I mean now that certain other, well known and respected Progressives are making their disappointment known, is it safe for me to do so? Not that I need anyone's permission, of course.
I have been critical of Obama's bad moves and betrayals of his Progressive base since Day One on this website. Being raised on the streets of Brooklyn just AFTER the hippy days, I have never had any qualms about speaking my mind when I saw wrong being done. Most conservatives don't know what to make of me; I'm more inclined to bust a racist right wing yahoo dead in the mouth than to try to teach him to hug trees and sing Kumbayah. So when I saw Obama immediately start effing up by hiring clowns like Geithner and wimping out on the public option, I came right over here and said something about it. Hey, not only am I from Brooklyn originally, I'm from AMERICA where we believe in free speech. And for voicing my concerns I was rewarded with bitchy catty type insults from the BOARD LEADERS over here. I soon came to realize that the self appointed board leaders on this website were exactly the kind of "typical liberals" that the right wing likes to make fun of and that I always told people were just a figment of right wing imaginations. "I don't know any liberals like that" I used to say. Then I dared to criticize Obama for turning his back on The Movement that got him elected. I had the nerve to say I was uncomfortable with his closeness to the same kinds of Wall Street Banksters that most people wanted to see locked up. I had the temerity to point out that the laid back approach on health care allowed the lunatic Far Right to grab the political momentum from us, a disaster when one considered just how much momentum we had after the election! I criticized both Obama and the Democratic Party for squandering that momentum and allowing scumbags like the Tea Party to take it from us. I was horrified at the watered down Health Care plan that we ended up with due to Obama's failure to lead on the issue, and I posted it here.
Most of all I was incredulous at how a guy succeeded in the course of one year to transform himself from "The Agent of Change", the guy who people could count on to change things in Washington, to one of the main guys who "Needs Changing" himself! What Obama did in getting elected in November 2008 was incredible; he got "the common man" on board with him, not just us Progressives. Yet in one year he had completely "gone over to the other side", and in the eyes of "the common man" went from being the solution to part of the problem. And I wrote several diaries about these things.
And what did I get from many (but not all) of you for my efforts? Scorn! I was called a "TROLL". A "REPUBLICAN"(yes, you sunk THAT low!. All sorts of vitriol was heaped upon me. Well, I am no stranger to DEBATE. I write elsewhere as well, and I'm used to being one of the few Progressive voices and I can hold my own. But what blew me away was the TONE of many of these replies! The so called board leaders all tried to out-do each other in trying to sound the most obnoxious and laughably ridiculous in their replies to me. They all fell over each other to be the most sarcastic, the most cutting; they all tried to show off their wicked rapier-like wit, their ability to use the English language as a veritable MOAB to bring me, an OUTSIDER (I guess I didn't have enough posts or diaries or whatever) to my knees! I was supposed to skulk away, humiliated. Of course I did nothing of the sort; I still posted occasional diaries I did however, stop reading the replies.
But these attacks made me wonder. Like, why? Is it because we Progressives should not ever say anything critical of Obama because after all, he's not Bush, right? I mean was I basically being told "shut up, he's better than Bush"? Well, I can agree with that. He's definitely not Bush, although if you asked me to point out any major changes from the Bush days I'd be hard pressed to do so. I guess "progressives" like these "board leaders" were waiting for someone OFFICIAL to be the first to criticize Obama. Well, lately a few of those "OFFICIAL" types have criticized Obama about a few things; does this mean it is SAFE for me to do the same over here? I sure hope so. Not because I give a damn about the approval of the "board leaders" here. But because it is TIME that more progressives start letting the Obama administration know that they are effing up, BIG TIME. We all know that the racists and the GOP will always be against Obama. But if he wants a second term he needs to re-energize his BASE and stop taking progressives for granted. He is a very charismatic politician, that we all know. It's not too late for him to turn things around. After all, what good did all these "moves toward the center" do him? None at all! The Wall Street and Financial scumbags that he got into bed with are pissed off at the toothless Financial Reform bill, and are showing their displeasure by not hiring, thus making him look bad. He might as well have put some real teeth into that bill! The same with the weak Health Care bill he passed. He's not getting any political points for passing that giveaway to the Insurance Industry. He might as well have gone all out for the public option. It's hilarious actually. He is being demonized by the Right Wing as some way out Liberal when the truth is that he basically sold us liberals out on so many issues! But if I say these things, will you all call me mean names? Or is it "OK" now to say them?