We Need Leadership From Obama...

[Steely_Dan]

...now more than ever!

If ever there was a time when we needed to have strong leadership, it is NOW!

I'm seriously concerned about the tea bagger protests as well as Quran burning events. I'm particularly concerned about armed protesters and the possibility of violence. This is not going to end well. I would encourage President Obama to get ahead of the curve here. He needs to take a stand...a principled stand. If a Republican like Bloomberg can stand up with a strong principled statement concerning religious freedoms, than I expect my President to do the same.

In fact...President Obama needs to get ahead of the curve on a variety of issues. He needs to be proactive and not reactive. Reactive leadership always puts one on the defensive. Strong leadership anticipates the issues and preempts the challenges we face.

President Obama has all the tools, he has all the skills...he needs to apply them now more than ever.

-PLA

[babylonsister]

1. He's already taken a stand and got trashed for it on this very

board by some folks.

Obama defends right to build mosque near 9/11 site
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8945052

President Obama Backs Mosque Near Ground Zero
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4503228

[Steely_Dan]

2. FDR stated...

...that he welcomed the hate of his enemies. President Obama needs to demonstrate the courage of his convictions. If nothing else, he would fire up the base. We would feel supported...that he had our backs.

Yes...I saw where he was trashed for that.

ON EDIT: I also recall the Truman quote that went something like this: I don't give people Hell. I tell them the truth and they just think it's Hell.

[babylonsister]

4. You weren't talking about FDR or Truman, you were disparaging

Obama for doing something he's already done. Just wanted to set the record straight.

[Steely_Dan]

5. I Was Only Giving Examples...

of people who take a stand.

Yes, he did take a principled stand. Unfortunately, he was interpreted as "backing off" that stand.

-P

[HuckleB]

36. And Obama took a stand on this matter.

[butterfly77]

44. When in the hell are..

the people going to take a stand? Every since Obama has been in office mfkers have been complaining but they let the damn teabaggers take over.

Sit out a damn election isn't going to help a damn thing they think they are crying now keep if they keep sitting on their hands and asses their won't be nothing to save.

Some people believe some of the stupidest shit,I never knew how dumb and stupid people in this country really are. A MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE! AIN'T THAT THE DAMN TRUTH!

[HuckleB]

46. +1,000,000,000

[Doctor_J]

50. Please explain how we could have not

"let the teabaggers take over". Be specific.

[butterfly77]

51. Show up at the healthcare rallies..

THE SAME WAY that everyone showed up at obama rallies and don't let them take over. I went to rallies but their was balance and everyone was allowed to speak.

The teabaggers turned a lot of the townhalls into a circus I barely saw a Dem. Everyone seemed to go home and forgot that Obama said "WE ARE THE ONES WE ARE WAITING FOR!"

Wake up America don't fall for the okey doke..

[LWolf]

52. I never showed up at an Obama rally,

but I've been supporting positive health care reform since LONG before Obama began his political career.

[pnorman]

49. FDR

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FDR

1932 election: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1932_election

1932 Electoral Map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/ElectoralCollege1932.svg

FDR made that statement about welcoming the hatred of his enemies in 1936, during his next presidential run. By that time, he was near impregnable! It ws only in 1937-1938 that he encountered serious roadblocks.

pnorman: Proud member of the Unprofessional Left for a very loooong time!

[Doctor_J]

10. He wasn't trashed for supporting the cultural center

he was assailed for caving under the pressure of the hate machine the following day. There was no need to appear mushy on the issue.

He has appeared, throughout his presidency, to bow to the will of Fox News, hate radio, Big Media, and the rest of the people who are trying to ruin the country. The OP, and many of us, would like him to stop appeasing Boner and Beck and hit back at them instead.

[Steely_Dan]

12. Exactly! n/t

[bobbolink]

15. Yes, that was it exactly. Thom Hartmann followed it well, and that was exactly his conclusion,

also.

Some here like to rewrite history, but even us geezers can remember history that recent.

[babylonsister]

20. There are people here who didn't think he should have opened

his mouth, period. Or, they thought he did it for ulterior motives vs. doing the right thing because it's his job. Research recent past threads.

[Doctor_J]

29. Speaking of cowing down to Repukes

He's at it again

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9016009

Compare how he treated Simpson to how he treated Sherrod, and then stop asking why we believe he is not a leader

[HuckleB]

41. Red herring.

I want Simpson gone, too, but that is nothing but a red herring.

[HuckleB]

37. Hogwash.

[AnArmyVeteran]

47. I am so TIRED of him running from his enemies.

There are only a handful of democrats with any balls at all. The rest act like they have been neutered. Ed Shultz said it great today. He wanted democrat leaders to say what they are going to do and then DO IT! But for some reason they are acting like complete cowards running every chance they get. They even cave into faux noise for god's sake.

I am damned pissed at the total cowardice of most of the democrats in congress and in the executive branch. They seem to be void of creativity, intelligence and courage. Hell, they continually allow the lowly and ignorant tea baggers to
outsmart them. How stupid can they be to be outsmarted by goddamned teabaggers?

The democrats had a mandate and they threw it away. If they have NO intention of representing the people who worked their asses off to get them into office they are effectively working for the republican party and the right wing hate machine.

Why in the hell are they such cowards???

[Jax]

55. Yes. Doctor_J nails it

:thumbsup:

[MrScorpio]

3. Of the many issues on his plate...

What should get top billing?

And If he takes a particular issue and "leads" on it, should he abandon that issue and go with another one that more people are concerned about than the first?

Or should everything get top billing at the same time?




How is this supposed to work?

[Steely_Dan]

6. Not sure how to respond...

I'm saying that in my opinion, we are about to go into a pretty ugly period and possibly violent period. I don't think that President Obama can afford not to anticipate the challenges and take the lead on it. That's all.

[MrScorpio]

9. So, in other words, he just pick something and run with it

I have a pretty good inkling that a lot of folks are going to be pretty concerned about what that thing should be.

[Steely_Dan]

11. Uh....No...

I said nothing about picking issues at random. Sorry if you misunderstood.

[MrScorpio]

14. Which one do you think is his best bet to start out with?

For me, the economy and jobs... But that's just me.

[Winterblues]

17. Are you saying he is unable to chew gum and walk at the same time?

There is a way to address more than one issue at a time and not fall apart. :shrug:

[MrScorpio]

21. No, I'm saying that, by it's very nature,

A subject that's being lead with that the preeminent position over the others.

I just asking about what the OP thinks that should be.

But in the leadership stance that Obama is taking, what should he do if a plurality thinks that another subject should be his first priority?

Change, stay or what?

[bobbolink]

18. ohmy... Smart people know what the presidency entails, and that *everything* gets "top billing"..

When you throw your hat into the presidency ring, you know what is expected.

Heat, kitchen, etc.

And, of course, *my* issue hasn't even been breathed, and there is probably a behind-the-scenes effort to make it even worse, but those of us affected are supposed to just STFU.

[MrScorpio]

23. Leading on everything...

I like that. I'm not sure how this us supposed to work though, but I like it just the same.

[bobbolink]

54. A lot of presidents before him made it "work".

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Steely_Dan]

8. Let's Hope So...

It is good to see his VP starting to make "direct" comments to the RW.

-P

[defendandprotect]

13. Unfortunately, Obama has been leading us . . . . to the RIGHT ...

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. you could tell he was just another puppet of the oligarchy...

when he wouldn't release the truth about the apollo program and its fake moon landing.

[DireStrike]

31. Cool post bro.

[pnorman]

48. You nailed it, podner!

n/t

[mix]

19. good luck with that nt

[Scurrilous]

22. Unrecced for failure to pay attention. n/t

[HuckleB]

35. +1

[Steely_Dan]

24. All I'm Trying To Say...

Look...Maybe I'm being paranoid. I see a steady escalation in the confrontations at these protests. In the video from NY where the AA was verbally accosted and even a RW nut-job (in the blue construction helmet) got in his face. All that AA had to do was raise his hand and that would have been an ugly scene. The people who are going to burn the Quran on September 11th will have armed militia to protect them. This is not going well. Before this gets any more serious, I am suggesting that President Obama repeat his stand and call out the RW for their hate and intolerance.

-P

[babylonsister]

25. militia has cancelled, because it's not 'christian'...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9015723

[Steely_Dan]

27. Ooops....

I guess I wasn't paying attention. Thanks.

[babylonsister]

28. Just recently posted; I only found out myself. No probs. nt

[MrScorpio]

26. There you go, great idea

I'm sure that that's something that he can work with.

I just hope that he'll have time to get to jobs and the economy, in spite of the perpetual Beltway Buzz.

[bvar22]

30. Obama has an army of activists at his call.

A Popular Mandate Unused,
Is a mandate wasted.

"Strong and successful presidents (meaning those who get what they want - whether that happens to be good for the country or not) do not accept "the best deal on the table". They take out their carpentry tools and the build the goddam piece of furniture themselves. Strong and successful presidents do not get dictated to by the political environment. They reshape the environment into one that is conducive to their political aspirations."

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/07/17

[Steely_Dan]

33. Wow...That is One Great Read

Thanks. Everyone should read it.

-Paige

[Echotrail]

38. He does.

So why does he keep kicking them in the head?

[bvar22]

39. THAT is the Trillion Dollar Question.

There are no good answers to that question.

[depakid]

32. Good luck. Obama has gone along to get along his entire life

Cats don't just up and change their stripes.

[HuckleB]

34. Uh, what did Bloomberg do that Obama did not already do?

:shrug:

[Steely_Dan]

43. As I stated before...

President Obama made a principled statement. Even though I am an outspoken critic of the President, I immediate posted high praise and was very proud of him.

Unfortunately, he made statements the very next day that many people interpreted as "backing off" the principled statement. We may disagree whether he actually backed off or not. However, it means very little because that is how it was interpreted...even by many Dems.

It is my opinion that once you make a principled stand, you do not under any circumstances even give the appearance of backing off. I would have rather him not taken a principled stance on an issue than to take that stance only to "appear" to back off. Maybe it's just me.

[HuckleB]

45. Sorry, but dufus media interpretation doesn't change what he actually did.

[butterfly77]

40. We need the people ..

to stand with Obama. WILL THEY BE THERE?

[HuckleB]

42. Hell, no!

We want what we want, and nothing less or more! Progress be damned!

[mstinamotorcity]

53. President Obama

is showing his leadership by trying to get things done. Even in the face of obstruction. There has never been a President who has been under the microscope as much as he has. No matter where he turns there is opposition. Yes it is getting ugly out there with all the false information that has been spread around like some kind of uncontrollable wild fire sent from hell. And instead of people seeing the way it is they see it the way hate filled money loving corporate media and oil moguls show it to them. More has to be done to expose these people for who they really are. It really is up to us to make sure that this shit doesn't get out of hand. And it may be a little to late. I don't see this Washington D.C. rally of Glen Beck going well at all. If we want to stop some things we must create a national noise to discredit the false information, And if you want a perfect example heres one. Arizona Immigration Law. All over the news everywhere you turned. It was the top story. The Governor with her cronies, are going to sign in an illegal immigrant law. There are marches there are rallies and federal intervention. Faux News,CNN,MSNBC,ABC,NBC,CBS,and states who were trying to introduce similar legislation were on this like flies on shit. For Weeks. But now that its known that the piece of hot mess shit Governor and her corrupt staff were enacting a law to advance the interests of a private prison industry. Where's that shit at. Why isn't that all over the place. Like the Infamous Koch Brothers. Why isn't that shit plastered over the television screen and newspapers (the ones that are left) all over the blogasphere. Maybe we need to email the news agency and ask them why.Sunlight is always the best remedy for ignorance.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

57. I learned of the "Infamous Koch Brothers" back in 2004 while reading...

"Banana Republicans: How the Right Wing is Turning America into a One-Party State," and feel like I'm in some sort of a time warp, considering all the apoplexy over them now. I don't remember where I learned of this book, but it was DU or another "leftist" site. The information is out there, people just need to embrace it, and then disseminate it. Don't blame indy media, but by all means, keep up the pressure on Corporate Media, as DUers have done for nearly a decade. (Well, some DUers; the site has been watered down the past few years, but it seems to be shifting leftward again, thankfully.)

And Clinton was under as much microscopic examination as Obama; Americans had the *privilege* of learning about his bodily fluids, FFS. Come to think of it, MoveOn came about at this time:

"MoveOn.org Civic Action was started by Joan Blades and Wes Boyd, two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Although neither had experience in politics, they shared deep frustration with the partisan warfare in Washington D.C. and the ridiculous waste of our nation's focus at the time of the impeachment mess. On September 18th 1998, they launched an online petition to "Censure President Clinton and Move On to Pressing Issues Facing the Nation." Within days they had hundreds of thousands of individuals signed up, and began looking for ways these voices could be heard."

http://www.moveon.org/about.html

Americans should have been paying attention to trade agreements, privatization and Glass-Steagall, like those on the left, rather than a blue dress.

[mstinamotorcity]

58. This is true

But the fact still remains that there seems to be a problem with them responding to the right situations with the truth. And even if we put it out there in the internet, you must think of those who rely on television to give them the facts. And there are still some people who have a newspaper and cup of coffee in the morning. I check to see if the things that concern me are out there. And they are not very visual. If there is something salacious about the opposition it is buried four five pages deep. I am not disputing your facts, but I know mine are valid.You and I have DU, but there are others who are feeling the pain but left out of the information loop.

[Better Believe It]

56. President Obama is applying his tools .... and using them at the service of .........

You fill in the blank.