When bloggers attack.
Hell yeah, I want my pony!
This article at The People’s View should be required reading for all those interested in discovering what some parts of both the right and left of the blogosphere have to gain in trying to destroy (fortunately unsuccessfully, I think) President Obama–or, more accurately, what they have to gain in upping the ante on false outrage in a public forum. (Here’s a hint: it’s the same thing anti-corporatists are always claiming (often rightly) is the end goal of every politician.) One wonders how much time MLK or Gandhi would have had for this kind of kabuki.
It is egregious, almost to the point of offensive, to mention Obama’s name with world changing leaders like MLK and Gandhi. Obama has shown no such leadership. No one can deny, he was handed near disaterous circumstances. However, his pragmatism, while defensible, has certainly seen him plot a center-right course: continuing and extending Bush II violations of civil liberties, a ramped up war in Afghanistan & Pakistan, a Republican Sec. Def., no new stimulus, a tax bill the ultra-rich love…
The post you site, excoriates the Left for wanting him to be more ideologically pure. It is correct that the true Blue Left has got to quit hoping they elected Lenin or Trotsky president; Obama never campaigned on that platform. He was a pragmatic centrist in his campaign rhetoric; he simply did not go out of his way to correct those who projected their visions on to his call for “change.”
However, it short-sighted to argue that the Left cannot complain that they might have done better with another candidate or that the differences between how Obama and McCain might have governed are very small indeed. The real issue that has the third of the country to Obama’s left pissed off, is that he is going to get his ass kicked in 2012.
He is governing from what the Left perceives as the center-right, yet producing such a Republican, populist, right-wing backlash that we are going to end up with Sarah Palin or Newt Gingrich as President. And for what?
At least he might have tried something radical… a huge stimulus, an immigration bill, a rapid draw down in Afghanistan, a real withdrawal from Iraq, a shift in rhetoric about nationalism, sovereignty and terrorism. Nope, nope, no, no, no.
The Left has every right to be bitter. 2008 saw record setting voter turnout and fundraising, yet Obama is damp squib. Milquetoast policy, only to walk directly into a pummeling in 2012 that will get someone further to the Right than Bush II elected. Hey newsflash to the anti-ideologues, THAT SUCKS!
The Left has every right to be peeved and unmotivated.
If we had a center-right McCain Presidency right now, stumbling and bumbling down a very similar path, there would be no chance of a Palin or Gingrich Presidency in 2012 and the country would be demanding a move to the Left. Instead, Obama gave us McCain light and the country is demanding a sharp move to the right.
Dr. King and Gandhi, obviously with much greater freedom of action outside the halls of government, did not settle for such compromise. Rosa Parks didn’t say, “Well, at least they will let me sit in the middle of the bus, even if I can’t sit anywhere I want…”
No, Aaron, it’s really not egregious…at all. I’m not surprised you disagree with the article–you’ve made it clear before that you hate Obama and everything he stands for. But you’re much smarter than to suggest that it would be better to have a center-right McCain Presidency, or even more ridiculously to suggest that Obama is McCain light.
First, your argument is completely incoherent–Obama is “milquetoast,” but somehow he’s created such anti-left fervor that Genghis Khan is a shoo-in for 2012? Quite apart from the fact that you’re badly misreading his electoral chances (he’s going to be re-elected easily, in part because of my second argument below), do you think–using pure logic–that trying to tack even further left would have LESSENED this supposed backlash from the right? Of course that’s self-evidently absurd. By clever politics and careful management, he operated within disastrous circumstances to create a far, far better social framework than what he inherited…and he’s done it in two years. He’s doing exactly what he said he would do: create new and better policy. And he’s done it, in fact, better than any president since FDR. That’s fact, not Daily Kos hyperbole. You’re quite right that he’s not Dr. King and Gandhi–he’s the President of the United States, who is INSIDE the halls of government. And inside those halls, he’s been enormously, transformatively effective. (I’m also amused by your outrage over the MLK comparison. Go look up some Malcolm X speeches and see what he thought of MLK’s milquetoast, whitewashed approach to the civil rights movement. See how many times he thought MLK was Uncle Tom, and how many times the same claim has been made relating to Obama, and then come tell me how silly the comparison between the two is. No one would have been more admiring of Obama’s achievements than MLK. NO ONE.)
But wait, you say: he “pre-caves” too much. He doesn’t fight “for us” (without recognizing the almost staggering arrogance this statement reflects). Surely he could have given Congress a stern talking-to as the PL is demanding, then smiled beatifically as the Republicans bowed down in shame and apologized and moved out of the way as one progressive policy after the other cut through the Congress like a hot knife through butter. Again, Aaron, you’re too smart to believe this. The Republicans are determined, DETERMINED, to destroy this president by any means necessary, and they’re not even being subtle about it. They want this uppity black man (“that one”) out of office, maybe even (if the radicals who can hear the dog whistles can manage it) out of the world altogether. Obama’s main fault is in continuing to believe that you can work with these people, but I’d rather he have that fault than run around, Keith Olbermann style, firing out more spit-flecked invectives at those that aren’t appropriately pure.
Under the circumstances, then, Obama is not only doing the best he can, but better–continuing to doggedly press towards progress rather than win a series of useless moral victories which might make Jane Hamsher (that sage of political discourse) feel better but would do nothing in the real world. And I’m passionate about the real world, because it’s the one in which I, and you, and most people live. And in the real world, I have relatives with serious medical problems who would ALREADY BE DEAD without Obama. No hyperbole. Without HCR, they would be off insurance, denied future coverage, and dead. Full stop. Given those facts, you better believe I’m going to continue to fight for someone who remains the only president I’ve been honored to vote for, and will be honored to vote for again…because he has, literally, saved millions of people.
Obama is by no means a perfect president–I have some disagreements with him myself–but he’s a damn good one, and it’s fortunate that in the real world, most Americans agree. Because despite the hysterics of far right and left, the vast majority of Americans like the tax deal just passed–a lot. The vast majority of Americans like the new health care plan (and are liking more and more of it every day as they see its effects)–a lot. And a small but growing majority of Americans, more than was the case at the identical points in any of the past SEVEN presidents’ terms, recognize that President Obama hasn’t just done a good job, he’s done a spectacular one. I hope that over time and with reflection, you’ll come to the same realization. As always, though, thanks for the feedback.
“Obama is by no means a perfect president–I have some disagreements with him myself–but he’s a damn good one, and it’s fortunate that in the real world, most Americans agree.”
Great response. Plus, the two latest polls this week indict that over 80% of liberals continue to support Obama and approve of the job he is doing. I think the pollster were Gallup and ABC.
Thanks, Dorothy. And a quick update: DADT was repealed by the Senate today, defeating the filibuster efforts of one Mr. John McCain. President Obama will sign that bill the minute it hits his desk. Of course, this is exactly what a President McCain would have done when…
Oh…yeah. Hmm.
🙂
I have not been here for a while, but the lame duck session was a rousing good time for all of us who support Obama.
I love the line McCain would have done the same thing. I was out to dinner with a gay couple the day after DADT was passed, and their response was Bush would have done it too. NO big deal. Egad. It is never enough is it?
Nope, not for them–but it is for most of us, thank goodness. And welcome back to TMR!
[…] Obama’s speech, invoking not the politically driven aspects of what happened (which I’ve discussed elsewhere) but the things which matter most at a time like this–what should ultimately bring us […]
Oh, I will. Thanks for your insights.
Wow! I just read this again. Thank you for your stand up.