Why does everybody (this goes particularly to the left) wanna criticize Obama? I can understand it from the right (even if it's frustrating to hear the same old crap). But Obama is doing a really good job - he just has certain calculations.
For starters: he's the President of the United States. As in: the whole enchilada. He's not the President of the Democrats. He's not the President of the Progressives. He's not the President of the Single Payer Healthcare Advocates. He's not the President of Black People (despite the scary shit you might hear out of the mouths of the neo-Nazis). He's the President of the United States of America. It's like everybody who thought his 2004 DNC speech was freakin' amazing just missed the whole point.
My point, anyway, is that he gets it, Bush did not. That's what makes Obama good - at least in my eyes. He's not a partisan, he listens to all sides, and makes the best decision. You can tell that he's sensitive to Republican concerns - he takes them seriously, unlike GWBush who felt that he was the decider and that he had a mandate to do whatever he wanted. He was the President of the Republican Party, Obama is the President of the US.
To all lefties out there - don't let the perfect get in the way of the good!
On the other hand, I wish he would be a bit more forceful towards those on the right. One thing that he hasn't used (and as far as I can tell, nobody has since maybe Reagan), is the bully pulpit. The good ol' technique of Theodore Roosevelt - if Congress isn't doing what you know the American people want done, you go directly to their constituents. Why hasn't there been a direct and public call for citizens to call their representatives and tell them to get busy on healthcare reform (I think if he really wanted to put all of his political capital in one basket, he could even push single-payer through)? Well, there has been a quiet organization happening through the same networks that got him elected, and perhaps he's wary of making too much noise and pissing people off. On the other hand, he has to know that politics is and always will be a game of power and that if he doesn't assert his, somebody else will.
In any case, we on the left need to criticize where it matters: we should be continuing the critique of the Republican ridiculousness. RNC Chair Steele's attack on the Obama healthcare plan was just plain stupid. He brought out the same, old, sorry excuses that they've been using for years - it's socialistic. A bureaucrat is going to control your health, not a doctor. It's too expensive. Taxes are going to go up. I suppose it just goes to show that the GOP is grasping at straws now that they're in the minority. They must resort to obvious empty rhetoric, lies and scare tactics, as they have nothing cogent to bring to the table.
On a side note - am I just being cynical, or is it just like the 'publicans to run a woman for President (2012) and have a black RNC chair during a period where they are in the political hinterland. Somehow, when the Dems drop the ball and the Reps are back in the White House, I just don't think the President is going to be all that different looking than the vast majority of the party: old, white and male.
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