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I knew we were in trouble when Obama filled his financial advisory team with the very same people that caused the financial system to collapse with their criminal activity, and his caving to their fear mongering. Instead of the kind of bold steps that would have made for a faster turnaround (such as placing the big banks into government conservatorship - to use Stiglitz's term - and then forcing them to break up and otherwise reorganize), he pumped billions more of taxpayer money into the same institutions, rewarding the crooks that got us into this mess in the first place.
Down the line came the DOMA filing which vilified gays and lesbians and his tepid response thereto. While his administration has been better in later court filings, it needs to be said, once again, that the administration does NOT have to defend DOMA; the administration CHOOSES to defend DOMA. That coupled with his inaction on repealing DOMA and DADT and the lack of meaningful support for UAFA shows that his commitment to GLBT issues is nil. Once again GLBTs have been suckered into supporting a non-starter.
I had high hopes for this administration, even though I held my nose and voted for him in the general election. I have made it clear to our local Democratic party that I will not contribute a single dime more to them or the national party until I see meaningful action on the LGBT rights front.
Come 2010, if Congress hasn't moved on LGBT issues, I will vote Green. If Obama hasn't moved on LGBT issues in 2012, I will vote Green. If health reform does not have a strong public option, I wlll reregister Green. I've had enough of the Democrats promising us the moon and then failing to deliver anything at all.
If my voting Green helps the Republicans, so be it. I'm done voting for the lesser of two evils. If the Republicans win, then perhaps this country is simply getting what it deserves.
Then the only reasonable ID for such a party is an explicit ANTI-CORPORATIST party. Now, how about a name that doesn't mitigate that specific platform?
Progressive doesn't say it.
Green, sadly, doesn't do it.
Socialist hasn't been able to say it or do it.
Pirate is all about setting capitalism aside? Let's see:
http://www.pp-international.net/
So.....
Ugh.
My guess is Kit's disillusionment and frustration stems from trying to reconcile what is supposed to be reality according to 'The America Story,' with the actual events: Torture without consequences, Constitutional violations, the slaughter of thousands upon thousands for a tissue of lies-also without consequences, bank fraud-without consequences, disappearing TARP funds-without accountability or consequences, CEO bonuses and acquisitions paid with our tax money-without consequences and with Obama's blessing, Obama discouraging legally compelled investigations, Obama's about-face on virtually every campaign promise, blocking substantive investigations of bush, voting for telecom immunity, obstructing single payer; the one program that has proven less expensive and sporting better results and longevity than our current insurance-sponsored lottery-like consignments to illness and death.
Meanwhile, thousands lose their homes, watch their premiums skyrocket, their jobs lose their retirement; all the while Obama's acolytes are angrily sputtering a variation of the last administration: It's all hard work.
Obama does, however, give speeches; He just doesn't lead.
Kit's stress at the inability to syncretize the current, bald corruption in our government with the inculcated concept within every high school civics class concerning rule of Constitutional law in government will, I surmise, subside only with the acceptance that a klatch of moneyed corporations make policy under the stage-managed guise of "democratic" decision.
Of course, that stress will doubtless be replaced by several choices: fight the money flowing into our governmental system, march on Washington, civil disobedience, the list is limited only to the individual. The most difficult choice, however, is to trust your own counsel; the nagging certainty that something is desperately wrong, do your research and not to trust the MSM or the 'representatives' who discourage you from trusting your 'lyin' eyes.'
The individuals who rolled over for bush's illegal war, voted for his wiretap-"Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free" card and are in the process of killing an overdue single-payer program are still leading the democratic party. They are still, with few exceptions, lying to you; representing the healthcare battle as a 'struggle' when, in actuality, they are performing theater to obscure the payola and make this feces casserole more palatable for the general public if they can convince you that they tried.
When we finally accept what the real problem is, only then can it correctly and effectively be addressed.
V for Vendetta was a great movie. But it was also a fable.
Most appropriate, since the campaign promises that have brought us one Constitutional contravention after another were also fables.
Our laws are becoming fables.
Our treaties, due process and equality under the law are regarded as fables among our vaunted gaggle of millionaires who purport to represent our best interests and the Constitution.
The MSM are catapulting fables and false dilemmas to distort and misrepresent the truth; giving inordinate air to pundits who have collectively and invariably been wrong about the tenor, threat and spirit of this nation; as well as cheerleading for special interests owned by the very media that selectively broadcast pro-bottomline opinions cloaked as cautionary authority.
This graphic nom de guerre is most apposite.
And so, as I write, the way to do it is to create a party that is explicitly anti-plutocrat. How does one implement that? Maybe with test markets in local elections in 2010?
But I see this. We have to have a two level allegiance now, since to vote against Dems is SURE to bring about what we really don't want, regardless what is bad right now in the short term:
Local/state races = Strong independent candidates.
National = Just bite the pillow, ok?
Ugh.
But I'm not ready to give up just yet. Perhaps Obama is starting slowly. But if Republicans get back in control without some fundamental fixes to this country, then to hell with it. How long should I stay married to this abusive spouse?
if he would have tried some of the current b.s. reasoning for preventative detention in those law classes he "taught," he would have been laughed out of the hall.
many, many more now are seeing him for the vain and intellectually dishonest man that he is.
If you voted for Obama, you did not vote for a dictator.
Perhaps if you voted for Bush/Cheney, in 2004, you did.
Clinton won both his elections because Ross Perot drew off a substantial part of the Wingnut vote.
Obama won an outright majority with no third party help.
53% of the vote against 46%.
46% is the base of non-Progressives.
The Repubs hold 40% of the United States Senate and have the power if they all stick together to filibuster. Sure, 60 Democrats MIGHT vote cloture, but getting 60 Democrat (including Lieberman, Lincoln, Nelson, Landrieu) to vote with the Party to shut down a filibuster is a daunting task. Anyone remember the esteemed Lieberman endorsed McCain.
Early on Obama kept the Democrats in the Senate from "punishing" Lieberman for campaigning for McCain. That's one of the first instances when Obama was called "weak."
Thing is, had Lieberman been pushed into the Repub caucus, he would be with his new peers, implacably AGAINST any health care reform and everything else proposed by Obama.
We ALL have "progressive" issues near and dear to our hearts.
If Obama fails, and Romney or Cheney or Palin or Jeb Bush or any Repub follow, you can ABSOLUTELY and TOTALLY forget those issues near and dear to YOUR heart.
Clinton stood before Congress and threatened a veto if he didn't get the health care bill he demanded. He got no health care bill---
Clinton's Presidency died the death of a thousand paper cuts from wingnut attacks. At least his progressive allies stood with him.
In no way do I say that anyone disappointed with Obama's policies thus far should hold their voice. Stand on the ramparts and advocate your cause!
Just stop being fellow travelers with the Wingnuts.
Till then, we're still waiting on DOMA/DADT, indefinite detention/torture, FISA, Afghanistan/Iraq, real health reform, and all the rest that he ran on and did a 180 on currently.
Your big scary "but he's better than the repubs!" notion doesn't wash if all he does is continue their shit, now does it.
You are pathetic. He's been there for 8 months and he's been nothing short of amazing. He's passed everything he's tried to pass. And we'll probably have a public option, so you can shove that up your ass too.
You people are nothing more than pathetic children. I hope you all move away and stop whining. Obama will get 52.9% of the vote instead of 53% next time!
And finally, would folks who are blindly happy with the way things are going with the WH and Congress stop threatening the rest of us who do not with Romney, Palin and the like, stop threatening us with memories of the 8 years of Bush....seems to me that we are not travlers with the Wingnuts but you guys who like to threaten those of us we need to sit quietly and appreciate the stuff being tossed off and out of Washington. Jeb Bush, pleez.
Received a polling call asking my opinion of Jeb Bush's candidacy for President.
The first piranha bite won't kill you. But sadly AmericBloggers are dripping blood into the water.
Except for THREE issues: one was the signing of the Lily Ledbetter Bill; the second was the lifting of Bush-era anti-choice rules; and the third and most important by far, has been the nomination and confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor.
The only thing that makes me not want to bolt our moribund "left" completely is that the GOP has been overtaken by far-right, Southern wackos who are even more pro-corporate, anti-science, anti-progress, anti-modernity. All they think about is war, war, war--war on other countries, war on the poor, war on racial, ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities, war on everyone, everywhere.They borrowed and spent us into near oblivion from 2001-2008, and they REFUSE to take responsibility for any of it. The media also refuses to hold them accountable, which is a huge part of the problem.
It's enough to make anyone cynical and just want to give up completely but we absolutely cannot do this, or the most powerful interests will have completely won out.
So far there's *very* little in the Obama administration for Progressives to be happy with.
Democratic "leadership" doesn't get it at all... claiming weak fund raising is due to complaisance. B.S... it's anger about continuing homage to conservative demands, and abandonment of progressive commitments.
I fear we are all in for a very rude awakening in the coming election cycles...
Bush's '04 re-election for us Progressives, was like being raped by a stranger. But the betrayal of the election of '08 is far worse, upon the realization that this time, you've been raped by your family!
If you elect not to leave the Country, I urge you and your friends to change Party affiliation to that of "Independent", and to cease all donations to the Democratic Party and its incumbents. The Democratic Party needs tough love to force them to return to their longstanding charter as "the Party of the People".....instead of their current iteration as "The Corporatist Party" (or as a friend refers to them as "The Weaselcrats)"!
Who do Independents reasonably vote for?
I would vote for a Bernie Sanders here in Illinois... So long as that candidate doesn't caucus with Republicans....
See? It's fundamentally a two-party system UNTIL we change the Constitution. Oh, wait... that's gonna be hard...
Ugh.
Guys, seriously. HE'S HAD TIME TO MOVE IN THE TOTAL OPPOSITE DIRECTION ON 90% OF HIS CAMPAIGN PROMISES.
It's not a matter of waiting, it's a matter of DIRECTION. He's going THE WRONG WAY. He's gone THE WRONG WAY in the 8 months he's been in office.
He's had time to do that, so where is this "he hasn't had time to fix anything" mantra coming from?
YOU CANNOT FIX PROBLEMS BY COMPOUNDING THEM.
Will you vote Democratic for another candidate?
Or will you vote for another party altogether?
@ Socialist?
@ Communist?
@ Green?
@ Progressive
@ Pirate?
Give us a positive answer, rather than saying for whom you will not vote. OK?
Peace.
There will need to be someone running who represents the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party before I vote Democrat again. Someone with a spine. Someone in touch with the world outside the beltway.
Dean for America, 2012
You obviously have a deep affection for Obama. I do not. I have a deep affection for progressive principles, I'm not blinded by the celebrity. I do want him to succeed in at least what he campaigned for - the Baucus bill is lightyears to the right of the healthcare plan he campaigned for. As for doing us some big favor by running for president and putting his and his family's life in danger...that was his choice, it fed his ego and he and his family will live with the consequences. There are others with small children who would have waited until the kids were older before spending 2 years on the road campaigning and then having a 24/7 job - he decided that he felt the fierce urgency of now - his choice, done for him.
And it's not because I feel bad for Obama, I'm concerned about the country.
If president can't immediately change things, if people don't see their issues dealt with swiftly, then they want a change. Really...
This is the same thinking Nader espoused when he said "there's no difference" (between Bush and Gore).
I agree we should keep pressure on Obama in constructive ways -- MoveOn.org's been really effective. Let's pick a couple of major issues and keep working on those. To think Obama's going to "reform corporate America" in a few months or in a single presidency, or EVER is ridiculous.
Get a grip, people, or we'll be back to Bush because this type of constant diatribe only works on embolden and strengthen the opposition. Good luck with it.
He needs to understand that the "far left" are the common folks - white and blue collar middle-america who have had their retirements robbed, their work ethic violated and their hope of a better tomorrow destroyed by the interests of corporate greed and government complicity. He needs to understand this - let the letter writing commence!
Do you think Obama cares? Do you think he really, really cares? The Oval Office has to have the round file dumped several times a day to get rid of all the mail from disgruntled voters. Obama will be rewarded by the corporations with hundreds of millions after his term in office and he knows that is the smartest thing he can do. Who cares what happens to the American peons, surfs and wage slaves, who amount to nothing in real order of things. Obama cares no more about them than Bush did.
"Here sucker, sucker, sucker ..."
Anyway, if people here are too hard on Obama, so be it. That's no reason to viciously attack them. Stop taking it so personally. For a bit of practice, pretend you are gay and then go into one of the millions of rabid anti-gay right wing forums. See if you can dialogue without loosing your cool. That was my test of fire, my girding of the loins, so to speak. Detach from taking any other person's opinion personally. If you can do that, you will have a much happier life.
We not only gave Obama a majority in the House, we gave him overwhelming numbers.
We not only gave Obama the Senate, we gave him a 60 vote majority.
We put Obama into office with every tool anyone has ever said was necessary to create "change".
Obama has since spent this gift on kissing up to the republicans while ignoring the vast majority of Americans who gave him a clear mandate to govern. Obama has little time left to show that he is up to the challenge and promise of his campaign. I feel that Obama has one year to demonstrate that he is moving our nation in a progressive direction. After that first full year and no progress, Americans will abandon him faster than anyone can say, "No he can't."
"Firestorm threatens to engulf Blanche Lincoln"
Read that, then let's discuss the "60 vote majority."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27637...
The best hope for real health care reform is from a conference to resolve Senate and House versions. All you have seen so far is prologue.
The Repubs are going to vote no.
Olympia Snowe is important to show wavering Dems cloture can be invoked against filibuster even if a Dem wavers. And to give the Blanche Lincolns cover.
I worked for Obama on the theory that my fellow Americans deserved the chance to show that they cared enough about each other to make the US a viable option moving forward. And the strong win made me think this nation had a fighting chance.
But on reflection, the election was a fairly close thing. Back out of the equation the economic collapse coupled with McCain's erratic and bizarre behavior, and all of a sudden the issue seems a lot closer. Imagine if Mittens was the nominee (and it seems likely he will be in 2012): this would have been a nail-biter.
What clinches it for me is the ability for large swaths of America to cozy up to the idea that some torture is OK, that some imperial invading and occupying is OK, that killing tens of thousands of people overseas is an acceptable price to pay for -- I don't even know what.
Bit by bit, the yoke had been fitted and the load increased. Too many Americans are willing to accept third-world status so that our richest citizens can continue to get richer. And now that most of the middle-class' wealth has been looted, I think our plutocratic leaders will inevitably turn to looting the wealth of other nations, using our sole remaining asset: nearly unlimited military strength.
Except of course it isn't unlimited at all. And at some point our interests will collide with those of nations who also have significant military investments.
Our society celebrates brutal, winner-takes-all systems. We have ruined our education and health care systems. We have destroyed our economy. Worst of all, we have decided to embrace the politics of division -- on both sides.
Forgive me if I am left with no conclusion other than that the US is a lost cause. If I had a relatives overseas, I'd go in a heartbeat. As it is, as someone nearly 50 years old with 4 kids, with no useful skills (see how far a magna cum laude law degree and 25 years of corporate practice go outside the US), emigration seems like a dream that my children might aspire to, but is beyond my reach. Like my ancient European ancestors who emigrated here in the 17th century, I cannot see a bright future in the land of my birth, and hope my progeny will find greener pastures elsewhere. (I'm hoping Canada, so I can at least drive to see the grandkids.)
It's a little dark, this POV, and sometimes I have moments of real hope. But these days, not too often.
If you're a "magna cum laude" lawyer with 25 years of corporate practice, there's plenty of work for you in India. In fact, if you did mostly boilerplate work, a lot of that legal work has been outsourced, there.
Here's a link to help you in search out an international job: http://www.strategiclegalperm.com/
The job is
The legal work being done in India is not being done by ex-pat Americans. It's being done by very capable young lawyers and non-lawyers who have come up through the Indian educational system. And like most out-sourcing opportunities, it relies on taking advantage of the difference in the cost structures between the two markets.
So I guess you agree with me: the best thing we can do is to get out of this market and lower our cost structure by moving to overtly 3d world nations. I hope your better half can finish up her career with her Giant Corporation gig, but if anything should happen there, I'll be looking for you in Malaysia.
I'm sure if you wanted to move to India and take a job at one of the firms getting work outsourced from American firms, they would at least give you an interview.
My laid off lawyer friends here aren't getting interviews.
As to the wife, she knows it is only a matter of time until she's told to outsource her own job. As you know, options are slim in this economy, and in the meantime we need the income and the health insurance because we're not only supporting ourselves, but supporting the livelihood of our daughter and son in law --- since he was laid off and can't find work.
As to Malaysia, probably not. I'm thinking after all the giant corporations lay off all the Americans and wages fall to lower than India's, we can start insourcing jobs here.
Joke is going to be on WallyWorld. No one here left who can afford any of their imported kitsch.
I just took a call from the DCCC asking me for money. I told your caller you would be lucky if I were still a Democrat a year from now. There will be no more money from me -- probably for a very long time.
Bear in mind that the Democratic Party is practically in my genes. I gave Obama and Kerry each $800 in their respective races. I give money to the DNC from time to time (I gave money when Dean was chairman). I also have given money to individual races in high-profile races for House and Senate.
Right now, I am disgusted and disheartened by my party. We have a president who is more concerned with being loved by his enemies that being respected by anyone. President Obama mystifies me. I have simply tuned him out; I am not interested in much of anything he has to say. As for his Cabinet choices, I knew were were in trouble when picked his economic team. The financial sector still rules America.
As for our House and Senate leadership, I rather like Speaker Pelosi. Majority Leader Hoyer on the other hand reminds me of a man who is always desperately trying to escape being a Democrat, let alone a liberal.
The Senate? Oh, my. Senator Reid is in way over his head. Then we come to Mr. Baucus and Mr. Conrad and Ms. Lincoln and some others. What can I say? The insurance industry obviously owns them lock, stock and barrel.
No more money from me. I am not even sure what incentive I have to vote anymore.
Amazing, isn't it? President Obama and the Congressional leadership have managed to squander the political opportunities of a generation in less than one year. And you want me to fund these people?
Get real.
All right. Pick a party. CREATE a new party. Here are some choices and give us some reasons:
0. Christo-Fascist -- Uhh, why?
1. Republican -- Uhh, why?
2. Libertarian -- Uhh, why?
3. Green -- Uhh, why?
4. Progressive -- Uhh, why?
5. Socialist -- Uhh, why?
6. Communist -- Uhh, why?
7. Anarchist -- Uhh, is this even a party?
8. Pirate -- Ahh, now there's a non-party! ;-)
Come on, now tell us why you would not vote Democratic in a national election, AND, tell us what would happen if a critical mass would do as you do? What do you think would happen?
Finally, have you any inclination of running as a third party in a state or local election? Or voting for a strong, rational, persistent third party candidate for a state or local election? See, THAT might make more sense on your part...
Peace.
Ugh.
My wife is a dual citizen with a British passport and family in both France and England. I gave her the lecture about moving to France if McCain won, so I'm not innocent of this kind of debate.
That said, I can't tell you how sad it is to read people expressing such morose sentiments. I know things are painful now, and that they will continue to be painful and descend into a world that is consistently much worse than the world we grew up in. It's true.
But you all need to own up, as do I, that the problems that exist today are natural and to some degree unavoidable. The mistakes humanity has made that have lead us here go back millennia. Barack Obama couldn't fix those problems perfectly even if he was a true progressive, no politician could.
If Hillary Clinton or Dennis Kucinich or John Edwards or whoever had been the nominee, it would have been the exact same. Calculus is Calculus, and our system (which is still a great system) is limited by the realities of population distribution and resource allocation.
Me, I'm staying in my beloved country, and I'm going to fight until I die to make this country better, however I can, and when I see that I am losing the fight, I'm going to summon up every last drop of courage to except the fact that the fight is all there is.
My hope is that those of you who still have that ability will consider it a duty and an honor to do the same, regardless of you disappointments in the moment.
The constant barrage of BS I hear here in Texas (omfg) about the president is a tsunami of crazy and I reject it.
Of course this country has a ruling elite, but even they can/will change when faced with the will of the many.
I, too, am thinking of where I could go, if possible. It was said, even before the election, that Obama could never live up to the hopes and expectations that were being put upon him. That is sure turning out to be true.
I feel disappointed in how slowly he is moving and, I believe, that what has happened this summer, with the town hall riots, and the administrations hands off approach to health care is what has all of us driven to bolt the President, Dem party, and/or the country. His lack of seeming commitment to the public option is the worst part of all. (Not to mention his other brush offs of progressive values).
I think we all sense that the worst side of humanity is showing itself in the extreme right wing opposition which has taken over the dialogue and is seeping into the national conciousness like it's a normal way of behaving. I think that is what has us all wanting to leave the country because we have a sense that it is taking over with no fight from our side. What was once the beautiful idea of the United States of America is now being jihadded by our very own version of the taliban - and they seem to be winning.
I won't give up on the Prez until I see how the health care debacle turns out. If there is a strong public option, I will give him a chance on our other priorities before I write him off. If there is no strong public option, Central America sounds pretty good to me.
Obama was handed an historic opportunity to be the face of change. I voted for him, over Hillary, because I thought he had a better opportunity to move this country forward. But this movement is not dependent on any one leader.
My family came here to escape religious and political persecution in Europe. And, even here, some of my ancestors suffered from the persecution of the ignorant. But we have stood on the right side, more often than not. And I will not succumb to the despair of near-term thinking.
I remember the first time I visited Ireland. I was chatting with an Irish woman who ran a bed and breakfast I was staying at. She asked me if I was going to look for my roots. No, I demurred, my ancestors had left Ireland 150 years earlier. "Ach", she tutted, "that's no time at all." Take the long view, people. And don't ever stop fighting for Liberty and Justice.
I say: DO IT, Kit. I am telling my children to.
I vocally and forcefully campaigned for Obama, knowing that I would lose some family and friends. That was ok, as I knew that his policies would benefit the welfare of all in our country. I looked forward to the day that our President would govern for the good of the nation, would not lie, would not cave in to special interests, and would not be bullied by lobbyists and special interests.
And now, I am even more disappointed than ever. You expect to be let down by your enemies, but I feel we're being stabbed in the back by someone who pretended to want the best for us.
I am personally happy with quite a lot of things that Obama has already accomplished (for one, ensuring that we have a foreign policy not based on pure lunacy and helping the world not hate our guts anymore). There are many things that I'm not happy about (he hasn't rolled back executive power like I wanted and hasn't started the ball rolling on reversing DADT). However, give him some slack. Think about ALL of the things that the Bush administration completely screwed up for the next president. Remember, he didn't just screw up a couple of things, he started 2 wars, destroyed our economy, made the entire world hate us, etc. The recession was pretty much the #1 priority coming into office. Fixing our totally screwed up foreign policy was very important. We're in the middle of two wars with no good way to get out. The health care debate has been assailed by lunatics on the right, scaring the crap out of people with all that "Death Panel" nonsense. The guy's only 10 months in, and has dealt with more pressing issues in that time than many presidents have dealt with in ENTIRE 4 year terms. I am giving him time to live up to his promises. I am still very proud that I worked on is campaign (the first time I'd ever volunteered for a campaign). I think he's doing a good job considering everything he's having to deal with. And remember, presidents can't just govern to make the "base" happy, no matter how much you would like that, unless the base is the majority. There are many more people in the middle that any government also needs to appeal to if they want to get re-elected. If we weren't stuck with a stupid 2-party system, that would be different, but that's a whole other debate.
I would urge people to take a deep breath, think about all the things that happened during the Bush years that Obama is now being forced to fix, and then say that you think he should have already accomplished everything he promised us in a mere 10 months. Fixing all of the numerous things wrong right now is going to take TIME. I'm not expecting many of his promises to reach fruition until the end of his first term.
And just remember--if we slack off and let too many Republicans into office next year, it will be impossible for Obama to achieve anything. Or think of something that inspires me to continue to be active in strongly supporting Democrats: President Palin.
Just so you know - there's another side that's pretty frustrated right now. There are millions of reasonable liberals who see the shrill voices on the internet bashing Obama for this and that, and they sit and wonder, "What did this guy do to piss these people off? He seems like a pretty nice reasonable fellow."
Have Obama's tactics been ineffective so far? Somewhat. Is the guy evil? Should we leave the country now? Should we all run away?
Sounds like birther talk to me. A bit of perspective is in order.
I read the shrill voices here and worry that our Congress will decide that if they are universally hated anyway, the might as well take the money the lobbyists are offering.
Shrill is giving Lt. Col. Fehrenbach a dishonorable discharge.
Shrill is calling gay marriage skin to pedophilia and polygamy.
Shrill is giving precedence to Rick Warren and Donnie McClurkin over so many others.
Shrill is stabbing a constituency you promised to be a "fierce advocate" for in the back.
Shrill is firing hundreds of soldiers after having your wife talk of a civil rights movement "from Selma to Stonewall" at a gay fundraiser.
Those are the sorts of things that are shrill.
Given that, the thought of leaving the country was not possible. So that left Support and Defend.
I to decided Obama was the instrument that could best used to defend the Constitution. So I dug in and volunteered. Made calls, wrote the newspaper, put up yard signs, sent emails, helped staff and computerize the Obama campaign office. What ever it took. I decided I need to continue to honor the oath I took 40 years before.
Election day was the high point of an eight year nightmare.
Now nine months later I feel so betrayed. I feel there is little or no hope for us ever regaining our country and preserving the Constitution.
This is all before the Supreme Court, the Robert's court rules on the personhood of corporations.
Even the things I felt could save the county now seem impossible to attain. Public financing of elections, term limits, ending the revolving door of lobbying and returning to a county of, for and by the people.
This is a country of the corporations. Period!
Then it hit me. We might be able to split our focus. Local and state politics: Independent, Green, Pirate (just kiddding...) or whatever, and then at the National Level, cast a vote in the General Election for Obama (holding my nose, as some of you might say, but consider the da--ed alternative!).
So. OK, as in the case of Bernie Sanders in Vermont, how do we move forward without shooting ourselves in the foot?
Peace.
1) Health care reform – Initially intended to provide a health insurance exchange through which individuals could purchase private or government run insurance (public option), set parameters on premiums, and prevented underwriting due to pre-existing condition. Now, before any true fight begins, they’ve offered up the public option in sacrifice; while there is a clause re covering pre-existing conditions, ins. companies can charge more for covering them. In other words, no real change, and no real reform. That’s change I don’t accept.
2) DOMA, DADT, ENDA, etc. We’ve read plenty here on Ablog and over at HuffPo, not much to say, other than the administration’s actions are clearly inconsistent with promised action on these issues.
3) Education – Please, take some time to read the No Child Left Behind act, and then read the education plan proffered by the Obama administration. Unfortunately, it is nothing more than NCLB 2.0, will not improve our children’s education, and serves to compound the problems of NCLB.
4) PhRMA deal – seriously, the protections afforded this industry will hurt us for decades.
5) Implicit in each of the above is the broken promise to refuse to allow lobbyists and special interests a seat and deciding hand in legislation.
No, this is not a mere matter of impatience, or my response to failed instant gratification. It’s my response to specific actions on the part of the administration, action that makes little sense in light of the democratic majority. No, I am not suggesting Obama’s administration should have rushed in and crammed anything down our collective throats without regard for bipartisanship. However, the approach thus far seems equitable with the kid who seeks out the school bully, hands over his lunch money, and hopes it will stave off getting beat up or ridiculed later.
John mentioned public ire toward Obama in a blog post last week. I realized that I’d bypassed ire and gone straight to disappointed and dejected. (Not surprising considering I worked two jobs, attended school full time, have three children, no health coverage, and volunteered hundreds of thousands of hours on Obama’s behalf.) It’s the notion that the people Obama’s team mobilized to action might collectively feel the same that I find most concerning. Sure, reform isn't for the weak, as someone pointed out below. At some point, however, you might find it concerning that too few can fight for reform because mere survival in this country carries too high a price.
Actually, I think Obama and the bully are in cahoots. That is why nothing is making sense. He and his administration are working with corporate bullies to get them what they want while appearing to be working for the American people. Only the whole charade is kind of falling apart.
And it's not just "bumps in the road" that are frightening so many here, but then there are the dreaded
*quiet moments*
*missteps*
*long, pregnant pauses*
I really think the more we attack Obama the lower the probability we'll get what we want.
Apply pressure, not punches.
Calling from outside the district of a Blue Dog is frankly mental masturbation. Back a primary challenger..that's the language and only language any politician , in particular Blue Dogs, seem to understand. Pushing and shoving on the precinct and ward level seems to be very enlightening for them.
EXACTLY! I always knew this to be true under Bush but I grew to believe that it might be different under a president Obama, but now I see that there really is no difference in the big picture, I have to face the fact that I live in a country run by banks and corporations and their lobbyists and those interests will always prevail over the people's interests.
It's depressing, and only made worse by the morons on the extreme right. I have dual EU/US citizenship and I think about leaving often, and after I watch Harry Reid buckle under AGAIN and see the public option go down the drain it just may be the last straw.
My ancestors lived in Scotland, and I recently went back to visit them. I realized that I had an unconscious American superiority complex, since I expected everything there to be in some way less modern and less prosperous than the good old USA. Imagine my shock when I found that my distant cousins had a higher standard of living than me, including free health care. Plus, the natural landscape was very beautiful (compared to dust dry Arizona). So, I have been checking into relocating there and finding out how it would work, e.g., being retired, would I get pension payments if I had to switch to a British bank? Would I be able to eventually get social security payments while living abroad (I paid into the system for others for 30 years, so yes I do want to have my cake and eat it)? How long can a US citizen stay in Scotland? Is there a maximum length of time? If I became a British citizen, would I immediately qualify for all the benefits of their evil horrible socialized health care system? Can I live where it becomes quite cold in the winter? Could my emotional and physical being and my mind adapt the "future shock" of really leaving the USA behind after living here 57 years? How about the cultural shock of living in another country? Are Americans pariahs or welcome?
When you are very young, moving abroad can be a fun and relatively easy thing to do. But when you get into the late 50's of life, it takes a lot of deliberation.
Yet, as a gay man who has witnessed a great betrayal of the most basic promises to end DADT and DOMA, I am just assured that we are peasant being jossled among corporate interests. Most Americans don't even realize that yet, e.g., the Teabaggers who mindlessly believe all the corporate supporting tripe delivered to them by FOX and its mouthpieces.
Will I be a "Bundle for Britain", which has a very different meaning in 2009 than it had right after WW2 when people sent donations to help rebuild Britain. Now the bundles are American citizens!
Become a dictator?
Maybe instead of pushing Obama to change course, we should push our fellow Democrats to take a Government 101 class and better understand the legislative process. Here's the first lesson:
Barack Obama is not Congress
I can't even think of one significant one. Signing statements? Sure. The rest of them? Well - give him time. DADT will be gone soon and 25 years from now Obama will be heralded as the president who got rid of it. And no one will remember the folks who whined for a few months before it happened.
Is anyone posting on this site older than 12 years old? God get over yourself...
I understand the urge to leave but if we had done that during the Bush years, wouldn't we last November have longed to be a part of the Obama hope?
My forebearers arrived on the Mayflower. Each generation since has contributed to the promise of the US. No matter the wind changes, mine will not be the generation to give up. This is my country and I'm in for the good and the bad...and the fight.
Like Kit, I look at what we have here, and what we COULD have, I start pulling my bags off the shelf to go back to "where I felt more normal." I will just say that watching Fundies, Tea-Baggers, Birthers, Deathers and every fringe group on the right, all I can think of is Sinclair's: "It Can't Happen Here." Friend, it can happen here. And we have a choice:
@ Stay and keep silent.
@ Stay and fight.
@ Leave and keep silent.
@ Leave and still fight.
It depends where you can realize your goals while not dumping on your friends and family.
But remember, the Pilgrims, regardless of their religious zealotry later on in history, LEFT a repressive England to be able to live the way they wanted to. They had to cross a dangerous ocean, risk unknown dangers, and watch members of their families die in the passage and on shore.
You see, you are a product of LEAVERS, regardless of where you stay. So, keep in mind, things change, and people make decisions. Nothing stays the same, not even the good ole USA: Read "The Untied States of America: Polarization, Fracturing, and Our Future" by Juan Enriquez.
Peace.
By saying that your forebearers (btw, we just discovered that my Brother-in-Law and therefore my neice and nephew are Mayflower descendants! How cool!) were leavers from early seventeenth century England does not mean that you should think of yourself as a leaver, or that you should leave. No.
Rather, people stay and and people leave as they need to or as they act to survive. Neither leaving nor staying is bad/good.
And what you write is very much a part of my decision-making process, just as it is with Kit, I would guess.
If you feel a commitment, then by golly, fight against the rightwing loons -- they hate everybody -- so we all can survive here. ;-)
Ugh.
Ugh.
Think globally, Act locally.
And that idea of acting locally. Yes, that is what I deduced. Independent for local, state and reps, maybe even a Bernie Sanders here in Illinois. But I gotta "bite the pillow" and vote for Obama in 2012. Regardless. Because I simply do not want another compassionate conservative, and Romney, Palin, Beck etc. neocon for Prez would make me walk away from here after Nov 2012. See?
Thanks again!
Marc Faber: Capitalistic System Will Collapse, "Future Will Be A Total Disaster"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/25/marc-f...
Chris Martenson's Crash Course:
http://www.chrismartenson.com/
and...
Matthew Shepard Foundation:
http://www.matthewshepard.org/site/PageServer
So, remember, your motivation can be just like the Pilgrims, going where you can live, and where you feel normal.
Ugh.
I don't think it's worth leaving the country yet, but man are things disappointing!
As I've written before, we Progressives can send Obama a powerful message in less than 15 seconds. We all get Organizing for America emails. 13 million Obama supporters get them. What would happen if Progressives dissatisfied with Obama’s constant caving started UNSUBSCRBING en masse? I’ll tell you what would happen: first Plouffe would freak out, and then Obama would finally get it.
Organizing for America is going to be the spine of the re-election effort. And don’t for a minute think that David Axelrod isn’t thinking about that every single day. What is now OfA is the fundraising conduit that brought hundreds of millions of dollars (and millions of volunteers) into the Obama campaign last year. Let’s see how they react when it starts to melt away before their eyes.
Over time we need to keep organizing, supporting primary challengers to Democrats who stand in the way of progressive government. but this is an EASY step we can all take now.
The idea is that saying "I'll never vote for.... again." sounds a bit petulant.
So maybe a couple of months of stiffed tips might improve the service. But don't cut off ties. Keep pushing back...
Ugh.
And all because you were too impatient to wait more than 8 months for your Obama to create your own personal utopia.
==================================
No, they don't follow people blindly and are able to make decisions from the facts presented to them.
At least our issues are being discussed not like when we had that retarded president.
I do think that there are some fundamental changes that are still worth fighting for, campaign finance reform (shorten the election season, public finance) and progressives have to have someone to compete with Rupert Murdoch. He is single-handedly brainwashing America.
But I think everyone needs to go back and study history and gain a more realistic perspective on what it has taken in the past to implement some of the policies and laws which we take for granted today. Does anyone think that any major shift in this country has happened overnight? It has taken years, often decades, of continuous effort to enact some of the things which we enjoy today as givens in this country. The construct of the system is, by its nature, resistant to changes which lead in a progressive direction. That is why those types of battles seem to take so long to succeed. Progressive initiatives go blatantly against much of the political current which has existed in Washington and in the media for the last forty years.
There is much about Obama that has disappointed me. Some of it very greatly. But after suffering the torment and damnation of eight years under Bush, I understand that there is much that needs repair. Some of it can be done immediately. Some requires careful and calculated handling. And some will likely go unrepaired for the foreseeable future.
Get a grip, folks. Step back from what sounds like immature whining and take a real world view. If you want to give up and run, then go ahead and hit the road. But we are not going to get where we need to be by the stroke of a unilateral pen. We are in the early stages of what will be a long and arduous effort to change the status quo. If you want to throw in the towel before things have barely gotten started, then I think you probably don't possess the heart to fight all the way to the end anyway.
I know it is not intentional, but in a lot of ways this whole thread just comes across to me as a bunch of whining and impatient children, crying because they didn't get the toy they wanted in their Happy Meal. Very disappointing.
In fact, he's gone in the opposite direction.
It's not a matter of time as it is direction and intent. He's showing the incorrect intent in the time he's had.
Realize this.
I am a little surprised at how easily (and soon) those that consider themselves left or progressive or whatever give up.
9 months. It has only been 9 months. It just feels like we got him elected, then gave up... it is all on him now and if he doesn't do exactly what we want when we want it, then EFF it, I am outta here.
Yeesh. Why not just secede? Isn't that the trend?
simply watch them rise to mediocrity. If that was all we wanted we would have voted for McCain and Palin. So it seems the only way to move forward is to leave like Kits is cocontemplatingnd I will respect her no less for doing so, or raising our voice and if that doesn't work, cut off the cash and more importantly...see how things work out in November of this year, and 2010 and most especially 2012. So no whining here.
But this all does remind me of the schoolyard.
"Play by my rules, or I'll take the ball home."
It does sound a bit like impatient, impertinent whining.
Ugh.
I agree with the ... disappointment with the pace of the promised change. I had hoped for a more aggressive push for change. (And in my heart of hearts I have to admit that I also I wanted the tone of things to change. I wanted this administration as well as the media to give as much ... vitriol, incivility, intended insult and stubborn single-mindedness for ideology as we as a country were treated to during the ChimpyMcBush years.)
But then I think on the almost insurmountable task this administration has taken upon its self. Not just due to the ... loss of, to put it plainly, basic 2+2 = 4 logic, aided by either the rise of the ignorant hate radio and FUX news and the media in general or the intentional dumbing down of the educational system. But lets also consider we are in for lack of a better term an adversarial political system in a time of Rush.
I think on how big and unwieldy turning this country has become.
How little time an adult administration has had t do anything.
How much crap is going on now due in the most part to the damage done by the previous criminal, incompetent and ideologically and personally evil people. My mind reels.
I myself am a proud liberal (what people once called moderate in a time of basic logic) and a registered independent I have my problems with what this administration But what is different is that I trust them. I trust that they are not incompetent and evil, that they have the best interest of the people of this country foremost in their mind.
While I agree treating ALL people with basic human decency is an urgent thing and any time table less than RIGHT NOW is too long to set that kind of injustice to right.
I also know that there are miles to go before we sleep.
And with so much to do to right the ship of state from so much harm that has been done I'm willing to give the Oboma administration a little more time.
While granted it did not happen overnight, it was done so quickly and decisively across the board, that it was sometimes hard to keep up with the outrages.
Pres. Obama, on the other hand, has very decidedly been more concerned with what I see as a grossly misguided effort to appease conservatives and be bipartisan.
He's been in office long enough for this to have become a disturbing pattern as opposed to an aberration.
I agree trying to include cons and rethugs governing will only annoy his administration and confuse the cons/rethugs.
But is it just me or do you see just that coming to pass?
Dems seem to be seeking to pass a REAL bill IN-SPITE of the "(Dis)loyal opposition" .
You can only bang your head against a wall so long till you stop. (Even if your doing it because it feels so good when you stop.)
Though I had reach that point long ago, I really can't blame the GOVERNMENT for giving it a chance till they stop trying to teach a pig to sing.
Sadly, I don't see it happening yet (passing a real bill in spite of).
For example, see the "Who cares what Olympia Snowe thinks?"
post above-- 9/28/2009 03:23:00 PM
It would be one thing if it were only the media pushing this, but the admin and congress (Senate primarily) are doing nothing but feeding into this notion. Pelosi to a lesser extent, and sometimes not at all, I'll admit.
It ain't us.
Did he do that with DOMA/DADT?
Did he do that with Wall Street?
Did he do that with the healthcare debate?
Did he do that with environmental issues?
The answer is no. He doesn't do that.
It's been 8 months. Get over yourself.
If the answer is yes than we did the right thing, Next election we need more and better again!
and so on. don't give up.
First, a president is not a king (though with the way they are throwing things like habeas in the trash and pushing the unitary executive thing, we might have to come back to that.)
Second, I expect that if McCain were in the White House, he'd have been the final disaster for the Republicans. After some more pain in service to big business, expanded war, threats of new war and payoffs to Wall Street (all of which we are getting anyway), we'd surely have been at a tipping point. (I actually think that we were at a tipping point this year, but it was squandered by a new administration that is either doesn't know how to fight for principle, is afraid to fight for principle, or doesn't really have any principles.)
Third, a Democratic congress could have been pushed hard to hold a President McCain in check. With the natural animus between the parties (or at least the appearance of animus -- I'm no longer sure that it's real), McCain would have been forced to be a pragmatist if he were to get anything done at all.
And finally, Barack Obama has frickin adopted a great many positions now that he is in the White House that are different from McCain's own campaign positions at the margins only.
The differences between the parties these days is at the margins. Democrats promise social justice for their wedge issue...and they don't deliver unless it gets the stamp of corporate (More profits!) approval. Republicans hoodwink social conservatives for their wedge issues...and don't deliver unless it gets the stamp of corporate (More profits!) approval. And in the meantime, while we're all distracted by the wedge issues and the differences at the margins, both parties set out to service Wall Street, the military industrial complex and the corporations (More profits!) behind it all while the rest of us beg for crumbs.
Obama had a sterling chance to change the course of the nation. He didn't seize it. The first hundred days were wasted. And now? Now the party we thought was dead is looking more and more as if they might actually have a shot to flip control of the house in 2010. (I guess that makes Obama a miracle worker since he has apparently managed to raise the dead.)
Besides, if the USA is to change for the better, it needs people like you.
Just because all state-run health care systems are universal, does not mean that all universal systems are state-run. All oranges are fruit, and all apples are fruit, but oranges are NOT apples.
We can't complain about the right's dishonest use of language if we persist in doing the same ourselves.
And it doesn't hurt to watch some John Stewart. Sometimes I get so angry seeing things not going "my"
way...but then watching him...I realize that there are other people who see the crazy out there.
If my husband could find work in Europe, we would also consider leaving. Our government just doesn't work anymore, at least not for us.
I wonder what he thinks of his time there now.
Would you change to Frenchblog.com?
:)
The stress of living in the United States is getting to me. I literally feel abused on a daily basis by the credit card and health care and drug industries. Corporations spew out toxic chemicals and products that I have to spend time informing myself about and defending against. Our water and food supply is suspect. Wall street manipulates the prices of essential things like gas for our cars simply to increase their profits.
I worked to get Obama elected thinking that would help us take back our country from the grip of these forces. But he has shown himself to be a cardboard cutout, a skilled orator great at manipulating people but himself a wholly owned subsidiary of the corporations who put him in office. I feel like a fool for letting myself believe in him. I naively hoped that he was smart enough and principled enough to work this corrupt system in order to bring real change. But he jettisoned the progressives he had around him to get elected and has bent over backwards to appease his corporate masters. I have the unsettled and disturbing feeling that I really don't know who he is or what he stands for.
If you're too stupid to figure out that 8 months is too short of a time to change things, then you're too stupid for the Democratic party. Either stay here and vote for Nader, or leave. You're pathetic.
If he pushed some unpopular items through it would risk his ability to change others.
What we need to do is fight ignorance and hate and fox News. Many on the right are being lied to but they have been taken advantage of more than they know who is doing it to them and how.
Keep fighting for change at the local level, it will trickle up.
Why is anyone surprised that the world has not changed completely overnight? Obama did not changes things and never could have. We are the ones that changed things, our votes change things, our donations to better candidates changed things, our time and efforts changed things, Not Obama. And we all have to keep changing things.
Change is not what Obama does now. It is bigger than that.
You KNOW who, and that is unacceptable. And if we contribute to your fulfilled prediction, then we own it. ;-)
Ugh.
Holy cow. What's wrong with you people?
indefinite detention/torture,
FISA,
Afghanistan/Iraq,
real health reform
environmental issues
Wall Street
Looks like the old boss to me. Same shit, different pile.
1. The cap and trade bill is still moving through congress. The EPA (the only thing Obama controls) has done a great job so far reversing Bush rules and now regulating carbon. They may just enforce climate change rules without congress's approval!
2. DADT will be gone soon enough.
3. Afghanistan/Iraq? What? What is he doing wrong there? Jesus.
4. Healthcare reform has not yet moved through the legislative process, you dimwit. Obama is President. Congress is Congress. They pass laws. He signs them. But you're too dumb to understand that, so maybe I should stop with this 1st grade civics lesson.
5. Wall Street reform is coming. You see - we can't pass all legislation at the same time. There's this thing called Congress. I mentioned it above. You might look it up some time. Obama doesn't get to pass stuff. They do.
Torture??? You think we're still torturing? What the hell is wrong with you? Are you a PUMA or something?
2. DADT..soon enough for whom? You think that will go away before 2011? Not.
3. Iraq, still there but happy we are coming out. Afghanistan..concerned with the Pentagons call for 50k more Americans in harms way...thats what.
4.
Stop with the childish "dimwit" and your other high school pronouncements please. Yes it is still in the "process" and no one, NO ONE is calling into question the process..what is the complaint should you listen is that the WH and the Congressional Democrats have in all assessment,except maybe yours, not done a great job and have and continue to negoiating with themselves while ceding long held Democratic princiaples like single payor health care were simply taken off the table and that my process friend is bad negoiating,bad leaderrship and bad politics to hand off a long held tenet before the fight insues. It called being a bit of a wussy.
5. Wall Street reform is being debated. No bill yet dude. And will that reform go far enough. That is what we all ...ALL...have a right to talk about, complain about, threaten not to vote etc....that is called democracy...Congress is a product of democracy.
6. Torture. Do you know we are not? Thats not the torture issue..the issue my knowledgable friend is what actions will be taken and for that matter what actions are be taken to determine what laws were broken and more importantly what laws broken will be prosecuted and how high will that go...Cheney, Bush?
So, maybe the bell rang and you need to change classes now or catch your bus home.
Now - if you want to project that onto Obama, that's fine, but don't pretend you understand American government. Or that you're not just throwing an impetuous temper tandrum.
ha ha ha ha ha
ha ha ha ha
2. From this White House, because they have been awesome on GLBTQ rights or issues.
3. He wants to increase troop levels in Afghanistan and we are continuing Bush policies in Iraq. (Alright he's George Bush in both countries.)
4. Obviously you've only had a 1st grade civics lesson because you are dangerously ignorant about the important of political parties.
5. Wall Street reform is coming. When? Is he going to ask nicely again, or maybe we will have some voluntary programs?
6. Torture. Until we hold the torturers accountable he's protecting monsters. It won't help us abroad.
I just wonder how far the American export of "capitalism" will taint the rest of the world?
"I put . . . energy and time towards Obama’s election that I should have put toward protecting my family’s livelihood. I did so because of the implicit promise by him and his to protect and improve the livelihood of our nation’s citizenry – a promise many wonder if he ever intended to keep."
WHAT KIT IS SAYING IS THAT HE CAMPAIGNED FOR OBAMA EXPECTING IMMEDIATE PERSONAL IMPROVEMENT IN HIS LIVELIHOOD AND IS PI$$ED OBAMA HASN'T PERSONALLY DELIVERED HIS LOTTERY CHECK.
Kit's own words "time towards Obama's election that I should have put toward protecting my family's livelihood."
Maybe Kit really believed that song Rush Limbaugh played, you know, "Barack the Magic Negro."
I'm glad Kit worked for Obama in Colorado, a swing state. But if he did so at the expense of his family's livelihood, he worked too much for Obama, and not enough for his family.
You should feel really really big, large, huge, smart, and you even know how to type. Awesome
Kit is threatening to leave the country because Obama has not improved Kit's livelihood.
The "stimulus" bill MIGHT have some positive impact on Kit's livelihood. It has certainly helped my son in law, one of millions of laid off workers, by extending his unemployment and subsidizing his COBRA health insurance.
I hope Kit leaves.
We have this thing called the Legislative Branch. And it moves slowly. So...Obama has only been able to START tackling 2 of his main agenda items so far (healthcare and the environment).
That's your first lesson. Now please write "There are 3 branches of government" on a ping pong paddle and beat yourself over the head with it repeatedly.
Kit wants his pony. Obama promised him a pony and he doesn't have it and now he's going to take his ball and go home! WAhh!!!!
I'm a Democrat who knows how the legislative process works (hint: I went to "college") and I'm not stupid enough to write Obama off before he's even had a chance to push 2 out of his 8 (or so) major agenda items!!!
And I'm also smart enough to follow the great stuff that Obama's agency heads are doing for education, human reproductive rights, healthcare (YES!), housing policy, etc.
You people find about 4 or 5 things you hate that Obama has done and you declare the end of the world. You need to get some perspective, because those 4 or 5 things are easily outweighed by about 500 things that he's done that are GREAT.
The idea the President is removed from the legislative process is bullshit and infantile at best. For example take NAFTA, who wrote that? Oh, I don't know. It was wasn't the Democrats in Congress because 60% of them voted against it, but wait, was it the White House directing their allies? No, it couldn't be, because thats not what you learned in big boy school.
=========================================
If you are deluded enought to hallucinate in such detail,
you are on some real super-fly dope.
You wouldn't be a lesion on Ayn Rand's diseased labia.
As for "writing off" I've posted what will make me decide to "write him off" and I've posted a timetable of when I expect to see those things accomplished. If he accomplishes them then he and the Democrats will have my vote. If, not, then I'll take my vote elsewhere.
You need to get over yourself. You seem to have far too much invested in Obama. Cults of personality, from the left or the right are never a good thing.
Now I'm just trying to be patient.
But I'm not a patient person to begin with. So it's very difficult for me to watch what's going on.
But that's beside the point - ANYONE on this blog who has voted for him, or persuaded family members to come on board, or who at least DARED TO BELIEVE we weren't benig lied to yet again, has every right to condemn in the strongest terms possible the complete sell-out and sham this administration has proven to be, in the very shoprt time it has been in office.
Say what you will about Bush (and I detested him more than words can express)... no one ever doubted where he stood, and what he was willing to fight for. Wish i could say the same for Obama.
He ended up getting IMPEACHED by a Republican Congress.
As much as you say you detested Bush, "no one ever doubted where he stood."
No one doubted where Clinton stood, either, and it turned out to be quicksand.
what undid Bill Clinton was a little tryst. Much as I was turned off by his seeming abandonment of the gay community, there simply is no comparison to the way BO has almost completely walked away from what he intentionally made us believe was his approach/standing/philosophy. And we've only just begun!
From the first months of the Clinton Administration, the constant "Whitewater" allegations, followed by charges that the Clintons had Vince Foster murdered to keep "Whitewater" quiet, undermined the Clinton Presidency.
As soon as the Gingrich crew took control of the House in the 1994 election, it was one investigation and special prosecutor after another. Bill should have kept his pants zipped, for sure, but even that coming out was a result of the continuous "Whitewater" inquisitions.
Who knows how much of BO's approach was cynically planned, how much is vanity, how much is arrogance, how much is Rahm, how much is big money extortion, how much is inexperience, how much is psychological defect?
What we do know is his pitiful weak progressive performance.
And it makes me sick to my stomach to see all of these bedwetters ditching him. You people make me sick.
We have an election in Virginia this year, and I'm working hard on it. Meanwhile all of these armchair QBs sit back and wine because they didn't get their pony in the mail. Christ.
Nuf said.
And, personally, I think the idea of moving to another country because Obama isn't acting fast enough is just plain silly. Really silly. And I said the same thing about people who wanted to move when Bush was elected. I was a devastated as anyone when that happened, but emigrating to another country because of election results is foolish in the extreme.
Why can't you come to the realization that Obama has blown true healthcare reform because of his lack of savvy and commitment to real reform to our healthcare system? He knew the makeup of Congress on inauguration day. He knew that taking on healthcare was a monumental task even before being taking office. He knew that Republicans would never buy into true healthcare reform. He was on the sidelines until his favorability numbers plummeted, and then decided to support any healthcare plan that will get through Congress.
As President, he has tremendous powers to use in bending and twisting arms within his own party. Coming into office, he had the mandate to get this done, and the majorities in both Houses make healthcare reform the law-of-the-land. He had the media on his side, but didn't mount a comprehensive media blitz to make the plan understandable, especially to the average American. And he still won't articulate what a Public Option is, or could mean to the average family.
You are an enabler, like many of his supporters, and will still be making excuses for him until the day he leaves office - in January of '13! But I'm sure that you and others of like kind will blame the media, the Republicans, the Democrats, the alignment of Mars and Jupiter - or anyone(thing) else whom you can blame for his failures.
I presented Kit's letter as evidence that many Democrats are children who are prone to overly dramatic flights of thought like this, and that this is hurting Obama a bit.
However, it is your right and I respect you for speaking loudly in what you believe. I wish you had the maturity to do the same for others but alas in time even that, you will. Kit and lots of us on the blog are genuinely disappointed in differeing degrees in our leadership in Congress and Obamas leadership on his stated goals as president. You are absolutely right, its only 8 months (albeit the most important 8 months) but there are those of us who feel like that he has blundered badly in the health care reform push and that we will get a bad bill or one that is thin and shallow from Congress...and yes Paul..Obama..any President has a great deal to say about what goes on on the Hill and you should know that. As a result of the bad bill that lots of people who are sometime democrats, independants and new voters will not turn out in 2010 and 2012 and as a result we will lose this opportunity to make a real difference and real change.
If Democrats cannot point to real change, real progress it will be indeed hard if not impossible to : reform wall street and the financial system in this country..remember that lobby has lots more money than the insurance companies....cap and trade...if you thought the banks had cash and the insurance companies lets talk Exxon and BP...as for immigration and gay rights, if we do badly in 2010 elections they will sink even lower on the agenda. Thats what the frustration is about Paul...you may not agree but it is honest frustration of people who have like me worked for years and years in the trenches to elect Democrats. So meter back with the histrionics. Otherwise have a good afternoon and although its been fun, I have other things to do Paul. You should
The same snide condescension, the same hateful, snotty tone, the same conviction that anyone who disagrees with them must surely be stupid or evil, the same playground debate tactics, etc.
The resemblance is uncanny.
Who is he? Where does he work? Who does he work for? Why is he monopolizing the conversation?
And boy, I'm sure getting tired of using the page down key every time I see his posts.
Next topic.
If that is true, then it would follow that the CIA would currently be threatening, or at least pressuring, Obama, to maintain the Military/Imperial State as is.
Getting that scoop on Iran was a feather in the CIA's cap---They must be feeling especially empowered
right now.
I'll gladly stay here with my fellow Americans and continue the long, slow fight for progress.
In any case, blaming Bush or America for the tears of your eight year old child strikes me as kinda drama queen-ish, as do most of my fellow lefties who are tearing their robes because life didn't change after Jan 21st.
Getting Obama in the White House was an important step on the road to progress, but just one. We need a steady commitment to the long game, not panic and drama at every bump in the road.
Ahh..so you are of the opinion that she is being a drama queen. Gosh, thats good to know.
You have invested a lot of your personal energy in trying to move America in a direction that is more in line with your ideals of what our society should be. The intensity of your disappointment now would understandably be in proportion to the commitment you made to change. I don't believe that one person as President (no matter who that might be) can realistically accomplish change in our legal framework in a time frame that would quickly pay back your incredible investment in his election. Furthermore, looking back at the effects of civil rights legislation, significant societal change took generations to actualize.
Oddly enough, it seems to me that wrt to issues affecting the gay community, there has been significant societal change in my lifetime and that legislation has lagged.
You have personal experience living in other cultures as a teenager and may have in mind a country whose values more closely resemble those who hold for yourself. As an adult you have to decide whether you want to fight for change in America or move on to a place that already offers what you need to give yourself personal fulfillment.
Broken Campaign Promises - not waiting, broken:
Return the Rule of Law; His adm. has chosen to disobey court orders to detain people w/o charge;
Restore Civil Liberties: He's calling for an extension to the unPatriot Act;
Reform Wall Street: You saw the speech he gave them - don't even have to discuss his cowtowing.
Healthcare: Single Payer to None, Public Option to 10% - give us a break. He has the votes - we elected him enough votes to carry him thru anything.
Bailout: w/o any strings attached to our money - give me a break;
As you can see, Paul, there are reasons - things have been decided by him that are contrary to what the man said to get elected. We're a little cynical going in because we've been down this road before. Sadly, many times now...
http://tools.advomatic.com/8/sfcoption
Your spot on, I've been volunteering for change since the Kerry campaign, especially after Bush vs. Gore, I couldn't sit around and do nothing.
I worked twice as hard for the 2008 campaign, while I voted for Hillary in the primaries, ( would have preferred Kucinich), I backed Obama 100% and worked on both the national campaign and with our local county Democratic Party.
What I have really seen for myself over the last few months is that money and power truly corrupts. I can no longer follow the Democratic Party with blind loyalty.
When Democratic Senators would rather "work and appease" Republicans, rather than us voters that voted for change, what's it all for then, why vote?
If tens of thousands of Americans die for lack of healthcare ... how can politicians ignore this fact? Is it that money and power matter more than a human life?
It's just plain wrong to tell Progressives that we must wait, wait wait and wait election after election when it seems all other nations are passing us by in education, environment, healthcare, Gay rights, etc.
We must question why this is so?
I think it's simply because of power, greed and money. I think it's that simple and frankly, I am tired of it. I've already stopped donating to all politicians and will not volunteer until I see some real actions, rather than words.
My partner and I have already talked about leaving this country some day, a two party system doesn't seem to work very well.
I'm with you there.....
I'm another pissed off Super Volunteer and I am also looking for over seas teaching opportunties !!!
Anyone overseas need a Science Teacher???? ;P
However, whether I do or do not approve of him makes absolutely no difference in what the Obama administration will or will not do. Whether thousands of us do or do not on the liberal blogosphere it simply will not matter for good or ill.
At the end of the day (or when the campaign begins for President Obama's second term) stock will be taken.
At that time, the people saying that President Obama has not had enough time will have no traction and will not be listened to if many or at least some of the big positive changes that were promised haven't appeared.
At that time, the bottom line for better or worse will be immune to anyone's spin .. the bottom line being, with a second Obama term would there be hope for the positive future that was promised? What I have seen to date is not confidence inspiring in that regard .. it's not that governing this country is so hard that it takes time and patience (that is the spin) it's that things appear to some people to move in the opposite direction from that which was promised.
And, yes, if Obama hasn't in the judgement of the majority of voters produced results and is defeated and some crazed Republican takes his place, that would be bad for all of us. But sometimes the car has to be totalled. I would never vote for a Republican for President -- but I might not vote for Obama either. The politics of "vote for us or the dog gets it" might not work the way it has before.
But every time I hear Obama give another speech with his half-assed support of the public option as a nice-to-have, a little more hope dies.