Obama's a liberal!

[Onlooker]

My highest hope for Obama was that he'd rollout a version of liberalism that's relevant to today's needs and values and so far he's doing great. Consider the liberal moves that Obama has made to date:

- Made the government more transparent and accountable
- Ended torture, not only by ordering the military to do so, but by ordering the CIA to follow the military rules for interrogation
- Began the process of closing not only Gitmo, but various secret prisons as well
- Appointed George Mitchell to pursue Israel-Palestine peace (Abraham Foxman, President of the ADL, complained that Mitchell is too fair and even handed a negotiator)
- Stated his strong support for a women's right choose, not only as a matter of privacy (the moderate view on the issue), but as a matter of reproductive choice (the feminist view)
- Acknowledged nonbelievers in his inaugural address

He was inaugurated on Tuesday and today is Friday, but so far he gets an A+ from me, and he's every right wingers worst nightmare.

[Thrill]

1. There is nothing in Obama's US Senate or State Senate record that suggest

he's not a liberal. I don't understand why this was even a question.

[provis99]

2. yeah, he's looking good so far

How much did Bush get accomplished in his first week? Or was he already on vacation by this point?

[YOY]

3. Those aren't "liberal" things per se.

They're just fucking sane.

Now socialized medicine and putting in strong regulations on businesses to make sure they don't overstep again? That's a little more "liberal".

[cali]

4. uh, actually those are standard liberal positions

and positions that NO conservative ever advocates. Furthermore, you are hardly the sole arbiter from on high, who gets to define what is and isn't liberal.

[ShortnFiery]

5. True, we need to take back the connotation of the word LIBERAL ... unabashed one here.

;) :hi:

[YOY]

6. No Cali. The political compass is.

ask a real conservative: European or Fiscal American. Torture isn't really on their agenda.

Idiot Rushbots are not really "conservative": they just lockstep with whatever he says.

[cali]

9. We'er not part of Eruope

And I'm not talking about Rushbots, but standard repukes.

[YOY]

15. I'd say the "standards" just don't care one way or the other.

But perhaps that's just me.

[Onlooker]

10. "fiscal American"?

You're qualifiying conservative. True, fiscal American conservatives don't really give a damn about torture (or human rights) one way or the other, unless it benefits Raytheon or some other military stock. But, you'd be hard pressed to find many links on the subject of conservatives opposing torture in situations where military or CIA leaders support it. As far as European conservatives go, it's a different ideology altogether, just as European liberals are often conservative in the American sense.

[mtnsnake]

7. "you are hardly the sole arbiter from on high, who gets to define what is and isn't liberal"

But you are, I suppose. lol

[cali]

8. uh, no.

I simply pointed out that the actions taken by Obama are considered by most people to be liberal in nature, as they are not supported by conservatives and are supported by liberals. That's a fairly reasonable assumption, isn't it?

[Usrename]

11. Who cares what most people think?

"Real" liberals don't consider Obama to be all that liberal. ;)

:hi:

[bvar22]

18. No. Those are standard Democratic Issues.

*Decreasing (not Increasing) Military Spending

*Decreasing (not increasing) the size of the military

*Ending (not escalating) Foreign Wars

*Single Payer HealthCare (not mandatory Insurance)

*Pro-LABOR (not Free Trade)

*Limiting the size and power of Corporations (protections for Mom&Pop and Small Farms)

*Re-regulation or Nationalizing: Energy, Utilities, Communication, Transportation, Banking & Lending

Those are "Liberal" Issues.

The Democratic Party has Conservative and Liberal Wings.
A REAL Liberal would NEVER have voted FOR a No Strings Attached Bailout of Wall Street Banks.
A REAL Liberal would NEVER have voted FOR Amnesty for the Telecoms.
A REAL Liberal would have supported a legal challenge to the abuses of the Bush Administration.
A REAL Liberal would NOT have given Bush the money to continue the WAR/Occupation.

I'm firmly in the Liberal Wing.


"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans. I want us to compete for that great mass of voters that want a party that will stand up for working Americans, family farmers, and people who haven't felt the benefits of the economic upturn."---Paul Wellstone

[Creideiki]

12. Americans have let the rightwingers set the agenda

forcing the center to shift further and further right.

Now universal health care, enjoyed by every other industrialized nation in the world and part of the source of our inability to compete in the global market, is super far extremo liberal leftist.

[democrattotheend]

17. Don't call it "socialized medicine"

That's the right wing name for it, to try to scare people away. Call it "single payer health care".

[YOY]

19. Doesn't scare me any.

But good point.

[Laelth]

13. That Obama would turn out to be a liberal was my greatest holiday wish.

So far, I have not been disappointed.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Jennicut]

14. Onlooker, I know you were worried before but I think President Obama really is what we want him to

be. Just watching him visiting the press the other day was so different. Bush would never have done that. The man is down to earth, a liberal, someone who believes that we can hold American ideals high but not torture others to attain those ideals. He is doing great so far.

[Onlooker]

16. Yeah, I'm really pleased

And he's building so much public good will that he's making it very difficult for people to oppose him. It's just wonderful to behold.