I am going to do something I rarely do: apologize. I have authored something like 270 diaries on this site. I never know when one of them is going to strike a chord . . . I just write what I feel and think and know, and let it out there. I have been here for 7 years, 10,000+ comments, and five elections (KY governor elections are in odd years), and I'm not pleased that I appear to have unintentionally jabbed my finger into so many eyes.
No, The Troubador, no La Feminista, no I do not think you are right-wing trolls. In fact, I've rarely seen a comment or diary from either of you that I do not think is very well written and on the spot.
No, I do not think criticism of Obama is unwarranted. I'm just aggravated to see far-right framing in left-leaning criticism of Obama. If we're going to criticise him, fine. If we can't make it even constructive criticism, fine. But for fuck's sake do we have to spew lines from the Teabaggers at him? Does anyone seriously think that the following is useful:
I am appalled at accusations that Obama is some Manchurian candidate (a frame torn right off the House of Beck and Limbaugh),
I'm disgusted by the fact-free assertions that Obama was funded by Wall Street cash which is complete and utter horseshit
On the same note, I have actually seen accusations that BP 'owns' Obama because of their $70,000 or so in donations to him (see my opensecrets.org link above if you are confused as to why this is such a silly accusation)
I'm sick of people characterizing supporters of Obama as cultists (which is what pissed me off so badly that I wrote yesterday's diary).
And I've seen way too many people insinuating that Obama is pushing a right-wing agenda undercover (which is handily refuted by Kevin Drum's awesome list of Obama's accomplishments.
No, what I was attempting to do was identify the insidious and alarming way in which the right-wing's character attacks on Obama have permeated this site, and given right-wing memes free run. We have enough problems keeping our coalition together without letting Teabaggers do our thinking for us!
If you're an Obama supporter who is demoralized go read Kevin Drum's excellent column. We all know that Obama is not a chest-thumping victory-lap taking guy. I can understand that because I myself in my work life am very much a 'results speak for themselves' kind of guy. I know I'm valuable around here. I don't have to crow about it.
YES, HIS PROCESS IS IRRITATING. I couldn't find myself more irritated with someone's method of getting things done. But in the reality-based community one looks to results not process, and the results Obama has gotten are pretty good, considering what a horrible political snarl he has to untangle.
Someone made the point today (sorry, can't remember where) that Obama (probably) took the 2010 elections as a sign that he was being too liberal. We all forget that sane career politicians by their very nature are going to follow what the election results tell them to. Corporate-funded whores like Scott Walker and Paul Ryan won't, because they have that out. And again, I refer people to the real data on where Obama's support comes from. Overwhelmingly, it is from us the people.
Finally, it's incredibly aggravating listening to people plant goalposts for Obama and when he hits them they dig them up and move them 1,000 miles away. That is a plan and simple right-wing tactic. I again refer to Kevin Drum for clarity on what happened with the debt ceiling deal:
On the specific issue of the debt ceiling, the obvious thing Obama could have done differently was to insist that it be included as part of the lame duck deal last year. But for all the grief he's gotten over this, it's worth keeping in mind that Obama got a helluva lot out of that deal. In the end, he got a food safety bill, passage of the START treaty, a stimulus package, repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, and a 9/11 first responders bill. Maybe it would have been worth risking all that over inclusion of a debt ceiling increase, but that's hardly an open-and-shut case.
And finally, it is worth repeating that I was a Nader voter in 2000. I understand and have lived through the disappointment of a liberal President not being all you'd wish he was. But for god's sake the alternatives are absolutely terrifying. I only need one George W. Bush presidency (which derailed my industry, my career, and ultimately my marriage) to recognize that getting out and voting for the most viable non-Republican is the ONLY WAY TO FLY in today's political climate.
If the GOP ever returned to its Eisenhower-era mentality I would be a little more sanguine about changing the channels from time to time. But as far as I am concerned, it is the guy with the D or die, because the guy with the R will surely kill everything I care about. That is not cultlike devotion to Obama. That is pragmatic realism. Today, and now, we are in a scenario where the political universe of discourse has been thoroughly polluted by right-wing bullshit and right-wing money. There is only one way out of this mess and that is to vote the bastards out of office, and stick behind the opposition. The opposition is also being pulled by that same distorted political discourse and it won't get better if we don't stand firm. I promise that.
I'm sorry I offended so many Kossacks. I'm a dick, and I don't pull my punches when I have something to say. That's just how I am.
Some people have this theory that people on the internet are more polite if their real identities are known -- I can report that I am still a dick in person if I disagree with someone. I have talked slow and loud to my manager before because I thought she didn't get what I was saying -- very similar to how I write here when I don't think people get what I'm saying. It's nothing personal -- every one of you is just a screenname to me . . . . it's the ideas and opinions themselves that I am attacking. Not the people. Just keep that in mind. I deal in ideas. It's what I do for a living. When I see sloppy thinking and just outright bad ideas, I react. I am narcissistic enough and successful enough in real life to think that my opinion and experience count. And, like I said, I'm a dick when I think I'm right and someone else is wrong.