May I just say that OUR President has really, really fucking shined after the absolute electoral drubbing we received a few weeks ago? I mean, seriously, his message has been pitch perfect, he hasn't backed down from a republican party pumped up on the drug of a recent big electoral win. This republican party is really acting like an elephant on PCP, demanding that they get EVERYTHING they want or else they will go Pulp Fiction on many, many progressive hostages. Government shutdowns? Check. Poison pill amendments? Check. More threats of gridlock? Check. Threats of impeachment. Big ol' double check.
But in the face of it all, with his party absolutely fucking crumbling around him, he has stuck to his guns, not fallen for the republican egotism, and hit them hard with big bold executive actions he is planning to take or has already taken. He remains undaunted about the biggest items on the agenda in the last 2 years of his 8 year term.
There is no doubt, the buck stops with Obama with the losses the democratic party took on Nov. 4. He is the leader of the party and as such his name is inextricably tied to the democratic brand. But lets be honest, the man has a lot of shit on his plate, and his time is much better served governing amidst these various crises than going out on a limb for democrats who didn't want his help in the first place.
Now that they have all lost, there is a drive to blame Obama about the losses during the midterms. That is fucking bullshit, I have to say. And now that the President has absolutely come out swinging after getting blindsided by the republican party, I grow more and more convinced that this absolutely is not an Obama problem -- its a DEMOCRATIC PARTY problem. The President is one man, amongst many in the democratic party. He can repeat the same message over and over again, go out every day and say the same things, he can do the same things, request congress do something over and over and over. But without congress leading the way on these issues, he is nothing. One man with a big megaphone and limited powers to do anything domestically.
The party itself has to step up and retake the progressive mantle. We have to once again step out there and not only say but demonstrate that we are the party of anyone who isn't a WASPM 1%er. The lines got blurred last election, because democrats allowed republicans to blur the line. Do you really think that Cory fucking Gardner gives a fuck about women or birth control. The man SUPPORTS PERSONHOOD AMENDMENTS. Like seriously, SSDD. But Udall quickly couldn't message his way out of the box Gardner placed him in and he lost.
And its like that all the way down the line. Democrats lost because they weren't democrats. They were republican-lite. Our inability to collectively act like democrats fucked us.
The President, however, got the message quick. I think it is partially because he has now had 6 years with this republican party and he can see through the bullshit about their impetus to govern now that they have majorities. He can see right through the lies and gentlemans promises to be better I swear this time (baby, just take me back. I brought flowers). He knows their bullshit. He has fought their bullshit. And now he is vowing to take the steps that he can on the issues he can, because he knows the brand new red congress aint gonna do shit as long as a black man lives in the white house.
I have always really liked Barack Obama, even though I disagree with his decisions in a lot of arenas, especially foreign policy and spying issues. But now that he has dropped all but the most traditional vestiges of "bipartisanship" I gotta say my appreciation for him as a LEADER and PRESIDENT has skyrocketed. Absolutely skyrocketed. He will be one of the best presidents of our lifetime. Not just because of what happened in the past, but because of what is going to happen during these next two years. Its legacy time, and I have a feeling Obama has decided he isn't going to go out on a sour note.