I could have done more. I should have done more. I tried responding to the negative barrage coming from the right, I spent hours on my local paper's opinion section trying to correct the lies and mischaracterizations that streamed in daily, but I didn't think that this site would turn on you as it has, and I failed to act.
Early on, when the first of the progressive complaints began showing up, I raised flags. I tried to point out that the alternative must always be kept in focus. Yes, President Obama didn't always do everything we wanted, but was there ever the case that McCain or anyone in the GOP would have done anything better? The other side works for the highest bidder and it ain't us. I thought that at the least we should have understood the need to protect the President's back. Its obvious that we don't believe that because we certainly didn't.
Instead of staying together as a cohesive unit, we flaked out. Instead of celebrating our victories, we whined that we didn't get more. We complained about no public option until the gains that were made in dealing with the health care industry were made invisible; allowing the right to characterize our efforts as socialism and nazi-ism. We complained that he didn't fight harder, that he continued too many programs and kept on former Bush appointees. We showed ourselves to be petulant and impatient and they used it against us.
I'm ashamed. Ashamed of myself. I should have been on every diary that fairly or unfairly criticized you Sir, and been unrelenting about what we should be focussing on. To all the diaries that complained on idealistic platforms that were both unattainable and impractical I should have pointed out over and over that the gripes from our side were only helping the other side, and held no connection to the efforts and underpinnings of the legislative process.
This is my apology, Mr President. I wouldn't begin to speak for others on this site. The others have their own views and their own perspectives. That is how it should be. However the beauty of this site is that it allows us to form a cohesive group that can then pool our knowledge and resources to battle the corporate media that currently propagandizes the news and workings of our government. But, without some sort of discipline we squander our gains and too easily are blinded and disoriented; even to the point of doing the other side's bidding without even knowing.
It is my opinion, Mr President, that you have done all that could be expected of you. For that I would like to thank you, Sir. Personally, I will try harder to do my part in the future. Let's both hold the R's feet to the fire and make them work for the country whether they like it or not, and let's tie every deal they make with lobbyists and corporatists around their necks until they are shown to be the real evil in this story and the biggest enemy facing the people of this nation. Thank you.
Sincerely, John Boyer