One Example of Why Some On “The Left” Turn Off Moderate Voters

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Thu Sep-02-10 02:42 PM
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One Example of Why Some On “The Left” Turn Off Moderate Voters

In President Obama’s speech the other night on the ending of combat operations in Iraq, he did what all presidents do and was respectful of his predecessor George W. Bush. Here is what he said…

I’m mindful that the Iraq war has been a contentious issue at home. Here, too, it’s time to turn the page. This afternoon, I spoke to former President George W. Bush. It’s well known that he and I disagreed about the war from its outset. Yet no one can doubt President Bush’s support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security. As I’ve said, there were patriots who supported this war, and patriots who opposed it. And all of us are united in appreciation for our servicemen and women, and our hopes for Iraqis’ future.

The greatness of our democracy is grounded in our ability to move beyond our differences, and to learn from our experience as we confront the many challenges ahead.

Now really, that is not exactly praise in my opinion. But if you watched Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow following the speech, you would think he lavished praise all up and down his ass. This is a little of Rachel’s reaction, from The Raw Story…

“And to to have in this speech, as combat operations are ending, to have, as you point out Keith, the president not only not addressing the circumstances in which he we went to war, but these kind words for President Bush, describing his commitment to our security, despite the recklessness with which President Bush discarded that national security in favor of this war of choice, which only diminished our security, and is responsible probably for the Afghanistan war still going on today, for the depths of people who have died in Afghanistan after the time, after which that war would have ended had we not gone to Iraq, not to mention all of the people who died in Iraq,” Maddow continued.

Woe Rachel, stop and take a deep breath. What would you have him do, give a campaign-like speech rehashing what we all know and have known for many years. President Obama’s final sentence, posted above, says exactly why he didn’t bring up the things Rachel wanted to hear, we need to move beyond that crap and look to the future. What good would that do today, to bring up all that stuff that has been very well reported and talked about for many years? The whole revenge mentality of some on the left really makes Democrats look petty.

If you look at what he actually said, he didn’t praise President Bush at all. In fact, he basically said he fucked up, but it’s not because he is unpatriotic, it’s because he is fucking stupid. I can read between the lines, but apparently Rachel and Keith only heard the words “security” and “patriot” and were unable to see that he was not addressing the effects of the stupid fucking decision but rather that Bush’s motivations weren’t the issue, it was his stupidity. It was a very classy way saying Bush fucked up. I think he really believed that starting that war would help our security, whether it was Cheney who brainwashed him or someone else. Bush’s fault lies in being a moron, not in his motivations.

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http://extremeliberal.wordpress.com/2010/09/02/one-example-of-why-some-on-the-left-turn-off-moderate-voters/