• May 27, 2012

Obama Advisor Larry Summers Linked To Communists!

by Sara K. Smith  11:26 am November 24, 2008

Our nation's shameDid you know that Barack Obama is packing his economic advisory team with known communist associates? It’s true! Larry Summers, Obama’s likely head of the National Economic Council, had to resign from the presidency of Harvard University in 2006 for the grievous crime of being an asshole. After that he went to work part-time for the D.E. Shaw Group, a big fancy hedge fund run by intellectuals. D.E. Shaw “was founded in a small office over a communist bookstore in New York’s Greenwich Village in 1988.” COMMUNISTS EVERYWHERES, Q.E.D. When will Barack Obama apologize for this latest unseemly association? (Thank you, Thomas, for the tip!) [Wall Street Journal]

{ 60 comments }

Sans the Diaper November 24, 2008 at 11:30 am

WTG THOMAS!!

Terry November 24, 2008 at 11:34 am

I am a bit surprised that women’s groups aren’t a bit more vocal about the potential Summers appointment.

TGY November 24, 2008 at 11:35 am

What is this, the Hunt for Red Obama?

IntergalacticSlut November 24, 2008 at 11:36 am

Everybody knows “intellectual” = “communist”.

Those damn el33tz!

rambone November 24, 2008 at 11:36 am

How exactly does a communist store function?

You just sort of mosey on in and they let you take only what you need? As you leave, do you notice that they relieved you of some of the stuff in your checked bags, according to your abilities?

monty November 24, 2008 at 11:37 am

i asked my good friend N.B. Forrest and he said it sounded like dirty communism to him. Of course he chews his toenails so take anything he says with a grain of salt.

metropolitan November 24, 2008 at 11:38 am

there hasn’t been a communist in the west village since like 1959. i mean that neighborhood is nothing but piano bars for gay tourists from the midwest and offices for hedge funds run by intellectuals.

V572625694 November 24, 2008 at 11:38 am

Summers may well be an asshole, but he got a bum rap at Hahvahd. He just asked whether it might be worth studying whether women’s inability to read road maps or something is genetically innate or culturally determined. If universities can’t study controversial questions, why have them–just for the football team?

SayItWithWookies November 24, 2008 at 11:38 am

Oh, how misinformed the WSJ is — not even commies read commie literature. Has anyone ever gotten through a paragraph of Regis DeBray without falling asleep? In reality the communist “bookstore” is just a front for a heroin trafficking organization.

hedgehog November 24, 2008 at 11:39 am

Sara, ’round these parts that kind of insinuation is known as Thoughtcrime. It’s the kind of thing that causes one to become an Unperson.

My suggestion: stop maligning The One and drink your Victory gin in silence.

Rush November 24, 2008 at 11:39 am

Sorry, I’m still getting over the Franken photo from the prior post. Oh the humanity….

JamesMichaelCurley November 24, 2008 at 11:39 am

Hey! That poster says fvama.

Ted Perino November 24, 2008 at 11:40 am

Damn it, now I’ve got to match a red beret with my keffiyah. Jeez, how am I supposed to dress for the coronation of King Hussein I?

AngryBlakGuy November 24, 2008 at 11:41 am

…communist, socialist, marxist?! Is there a political movement that Barack Obama isn’t associated with?

metropolitan November 24, 2008 at 11:42 am

[re=184377]Terry[/re]:
i think plenty of women are saying, “all is forgiven, just save my 401K!”

this administration is about getting people who are good at their jobs and certain infractions are forgiven. if the obama campaign was a political correct witch hunt, biden would have never gotten VP.

look i’m all for ganging up on sexist idiots but daddy needs a new pair of shoes here, sweetie!

SayItWithWookies November 24, 2008 at 11:43 am

[re=184379]TGY[/re]: And to think we almost elected that Russian, Sarah Palin, for VP. Them commies is everywhere.

BarthexDeRosa November 24, 2008 at 11:43 am

In Soviet Union, communist bookstore founded in small office over YOU!

Texan Bulldoggette November 24, 2008 at 11:46 am

Does Barry know anyone who isn’t a secret Muslin, terrorist, Communist, Socialist, fist-jabbing ‘Merica-hatin furreigner?? Doesn’t he know any real Americans that hail from OK or AL? You know someone who supports the troops (but never enlists), waves the American flag at their house next to their Hyundai & thinks any type of education is for fags. Where are those people in Barry’s cabinet?!?

rambone November 24, 2008 at 11:49 am

[re=184386]V572625694[/re]: I heard he also wanted to find out why the ladies wouldn’t respond to his sexual overtures. His favorite pickup technique was reciting Dice Clay’s epic poem, Hickory Dickory Dock.

magic titty November 24, 2008 at 11:51 am

[re=184377]Terry[/re]: What women’s groups? Destiny’s Child broke up, The WNBA is in the tank, and the Pussycat Dolls are too dumb to form an opinion about anything beyond leotards.

Serolf Divad November 24, 2008 at 11:51 am

[re=184381]rambone[/re]:

When I was in college I was once cornered by a wild eyed girl who explained to me that, in coddling the petit brougeoise, Salvador Allende had failed to institute a true worker’s revolution. And then she sold me a subscription to the Workers’ Vanguard. (No, I wasn’t hoping to get lucky. I was terrified and hoping to be released from the grip of this scary Trotskyist.)

When I got my first copy, I noticed with amusement that under the price (which was probably around $.35 an issue) was printed the phrase “At a price that workers can afford!” Not sure if they hired a Madison Avenue ad agency to come up with that slogan, or if they developed it internally. I do wonder if it had the intended effect on sales.

bago November 24, 2008 at 11:52 am

Greenwich does not have nearly enough sand for the Communist Beach Party!

Mustang November 24, 2008 at 11:53 am

[re=184385]metropolitan[/re]: I know! That’s so funny. Communist bookstore in 1988. HAHAHAHAHA. Stop you’re killing me.

StrangelyBrown November 24, 2008 at 11:53 am

Winning an election means never having to apologize for anything ever again. Have you people learned nothing from the last eight years?

Theodorick Of York November 24, 2008 at 11:53 am

[re=184386]V572625694[/re]:
Hahvahd? Football?

Jobbotch November 24, 2008 at 11:54 am

[re=184391]JamesMichaelCurley[/re]: Yup – that’s as annoying as those Borat posters that actually said BORDT.
But I guess ОБАМА is too close to the original to be interesting. What can you do, dude transcends alphabets!

Mustang November 24, 2008 at 11:54 am

The chairman looks so hot in that picture with his luscious lips and his hammer and sickle barrette.

Jean Hotman, Marquis de Villers-St-Paul November 24, 2008 at 11:55 am

[re=184391]JamesMichaelCurley[/re]: Are you sure the second letter isn’t just the “soft sign”? Then the word in the poster would be something like “f’ama” as if it was some weird Cthulhu thing.

p-Sludge ofTheElves November 24, 2008 at 11:56 am

[re=184381]rambone[/re]: everything is free. But if you don’t leave an appropriate donation you get sent to the gulag.

p-Sludge ofTheElves November 24, 2008 at 11:58 am

Such a double-standard. Palin was geographically linked to Communists too, but nobody suspected her of anything.

V572625694 November 24, 2008 at 11:59 am

[re=184389]hedgehog[/re]: Very nice. I’m ready for the next Two Minutes Hate! ‘Cause Oceania has always been at war w/Eurasia.

[re=184407]Theodorick Of York[/re]: Yeah, really. They should concentrate on the important stuff like neck size rather than SAT scores.

Texan Bulldoggette November 24, 2008 at 12:00 pm

[re=184409]Mustang[/re]: I think you mean ‘beret’; ‘barrette’ is what little girls wear in their hair. (It kind of ruined the whole imagery thing you had going!)

p-Sludge ofTheElves November 24, 2008 at 12:01 pm

[re=184409]Mustang[/re]: Beret? to me it looks like it was shaved into his hair.

WhatTheHeck November 24, 2008 at 12:05 pm

Built upon a communist foundation, a capitalist hedge fund is born.
This is too tasty for words.

There are reds under the stairs in every government office now. Ha.

Mustang November 24, 2008 at 12:07 pm

[re=184415]Texan Bulldoggette[/re]: No, I meant barrette. It looks like a barrette, not a beret. Anyway, he looks hot with a barrette or a beret or a tutu.

forgracie November 24, 2008 at 12:07 pm

Well I bet Sara Palin finally feels vindicated!

Terry November 24, 2008 at 12:10 pm

[re=184381]rambone[/re]:

No, a communist bookstore is run by a dedicated capitalist who wears the appropriate hippie/commie clothes, nods along with his customers pretending to be one of them, and very happily takes their money.

Terry November 24, 2008 at 12:12 pm

[re=184402]magic titty[/re]:

The Pussycat Dolls lasting cultural impact was boosting the sales of cherry chapstick.

p-Sludge ofTheElves November 24, 2008 at 12:19 pm

[re=184428]Terry[/re]: for the nethers!

azw88 November 24, 2008 at 12:21 pm

So Obama will look Putin in the eye and see Summers!

Hooray For Anything November 24, 2008 at 12:21 pm

This should make all the progessives happy who’ve been complaining that Barry hasn’t been nominating enough Commies to his cabinet.

PrairiePossum November 24, 2008 at 12:25 pm

I am anxiously awaiting the appointment of Bill Ayers as Director of Homeland Security – that should drive the wingnuts into a tailspin.

ella November 24, 2008 at 12:26 pm

[re=184385]metropolitan[/re]: Maybe they mean the one in Chelsea on 23rd. I’m sure to the WSJ, anything south of Macy’s seems like the depraved and Commie-loving Village.

IceCreamEmpress November 24, 2008 at 12:29 pm

Summers totally did not get “a bum rap” at Harvard. It wasn’t just that he was an asshole, it was that he was idiot enough to recite reams of stupid anecdata a la “AND THEN THE LITTLE GIRLS ALL PLAYED WITH THE DOLLS, NOT THE TRAINS! AND THE BOYS USED THE BROOMS AS GUNS!” to a room full of tenured female professors of actual sciences, who realized what a complete moron he was and then publicized it.

Also, he was rude to rich WASPs. That’s pretty much the ultimate sin at Harvard.

And, yes, femininists (including me) were all up in arms about Summers, which may well be why he’s just a spear-carrier instead of Lord High King of the Treasury like he wanted.

metropolitan November 24, 2008 at 12:31 pm

[re=184447]ella[/re]:
yeah, i thought about the chelsea one (considering it’s the only communist bookstore i’ve ever know of in nyc). and it’s easy to see how a wsj writer might think greenwich village and chelsea are the same (meaning he only goes there for the glory holes in the x rated peep booths).

metropolitan November 24, 2008 at 12:33 pm

[re=184455]IceCreamEmpress[/re]:
the idea with the obama cabinet is that you get people who are good at their jobs, not just people who tow the line in ideology.
getting ideologues who were not necessarily the most qualified at their jobs was probably the biggest mistake the bush administration did.
ideological purity as a test for a job can lead to many unqualified idiots running the place. we can’t make that same mistake again.

rambone November 24, 2008 at 12:33 pm

[re=184455]IceCreamEmpress[/re]: Wow, sounds like someone’s a little cranky. :)

JamesMichaelCurley November 24, 2008 at 12:35 pm

Jean Hotman, Marquis de Villers-St-Paul Strickly speaking, nothing is correct with the b on the poster. A lower case Ve looks like our B but smaller, though the “b” is acceptable when written in russian in script. A soft sign is not correct after the Russian “Ef” and a hard sign is not correct before the vowel “a” only the russian ya, ye yo and yu.

qwerty42 November 24, 2008 at 12:35 pm

at least he isn’t a nazi. an illinois nazi. well, that congressman thinks he is, so maybe he is a communist nazi. they’re the worst.

magic titty November 24, 2008 at 12:38 pm

[re=184455]IceCreamEmpress[/re]: Well, the part about him being rude to rich WASPS – that’s a good thing, right?

azw88 November 24, 2008 at 12:44 pm

[re=184464]qwerty42[/re]: Illinois Nazis, I hate Illinois Nazis!

Serolf Divad November 24, 2008 at 12:53 pm

[re=184455]IceCreamEmpress[/re]:

And, yes, femininists (including me) were all up in arms about Summers, which may well be why he’s just a spear-carrier instead of Lord High King of the Treasury like he wanted.

LOL! I think you’re enjoying this waaay too much, Empress!

S.Luggo November 24, 2008 at 1:17 pm

Last year David Shaw sold a 20% interest in the D.E. Shaw Group to Lehman Brothers. Ha, ha, ha. Suckahs.

PsycGirl November 24, 2008 at 1:40 pm

I bought a T-shirt at an anarchist bookstore in Philadelphia in 1992. It’s good to know that this will not necessarily hold me back.

Neon Trotsky November 24, 2008 at 1:51 pm

[re=184463]JamesMichaelCurley[/re]: Obviously, as any reader of Cyrillic would guess, the poster says F’DMD, as in, “We are Effin’ Damned’ if Barry O Wins”

Neon Trotsky November 24, 2008 at 1:54 pm

[re=184455]IceCreamEmpress[/re]: Don’t condemn ol’ Larry Summers for being “rude to rich WASPs”–I view that as a decidedly positive trait…

P.T.T. November 24, 2008 at 2:02 pm

I’ve been to a communist store. It had very bored looking chain-smoking babushkas who paid no attention at all to customers who didn’t speak the local lingoski very well, and shelves stocked with exactly one “brand” of each necessity. One asked for “the soap” or “the bread” or “the prophylatic” . . . except of course–COMMIE languages don’t have ARTICLES!!!! Still it was charming to finish one’s shopping so quickly and get back to a nice long afternoon with The Beer and a Dostoevsky novel.

S.Luggo November 24, 2008 at 3:22 pm

[re=184458]metropolitan[/re]: Larry Summers good at his job? Only if you count his time as Alan Greenspan’s gay lover: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081118_change_we_can_bank_on/?ln See paragraph’s 2 – 6 and final paragraph.

Sans the Diaper November 24, 2008 at 5:35 pm

<—-seen Reds five times

IceCreamEmpress November 24, 2008 at 7:10 pm

Don’t condemn ol’ Larry Summers for being “rude to rich WASPs”–I view that as a decidedly positive trait…

I was not condemning it at all! But the crazy, ill-informed anti-woman rant was to his career at Harvard what tax evasion was to Al Capone’s career as a free man–a convenient, clear-cut pretext to get rid of the guy.

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