He wasn't talking to/about YOU

[scheming daemons]

It's amazing how many people think Gibbs was talking to or about them.


to recap....

There are only two groups of people that he was referring to:

A. Those that think Obama is no different than Bush
B. Those on the left that get paid for their opinion (columnists, bloggers, radio hosts, etc.)

If you are not in one of those two groups, he wasn't referring to you.


Michael Moore? Yes. He likely was talking about you.
Arrianna Huffington? Yep. Probably.
FireDogLake? Yes. Most definitely.
Glen Greenwald? Yep. You too.


99% of DemocraticUnderground's angst-filled kvetchers? No. He wasn't talking about you. Get over yourselves. Such drama.

[xultar]

1. But it is more fun to let them think it so we can laugh.

[uppityperson]

2. k&r

[zipplewrath]

3. Just people I agree with

And you left out "people who want to close the DoD"
People that want a canadian health care system.

I'm not sure who those people are. Are you?

[Faygo Kid]

5. +1

Yeah, those horrible folks like the ones you list there.

Again, the ones I agree with.

[EFerrari]

4. LOL

Is this the next step after 1) He was right 2) They are not the base 3)You are not the base?

Practice makes perfect.

[Skittles]

6. it is mind-boggling

[EFerrari]

8. I'd rather get my ass kicked by you, Skittles,

than to listen to this painful bulleria.

[Skittles]

26. SD is one of the hardcore ones

probably an intervention is needed

[metapunditedgy]

30. LOL indeed! That is all. n/t

[eleny]

7. If he goes up against our icons in the media then I'm afraid he's going to get some push-back....

.... from us who appreciate their being our voice.

So, no, we won't shut up.

[havocmom]

21. Well stated

Thank you

[activa8tr]

9. IF you don't think what all those folks say is important, why the HECK are you

anything other than a Republican?

I love all of them. You don't?

What are you, Robert Gibbs, doing starting a thread on the DU?

If you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen!

[apocalypsehow]

10. True, but the lust to brim over with OUTRAGE!!!!11 is just too powerful a draw for some. n/t.

[saracat]

11. Really ? So both Think Progress and the Democratic Progressive Caucus got it ALL WRONG?

Obviously they are not as proficient at interpeting WHspeak as some here are. Rep Ellison calling for Gibbs resignation and Rep, Grijalva's outrage is just "poutrage" right? :sarcasm:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8918108&mesg_id=8918804

[scheming daemons]

12. Those are part of the "Professional Left"

...

[saracat]

15. oooh. I guess we don't "need" those seats in November. I guess we would be "better of without them"

and with more pragmatyic voices like heath Schuler and Ben Nelson. I guess some feel we need another Stupak to replace the one we are losing!:sarcasm:

[myrna minx]

20. So my Congressman, an *elected* DEM, is part of the professional left?

Do I have that right?

[saracat]

25. That is what the poster is saying. And they truly imply they don't care about their opinions.

[Individualist]

13. You're going to hurt yourself with those contortions.

[monmouth]

14. Lots of self-important me, me people here these days.....n/t

[Stinky The Clown]

16. By that logic, none of the Obama defenders ought to get pissed when he gets criticized.

After all, the critic wasn't talking to them.

[IDemo]

17. +1

[RoseMead]

27. Thank you! n/t

[rucky]

32. Stinky wins again!

[jobycom]

18. He meant the other blind poet named Homer, I guess. nt

[asdjrocky]

19. Oh for fucks sake. nt

[Radical Activist]

22. But I thought everything was about ME!

I DON'T WANT HEALTH CARE REFORM IF THERE'S NO PUBLIC OPTION!!!

[gratuitous]

23. Oh, of course not

Don't know why I didn't see it before. Hardly even worth bothering about. Except that Gibbs said it in the first fucking place. But it's awfully nice of you to define Gibbs' terms for him, something he hasn't seen fit to do himself. If he has a problem with such a vanishingly small segment of the base, why didn't he just name a representative two or three from that group?

Nope, Gibbs was talking about a whole lot of people. I don't need a meteorologist to discern the Aeolian direction.

[notadmblnd]

24. No Keith, Rachael, Jon or Stephen?

[Safetykitten]

28. Oh, I get it! You have to be on some sort of payroll. Now it's so clear.

[27inCali]

29. You nailed -People just looking for an excuse

It's not even about the substance of the issues anymore. Only about more cheap excuses to be disappointed or offended.

More like "Professional Victims."

[hair2mynees]

31. Or maybe it is real disappointment.

Go ahead, dismiss us. the dems will lose with this attitude
and you won't be able to blame nader. It will all be on the
heads of the corpadems and the dlc. The left won't care, we
aren't getting anything substantial anyway.

Oh, and fuck you and the op you rode in on.

[saracat]

35. People looking for an excuse? Like the Progressive Caucus?

And Think Progress?

[LostInAnomie]

33. It's just more of the perpetually pissed looking for an excuse.

It's the same extremely loud, extremely free-time laden, 15% of DU looking for something to whine about and be offended.

[saracat]

34. These people are 15% of DU? I thought they were in Congress!

Dem Congressman: Robert Gibbs Should Resign For Attacking 'Professional Left'
Rep. Ellison: 'Gibbs Crossed The Line'

Progressive Democrats fired back at Robert Gibbs on Tuesday, following the White House press secretary's sharp critique of what he called a "professional left" that is perpetually unsatisfied by President Obama.

"I hear these people saying he's like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested," Gibbs said in an interview with The Hill.

"They will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we've eliminated the Pentagon. That's not reality," he added. "They wouldn't be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president."



Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), an active member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Gibbs went too far. "This is not the first time that Mr. Gibbs has made untoward and inflammatory comments and I certainly hope that people in the White House don't share his view that the left is unimportant to the president," he said. "I understand him having some loyalty to the president who employs him, but I think he's walking over the line."

Ellison said that Gibbs's resignation would be an appropriate response. "I think that'd be fair, yeah. That'd be fair, because this isn't the first time. And, again, people of all political shades worked very hard to help the president become the president. Why would he want to go out and deliberately insult the president's base? And why would he confuse legitimate critique with some sort of lack of loyalty. Isn't this what the far right does? Punishes people who are not ideologically aligned with President Bush?"

It's wrong to suggest that progressives want to eliminate the Pentagon, said Ellison, adding that he doesn't know a single Democrat who has espoused that view. "I know of none. So I think that was an inflammatory remark that is emblematic of his careless use of language and is an example of why he may not be the best person for the job," he said. "Gibbs crossed the line. His dismissal would be fair."



Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a civil rights legend who has been critical of Obama from a progressive direction, laughed at Gibbs's suggestion that liberal critics should be drug tested. "Should be drug tested? They think we're on something? Smoking something?" he said. "It's very hot in Washington and we've come back at a peculiar time. I just think we all just need to finish and get out of here."

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, also lashed out at Gibbs on Tuesday.

"I think before Gibbs or the White House points figures at liberals and progressives, they ought to check their own record," Grijalva told HuffPost. "The whole drug testing thing -- our dissatisfaction is based on the fact that we haven't met the expectations and we're hearing that from our base, period."

Grijalva was critical of the White House for abandoning the public insurance option during the health care reform debate, and for otherwise compromising too quickly with a Republican Party uninterested in bipartisanship. Gibbs had the misfortune of having his comments published on a day in August when the House is back in session and members of Congress are easily accessible to reporters. Gibbs has since walked back his criticism of what he deemed the "professional left."

"But two," said Grijalva, "that drug testing, if that's the case, would probably have to extend to 50 percent of the American population at this point. They're kind of feeling dissatisfied too."

That would require millions of drug tests, HuffPost noted.

"They can do hair follicles," quipped Grijalva.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/10/rep-ellison-de...