Yesterday there was a speck of a dustup over whether this comment deserved to be hide rated:
Wow! The Obama Bashers will be out in full force tonight. There are those on KOS who hate the President and will never lose an opportunity to tell you about their vile feelings.
This is not about this specific comment or commenter, since we have seen many comments to this effect over the last few months. Whether they deserve to be hide rated or not, these are some of the most ridiculous and irritatingly offensive remarks I've seen outside of an I/P diary.
We're Kossacks. Remember us? You are currently reading a diary posted at perhaps the most widely read lefty site with perhaps the highest concentration of socialists/liberals/lefties/Democrats/left-centrists/independents anywhere. We even see the occasional moderate Republican here.
We are the folks who worked our tails off getting this man elected. We donated money and time, and our heart and soul. We're the people who wept with joy on election night, and wept with pride when the President was inaugurated.
This time we weren't voting for the "lesser of two evils" or the "doesn't suck as bad as the other guy" or "well, he's the Democrat" candidate.
We voted FOR Barack Obama, not because he was the Democrat, but because we were moved and inspired by him. People don't vote in an overwhelming wave like that because a candidate is "not a republican".
In short, you are reading a diary at a site with perhaps the highest concentration of the most ardent Obama supporters you'll find anywhere.
So consider this: if we say we're frustrated, or disappointed, or deflated, or depressed, or angry enough to scream, you need to pay attention. Because we haven't changed. We're still the folks who worked so hard and were so overjoyed and swelled with pride when Barack Obama was elected and sworn in as President of the United States.
We're still the folks that kvell over this guy and his family, the man who says "Love you Back" because almost invariably someone yells "We Love You!" at his appearances, the man who brought intelligence and dignity back into the White House, a President we are once again proud to see represent us around the world.
We haven’t changed.
And yet when you read here that we are disappointed and deflated and angry, you attack us as “Obama Haters”?
Think about that. We’re your fellow Kossacks, remember? We don’t hate our President. We’re the folks who helped get him elected.
So when we say we’re frustrated, and we see some of his recent choices as making him look weak, maybe you need to sit up and listen. We aren’t surmising that the rest of the country will see the President as weak, or overly accommodating, or that the rest of the country will think he capitulates or doesn’t fight for us.
We are telling you how WE feel. We, your fellow Kossacks, feel that way.
You can’t tell us we don’t feel that way. You can disagree with us, and you can tell us you think we’re wrong. But you can’t tell us we don’t feel that way, and you can’t tell us that if we feel that way, that people outside of the Kos bubble don’t feel that way as well.
We aren’t the “wouldn’t vote for Obama to save their lives” crowd. We WANT to vote for Barack Obama next year. We want to WANT to vote FOR our President again next year. If we are disheartened it is not coming from hatred for him. And it’s dangerous to dismiss us as “haters” when we express how we feel. Because if we, his greatest supporters, feel that way, it’s likely that a lot of other folks do and thus perhaps it’s important that the White House begin to understand how their approach comes across to a lot of us, and begin (as soon as possible) to change it.
Stop saying we’re haters. We aren’t looking for an excuse to hate on the President we worked so hard to elect. We’re looking for reasons to vote FOR him in 2012. Not because the other guy is a complete creationist anti-science corporation sucking government killing maniac, but because of who Barack Obama is, how he fights for us, his strength as a leader, his fire and ire at the audacious disrespect and animosity and cynicism from the gop and their disdain for all things supportive to the non-rich and non-corporate.
It’s ridiculous and insulting when we express our anger and our frustration and you call us “haters”. We didn’t come here to express our hatred for our President. What we are expressing is real and you can’t tell us it doesn’t exist outside of Daily Kos or it only comes from ignorance or hatred. It comes from some of his most ardent supporters. And if we’re feeling that way, what are less ardent voters feeling? How do they see him? It’s something to consider instead of wasting time bashing us as haters.
Because dismissing us as “Obama haters” doesn’t erase the disappointment or frustration at voters at Daily Kos or anywhere else, nor will it help President Obama get votes next November. We’re his biggest supporters. We want to vote for him. We want to WANT to vote for him.
We haven’t changed. We’re your fellow Kossacks. Remember us?
Let’s talk.
5:34 PM PT: Wow, I've never even been close to recommended. And my first recc'd diary is a total pie fight! I'm honored! Sorry I was out of touch - I've been on the road here in L.A. all day. Thanks for the recs!