Bernanke's appointment to a second run as chairman of the Federal Reserve was pretty much expected by all -- it seems too disruptive to switch Bernanke out for Summers (or anyone else) because Wall Street would react wildly. And since Wall St is what the financial elites and the bankers care about, the media and our president focus their attention there, watching how Wall St does day to day as the barometer for recovery.

But, there is no reason why Obama should not have appointed Bernanke -- the public can't understand and doesn't care about what the central bank does, while public advocates have been unable to pin the central bank with any real blame. The central bank has done a good job of shirking any responsibility of keeping the predatory and subprime bubble from growing and bursting. But, they are the central banks and of course it was partly their fault. They're the ones who set monetary policy. So, the public should take a hard look at the central bank, yes. But, perhaps we need to all start caring about the central bank even more than we did prior to the appointment. Maybe someone should start a petition that gets the Federal Reserve to recognize their role in the crisis and to not repeat what they have done.

Obama is a bystander to the economic recovery, leaving all the decisions to Geithner and Bernanke. He is playing such a small leadership role on this issue, it's like he's literally turned into a fly on the issue. I know that Geithner knows way more than Obama does about the economy, but Obama has the ability to recognize upwards wealth redistribution when it happens, right?

As the confusion over what Obama has always wanted to do vs what he is able to do with his presidency looms over his supporters, maybe we can objectively look at whether or not Obama has given his all. And if the answer is no, maybe this is our opportunity to start making Obama get more involved in the discourse. He needs to get involved at the level where he could personally publish articles on the root causes of the crisis and what we need to do to keep the big banks from continuing to make the most of hard-earned American dollars. But, if he won't get down and dirty, we'll keep pushing for those who are -- we support Dean Baker's plan to democratize the Fed.

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