Did anyone get this text message from Obama

[Juche]

For those of us who signed up for texts during the election. It was given out after the Brown victory:


BarackObama: Yesterday’s election shows discontent with the pace of change—a frustration I share. We must move forward and keep working together.


On the surface it sounds innocuous. But the way he worded it makes me think he is trying to appeal both to progressives (who feel change is happening too slowly) and more aloof discontent voters as well as conservatives (who may feel changes are occurring to rapidly).

He never said 'change is happening too fast' or 'change is happening too slow'. He said 'discontent with the pace of change-a frustration I share'.

So how can he be upset that change is too fast and too slow at the same time? Its a bland statement designed to let people read what they want to read.

Rather than take a stand, Obama is reading the waters, looking at the contradictory opinions, and offering a bland statement he hopes people on both sides of the issue will identify with (those frustrated change is too slow and those frustrated it is too fast).

Its like he has no real opinions of his own, or at least any that he wants to share.

Its not even the text itself, it is the 'a frustration I share' part that bothers me. Had he said 'voters are frustrated with the pace of change' I don't think I'd mind. Because voters are frustrated with that. Some think it is happening too fast. Some think it is happening too slow. But the 'a frustration I share' part was bunk. How can he be upset things are too fast and too slow at the same time?

Man, us young people need to do some growing up. I really hoped Obama would be above this kind of triangulating, spineless, unprincipled double speak and be a leader with principals. I'm young and naive.

[undeterred]

1. Many of us have unsubscribed from the Obama emails.

I just don't believe him any more.

[roguevalley]

12. He needs to shut up and act. Show us you actually mean what you

say and it isn't more awesome prose. MLK was ready to tackle not just war and race but poverty when he died. He stood up to Klansmen and bullets for the right thing. Obama needs to find the right path and take it. We will go with him. He won't be alone. I hope he understands that he is alone with this brown shit. that is how alone he will be if the 2010 elections bear more poisoned fruit.

[closeupready]

45. "Shut up and act." Yes. No more flowery speeches. Action!

n/t

[emilyg]

15. Yes. I don't waste my time anymore.

[SammyWinstonJack]

42. Worse, I don't trust him.

[tbyg52]

46. +1

[notesdev]

2. Become a cynic now

it will save you a ton of heartbreak later

[Juche]

5. agreed

There are principled politicians. Sanders is a good example. Kucinich too.

But not only is it disappointing, it is offensive. How dumb does Obama and the dem leadership think we are?

He talked in 2003 about his support for single payer and during the election he runs ads condemning Billy Tozen. Then when he gets elected he invites Tozen into the white house a half dozen times an shuts out single payer supporters.

He is intentionally vague, hoping people will ascribe whatever they want onto him like a blank slate (rather than take a stand, he is vague hoping conservatives will see what they want and liberals will see what they want). Then he gives up on any principals and ethics he might have claimed to support in the past (he supported gay marriage in 1996 and single payer in 2003. Now in 2010 less controversial gay rights and health reform is being stalled). Then he treats his supporters like they are completely stupid and gullible (which I guess we were a year ago, but we didn't know better then).

[Kalun D]

16. Marketing

Obama is marketed to you at the expense of corporate $MILLIONS.

"We Are Change" is a fictional TV show, it's not real. The question and answer is simple, who owns the TV? (5 giant corporations)

the text is written by teams from madison avenue and then it's vetted by the lawyers for the appro double speak. That's after it's passed the focus group.

Obama talks the workers talk and walks the corporate walk

$TRILLIONS, for crooked banks, crooked "health care", and endless oil wars

generations of debt for increasingly underpaid overworked peons, (your great-grandkids are in debt before they're even born)

when are they going to say, enough is enough?

[Juche]

18. Its worse because he ran on not being like that

I can understand running on a platform of doublespeak and bullshit.

But Obama ran on a campaign of fighting special interests, standing up to destructive forces, being a proud progressive and not backing down from it. That is why so many of us supported him over Clinton in the primaries. We felt Obama was the more progressive candidate and Clinton was the corporate, triangulating, double speaking candidate.

So its a giant, giant, slap in the face. Not only is it marketing, but he marketed himself by playing on the rage and anger people have over the same behavior he himself pretended he wouldn't engage in.

Its like Nike using commercials condemning child labor to sell shoes.

[Kalun D]

19. ^^^^ +++++++ 10

LOLZ!!!

[WolverineDG]

3. I get his status updates on FB

or rather Obama for America that is. Wow, you should see people talking back! It was a riot when OFA was trying to get people to call their senators in support of that BS health care reform bill....the updates got terser & terser & the comments back got ruder.

dg

[ddeclue]

4. lawyerly weasel words.. and unsubcribe if you want to send THEM a message

[QC]

6. He has always done this thing of pairing up opposites so that people hear

him referring to them, no matter who they might be.

You know, the whole "Ours is a black America and a white America, a brown America and a red America and a yellow America, a gay America and a straight America" kind of thing. Virtually everyone is in that list somewhere, and they can hear the line and think, "UNG!!! He's speaking to me!!!"

It's very effective, no matter what else one might think about it.

[Juche]

8. But people have opposing view points

Some want more gay rights, some less, some don't care.

Some want more government intervention in the economy and health care. Some less. Some don't care.

You can't appeal to everyone. All it does is backfire by showing you have no values, ethics, spine or principals. In the short run it might work, but it is guaranteed to backfire in the long run.

[QC]

9. Oh, I agree that it's weaselly, manipulative bullshit,

but it certainly works, at least until people see through it.

[democracy1st]

7. Sorry to say but that economic team is going to doom his presidency

[FrenchieCat]

10. Since you doubt everything and spend this kind of time dissecting a text message.....

what can I say....?
you must not have much to do.
Pity.

[saracat]

14. Neither does the WH then. They spend hours crafting these messages to implement

strategic ambiguity!

[Jim Sagle]

24. Note that most of the commenters who subscribed to Obama's internet BS have since UNsubscribed.

So they agree with you - just not for quite the same reason.

[Contrary1]

11. I unsubscribed from his mailing list a couple weeks ago...

For what it's worth, I think you are correct in your assessment. I'm older, but was still naive.

[saracat]

13. This is the official messaging of the WH I posted about. It is called stategic ambiguity.

It is deliberate and intended to be all things to all peopl. This was the brainchildof Rahm. And the president apparently thinks this is a sensible way to proceed.It is applied to everything.It was first iniated with HCR.

[ddeclue]

47. It's called being a WEASEL.

[Jamastiene]

17. You live. You learn.

The biggest part of growing up is admitting that you were talked into believing the impossible and moving on from there. I remember a time when I could easily have said the same thing you just posted. I just wasn't on the internet yet at that time. I felt the same way about President Clinton that many felt about President Obama. I still basically like both, to be honest, but I don't have my expectations so high any more. The truly miraculous leaders with the gumption to do great for the country only come once in a lifetime...IF, and that is a big IF, we are lucky.

There is still time and maybe some hope for President Obama and many of our members of Congress to "get it" and start moving toward fixing the stuff that really needs to be fixed in the right way. Until then, all we can do is cope and do our best in life.

You live. You learn.

[GiveMeFreedom]

20. Yep

New boss, same as old boss. Damn shame too. I believed him when he was campaigning, I feel cheated now. I unsubscribed from emails and feel like I have done something.

[Cursive]

21. Doesn't bother me

Maybe I'm naive. I stil think he's trying to do the best he can for Americans.

[Zhade]

22. "the pace of change" suggests there's change. What a crock of SHIT.

NT!

[laughingliberal]

23. My email to the White House tonight

President Obama,

After watching the selling of any chance of meaningful healthcare reform over these last months and hearing more and more insulting comments about the 'left' coming out of the White House during that time, I have only been able to conclude that the suppression of the liberal vote is the goal. I have hoped this was not true but I just see no other explanation. I watched you and your team run an almost flawless campaign and know there is no lack of intelligence there.I have written and called alarmed that we are going to see big losses in the House and Senate in November if the alienation of the left continues. There is just not much way to win with the independents if the base does not show up. I believe we saw this in MA on Tuesday. I am, once again, alarmed to hear the White House poised to move right again in response to that loss. Post election polling from DFA showed the Democrats and Independents who usually vote Democratic opposed Coakley because they wanted a public option. The polling showed the same result for those who chose not to vote. I know she supported a public option but the people of MA are not stupid. They knew there was to be no public option in the bill she would be called on to vote for.

I also believe there is a more encompassing problem than just the HCR bill. The continued bailouts for Wall Street and the bankers while you say at your jobs forum that we have "limited resources" for jobs programs does not give the appearance of being on the side of the people.

And now we read of your support for an independent commission to deal with the deficit. We are hearing the dreaded words, "entitlement reform," which in my ears and those of many of the left is just another phrase which means stealing the people's money. George Bush was unable to privatize Social Security and we all breathed a little easier. The formation of this commission coupled with Ben Bernanke's statements about entitlement reform lead me to believe we will soon be fighting yet another push for privatization of Social Security. I hope I'm wrong about this but as long as the Emanuel brothers are hanging out there with their corporate friendly right leaning ideas on policy, I have little hope we will be heading in the correct direction any time soon. I really hope the take away from the loss of the seat Teddy Kennedy held for 46 years is a need for the real change we were promised by you in the campaign and not that we need more 'bipartisan,' watered down, pseudo change. The stimulus bill was gutted to barely acceptable. The HCR bill went way off the scale to the extent of being a bailout of an industry that is destined to die on its own if we do nothing and yet we demanded no loophole free concessions from them. Please reconsider the current course you are on. We need a little more LBJ/FDR now and a little less Mr Congeniality.

[Goldstein1984]

26. Nicely said.

I always wonder, when I send emails to the WH, who really reads them?

[Goldstein1984]

27. Deleted and reposted

[laughingliberal]

31. Thanks.

Lol! Probably straight to the spam file. Maybe tomorrow I'll call them again.

[Goldstein1984]

39. I never let up.

I've backed off a bit lately, probably less than five emails/letters per week, but I keep sending.

When I post them on DU, the local Ton Ton Macoute descend on me. I don't know what to do with the party faithful and personality cult crowd. They seem so happy just to have a Democrat in office that that is enough for them. They don't even recognize that their shrill rhetoric could easily be coming out of the mouthes of Dick or Liz Cheney.

[Jim Sagle]

41. Nor do they recognize that they don't actually have a Democrat in office.

[Goldstein1984]

43. Since the Democratic Party moved to the Right

it's harder to find what I consider a real democrat in any office.

[ima_sinnic]

30. excellent!

thanks for taking the time to do that.

[BP2]

38. Very diplomatically-worded. You used kinder words than many here would have used.

[Hannah Bell]

25. Don't worry. You'll soon be middle-aged & cynical. That's leadership!

[saracat]

49. Better than a youthful idiot! And BTW The prez is "middle aged" so better watch it.

:rofl:

[Goldstein1984]

28. I also recommend that you "become a cynic now."

And I agree (in a sideways fashion) with another post in this thread: Don't waste time trying to understand one-liners from the White House. If you do, you're putting more thought into them than the WH does--they're nothing but platitudes.

But you're fortunate to be alive in these modern times. There's now an alternative to cynicism--antidepressants. As part of their new partnership with the White House, your text messages may soon include recommendations for some of the better solutions to politically- and ideologically-induced depression offered by Big Pharma. (Hint: They're much cheaper across the border.)

[crispini]

29. That's the first line of the email I got from OFA, basically

Here's the whole thing, for your parsing pleasure.

Yesterday's disappointing election results show deep discontent with the pace of change. I know the OFA community and the President share that frustration.

We also saw what we knew to be true all along: Any change worth making is hard and will be fought at every turn. While it doesn't take away the sting of this loss, there is no road to real change without setbacks along the way.

We could have simply sought to do things that were easy, that wouldn't stir up controversy. But changes that aren't controversial rarely solve the problem.

Our country continues to face the same fundamental challenges it faced yesterday. Our health care system still needs reform. Wall Street still needs to be held accountable. We still need to create good jobs. And we still need to continue building a clean energy economy.

The President isn't walking away from these challenges. In fact, his determination and resolve are only stronger. We must match that commitment with our own.

But it won't be easy. Real change never is. For that reason, I am grateful you're part of this fight with us.

Thank you,

Mitch

I can see how you can read the text either way, but I think this one seems a little clearer in context that more change, and faster change, is needed.

[EFerrari]

32. It's interesting to me because the text is written in a formula

I had to learn to talk to my ex when he was having an episode and needed to be calmed down. It's called SET (sympathy, empathy, truth).

[crispini]

33. Ahahahahaha.

Of course, it could be just that they've learned how to communicate that way naturally. I've never been taught the formula you speak of but I recognized the idea immediately when you "named" it as I use that general concept with clients all the damn time. :)

[EFerrari]

35. When I first started using it at home, I felt like a robot

and now, I use it all the time. It works. :)

[NuttyFluffers]

34. He could be an excellent writer for Hallmark cards.

impressive use of vacuous platitudes and generic consolation.

ooh, look, a use for one of my favorite emoticons!

this text message is like this --> :puffpiece:

[Bitwit1234]

36. I now immediately delete ALL political emails because

all they want is money.

[BP2]

37. Empty words from an empty suit. Whose agenda of change is he working on anyway?

[GeorgeGist]

40. People who want to take their country back ...

do not move FORWARD.

[asdjrocky]

44. Reads like a real wimp statement. nt

[bigwillq]

48. No (nt)