work to know what extraordinary and unrelenting pressures you will be under from the corporations, the rich and powerful and from the “permanent government”. And you must know the long sad history of people who went to Washington to bring about change - only to get swallowed up by it.

As you well know, in American campaign-based politics the people get involved for the duration of the campaign and then after the election disperse and leave their successful candidate to join that “permanent government. And you’ve lived through enough campaigns to know the perennial dream of the campaigners that the campaigns could continue as a movement.

Mr. President, the organizers and stalwarts of your campaign are ready and waiting for your call to transform ourselves into an ongoing movement, and we believe you will call on us to do so! The times, the dangers and challenges we face are extraordinary, and you need our power and our protection behind you - and our pressure on you - in the months and years ahead.

This is potentially a transformational moment for the Democratic Party, a moment for it to be reborn as a genuine mass-based “party of the people”, the party that we need it to be, and that you need it to be. Seize the moment, and call us to our greatness again!

As momentous as this is and it is momentous; I have a question, a few actually:
Just how much/what power does Obama actually have?  Is he still his own man?  To whom and what does he owe?  After all is said and done; the Piper must be paid.