I need to be comforted about Obama

[judy]

These days, I wake up every morning and think I am back in the Bush era...terrorist this, terrorist that, war on Yemen, as if WAR was ever any solution against rampant poverty and terrorism (terrorism is the war of those who have no army).
Nobel Peace Prize?? What value has it now that Henry Kissinger and Barack "the full power of the United States will fall on them" Obama?
Not to mention the wiggliness he demonstrated in the Health Care debate...how he let "socialism" become a dirty word.
My heart is broken...I started liking Obama, though I was a Kucinich supporter. He still looks like the smartest guy around. Looks.
I need therapy.
Help me...can you help me?

[freddie mertz]

1. Wish I could help, but I feel the same way. nt.

[emilyg]

44. +1

[Mari333]

60. +2

[Dinger]

80. Make That + 3

Maybe we can propose a DU group???

[chimpymustgo]

86. OMG - great idea.

We're like victims of domestic abuse from a handsome, sweet-talking husband. He keeps promising...and we want to keep the family together...

[AB_Positive]

88. Damn - my feelings in a nutshell.

He talks a great game, but I didn't want to vote in another W. with some more melatonin and less alcoholism.

[notesdev]

2. If it's any comfort

you're not alone

[TornadoTN]

3. I'm with you - it's a helpless feeling

And I'm just as angry that I fell for it.

[xiamiam]

25. better to know than not know..before we didn't....now we do

the difficult part was the transition from rose colored glasses to blinding truth in our face..it was very depressing initially especially since i received a lot of flak from people telling me to give him time..the afghanistan war speech did it for me and a lot of others..that's it..its a mistake..and he is in way over his head.. ..in my liberal neck of the country, those who pay attention are done with this administration...we are not to be taken lightly, yes, we are progressive, we are closely watching, and we've been burned big time... you know what the say..fool me once..(lol, i can never say that without thinking of our goofy last president)...

the part that i dont like is that i have a difficult time finding joy in the small things they are doing since they are screwing up the big things so badly...thats my opinion and i hope i dont have to stick to it..but im not expecting much..3 long years of milk toast and war ..and then that will be that

[HopeHoops]

4. Look on the bright side - Crotch Bomber was from Nigeria with ties to Yemen. Bush would invade Iran

At least we have an adult in the White House now.

[el_bryanto]

5. Terrorism is the war of those who have no army?

I'm not sure I can go along with that.

Bryant

[2 Much Tribulation]

103. Then what is? It used to be called, well, still is in some places, "asymmetrical warfare" n/t

[roody]

6. Change will not come from the top down.

It is from the grassroots and moves up.

[debbierlus]

7. Time to face reality and move forward.

We need to get beyond our own emotions and illusions. Obama is not what we thought or hoped he would be. We need to acknowledge this fact and then turn the discussion to where do we go from here.

[jpak]

8. No, you need to be pissed at Lieberman

I sure as hell am

[dgibby]

54. Lieberman is a useful idiot.

He's just playing his part in this little Kabuki theater.

[FLyellowdog]

9. I don't even pretend

to know what the answers are to all the nation's troubles, but I do know without question that President Obama will find ways to fix what is fixable. I trusted him when I voted for him and I trust him now. If I knew how to fix things, I'd be sitting in the Oval Office instead of him. Last time I looked, I wasn't.

If you really want to talk about broken hearts, go to a children's cancer ward at the nearest hospital or check up on the latest child molesters' activities listed in any and every community in our country. Better yet, go out and find something meaningful to do like giving a homeless person a place to sleep or paying for medication that some uninsured person can't afford.

Being broken-hearted over what the President hasn't yet been able to fix is childish and sel-serving. If running the country were supposed to be easy, anyone could do it. As demonstrated by George W. Bush, that just ain't the case.

[lamp_shade]

12. Bravo. Wise words from FLyellowdog.

[winyanstaz]

17. So Bush fucking up = bad...Obama fucking up = good...

If it was wrong for the one..it is wrong for the other.

[FLyellowdog]

21. I don't think Obama's fucked up.

It could just be me, but I think he's got a lot of difficult things going on that require difficult decisions during difficult times working with difficult people. I don't have any solutions to all these messes, but I certainly admire the problems.

[TicketyBoo]

40. Yes!

Thank you for this!

[freddie mertz]

92. I need to be convinced that he is trying to fix things.

OK, Maybe a few things here and there.

But on healthcare, civil liberties, and the wars, I am just not convinced.

And I also don't feel I can trust what he promises anymore, which is a real problem.

[bridgit]

10. The super-delegates have spoken, sorry

:(

[kentuck]

11. He hired the wrong people.

That was his decision. I suppose he was told by those in the know that it had to be done? And he did it. So far, he's just another politician. The status quo is not threatened.

[aquart]

14. He hired the people he wanted.

Remember that his team was up and running almost immediately because they did the planning for it during the campaign. He knew who he wanted.

[kentuck]

19. I assume you are correct.

But, in my opinion, they were the "wrong" people.

[aquart]

85. Oh, we happen to share that opinion.

[swilton]

96. Either he has no balls or he's a sociopath

Take your pick.

I have to admit I didn't vote for the man so I am not as crestfallen or as surprised as some. I am disappointed because did expect better than this.

Even giving Obama the benefit of the doubt and admitting that Bush made things so bad that they would be hard to change, Obama was given a golden opportunity and never could so littl effort at substantive reform have gone such a long way to turning things around. But the effort has not been there from Obama. And he did have almost unprecedented opportunities given his mandate and the Democratic majorities in both houses....He has done much less than Bush did with less mandate and less opportunities vis a vis majorities in the legislature. I won't bore you with a litany of his opportunities missed.

The problem I see is the bottom line - where do we go from here....If this person is not going to fix things; do we want to wait another eight years for another chance? Will we have this majority in the legislature again - if it doesn't work now, what or when will it work? What does it take to make it work?

Building a viable third party would take as long as putting in more progressive candidates in the Congress or Senate...

I'm not going to vote for a Democratic Party candidate again - less someone with a history (actions votes, speaches, leadership roles (not words) of a progressive track record which Obama didn't really have (actions speak louder than words - a la his proclomations that he wouldn't have voted for the Iraq War - hmmmm.....)

[Richard D]

13. I was talking with a friend . . .

. . . who is not from the US though he lives here. His comments on Obama were that the US now has a president who is intelligent, has a good heart, truly loves his family, isn't having affairs with interns, has a good grasp on ethics, truly seems to want peace, isn't a drug addict and alcoholic, and isn't funneling trillions of dollars to his buddies. He also inherited one hell of a mess. He said we should be overjoyed to have someone like him as president.

[Bluenorthwest]

20. Such great wisdom to bring us!

You know, 'not the US' is not the name of anyplace at all. Also not the home of real people, who live in places with names.

[TornadoTN]

32. "Not funnelling trillions of dollars to his buddies"

Well, maybe they aren't his "buddies", but they are still getting the money.

[salguine]

56. Does he come from someplace where he doesn't have to worry about being bankrupted

by obscene medical bills? Good for him.

[FiveGoodMen]

78. Your friend doesn't know shit

(when he sees it)

[2 Much Tribulation]

105. Your friend stopped watching the news about March 2009... n/t

[spoony]

15. The only comfort we can offer is that you're not alone

:grouphug:

[butterfly77]

16. That is because ...

this is how the media,the military and the rightwing want it to be perceived. The President went through all of these different procedures when he was trying to decipher and come up with a decision regarding Afghanistan he is trying to do the best he can but he can't really tell who is lying or giving him certain information to keep the war going. Then they criticize him on whichever choice he makes.

If he doesn't send enough troops he will be blame and if he does. Now,I believe that he thinks that he can leave Afg at a specified time but,I really think the military indus complex sets up situtions to keep it going. We can now see how they are playing the "ONLY REPUBLICONS CAN PROTECT US" bull and Bush/Cheney kept us safe even though we were hit on 911,anthrax attacks which I think Mitch McConnnell and the repugs had something to do with,KATRINA,TENT CITIES,ELDERLY SLEEPING IN CARS,etc...

[Orsino]

18. He's playing a longer game...

...spending his political capital in small chunks to avoid burning out early. He plans to be president a few years from now, and doesn't want to end up a pathetic loser. The consequence of this strategy is that his gains will be small ones. Enormous change is not possible now, given the conservative bent of America.

You can take comfort in this: he'll still be able to make a little change two and three years from now.

[xiamiam]

28. that was a good argument before the afghanistan war escalation

it is not now...100 billion in the next year to protect the building of the trans afghanistan pipeline...no bankruptcy bill, no holding anyone accountable, no war profiteering or crimes prosecuted...geithner..aig..goldman sachs...we'll see about health care but it hasn't looked good so far..there is so much more..but afghanistan?....so very wrong and only a few benefit..it is not us or the citizens of afghanistan..

[Orsino]

34. I wasn't making an argument.

It's fact. The only changes President Obama is implementing are small ones.

[PurityOfEssence]

38. All his great achievements are still ahead of him...and always will be

He's the Pied Piper of chess-playing hope and change.

Big Damned deal; he's a damn sight better than most others we could be saddled with, but have no illusions about his true nature. Even if he IS more concerned about the common man than I think he is, he is far too beholden to the powers that be and/or far too timid in his assessment of "the possible".

He's traveling down the middle of the middle of the middle of the road, and much as that's gotten him very far, he is now fighting a two-front war. Maybe the left is too weak and disorganized to bring any coherent influence, but even if that's true, he's losing this resource with every passing appeasement.

The disillusionment factor is not to be ignored. Far more here were swept away with enthusiasm and personal admiration than some of us were, and they are feeling increasingly schnooked and sad.

[salguine]

58. That's not good enough. Like using a water pistol on a house fire. The house is burning. Little

changes here and there are simply not going to cut it. These times call for drastic action. "Little chunks" are pathetically inadequate.

[Orsino]

67. He could be the best president ever, maybe...

...and it could still be too little, too late. :(

[chimpymustgo]

87. Oh PLEASE, don't bring that BULLSHIT. Like we were supposed to just wait for a great healthcare

bill in the END. After Obama's brilliant chess moves.

Shit sandwich we get.

Long game, my ass.

[Orsino]

89. Long game.

It is obvious that he's not playing the short game.

He doesn't get to write the bill. We can bust on him for not leading Congress, kicking and screaming toward something progressive, but we must acknowledge the enormous inertia he would have had to fight--and that too damned few of us took an active interest and lobbied Congress ourselves.

There is a virtue in keeping his powder dry. He's already lost face by promising more than Congress is willing/allowed to deliver.

[chimpymustgo]

90. It's fuck the middle class game. Obama's had no problem being out front in giving bailouts to banks

Bonuses with no strings. Unwinnable war in Afghanistan - but billions more to the military industrial complex. No Bush tax repeals on his fat cat friends.

Put down the pom poms. Obama is fucking YOU.

[Orsino]

91. You're telling me more about the system than the president.

But, seriously--how do you think he could have made Big Pharma agree to make sufficient sacrifices in HCR? How do you think he could have gotten more votes from the more conservative members of Congress for more progressive HCR? The margin for passage of anything was razor-thin.

The president is a small player in this very long game, even though his is the biggest personal share of the blame/credit.

[tblue]

22. When I want to feel better about him

I envision him as a Republican, maybe on the order of a Chuck Hagel -- corporate, leans right in some areas, but rational, basically decent, smart, and non-Neocon. Somehow, and I'm not sure why but, it makes me appreciate Obama more. Instead of tearing out my hair at things he does I don't like, I think, "Well. it could be so much worse. It could be Palin or Jeb."

If, on the other hand, I look at Obama as a strong progressive Democrat, forget it. I am repeatedly demoralized. I'm frankly just very tired of feeling that way.

Try my way and see if it helps.
:hug:

edit for typo

[salguine]

59. How does mentally anaesthetizing yourself help matters?

[Generator]

71. Well when I rant about Obama's sell out

My husband always reminds me, "He's doing fine for a moderate corporatist Republican politician."

That's all he is. If you as the other poster said try to think he's progressive, or liberal, or even moderately understanding of why people criticize him-forget about it. The endless facts say otherwise.

But I have never seen a politician fall so fast in popularity. And most of it really his Obama's own doing. He could have schmoozed us more-instead he said very clearly, I don't give a fuck about you.

I never campaigned on what you wanted. He is not mincing words. He has all the power he needs. And he certainly no longer needs his base.

[blondeatlast]

23. Justice Sotomayor and two more likely SCOTUS appointments, plus Hilda Solis (Labor Secretary)

are a nice warm cup of tea for me.

A labor secretary who actually thinks workers need to have defenses against their employers--ANS supports unions?!

It's a holehellalotmore than we could have had.

[TornadoTN]

30. Justice Sotomayor is great, but I feel like Solis won't be able to contribute

At least, contribute as much as she would like. With the corporate cronies running the White House lately, anything that Solis would want to accomplish is likely brushed aside. It's a shame too.

[blondeatlast]

42. Thing is, Solis will have to undo what that scum Cho did. The media doesn't hype

that kind of thing. Cho was a DISASTER (which, I suppose, goes without saying).

Here's a good article on what she's managed to accomplish:

http://trueslant.com/allisonkilkenny/2010/01/05/hilda-solis-shocks-everyone-acts-like-a-democrat/

Labor is one of my pet issues and I like what I'm seeing so far.

[TornadoTN]

43. Thanks for the article, very interesting read!

Thanks!

[asdjrocky]

24. I feel worse than I did with Clinton.

At least he had the guts to go after guns, as limited as his effort was.

[tblue]

26. And I will never forget how he,

in his FIRST month in office, tried to keep his promise of allowing gays to serve in the military. Now, DADT was a ridiculous compromise, but it wasn't what Clinton wanted at all until he was beaten upside the head by the r/w and the military brass. I think he came into office, said heck yeah I'm gonna change this immediately, and then got kicked in the teeth. I think it had never occurred to him the level of bigotry he would face. I will always love the Big Dog for trying to keep that promise. That took moral courage.

[asdjrocky]

35. I was NOT happy with the Clinton administration, to say the least.

But you're right, at least he tried to appeal to his base.

This guy, President Obama, shows again and again that he just doesn't care.

[bobbolink]

48. His "base" wasn't poor people?

Its too bad what he did to poor women doesn't seem to count much.

He didn't even care enough to track them and find out what happened to them. We don't know how many became homeless, how many died.

They are just......."disappeared".

:cry:

[asdjrocky]

70. I hear you.

Welfare reform was a joke. My comparison is only to illustrate that the current administration is even worse, not that Clinton was good.

[bobbolink]

97. And I was just putting out the reminder, because there are so few who even think about what happened

to those women and children.

Thanks for understanding! :yourock:

[bobbolink]

98. And I was just putting out the reminder, because there are so few who even think about what happened

to those women and children.

Thanks for understanding! :yourock:

[PizzaDriver]

63. correct; at least he seriously tried. i don't hold political reality against him. nt

[PizzaDriver]

62. amazing how Bill Clinton is looking better and better these days. nt

[bigtree]

27. one year in

. . . we're not helpless. We need to keep organizing behind our principles and remain active in our advocacy to influence Congress and this administration to effect our initiatives. The president is intelligent and capable. His presidency still has promise. We need to provide as much support for our ideals as we can muster to have the maximum influence in this political climate. It's never easy.

[Don Caballero]

29. Get over yourself. Stop with the Obama hatred.

He has been in office one year. You must support him during the infancy of his tenure.

[TornadoTN]

31. I swear, this place sounds more & more like Freeperland or right out of 1984

Geez. "YOU MUST GIVE HIM UNWAVERING SUPPORT! IT IS YOUR PRIME DIRECTIVE!"

[Egnever]

37. Sure does

But not because people support the president.

[TornadoTN]

41. Really now?

I remember the GOP marching in lockstep during the Bush years, telling everyone "YOU MUST SUPPORT THIS PRESIDENT NO MATTER WHAT".

Pretty much the same thing going on these days around here.

[bobbolink]

47. Its hard to face the shoe being on the other foot, and taking a good, long look at it, isn't it?

We have our own issues to face....:(

[Starry Messenger]

69. I'm praying it's just satire. n/t

[inna]

73. Actually, you might be on to something here, good point. nt

[laughingliberal]

33. We now return you to regularly scheduled programming nt

[Hell Hath No Fury]

45. You are becoming incredibly annoying ---

and are transparent as glass. :eyes:

[inna]

68. He's *always* been transparent and annoying.

:shrug:

[inna]

65. "Why do you hate America??!!!11!!??"

:rofl:


*You* get over yourself and stop with your nonsensical and ridiculous ad hominems.

:thumbsdown:

[freddie mertz]

93. There was no hatred in that post.

Not a shred.

Your constant accusations of hatred only make things worse.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

36. Think about this, what if there weren't other people

like here at DU to commiserate with. What if no one but you gave a damn.
We may not have leaders we can trust but al least we have each other.
If I thought I was all alone in this I'd really go crazy.

[TicketyBoo]

39. I'm beginning to feel

like you can get as much comforting about Obama on any Republican site as you can here.

People here are ready to string him up now, just as one store clerk in my community suggested to customers two months into Obama's presidency. "It will be a great day for America the day he's assassinated. Hanging would be better."

I came here because I hoped to find support for this administration that is non-existent in my community.

Now it feels like the whole of America has turned on him. It's only a matter of time until the Secret Service is outwitted, and you'll all have your wish. America can't appreciate a smart young man trying his best with the circumstances he's been handed. Nope.

Think about it, everybody. This is OUR President. He cannot just wave a magic wand and "make it all better." I hope he physically survives his term of office, and (hopefully) is elected to a second term and manages to physically survive that one, too. But I'm not betting on it.

[bobbolink]

49. Some of us believe that the country and its citizens are more important than allegiance to one

politician or one party.

Some of us are old enough to have gotten beyond cheerleading.

[TheKentuckian]

52. I understand where you're coming from but those factors cannot give Obama a license

to put bad policies in place because he needs support. He has to work with us and not do things that shatter faith like sucking up to the big money and telling the people to sit, spin, and get over themselves.

[dgibby]

55. You're equating our dissatisfaction with policy to a death wish

for Obama? Really?

[salguine]

64. You say "Now it feels like the whole of America has turned on him". I tend to think

it feels like he's turned on America. President Obama is so completely unlike Candidate Obama that it strains belief.

As far as him being all-caps OUR President goes, well, he ain't my President. He's Goldman Sachs' President, apparently. And Aetna's President. And Kaiser Permanente's President. He ain't mine, not any more. He's chosen who he's going to go to the mat for, and it ain't me. And, unless you can grunt real hard and shit out a gold bar, it ain't you, either.

And as far as your assertion that taking exceptions with any of Obama's actions as President is essentially the same as hoping to see him killed, well, what the fuck is wrong with you?

[TicketyBoo]

76. Maybe what's wrong with me

is that I've heard one too many death wishes for OUR President.

Even Bush was our president (good riddance, but he was). I do not wish ill for any president. I hope they do better each successive day.

It is the way of the politician to promise the moon and deliver something less.

I was disillusioned fairly early on (Timothy Geithner's nomination), but I continue to hope for better and better as we move forward instead of flinging up my hands and declaring, "Woe unto us!"

I tend to be optimistic, and my expectations (do it NOW or ELSE) do not seem to be as unrealistic as those of many folks here.

[freddie mertz]

95. NO-ONE here wishes any harm to the president!

You should think twice before throwing that kind of crap around.

[TicketyBoo]

104. People talk about how disgusted

they are with him and how they are sorry they voted for him, are sorry that he is President, that he doesn't deserve to be President.

Regrettably, it's not much of a leap, and not far from what I hear in this rabidly Republican town (except for the part about having voted for him).

[freddie mertz]

94. This is the second time I have seen you make this crazy argument.

You should try to think more responsibly before you post such things.

[TicketyBoo]

102. People here say that they value

the truth.

This is the truth.

[bobbolink]

46. Here's the only therapy I know of in this situation...

Acknowledge your own wisdom for facing some hard facts, rather than keeping your head buried.

We learned back in the Vietnam era that its very difficult to face the truth of the matter... it leads to depression. Few chose to go that route, and would rather continue fooling themselves.

You made the hard choice.

Integrity.

:toast: :pals: :toast:

[salguine]

50. I wouldn't say you need to be comforted. Mainly because, for all the reasons you

set out, you're right to feel the way you do. I say you don't need to be comforted because too many people have been comforted for way too long, which is why this shit continues. DON'T get comfortable, stay mad. Channel your hurt and disillusionment into action. Comfort turns into complacency and that is the enemy of change.

[closeupready]

51. No, sorry, I can't offer any words of comfort.

Because your assessment is accurate.

[ddeclue]

53. Nope I can't help you...

[treestar]

57. What war on Yemen?

Socialism was already a dirty word. Or if it is, how can that be the President's fault? And when did Obama ever say he was a socialist?

[PizzaDriver]

61. live and learn. nt

[midnight]

66. I wish I could help.

[FrenchieCat]

72. He had nothing to do with "socialism" becoming a dirty word.....

that sure is putting a whole lot of blame on one guy, if you really believe that.

We didn't elect a Tall Tan Kucinich.

I don't think you believe that Obama was going to padlock Wall Street, closed down insurance companies, end all wars and socialize the entire economy? If so, were you living during the campaign?


Nevertheless, we are turning left...



Promises about PolitiFact's Top Promises on the Obameter
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/subjects/politifacts-top-promises/



fifth major lesson of 2009: center-left disagreement is essential to center-left governance
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x111718



Obama unveils $250 million math, science program
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=112514&mesg_id=112514



White House Releases Name Of Every Visitor For First Time Ever
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/white-house-releases-name-of-every-visitor-for-first-time-ever.php?ref=fpblg



Obama's Smart Sex Education Funding
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/12/28/obama-s-smart-sex-education-funding.aspx



Obama Administration Looking Out for Labor in 2010
http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/12/29/101312/85



Jobless Claims Fall Unexpectedly as Layoffs Ease - lowest level since July 2008 in sign of recovery
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=9454580



Senate approves Lubinski, nation’s first gay U.S. Marshal
http://minnesotaindependent.com/52601/senate-approves-lubinski-nations-first-gay-u-s-marshal



Obama Curbs Secrecy of Classified Documents (NYT)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/us/politics/30secrets.html?_r=1&src=twt&twt=nytimespolitics



Progress in Pres. Obama’s Goal of Ending Child Hunger by 2015
http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7336540



President Obama announces new rules for electronic health records
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/us/politics/30secrets.html?_r=1&src=twt&twt=nytimespolitics



Obama Quietly Changes U.S. Immigration Policy
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=f35b300ec73d76f7ccc97e547a14056a



Obama, HUD Announce $1.4 Billion For Homeless Assistance Programs
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/us/politics/30secrets.html?_r=1&src=twt&twt=nytimespolitics



Labor chief moves on job safety, workers' rights
http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/business/2010/01/01/D9CV9R2G0_us_labor_the_enforcer



No U.S. combat-related deaths in Iraq in December
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/01/01/iraq.us.deaths/


US commander in Iraq says troop drawdown on track
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100102/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq



Obama orders air security review after jet bomb attempt
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8431732.stm



Sorry, We’re Still Closing Gitmo
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/terrorism/white-house-to-lieberman-and-repubicans-sorry-were-still-closing-gitmo/



President Obama - Most Admired Man In America in 2009
http://www.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2009-12-30-1Apoll30_ST_U.htm?csp=34



Obama takes the heat Bush did not
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20091230/pl_politico/31049



"Blaming Barack Obama for eight years of George W.Bush"
http://www.examiner.com/x-33986-Political-Spin-Examiner~y2010m1d1-Blaming-Barack-Obama-for-eight-years-of-George-WBush







Five notable bills from '09
http://www.congress.org/news/2009/12/28/five_notable_bills_from_09?all=1


The New Yorker's Hendrik Hertzberg wrote...



When Congress reconvenes a few days from now, it will be on the cusp of enacting a sweeping reform of American health insurance and health care that could be, as the President put it on Christmas Eve, just after the Senate passed its version of the bill, “the most important piece of social legislation since the Social Security Act passed in the nineteen-thirties and the most important reform of our health-care system since Medicare passed in the nineteen-sixties.” Perhaps he was exaggerating, but not by much. Jonathan Cohn, the New Republic’s health-care correspondent, calls the bill “the most ambitious piece of domestic legislation in a generation—a bill that will extend insurance coverage to tens of millions of Americans, strengthen insurance for many more, and start refashioning American medicine so that it is more efficient.” Paul Krugman, the Times’ resident Nobel laureate (and a frequent Obama critic), calls the bill “a great achievement” that “establishes the principle—even if it falls somewhat short in practice—that all Americans are entitled to essential health care.” Princeton’s Paul Starr, the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning history “The Social Transformation of American Medicine,” calls it “the single biggest measure on behalf of low-income Americans in more than forty years.” How big? The University of Chicago’s Harold Pollack has done the sums. By the time the reforms are fully implemented, “the Senate bill would provide about $196 billion per year down the income scale in subsidies to low-income and working Americans.” That’s more, Pollack notes, than the federal government spends on the earned-income tax credit, Head Start, assistance to single mothers and their children, nutrition programs like food stamps, and the National Institutes of Health combined.

None of these people, from Obama on down the wonk scale, deceive themselves that the Senate bill, which now must be merged with its (marginally stronger) House equivalent, comes within hailing distance of perfection. All of them recognize that the final bill, in the now overwhelmingly likely event that it surmounts the remaining hurdles, will be flawed and messy. All of them also understand that, compared with the status quo—and the status quo, not perfection or anything like it, is the alternative—it will constitute a moral and material advance of historic proportions.

Nevertheless, a nontrivial portion (though far from a majority) of the Democratic left, particularly its Internet cohort, feels alienated and disappointed, with the bill and with the President. As the Senate vote neared, Markos Moulitsas, the chief of Daily Kos, sent his followers a tweet: “Insurance companies win. Time to kill this monstrosity coming out of the Senate.” MoveOn.org called on “progressives” to “block this bill.” Arianna Huffington dismissed it as “reform in name only.” Keith Olbermann, MSNBC’s Savonarola, lectured the President that he was about to consign his countrymen to a “Chicago stockyards of insurance” that would be “immoral and a betrayal of the people who elected you.” Even Dr. Dean himself—Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor, Presidential candidate, and Democratic Party chairman—wrote that the Senate should defeat the bill, claiming that it “would do more harm than good to the future of America.” And in the nether reaches of the left blogosphere the epithets flew. Obama is a “sellout.” He’s a “liar.” He’s a “Judas,” a “fraud,” a “corrupt fool.” He’s a “Liebermanite.” (Ouch!) He’s “an Uncle Tom groveling before the demands of the corporations that are running our country.” (This last not from some anonymous blog commenter but from Ralph Nader, without whose efforts Joe Lieberman would be just another former Vice-President.)
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2010/01/11/100111taco_talk_hertzberg#ixzz0blnq29Qk

[lyonspotter]

74. If you want some help and therapy...

Then watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVuh4AiZ-VY

(But I think you are on the right track!)

[Skittles]

75. can't help you

sorry

[lyonspotter]

77. The American people were, en masse, duped...

That is why these feelings of the OP are happening...

[Skittles]

79. I was not duped

I knew exactly what we would get with Obama; doesn't make me any less outraged but I was NOT duped

[lyonspotter]

82. Glad you were not duped...nor was I.

But that is why I wrote 'en masse'...

Or rather, a large body of voters were duped...

If you follow the campaign contributors, it gives an indication of who the politician will be faithful to.

[defendandprotect]

81. Maybe if liberals/progressives come together as a voting bloc . ..

it would make some difference?

To discuss something other than continuing to vote "for the lesser evil" . . . ???

[Vidar]

83. You're not alone, although that's small comfort.

[TexasObserver]

84. He consistently allows the GOP to frame the issues.

He lets them set the agenda.

[TK421]

99. Take it easy Judy! Some chess matches last longer than others!

:sarcasm:

[QC]

107. Especially intergalactic googledimensional chess! n/t

[TheWatcher]

100. You don't need to be comforted. You need to dig within and find the courage to FACE REALITY.

Believe me, I am not belittling you, nor chastising you, because I know how difficult and hard it is to face that reality when we all wanted, NEEDED to believe in this man, especially after the last 8 years of criminal dictatorship.

You were right on DK (He was my man too), but there is no way he was ever going to be allowed to win.

You don't need THERAPY. You do not need your perception managed. You do not need to be talked down.

You need to face what you see in front of you, and what you know in your heart and mind.

This is a Bill Of Goods.

We were successfully sold on it.

Now we have to figure out what to do from here.

But we MUST NOT GIVE UP.

[Geek_Girl]

101. he still is the smartest guy around unfortunately he is a Corporatist

and in my opinion, turning out to be no better than Bush

[KittyWampus]

106. If you think this is like the Bush era there is no help for you or any other DU'ers agreeing with

your ludicrous sentiment.