The Angst of a Liberal

[WilliamPitt]

President Obama will address the nation tonight on his Afghanistan policy. (Photo: Barack Obama / Flickr)

The Angst of a Liberal
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

Tuesday 01 December 2009

Angst: A feeling of anxiety or apprehension often accompanied by depression.

- The American Heritage Dictionary

An old friend of mine, a long-time Democrat and fully credentialed political wizard, wrote me the other day and asked a question I have been asking myself for several months now: what do you really think of Barack Obama? On the eve of the speech that will signal a significant escalation of the Afghanistan conflict, Mr. Obama and his first year in office have been much on my mind.

To be fully honest, I don't really know how I feel, which is weird, considering that I might be the only one in America without a fully coherent opinion on the man. A lot of people think he walks on water no matter what, a lot of liberals hate him for a variety of reasons to the point that they will declare him a failure after 10 months, and the far right ... well...let's just say they are pining deeply for the good old days of Jim Crow.

I remember where Bill Clinton was at this point in his presidency: getting rolled on gays in the military and the Travelgate scandal, in the process of screwing up health care reform so deeply and profoundly that its legacy requires Obama's current push, championing NAFTA which helped unleash two decades of economic catastrophe we have recently come to reap, and on the verge of presiding over a historic GOP sweep of Congress which became the straight-line 1-to-1 reason why the George W. Bush administration was so unutterably damaging.

So pound for pound, I can't say Obama's first ten months have been worse than the previous Democratic administration. In fact, a solid argument can be made that the man has done more good in his first term than any president since FDR.

Beyond that, I also know that he has taken office in a time of unprecedented challenges, and anyone who refuses to incorporate this simple truth into their opinion of his performance is someone who has made up their mind to dislike him no matter what. My opinion of his performance takes this deeply into account, because I have spent the last ten years chronicling on a daily basis the disasters he inherited:

* Two boondoggle wars;

* A shattered military;

* A melting economy;

* A collapsing environment;

* A raped set of civil liberties;

* A ravaged international reputation (and by the way, we've got no business thinking ourselves too good to bow after our performance on the international stage this last decade) . . .

. . . the list can and does go on, and on. This is not an excuse, of course, because he wanted the damned job so badly he ran for two years to get it. It is not a shield against criticism of the decisions he has to make. But it is important to remember that, due to this long list of catastrophes, it is all too certain that any decision he makes will have extraordinarily negative consequences. The man wakes up every day with a dozen Hobson's Choices to make, ones that will get people killed for sure and cost too much no matter what he decides.

I also never thought he was going to be any kind of progressive panacea. His party has a solid majority in Congress, but that majority is stuffed with a motley collection of the most craven bought-and-paid-for jellyfish in the history of modern politics, so in a lot of ways, having a majority made up of scoundrels and wastrels is no kind of advantage at all. His voting record in the Senate was not some sort of liberal light show - he was down the middle almost all the way - so I never expected him to come barnstorming in and immediately withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan while giving free and full health care to every man of woman born ... and even if he tried, the aforementioned bucketheads in Congress, and their unimaginably powerful financial backers, would have laughed him out of the room.

On a personal note, the fact that he immediately threw out those wretched restrictions on stem cell research has earned my eternal gratitude. Stem cell research could have saved the father of a friend who died of bone cancer, a disease we can treat today with that science. It could cure three friends of mine who suffer from diabetes. And it could cure my wife of the multiple sclerosis that could one day put her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

But I also think we need to get out of Iraq. I also think there is nothing to win in Afghanistan except ten more years of war and ten more years of big paydays for the defense industry. I think his push for health care reform has been an exercise in weakness that would make Lyndon Johnson mad enough to spit nails; can you imagine what that historically excellent arm-twister would say about a Democratic president allowing a Democratic Congress to slap him around like this? I think talk is cheap, and despite his very real achievements, and his very full plate, I cannot help but feel a deep sense of disappointment at how matters have unfolded to date.

He is going to get up and give a speech on Tuesday with flags fluttering in front of the cadet corps at West Point. In it, he is going to tell us that more American troops, tens of thousands of them, are being sent into harm's way once again in a war that has cost so much already and only promises to keep dragging on. Beyond the ramifications of the decision itself is the imagery; my memory is already filled to bursting with images of George W. Bush happily swaddling himself with the soldiers he was sending to die for a whole cavalcade of lies. Obama's use of the military in his upcoming speech cuts far too close to that particular bone. It was disgusting when Bush did it, and it is almost impossible to avoid feeling the same way now.

So my friend asked the question, and I didn't really have an answer. I have all the facts, and a whole pallet of opinions, but nothing about this president and these times fits into any context I can wrap my hands around. He is Oz the Great and Terrible to me in this brave new world. All I know is I will be watching his speech on Tuesday very closely with feelings of dread and hope roiling around in my heart and my head. I honestly don't know what else to say.

http://www.truthout.org/1201093

[Major Hogwash]

1. Oooh, I'm so going to unrec this thread!

Just as soon as I finish reading it!!

LoL

[NightWatcher]

2. true dat. My angst comes from a lack of an APPEARANCE of real change

Ok, Stem cells, I'll give him that, but for healthcare, he dumped it on the Congress. DOMA and DADT, he dumped on Congress too, when a stroke of the pen in an Executive Order would have erased them both. Civil Liberties, the Patriot Act is alive and well and Obama is set to extend key provisons that were set to expire this year. War, well we knew he was in favor of "finishing the job in Afghanistan". And on and on and on

Maybe "they" did take him to the basement of the White House and show him the Zapruder Film in an attempt to get him to "play ball".

[RaleighNCDUer]

9. Nope. Healthcare, DOMA, DADT all have to come from congress

if they are going to stick. Healthcare must come out of congress because, if it is "Obama's healthcare plan" it WILL fail, no matter how good or bad it might be. Congress has to invest itself in it constructively, not just have a target to be shot down the way 'Hillarycare' was. DOMA is a law passed by congress - the president cannot override the congress. DADT he might be able to reverse 'with a stroke of the pen', but that would leave it open to re-reversal by the next hostile administration. This is a democracy where the president does not rule by fiat. Yes, key provisions of the Patriot Act are due to expire - and those parts that are egregious offenses against civil liberties WILL expire. There are, in that thousand page monstrosity, provisions which should be extended, which were parts of already pending legislation before 9/11, submitted by Democrats, that were rolled into the act. Just because the bathwater is filthy, it's no reason to throw out the baby as well.

You know, the appearance of real change might be more prevalent if the media actually covered to good shit, and not just the problems.

[Bluenorthwest]

25. well then he should not have indulged in all that self flattery

about being a Fierce Advocate who would not hesitate to use his Bully Pulpit to lead on DOMA and DADT, his words about the need for leadership, which he would so freely provide. This revision of yours about strokes of pens is not what is expected of him, what is expected of him is what he, of free will, claimed he would do. He did not have to make those claims. No one asked that he give himself titles like Fierce Advocate.
Additionally, we all know how law is made. So when a person speaking to their peers sees fit to state 'this is a democracy where the president does not rule by fiat' I am seeing a person who is indulging in a grandstanding game for lack of an actual point.

[RaleighNCDUer]

33. That 'revision of mine' was a direct answer to the person I was replying to

who used those words. A person who does not, apparently, know how law is made.

And how do you know what kind of advocacy is going on behind the scenes? You think that because you haven't heard anything in the media it is not happening? You think, maybe, that ending two wars and securing healthcare for 50 million people might take priority over eliminating DADT, which affects 30,000?

He is not going to let DOMA or DADT sabotage more critical initiatives - and you KNOW that the right will grab onto anything to hit him with, to keep him from accomplishing anything. They would use DOMA and DADT to rally the morons against healthcare and economic recovery - that's what the RR has been doing for 20 years.

So he has to deal with something other than YOUR pet peeve. Deal with it.

[bertman]

53. RaleighNCDUer, I hate to be the one who clues you in on this, being a fellow Tarheel and all,

but it ALREADY IS OBAMA'S HEALTHCARE PLAN. Every person I talk to at work or in casual conversation views this as OBAMA'S HEALTHCARE PLAN. The few people who view it as you view it appear to all be posting here at DU.

What you are ignoring in your argument that these things must come from Congress or "they won't stick" is that it sometimes takes a LEADER to take the bold step and set the tone BEFORE the quislings will follow. Any way you cut it, every unpopular act is going to be "OBAMA'S WHATEVER".

[RaleighNCDUer]

61. That's because Fox News calls it that - even though it is still in

debate in congress.

Tell me, if he vetoes it is it still Obama's healthcare plan?

The day he signs it, it becomes his. Till then, it is congress's. He is free to sign or reject any bill that comes to him. He is free to send it back saying what he doesn't like about it. At which point congress overrides him - in which case it is STILL not "Obama's healthcare".


"...every unpopular act is going to be "OBAMA'S WHATEVER"."

As framed by the people trying to make it unpopular.

Just as people today are saying that Afghanistan is Obama's war and it is just like Bush's war, despite their diametrically opposed approaches to the conflict.

[bertman]

63. Unfortunately you are correct that it's a media construct. We can argue all day about

naming it Obama's War or Bush's War, but the fact is the carnage is going to escalate a hundred fold in the name of stabilizing that corrupt mafia they call a government.

I'm not going to quibble over who's war it is. The big question is when will America stop slaughtering innocents with our tax dollars.

[RaleighNCDUer]

65. And i guess we will just have to disagree on people who behead

politicians they don't like, bomb women's schools, throw acid in the faces of little girls as being 'innocents'.

[bertman]

66. Please explain to me how those things, horrible as they are, are any worse than us

bombing weddings, catching civilians in crossfires, rocketing and firing into homes and hospitals. A maimed or murdered child or adult, whether by the hand of some Taliban fanatic or an American soldier or a drone aircraft is still just as maimed or dead. For us to claim the moral superiority to do the killing and maiming for a "superior purpose" is a form of collective arrogance bordering on insanity. I do not want my tax dollars used for that purpose.

If the Afghanis want to secure their nation from fanatics of a religious, political, or economic ilk, then let them do it.

Also, let me point out that we Americans selectively assassinate our enemy's leadership at every opportunity. How is this different from beheading someone who has been accused of violating a social or religious norm--except in methodology.

[RaleighNCDUer]

67. When you kill someone in war it is not assassination. And is nothing like

the elimination of political rivals - that would be more like Romney having Palin offed.

The reason there have been such tragedies as you mention is because Bush fought the war stupidly - he did not put enough troops on the ground to properly identify the enemy. That's what this increase in troops is meant to remedy - boots on the ground. A drone sees a convoy of vehicles disgorging people into a building and says 'enemy', and shoots a hellfire at it. A Marine sees a convoy of vehicles disgorging people into a building, kicks in the door and sees a wedding - nobody dies.

I guarantee, this 'surge' will see an increase of Taliban killed and a decrease of civilians killed.

As for "If the Afghanis want to secure their nation from fanatics of a religious, political, or economic ilk, then let them do it.", you do know the quote about draining swamps and alligators?

This is intended to give them the breathing room to do just that. We deal with the alligators, they can get on with draining the swamp.

[bertman]

68. When you kill NON-COMBATANTS in war it is ASSASSINATION. You are living in a fantasy

world if you don't think we kill political leaders when we are fighting a war such as the ones in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are special ops assassination teams who are trained to do that and who actually do it every chance they get.

Perhaps you are unfamiliar with the Phoenix Program in the Vietnam War where SEALS and other assassins specifically targeted civilian leaders who were identified by the CIA as Communist leaders or as leaders who were opposed to the regime in Saigon. These leaders were people who held positions from every level of government, including national down to village elders. It is estimated that over 20,000 South Vietnamese civilians were murdered by the Phoenix assassins.

What's really cool about it--you'll love this--is that they would often murder them while they were sleeping in their homes or mud huts right alongside their wives and children. My opinion is that ranks right up there with beheading a political opponent, but then I'm a left-wing anti-war advocate.

You and millions of other Americans are deluded about what is done in the name of "freedom and democracy" by our government. Our clandestine services and our combat arms are the largest organ of terror in the world. We wreak devastation and slaughter on any group that does not dance to the capitalist piper's tune. I would guess that our Kill Count exceeds all the so-called "terrorist" groups' combined Kill Counts by at least ten-fold, maybe more. Of course, we have had some serious competition from the Rwandans and the Serbs in the last couple of decades.

Perhaps you should read some "Winter Soldier" accounts by our warriors who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, so you can gain an understanding of how barbaric we Americans can be. The truth of warfare is that it is an uncivilized and horrific state of affairs that should only be used as a last resort for defending one's self or one's nation. It reduces normal, loving and caring human beings to animals who are living on the edge of survival and who do things that they would never do if not placed into such a demented situation. That's why we have so many returning troops who are haunted by what they have seen and what they have done. Once a person reflects on some of the things he/she did to the "enemy" it can eat them up inside.

[RaleighNCDUer]

71. You are conflating different situations and different problems to make

your point - badly.

The Taliban and Al Queda are military organizations. Killing a leader of either group is like killing an enemy general. There is NOTHING in that against the international laws of war.

This isn't like dealing with the IRA, where there was a militant wing and a political wing, and the political wing did not handle weapons and carry out operations.

This isn't like the Phoenix program where people merely suspected of supporting the Viet Cong were assassinated (btw, they didn't HAVE 20,000 leaders - that's why the Phoenix Program was an appalling crime against the Vietnamese people - if they had confined their operations to actual Viet Cong fighters it would have been a dirty, but legitimate, war).

In this war, the killing of non-combatants has been almost exclusively by mistake, misidentification, and poor judgement, not assassination. It is not assassination to blow away a wedding party - it is an incredible fuck up. Incidentally, putting more boots on the ground will REDUCE those mistakes and misidentifications. Having insufficient troops to carry out operations results in a Predator Hellfire taking out a house with fifteen people in it to get one identified insurgent.

To my mind, the best thing to do would be to take everyone out of Iraq, and send half of them home and half to Afghanistan.

[bertman]

72. "Incidentally, putting more boots on the ground will REDUCE those mistakes and

misidentifications."

That is so far from the reality that it is obvious that you have no idea what you are talking about. When you have more troops you have more operations, and therefore more targets. When you have more targets there are more attacks on those targets. More attacks mean more counterattacks by our guys who are supported by artillery, armor, air power, and drones. The objective is to respond to an attack with overwhelming fire superiority. That's just a fact of war and that's when the civilians get caught in the death zone. Another contributing factor to civilian deaths is the frequency of actions that take place in or near population centers, be they villages, towns, or cities. Since our plan is to concentrate our troops in more densely-populated areas this is going to lead to much more "collateral damage".

I would love to know where you get the information that "In this war, the killing of non-combatants has been almost exclusively by mistake, misidentification, and poor judgement, not assassination." Even if some military spokesperson said that, would you really believe it. Furthermore, what difference would it make to you if your parent or your sibling or your child or your friend were killed by mistake, misidentification, or poor judgement, as opposed to assassination? That person would still be dead and gone regardless of whether it was accidental or intentional.

NON-combatants are those who are not armed members of a military/guerilla/resistance organization. NON-combatants include local tribal leaders who shelter or feed Taliban or al Qaeda. NON-combatants include village leaders who urge their villagers to fight against the American invaders. Do you honestly think that every man, woman, and child who supports the Taliban or al Qaeda and who brings them food or helps to organize his fellow Afghanis to resist the Americans is a member of a military organization?

[ananda]

3. Obama also inherited the imperial presidency.

And, considering that all branches of government
are now firmly stuck in the clutches of the
corporate kleptocracy and rightwing media,
we have a definite formula for continued failure
to rein in the very forces that made Bushinc
so evil.

[Robyn66]

4. I couldn't have said it better myself

All I can say is I feel exactly the same way. Maybe I have him on a pedestal. And I don't regret my vote for a moment but I am afraid of what the machine he walked into has made what he wants to do very very difficult. I am still hopeful but more nervous all the time. I am more worried of the lack of backbone congress is showing and the circular firing squad the Democratic Party has been while the Rethugs in the minority are still a machine.

[Neecy]

5. I recommended this....

Although I think his handling of GLBT matters deserves more scrutiny here. The Warren insult was, unfortunately, a sign of things to come.

[Bluenorthwest]

28. The McClurkin hate preaching was the sign

Warren was just another expression of the same dogmatic superstitions and bigotry.

[TayTay]

6. This is comes the closest to expressing my opinion of anything I have read lately

I don't think President Obama is either a failure or a success at this early stage in his Presidency. I think he is a work in progress. I admire him for a great deal of what he is doing while having doubts about him at the same time.

The quality of the discussions online seem to devolve into "I like him" or "I don't like him" camps. This is too shallow for me. I overall like the President, but have some serious doubts about things he has done. There are times when I just want to retire from the debate rather than have to choose among camps I don't fully belong in. The intensity of debate doesn't seem to be over policy, it seems to be over which camp one is associated with and whether or not someone has kept faith with that, not with the issues as they arise. I don't want to play that kind of purity game because it is something of no value.

[tandot]

7. Thanks, Will. K & R

That is how I feel.

[MilesColtrane]

8. He owes is to the cadets, soon to be officers, to tell them why he is sending them there.

He also owes the American people an explanation.

I just wish he wasn't combining the two.

Go to West Point and make your speech, Mr. President, but do it away from the leering cameras. Then inform the public of your decision from the Oval Office.

The staging reeks of an attempt at cheap political points.

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. Are you suggesting he make different speeches, one to cater to the

military and a different one for public consumption?

He owes it to the entire country to tell us why he is sending them there. And there is no reason why he should speak differently to them than to us.

I want to hear a clear rationale for our involvement in Afghanistan. What, exactly, is our mission and how are we going to achieve it? How long will it take? How much will it cost? What are the repercussions for failure of the mission? What defines success, and what is our exit plan?

THAT is what I'm looking for tonight. That would tell me if I can support or need to oppose it.

If we no longer have a defined, attainable goal, then we should leave NOW.

[MilesColtrane]

24. I'm suggesting he give the same speech to both audiences.

[RaleighNCDUer]

35. Which is, ASTONISHINGLY, exactly what he is doing.

So what are you bitching about?

[MilesColtrane]

39. Perhaps I wasn't clear.

Tonight he will be using the images of West Point cadets to help drum up popular political support for his decision to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan.

If this speech was for informational purposes only, he could just as easily address the public from the Oval Office.

[SandWalker1984]

12. Bush used soldiers as backdrops, and look where it got us.

Obama was good on making speeches but now is the time to stand and deliver.

I didn't vote for a Bush III White House.


When Obama said "change we can believe in" what he really meant was "corporate chains we can believe in." BIG difference!

[MilesColtrane]

30. I'm withholding judgement until I hear what he has to say.

He must define what we are doing there and the goals that he expects to achieve.

Most importantly, he must tell us all what must happen before we are out of there.

If it's not a rational, realistic goal, then I'll happily join the 'out now' crowd.

[sudopod]

10. K n R

Everything isn't black and white.

Kind of like the President.

[ismnotwasm]

13. He's an incalculable improvement

Over what we had for the prior eight years. He inherited hell as far as I'm concerned. I have a bigger problem with the entire political system and the malignant aspects of our social and economic systems (those opinions being mostly OT), that I do with President Obama.

I had a bigger problem with Bush and co. then I did then all our systems put together, even though that disgusting group was the inevitable result of them. So my question is, is Obama then, merely a temporary respite? A ploy? I don't think so, but maybe I just need to believe that somehow, we allowed a decent man to develop out of a corrupt political system. How a decent man moves through that system with real power and stay decent is another question.


War is war is war, and war is always bullshit, and that bullshit is spread evenly around the world as a solution, not a problem and a whole lot of folks believe that. They believe war is a natural and necessary outcome of the human condition. More bullshit.

[Joey Liberal]

14. Great article. nt

[jus_the_facts]

15. As the Political World Twirls ....same shit different eon....

....and as they sayin' says....insanity is doing the same shit over and over again and expecting different results. :nopity:

[zippy890]

16. summed up my feelings

[neshanic still]

17. This should be titled the "Weakness of a Liberal"

After putting all that to paper or electrons, you still have a mushy-kinda-maybe about him?

Of course he is better than what we could of had. But is that what we aspire to now?

The question is what he GOING to do now and in the remaining years of his first term? What will he do that will make a difference in how this Presidency makes life better for all of us?

I had no expectations of him that were out of the realm of possibility. I knew and said that he would be mired in war throughout the first and if he got it, second term. I knew a vote for him was to support him to end the war as fast as possible, and yes, if he had to escalate, that was his decision. But knowing that he would not withdraw no matter what, and he would not was not a big surprise. Would I like an immediate withdraw? Yes. Will it happen? No.

Having no far reaching expectations of him to begin with, except for healthcare,(and we all know where that is going) he has performed exactly as I had thought.

By surrounding himself with the people he has, he has met my expectations of what I thought his Presidency would be. Of course his Republican obssesive love issue has been amazing, and beyond my wildest nightmares.

It's Liberals like you that give the rest of us a bad name. After coming to a first year close, you still are fence sitting. Instead why don't you use your skill to come up with strong reasonable agenda that you would like to be intiated.

We all voted for him. Just because some were let down from higher places does not mean that we all have to become involved in navel gazing in a lost hope intervention.

[WilliamPitt]

19. Reflection is not a vice.

And as for coming up with a reasonable agenda, I have done that ten dozen times in print, in both articles and in three books, for the last ten years. I've worked for campaigns, traveled the country speaking about what must be done, and have given every ounce of effort I can muster to steer policy in a better direction. I have not stopped since the election of a Democrat; a review of my work over this past year will make that abundantly clear.

Liberals like me are the reason we have someone besides a demented neo-con in office right now. I've done my part, sir, and more.

You're welcome.

[neshanic still]

23. This is not about your credentials.

This is about your still embryonic opinion of him and what he has done to date.

I don't see anything about a future and what are the options he has to change things for the better. Knowing him better as the President he is today, how do we go from there.

The country needs action, not words.

[WilliamPitt]

26. Says the man grandstanding with words.

A poster below asked you to explain your own plan for a reasonable agenda. I'd like to know what actions you have already taken or plan to undertake.

I think I deserve that much after your little obnoxious screed. Don't scold people you don't know, friend; you'll be wrong a lot of the time and look like an asshole when you are.

[neshanic still]

29. See below..

[BeFree]

20. Hey

Come down off your high fence. You didn't tell us one damn thing about your "strong reasonable agenda". Come down and tell us what your agenda is.

You are the one giving liberals a bad name.

[neshanic still]

27. My agenda does not matter...

I am not surprised by anything he has done. Others that are dissapointed in the bigger picture agenda they had in mind obviously have changes to make.

[BeFree]

31. That's right

Your agenda does not matter because you don't have one. Except that you love to attack Pitt?

And that is pretty damned useless.

[neshanic still]

34. There is a difference between a wish list and promises not kept.

I had a wish list. It was just that. A. Wish. List. It could not possibly come to pass, so that's what it remained as. I did my duty and voted. I knew that my WISH LIST would not come to pass.

That is far different from someone saying that they have issues and are conflicted with the person that possibly dissapointed them.

[BeFree]

36. So, you quit?

Thanks a lot. Be glad there are others willing to keep going. The liberal agenda needs people working day in and day out to get this country moving in the correct direction.

But, that's cool. Heck, we'll do fine without you.

In the meantime, remember that we liberals always look at all sides.
Since we cover all sides of the problems with thought, and don't just fall in lockstep, we're damn near always right in the end.

[neshanic still]

37. Good try on the quit thing.

[BeFree]

40. Quoting you:

"I had a wish list. It was just that. A. Wish. List. It could not possibly come to pass, so that's what it remained as. I did my duty and voted. I knew that my WISH LIST would not come to pass."

Sounds like you quit.

My wish list will come to pass, because I'll not quit.

MLK said: He would plant a tree today even if he knew the world was gonna end tomorrow. Big diff betwixt you two, eh?

[neshanic still]

44. Maybe to you. Seeing it pragmatically

is my choice.

Just for your review, my wish list.

1. Wars end in any way possible, as fast as possible, giving the benefit of doubt as far as escalation. I still maintain that we will be at war in 2012.

2. Economy. Do not expand on the Bush trap for giving away money to banks and Wall Street. You be the judge.

3. Economic team of best and brightest for true financial reform. Now we have best connected.

4. Healthcare. Wished upon a star for singlepayer. Knew that was a wish. Maybe Public Option. Let me know how this one turns out.

5. Gay rights. Nuff said.

But this is not about me. It's about someone being mopey about how to feel about the person they have more expections on than I. Now we know how he governs, and what he pays attention to. We need ideas, not conflicted emotions on what to think about him or how.

[BeFree]

46. now

Was that so hard?

Good wishes. Really.
And really, there are more, eh?

"We need ideas, not conflicted emotions.." Indeed.

So, where do we go from here? Quit, or keep pushing? I'll push.

In the meantime since this isn't about me, either, or WRP, the thing to do is keep some unity, keep some momentum going and keep the faith that the liberal agenda makes progress. We are lightyears ahead of where we were last year. That's a fact. But not all is well on the western front, eh?

[deaniac21]

18. We'll be fighting in the streets

With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgment of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
And I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again

Change it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fall that's all
But the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
And I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
For I know that the hypnotized never lie

Do ya?


There's nothing in the street
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now the parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

[Hawkowl]

64. Indeed

This is the very song that I often listened to during Obama's candidacy. I knew, having followed his career since the early 90's, that he would shift violently right as soon as he could. He has a history of saying a lot, doing little, and throwing over those who brought him for those powers that be. But even I was shocked at the appointment of Geithner and Summers. Shocked at his backtracking on a strong public option. Shocked at his impotent pandering towards "bipartisanship" while Rahm constantly snipes at and belittles the progressive wing of the party that put him in office.

I have no angst. I have simply a cold, hard, anger at a president that apparently repudiates the long tradition of working class democratic values. It was easy to hate Bush. He was the enemy and I knew it. It is a different kind of...dislike, for one who claims to be your friend and then stabs you in the back; all the while smiling and protesting that you shouldn't complain because you knew his nature.

[H2O Man]

21. Well done, Will.

Thanks for this.

Recommended.

[Beetwasher]

22. What Else To Say?? How About Reality Is Often Nuanced

And rarely black and white. So, we find ourselves....human...and conflicted...because we are intelligent, compassionate beings who realize the harshness of the spot between the rock and the hard place we now find ourselves in Afghanistan and in a myriad of other giant piles of shit that were left behind. There are a lot of shitty situations without easy solutions and every solutions sucks but we have to do something.

I don't like escalating. I hate it in fact. And while I may disagree that it's the best solution, I can't proclaim that I have all the facts at my disposal nor can I claim that any decision I would have made would have been any better. The truth is, I don't know what the best decision is or should be, so I have to trust the guy I voted for to make that decision and live w/ what he does... And I can be critical of his decisions, but still support Obama in a myriad of other important battles that we are faced with.

Human. Conflicted. Nuanced. Reality. :shrug:

Good post bud. :thumbsup:

[bridgit]

32. Hm, well what do you know - it's bigger than a bread basket after all

[Lilith Velkor]

38. Obama surfed in on a tsunami of hype

Nobody could live up to that. He admitted as much himself during the campaign, but people were too busy losing their damn minds to pay attention.

Now those same people are angsty (or pissed off) about having believed it. That is the nature of hype - it always comes with a backlash.

[BeFree]

43. And, so?

Angst is a bad thing? And you don't have any angst? My, isn't that special?

All we liberals and DFH, have some angst. At least those who are paying attention. Unlike those asleep, we know our country needs big change. We know how easy it would be to just do things differently than the last 8 years. Its really that simple and what we were told to expect by the campaign.

So getting up at West Point, like Bushie would do, is not any change.

Yea, angst. Get some. Get pissed. Or stay asleep. Whatever.

[Lilith Velkor]

51. "what we were told to expect by the campaign"

That's my point. Liberals and *especially* DFHs should have fucking known better than to swallow that hype. But they did, and now they're mad, and the administration's sycophants are now running around making it worse by trying to tell them they have no right to be mad, never mind what we were told to expect by the campaign.

You think I don't have any angst from watching most of the good leftys around me lose their fucking minds to some bullshit PR campaign just like the mindless Bushies did? Really?

Whatever yourself.

[CRH]

41. Is it sufficient, ...

to just not hate a president in these times. After the last eight years it seems like a step forward, but oh how the bar has been lowered. Now rather than hoping or dare I suggest, expecting better from the congress and president, I seem relieved the pace of destruction is slower. The belief in the heritage and ideals I fostered for years, disappeared when Bush forced many of us to restudy the history of our country's politics both domestic and foreign.

Our hyper capitalist society fomented and supported by a militarist ideology professing theological moral superiority as a right of trespass, has never been polite to those standing in the way of resources and profits or perceived progress. Bush had a special talent of making the political system and the human relations within, more repugnant, more ugly, more immoral than it has ever been, so now my measurement of the president's or congress's actions are gilded with expectations of less bad passing as better. Rather a sad commentary I must admit.

I sense the feeling within William Pitt and it resonates. A feeling, I have to give Obama a chance to right the ship of state from its severe list. Allow his decisions some latitude to use information to which I am not privy, while borrowing a trust I no longer feel, toward politicians. All my instincts say war is not the way, so I sit and wince at my political emasculation, my apathy toward constructive criticism, my neutered reaction to more military conflict.

I have never felt so disconnected from wanting to affect the effect, of politics.

[bertman]

54. CRH, I'm glad that you feel relieved that the pace of destruction is slower. I wish I shared

your view. Seems to me this Presidential bearer of bad tidings is just much better at delivering an inspiring and intelligently-stated speech, while the status quo simply sidesteps or stutter-steps, then resumes its ominous pace. The changes seem so miniscule that they almost appear to be window dressing.

[CRH]

57. Agree to disagree? ...

We can agree to disagree on this point then, because I do not think the first year of this administration is even close to that of the Bush administration.

In the first year the Bush administration dismantled every major treaty, thumbed his nose at the UN, presented a National Security Review that was written by the PNAC crowd expressing intent of unilateral managing of the key world resources, supported if necessary by preemptive unilateral war, and if necessary with use of first strike tactical nuclear weapons in defiance of sixty years of a stated threshold of defensive nuclear posture. He immediately increased defense spending both Pentagon and covert agencies, increased funding for big oil and cut funding for alternative energy research. He trashed progress toward climate change, totally dismantled regulation directives in every cabinet department, then turned science and research in stem cell, biochemistry, and climate change into a joke constrained by religious dogma. In a world over populating the administration cut funding for birth control and family planning, both domestic and foreign, and targeted a woman's free choice for economic and legislative assault. His first budget cut funding to state governments for federal mandated social services propelling states toward insolvency. I could go on, but this short list should illustrate my contention.

Though this administration is less liberal and progressive, and more corporate than I might desire, through my perspective, it in no way can compare to the direction, actions and pace of destruction, of the Bush administration. IMHO.

[bertman]

58. Certainly we can agree to disagree. I respect your opinion. On the other hand, it is my

contention that many of the changes that need to be made must be done dramatically and systemically and I don't see that happening.

I honestly believe that if he were unconstrained by the forces that control our presidents, he would be much more progressive than he is now. But the picture I get is of a president who is tinkering around the edges on too many critical issues. But, again, there are reasons (though not good ones) that Rahm Emanuel, Robert Gates, Larry Summers, Tim Geithner, and many others were put into his intimate circle of adviser-handlers.

For the last year I have partially (and quixotically) suspended my belief that our presidents are controlled by forces that dictate the President's agenda. I am not referring to Congress, of course. But, after the speech last night I have sloughed off any illusions of Presidential independence. His arguments were so mainline imperial in nature that I was taken aback. The President Obama that I had hoped beyond hope would appear has proved to be as ephemeral as world peace, a balanced budget, equality for all Americans, and universal healthcare.

Frankly, I will be shocked if President Obama veers left on anything. And right now, centrism is a grave danger to our nation's survival and the planet's survival. IMO.

[CRH]

59. Points well taken, ...

I harbor many of the same thoughts and feelings. Agreed the planet needs our full attention now, and some how this must be balanced with maintaining at least moderate living conditions for the grand majority. The centrist road will not correct anything, in fact I view it very much as a status quo approach.

IMHO below ...

Unfortunately, politics and social evolution move slowly regardless. Not just politics and policies must change, but so must our individual and collective choice of lifestyle. The government can not provide this solution, the people must. The government can only promote the education and provide a path to the means for a new direction.

It is in this perspective, in some actions I see small glimmers of hope of a move toward the left when more economic stability is realized. In my opinion any noticeable movement will not occur until the second term, little lasting change can or will happen without a second term.

The re-creation of a new work force (jobs) directed toward more research and manufacturing in sustainable energy and living, complete with a new supporting infrastructure for a more conservation conscious society will be a good first step away from the consumptive throw away society in the US today. There is plenty of capitalist money to be made from learning to live within the primary life budget of the planet. Every direction a person looks there are potential new jobs in learning and transitioning to, new sustainable standards. This helps with the employment problem and begins to point social change in the right direction. More reasonable consumption of recyclable and sustainable products and services, made in not shipped to, america.

It is my feeling in the interim until political, social, and economic traction is realized, this administration and President like all others before, must pacify and pander to the good ole boy foreign policy cowboys, while slowly diverting their funding, and disarming their hysterical fear promotion by diminishing their knee jerk base that finds it easier to shout than think. Until then plant the subtle seeds of change and promote and provide a path for change.

Patience though said to be a virtue, is also agonizing.

edit: grammar

[bertman]

60. I agree wholeheartedly, CRH. My problem is that my patience is running thin. Actually,

it's beyond running thin. It's almost non-existent.

That means that I am doing what I can on my personal, everyday level to effect change to my lifestyle, the way my company does business, and to educate my friends, relatives, and others as to what can be done. There are a lot of us who are doing that, but I fear that it will be too little too late.

But I'm not giving up.

[CRH]

70. I find myself in a similar place, ...

Can't do much more than we are already doing, progressive change always starts within our own consciousness and being, and transfers to others through our actions. Preaching rarely has an equal gravity to the illustrative interactions of our everyday life.

I try to never stop caring, but I am beyond carrying the emotional pain of situations no individual can influence or correct.

peace

[Soylent Brice]

42. K&R

more than half of congress could use the Johnson Treatment. regular doses, even.

things have changed, and yet have stayed the same. strange days.

anyone can see what a huge mess he was left with, but it's not an excuse for some of the choices being made. the right choice is never the easy choice.

[bigtree]

45. The president is one part of the wheel

He is what he is. In my opinion, he's the most progressive, down-to-earth president I've ever seen or read about. Those distinctions still won't advantage the president enough to measure up to my own ideals. But I have enough respect for most of the rest of America to accept that my ideals must obtain popular support within and without our political institutions to advance or succeed.

I still like our odds with this president. It's probably because he's the best I've ever had. I'm such a Democratic whore.

[CRH]

47. I wish he had the chance, ...

to start like most president with the usual problems of deficit, foreign relations, trade and economy.

I tend to agree with your opinion of being more progressive and down to earth, I would only add he also exudes confidence and positive outlook.

However I feel he has been bridled with deficits, bad foreign relations, and the enduring good ole' boy foreign policy cowboys. In all, formidable obstacles for a change we can believe in or a change most people will accept after the distortion of the mighty 30 second sound bite machine.

I would have liked to have seen him unfettered by the chaos left in the wake of Bush. No president is perfect, but Obama listens, reasons, then acts within his conscious. This war, health care reform, securities and banking reform, the deficit and the economy are all tumultuous partisan battles to be waged and by which he will be measured as a leader. He has been left behind the eight ball on all, often hampered by a democratic congress more republican than Nelson Rockefeller.

Many times the best decision from a lot of bad alternatives, is still not a decision most of us will like. I do not feel the cautious optimism you feel, but I will continue to try to filter results through political realities while he tries to make a silk purse from a sows ear.

[Demeter]

48. If All You Are Feeling Is Angst, You Aren't a Liberal

REAL Liberals are in full-throated rage, and Progressives are in the streets rioting, when they aren't engaged in sub rosa defiance like the Underground Economy. None of this namby-pamby, hand-wringing "angst" is going to do shit for the people under the bus, and baby, that includes everybody that can't afford to pay off the bus driver.

I don't know what it will take to ignite the inferno, but the load of kindling and fuel is rising daily. I expect a flashover long before we get to the next Presidential election, as a lot of fat cat/elitists get their heads handed to them by virtue of the modern equivalent of the guillotine.

[blm]

49. Pretty darn close to my own mixed feelings.

.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

50. It is the responsibility of the citizenry to hold public servants to account. K&R

Whether they voted for them or not.

[WilliamPitt]

52. Evening kick

[branders seine]

55. Using your list...

How has Obama responded?

* Two boondoggle wars--We'll be in Iraq indefinitely; our occupation of Afghanistan will now escalate and last until 2013 or longer

* A shattered military--pretty much status quo--no real changes except to stress it further by occupying Afghanistan more densely

* A melting economy--give trillions of dollars to a few rich bankers (while spilling a few "Main Street" PR crumbs on the way), and then try to convince everyone that the temporary liquidity bubble is "recovery"

* A collapsing environment--punt

* A raped set of civil liberties--expand some of the government intrusions; punt on the rest

* A ravaged international reputation--bow a lot; take your wife on a date in Paris; don't be George W Bush

I'll grant you the stem cell research decision was good. He did a few things along those lines in his first couple of weeks, in between secret meetings with Pharma and HMO CEOs, giving away more trillions to Goldman Sachs and taking single payer off the table. Otherwise, he has been an abject failure.

[bertman]

56. I recommend this thread because it expresses well the angst that I feel. If it could only

express the disappointment and heartbreak of seeing this President, whom I love, announcing that we will bring exponentially more death and destruction to the innocent people of Afghanistan as well as to our own warriors, it would be perfect.

[kentuck]

62. A good description...

"a motley collection of the most craven bought-and-paid-for jellyfish in the history of modern politics..."

[Javaman]

69. Thanks, Will. :) nt