Why President Obama has not disappointed me

[omega minimo]

I remember watching Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic Convention in 2004. He had a simple message. "We're all in this together."

The crowd in the hall and the viewers in the country had not heard politicians say this in a very very long time, since the rise of Reaganomics and "Greed Is Good."

Up until the Bush Administration, U.S. citizens were groomed to believe it was their patriotic duty to Buy More Stuff.

Reaganism led to the inevitable House of Credit (Default Swap) Cards the Obama administration inherited.

Meanwhile, he ran for president. The wildly kinetic response to the speech was more remarkable than the speech was. Barack Obama and I grew up in a time with that message in the air. If we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem.

I was disappointed -- or rather, disillusioned -- during the campaign. Democrats' two main presidential candidates were out on the road, for two years!! while a criminal administration ruled in Washington and troops died in two faraway wars, battling a concept; while civil liberties continued to be disappeared.

Many in our party were convinced that winning power in D.C. on election day was more important than restoring the rule of law and demanding accountability from a rogue administration. We had two Supreme Court justices appointed during that time, who support the Bush/Cheney Frankenstein of the Unitary Executive, which Obama also inherited.

I was disappointed that, as a Constitutional scholar and a senator, these matters were not urgent enough for Obama to leave campaigning and address fully. We still don't know what influenced the Democrats in Congress to mostly go along to get along with the Bush administration. (In criticism of Nancy Pelosi, the unknown reasons are mostly unexamined, but that's another story).

Some of us knew that not holding the Bush administration accountable at the time, was a mistake. We knew that Democrats insistence that the ball could be rolled into the future and that governmental power was more important than Constitutional integrity were wrong. They were wrong because what inevitably comes out of that politic and compromised behavior is a compromised system. We've seen it before.

We already had a compromised system; both the Bush/Cheney administrations were not elected by the will of the people. The previous lack of appropriate investigations of Reagan and Bush Sr. enabled the failure to impeach Dubya and Cheney. The criminal culture of the Bush/Cheney administration led to the collapse of an economy that had been reduced to a shell game.

Inevitably, Obama has been compromised in his role as president in a system that has been compromised beyond recognition. If he had dreams and promises and full intention of manifesting them, his hands may be tied. Others are determining what's On The Table or not. Proof of this is the fact that the Magic Invisible Non-Existent Toxic Assets that brought down the economy were left in the new financial structure. What change? What hope? We HOPE that what was toxic before will become benign, rather than CHANGE the health of the nation by removing the cancer?

I believe that President Obama will do the best that he is able and allowed to do. Hi administration needs us to send the messages that will help them do the right thing.

It's not all up to Obama. That is why I am not disappointed.

If there is time to restore the rule of law and Constitutional integrity, it will be a welcome surprise.

Best wishes to President Obama and his Administration.

[babylonsister]

1. He's also proved to be flexible, for better or worse, depending

on the day and the issue. I get very frustrated, but I'm very impressed.

I'm trying to be patient, too.

[omega minimo]

2. Got to be, under the circumstances.

I'm still grateful he can think and talk and even do both at the same time!!

:thumbsup:

[malaise]

3. I'm very disappointed about health care

but I'm keeping my promise to hold my criticism for six months.
People will have to take to the streets for any meaningful health care.

[omega minimo]

4. agreed and as for public input

yeah. the hearings about health care were during the HINI flu scare.

AND WE STILL DON'T GET THE CONCEPT IN THIS COUNTRY? :crazy:

Need new ways to send the message? Or $$$ and lobbyists or general strike?

[babylonsister]

5. How can you be disappointed when nothing has been

determined yet? See, I don't get this mindset.

The liberal lion will be back soon, and his 'thing' is healthcare.

I'm waiting to hear what he thinks is 'doable'.

[omega minimo]

6. the hearings were disappointing, the absence of coverage for all, the laughter & "need more police"

[malaise]

8. I hope you're right but

Bill Moyers' Journal tonight was a depressing look at the debate on health care

[omega minimo]

10. link to Moyers Journal on Health Care

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/index-flash.html

[babylonsister]

20. Maybe he's providing a teaching moment. This prez listens. nt

[omega minimo]

23. unfortunately the program pointed out he's probably listening to his industry contributors

[Tangerine LaBamba]

7. I'm concerned about his plan

to imprison terrorist suspects indefinitely. That's not right, not Constitutional, not American. It's just flat-out wrong.

Watching this one play out should be interesting. I do hope he backs away from this idea, that it was just something conceived in a rush and not carefully considered. America is not a place that holds people from other countries with no counsel, no trial, no sentence, no hope of release.

That is not my America. That's Dick Cheney's Amerika, and that shit is supposed to be over ..........................

[omega minimo]

9. this is why the results of not holding Bush admin. accountable are not surprising.

People who didn't want to investigate/impeach (including Pelosi and most of Congress) gambled.

We the people lost.

It's business as usual.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

11. I'm holding my breath,

still believing in the system, although you're correct that it's been corrupted beyond belief.

See, I was a first-year law student when the Watergate hearings began, and they helped shape my legal career. I know that we no longer have representatives of the caliber and integrity of the people who served on that Committee, but my hope survives. With Pelosi making her assertion - and that statement was NOT made without clearing it with the White House first, we all know that - she essentially made the opening necessary for Congress to take jurisdiction in the investigation of criminal activity in the preceding administration's White House.

It's still possible, but, in truth, I don't think it will happen. A part of me dies when I admit that. But I do recognize and understand how the political landscape has changed in the years since Watergate.

Tom DeLay and Newt Gingrich did more to make these changes than any others, and why the hell hasn't DeLay been tried yet?

[omega minimo]

13. It seems at any political level there's always a few, maybe a couple

elected officials with "the caliber and integrity of the people who served on that Committee." We have some in Congress and they continued to speak up for the right thing.

And it didn't matter. Feinfold's brave eloquence in Judiciary was inspiring to the citizen and a yawn to the players who knew the outcome was fixed.

"A part of me dies" you said. We need to decide how cynical, jaded, hypocritical and/or braindead we want to be about this system that is supposedly protecting our liberties by dismantling them.

"But I do recognize and understand how the political landscape has changed in the years since Watergate. Tom DeLay and Newt Gingrich did more to make these changes than any others, and why the hell hasn't DeLay been tried yet?"

Great point. Nuke implemented a major assault on the "Merkan people's" ability to call bullshit and brought Frank Luntz is to turn catapulting propaganda into high art.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

14. Can you explain (or even understand)

why Newt's getting so much press these days, besides the obvious fact that he's pushing his new book?

(The book - http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Successful-Life-Family-Yours/dp/0307462323/ref=sr_1_1/175-3969089-5259656?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243049516&sr=1-1 - by the twice-divorced, thrice-married Gingrich, who has cheated on two wives, been fined for ethical lapses while in Congress, and forced out of his job as a Congressman after a series of shamefully bad events in which he was the main player, still has me gasping.)

Understand, I'm happy to have him as the New Face of the New Republican Party. But, what does he have to offer?

I know, I know, I'm asking a hopelessly naive question. Tabloids just want numbers ...................

[omega minimo]

16. Easy

IT'S COMPLETELY INSANE!!!!!!!!!1111 Just like he is!! :freak:

He disgusts me so much that I manage to avoid seeing his perverse self these days -- his voice is too much to take. The visceral reaction :puke: is too strong to bother with whatever he may be catapulting.

It's enough to KNOW that he's being taken seriously, has been recycled by the Reich Wing, who apparently are in denial about the monumental damage they have done to the nation. That's what makes em crazy. Like Dittoheads.

Intergrity? What's that? So passe. Need a gimmick? Newt's yer guy? Need a consultant to tell you what to think about what other people think about what they were told to think? Here's Luntzy!!

Professional lying hypocrittes like Newt, as repulsive and personal corrupt as he is, make it look like a thing to do. He gives other Reich Wingers cover to be total slimeballs.

[puebloknot]

32. And let's not forget that Obama was not in favor of impeachment, either. nt

[omega minimo]

33. yup

our two main candidates were going along to get along on the campaign trail.

Sends a clear message of their intentions to all but the Strategerists.

The question remains what influences our Dems were under that made them capitulate so complete, if it is beyond mere political power.

[puebloknot]

41. Wellstone factor? nt

[omega minimo]

42. unless we want to believe Pelosi et all are just in it for the $$$$$$$$$$$

:shrug:

[puebloknot]

43. $$$$ corrupt, and absolute $$$$ corrupt absolutely!

Nicer options would be nice, but .....

[omega minimo]

45. well then. We need a new table.

[omega minimo]

12. video: Thomas Frank: Obama Should Act Like He Won.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OopE3M5vU4

[JeffR]

15. Don't you ever get tired of posting soundly reasoned, adult opinions

and analyses? Don't you ever yearn to just wallow in knee-jerk hyperbole and political opinion that would have had you laughed out of 8th grade civics? Don't you ever feel like letting your hair down and braying at your keyboard like a meth-crazed hyena? Don't you ever feel tempted to just stir up some shit and bludgeon people with ad-hoc absolutism and zero tolerance for nuance and complexity?

What on earth is wrong with you???

All of which is to say: K & R. And thank you.

[omega minimo]

17. Well I did notice the thread got off to a slow start..........

not quite as exciting as all the threads complaining about other threads and things people are supposedly saying that never actually appear.............

:toast: :pals:

[Mythsaje]

27. Hey now...

I don't give anyone a pass. Neither Republicans nor Democrats. I doubt I could honestly be described as a "meth-crazed hyena." I feel we have a very good reason to be disappointed right now.

[JeffR]

29. Fair enough, and you don't fit that description at all.

But there are meth-crazed hyenas running in all directions here these days, and the ear wearies of it. No one should get a pass. There are any number of reasons to be disappointed with various things. But a crazy huge amount of that disappointment here recently is transparently phony or at best simply screechy petulance invoking disparate but consistently lousy sources ranging from Politico to Counterpunch to bolster their, um, "points of view".

Your thoughts on all this have been sincere and thoughtful. Many people have done likewise. But the big forums are still crowded with the clamor of dissonant agendas or pathetic ignorance of civics and history. Often both at once.

The more you and other eloquent voices state their case here, the better the discourse will be. In the meantime, I'm worn thin listening to the volume-first thought-second types on either side of a lot of arguments lately.

(**And send me an email about the music you need!**)

[omega minimo]

31. If i posted that i wasn't disappointed b/c my expectations were realistically low

a "meth crazed hyena" might reply.

The same statement in this "adult" form is boring enough that detractors haven't arrived.

Either way it's a fair and true statement, not disrespectful of the office or the man.

The atmosphere we're weary of is the clamorous one you described. The worst IMHO is not only talking past each other, but talking past entire threads. The continuous OPs on what they are seeing on DU that is so AWFUL, pitting one side against the other; that others (like me) aren't actually seeing. We're to believe in these Obama wars from one "side's" POV or the other with out having direct experience of the outrages they're claiming.

Maybe. But how can the evidence be so much thinner than the outraged OP's? What a waste of time to bash each other over the head and divide the party!!

It's possible that some/most of this could be misunderstandings or due to intentional troublemakers. We're on the same side and could discuss different POV's.

FWIW. :thumbsup:

[RufusTFirefly]

18. "It's not all up to Obama. That is why I am not disappointed."

Agreed.

Which is why some of us have been communicating our displeasure with the way things have been going. And yet, instead of being praised for holding up our part of the democratic bargain, we're being blasted as "Obama haters" and even traitors.

It's by no means a certainty that FDR came into office with a progressive agenda, but it's clear that the populace let him know it was needed. I don't know whether the people who wrote all those letters to Roosevelt were called "FDR haters" or traitors, but I'm glad they were there.

[omega minimo]

19. It wasn't the same culture of celebrity back then, was it?

For many reasons, these days folks would like a hero, who makes it easy and -- like ever -- they go about their lives.

The only thing that seems to cause a major public (and media) upset is gas prices.


"Which is why some of us have been communicating our displeasure with the way things have been going. And yet, instead of being praised for holding up our part of the democratic bargain, we're being blasted as "Obama haters" and even traitors."

Some folks may want it to be easy and may not want to have to think or do anything about anything.

[Wednesdays]

21. K&R

:kick:

[omega minimo]

22. .

:hi:

[Kaleko]

24. Right.

The rot has gone so far, Obama's first duty is to stabilize the patient. That means trying to maintain the status quo before the best experts perform more radical operations, or else this bleeding giant of a nation will collapse and take the rest of the world with it into economic devastation.

America is too big to fail, so the world simply can't afford to let it happen.

[omega minimo]

25. It seems if the status quo is restored that will be it.

:shrug:

[Kaleko]

28. Yeah. That's my fear also.

But then there's that tiny part that can still light up with hope. It hopes for surprises, preferably something miraculous involving quantum leaps due to massive rude awakenings.

Why not? Strange things have happened before. Weird, weird shit, in fact. Here we are, talking on the internet. Organizing, investigating, keeping each other in the loop. Thousands, millions of us communicating. I bet our Overlords were shocked and freaked by the power of the Google.

[Greyhound]

26. You said it; "America is too big to fail", so why do you imagine that the world

would let it fail knowing full well that it would be committing suicide?

That is the opportunity he is sacrificing for the sake of re-election and party/political pressure. Each time in our history that we have made the advances that we love to use as demonstration of our superiority, the Democrat or Roosevelt in office "betrayed" his party and just did what was right (at least to some extent) despite the power brokers strident wishes and prognostications of doom.

So far he is acting like (assuming his desire to "be the change") the very obedient head butler, instead of a leader with a mandate.

[Kaleko]

30. Here's what I said -

"America is too big to fail, so the world simply can't afford to let it happen."

So I'm not imagining that the world would let it fail. That scenario is out of the equation in my view. Other nations will have to prop us up until we can limp away to mind our own business, finally.

I'm saying we're still in the ambulatory stabilizing phase, while you insist this is the time to perform several major, life-threatening operations in rapid succession. I could be wrong. So could you. We're just prognosticating and making predictions here.

It's pretty much out of our hands anyway at this point what will be done in what time frame. We can only shout and raise hell from the sidelines while the O administration makes fateful decisions every day.

It's a friggin' nail-biter, isn't it? God knows, I could use a fun thread.

[omega minimo]

40. Very obedient to the financial industry that got their magical nonexistent assets "revalued" so

that house of cards will fall again; then got more power to use usury for profit on credit cards.......

[Greyhound]

46. You know exactly what I was saying, and you are absolutely right, as usual.

So why can't more people see what is happening?

[omega minimo]

48. 3 decades of Reaganism propaganda?

there are several good radio hosts but the best IMHO on educating people who might be open it is

http://thomhartmann.com

[autorank]

34. k*r It's what it is.

He does his thing, we do ours.

It's a long path and there are more than a few on it.

[omega minimo]

35. LOL

powerful understatement, there, autorank :spray: :toast:

[autorank]

36. As my daughter said at four years old

"I'm the boss of me" and as the most hated boss I ever had said, "Fuck 'em of they can't take a joke."

Defiance, defiance with a little perspective ... ;) or, better yet,

[omega minimo]

38. we lead so they know where to go

[puebloknot]

44. And we of "more than a few" will still be on it when he's done his thing and moved on. nt

[omega minimo]

47. awshit

ya mean it's not enough to accept we live in a corporate fishbowl and try being one of the nimrods for a while? :toast:

[SeeHopeWin]

37. I support our President 100%, no if or buts..........nt

[omega minimo]

39. .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8428496&mesg_id=8428496