As my nom de blog indicates, I was very shaken by the SCOTUS decision in Bush v Gore. I was a died in the wool Gore-ite until this week.
I am tired. Tired of the 24 hour meme promotion of Obama, disappointment and failure. Tired of people I once admired--Gore, Jon Stewart, Matt Damon--obligingly parrot the right wing framing of Obama and "disappointment".
Unfortunately, when I hear the sad, head shaking "disappointed", all I can hear is patronizing dog whistle. Maybe it is because I'm an affirmative action baby and I am overly sensitive to to whites expressing 'disappointment' in minorities.
I cringed when Chris Wallace asked Jon Stewart whether he was 'disappointed' with Obama. It was like Wallace was saying, "Hey, I know you supported him, but you are still a white guy--aren't you disappointed?" No matter how big a hash W made of the economy, 2 wars, and the debt, you never heard these words slip through the lips of conservatives or liberals.
Gore says Obama has not used the "bully pulpit" to push climate change. Sorry, Mr Vice President, but you try fighting 2 wars, preventing a second Great Depression, with a dedicated 24 hour "news" organization and a solidly obstructive GOP and see how far you get with a bully pulpit!
For Obama, there has been no bully pulpit. There was a time when the president spoke, it was big news: the president commanded the attention of the media. This is the 21st century and the multiple platforms that the public has available to access information diminishes the bully pulpit. With a lazy mass media in search of the latest sensationalized non event, a fact spouting, 'cool', 'professorial' president doesn't have a chance. Instead he has had to contend with birth certificates, Tea Partiers, and Congressional penises.
I do not agree with President Obama on everything. But I am less disappointed in him than I was in Bill Clinton. I don't believe he is a failure because he has not accomplished all the expectations and hopes his election engendered. Had he promised less, would you be less disappointed?
Barack Obama has been a different kind of president: despite inheriting a mess, a dysfunctional Congress, and everything else, he has pushed the ball further down the field than the last two Democratic president. Gay rights, health care, civil rights, the list goes on. Maybe the professional left can afford to call this failure, but those of us who live in the real world know that constructive change takes time and patience. I'm proud of my president and I'm all IN.
Sorry, Mr. Gore but I am disappointed in you.