Keith Olbermann has a rec'd diary up at the moment. He was responding to the anti-Keith and Rachel diaries that complained about their coverage/response to Obama's speech. The sort of mindless cheer leading that Republicans engaged in even as GWB led us to ruin. Mind you, neither Keith nor Rachel suggested that Obama was leading us to ruin. They, like many of us I expect, hoped for a little more.
But what Keith, the rest of the media and many of us here have failed to acknowledge and understand is that this is not about Obama.
I'll explain below the fold . . .
Last night, many of the TV heads who panned Obama's Oval Office speech were acknowledging that the $20 billion escrow account was a significant accomplishment. Many wondered out loud why Obama had not reversed the order of things . . . maybe made the speech after he had the $20 billion obligated. There was much talk about how "politically" that would have been the better move, with Obama showing what he could do, etc.
But . . . it is not about Obama! How many times during the campaign and since then has Obama said: "This is not about me, this is about the American people," or something similar? The truth is, Obama doesn't give a speech to get good reviews and he doesn't make policy to please any particular group (ourselves included). He is just doing the best he can, using his best judgment.
Obama is a pragmatist. Sometimes we criticize him for that. Rightfully so much of the time. Keith and Rachel sometimes give voice to the very frustrations we might feel . . . like when the public option was abandoned. And, the truth is, there were high expectations for Obama's first use of the Oval Office bully pulpit. What Keith and Rachel did was honest reporting.
But the deeper story here is that what Obama has accomplished . . . and what he continues to accomplish . . . is not about him, it is about America. Faced with two wars, the worst economy since the Great Depression and the MOST oppositional, craven, dishonest opposition party (perhaps ever - judging by the use of things like cloture votes), Obama has managed to pass a stimulus bill that saved millions of jobs, he passed the most sweeping reform of healthcare in history, and so much more. But he didn't do it for his glory or his ennoblement. You don't see him strutting around on aircraft carriers or posing with his FEMA director saying "Heck of a job" with a chuckle.
Sometimes, I think all of us (Keith and Rachel included) would like it if Obama was more "in their face" or more "Presidential" (remember Bill Maher saying he sometimes wished Obama were a little more like Bush?). But, like the men whose Presidencies Obama most admires, he stays steady, truly resolute, and simply does his best to govern - without taking the time or effort to add the fanfare and razzmatazz that are the mark of some leaders. Unlike Bush, Obama (more like Lincoln) takes the burden of governing in troubled times seriously and I think we have all already been watching him age with the burdens left by Bush . . . and now added to with the BP debacle.
Some of the folks on this site criticize Obama for not going far enough; others attack at the slightest criticism of Obama. Must we always divide into camps? Can't we see that observations like Keith's - that Obama's speech wasn't earth shattering - are simply honest opinion (and factually accurate)? And must we always blindly defend Obama against such comments?
This is not about Obama. He is a President. We will have others. But he is a President that is trying very hard to govern in very difficult times. He must dodge the projectiles lobbed by the moronic Republicans and their endless media circus. (But interestingly, the audience for FOX, Rush, et al doesn't seem to be growing.) There has been a spike in death threats that he lives with too. But, Obama doggedly goes about the business of proving that "government" can be effective and can accomplish good.
But Obama has a humility that does not allow him to make this about him . . . no matter how many of us, or the media, or the wingnut, racist haters try to make it so. It is not about Obama. But we should all wish him the best.