Searching for the Cure to the Bush Era Hang Over

[FrenchieCat]

Are we, on the Left, seemingly addicted to searching out Failure
and experts at finding it without breaking a sweat...?

It has taken years of conditioning,
but currently, we collectively are bent on a quest of preventing future failures
in our government of the country that we all want to love so much.
And so, even if failure hasn't really manifested itself
under our brand spanking new leadership,
we have embarked in a Pre-emptive opinion war in an attempt
to stop each perceived future failure in its track.

I believe this to be a noble goal, no doubt....

Now what we do know via experience is that finding failure with players on the other team,
and beating them over the head, hasn't really stop much of anything in the last 8 years.

Some might think we did stop some things, but look where we truly ended up.....
We still have had maximum time served by Bush, illegal War, corporate crimes, tax cuts for the rich, deficits as far as the eye can see, rule of law being ignored, religiosity spreading, freedoms taken away, countries without respect for the U.S., dire economic disaster, bad laws being legislated, conservative judges being sat on our courts, most of us detesting almost half of the country, and we, holding in contempt 95% of those who govern and make the rules.

That's why when Obama does something we don't like, we discuss it for days,
but when Obama does something we can mostly agree with,
it has a very short shelf life, here at DU.
That's also why threads about good people Obama has recruited sink,
and why threads about people we don't think as so good, strive.

So to believe that criticizing our star player from on our own team,
and beating him over the head with whatever we can find,
will result in getting exactly what we want is a myth.
I'm afraid will only end up with a knocked out star player,
which is certainly an advantage only to the other side.

So the question is not can we criticize, because of course we can,
but rather what will it bring us?
What is our goal, and is verbalizing disgust on a discussion board
really going to help us achieve what we want,
or will we only succeed in knocking down our own,
as the mass media picks and parses what it wants to portray from our posted words?

Talk is cheap, and we can do it all day long,
but constructive positive action is priceless,
although harder to get done.

Are we determining the best method to do some heavy lifting,
or are we just prepared to argue everyone else down in order to be right
for the next 4 to 8 years?

I think we finally have someone who is willing to listen,
and to take on the responsibilities of making sincere attempts of getting it right,
and that in itself is change that we should pay attention to.

Perhaps we need to adjust our own tactics.....
by having civil and calm thought provoking discussions on honest merits
besides what we would demand in a perfect world,
and then understanding that organizing in a thoughtful systematic manner,
will probably yield much more than any number of DUers
having an hissy fit on these boards just because they can.

Most of us voted for Barack Obama,
and so I believe that we ough to at least,
give him a fighting chance to show us what he will do,
before we bring the boom down on him....and if and when we do,
at least doing it in a way that is effective and result orientated
in the goals we desperately want to achieve.


"It is easy to see why we line up on the left
After living through 8 years of Bush."

[SeattleGirl]

1. I couldn't agree more, FrenchieCat

It's as if there's a large contingent here that are hell-bent on pre-emptive destruction of the man.

[FrenchieCat]

3. So how are they articulating that this is the right approach?

Because just stating that we all have the right to criticize
as we see fit, is really not the anwer of an approach at all....

[dionysus]

2. k&r

:thumbsup:

[Still Sensible]

4. Great post, but what I see is quite simple

After eight years of watching the "far right" drag the country down with much of their agenda front and center:

Policy decisions based on fundamental Christian theology
Anti-science agenda
Neocon nationalism in support of the MIC
Unnecessary war in Iraq
Painting dissent as unpatriotic
Supply side trickle down economics
Laissez-Faire rollback of business/financial regulation
Politics of fear
etc. etc.

Many on the progressive side seemed to think that the election of Barack Obama would instantly usher in "payback time" and the immediate implementation of our agenda, including single payer health care and full marriage equality.

The right painted Obama as the most liberal senator, surely this means his agenda will include the immediate implementation of everything on our list! Anything short of that is not what we voted for, is it?

Well, I thought Obama's campaign was pretty straightforward:

He said that he would bring change in the way politics in Washington was conducted
That he would reach across the aisle where it made sense
That he would cut taxes for the middle class, not the rich
That he would move quickly to undo much of the damage of the last 8 years
That he would work to restore the US image in the world
That he would get us out of Iraq and "be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in"
That he would focus more resources to finish the job in Afghanistan
That he would support civil unions and work to protect the civil rights of GLBT citizens
That he would work hard for universal health care, with insuring America's children first priority
That he would restore the role of science in policy considerations
That he would work with the international community on climate change issues
That he would put a priority on things that improve the economy and create jobs, especially green jobs
etc. etc.

While I would have liked to see a few more liberal appointees so far, by and large what I see is not inconsistent with what Obama campaigned on.

For the record, I think the Warren invitation was an unnecessary insult to an important constituency and a tone-deaf mistake.

[FrenchieCat]

8. Your lists look about right to me.

and yes, anyone looking for instant panacea can only find disappointment.

[The Traveler]

5. 1979

Well said, Frenchie.

I can't help but remember the nearly open warfare between President Carter and Senator Ted Kennedy. (I love both those guys ... but ya gotta keep 'em separated.) The Party split, and all sides lost their frackin' minds. This contributed in a direct fashion to the election of one Ronald Wilson Reagan ... and we all know how that turned out. A generation of conservative wreckage, covered up or rationalized by propaganda crafted by complicit mass media in the form of "News Entertainment". (Sports Entertainment, as in WWE, is far more honest and real in most cases.)

I don't agree with Obama's choices in all cases. I do not expect to. But I do intend to back his play for the foreseeable future. Ready or not, here come the greatest set of challenges America has faced since the second World War. We really better get our shit together. Like or not, we all have skin in this game.

Trav

[FrenchieCat]

9. "I am not a perfect man, and I will not be a perfect President."

I heard him say it often enough. I think that he understands this, but will work hard to achieve most of what he promised, and then, I'm thinking, a bit more.

[firedupdem]

6. K & R

Great Post Frenchie! and great additions by the posters that followed you.

[mopinko]

7. i think your cartoon says it all, frenchie.

i find it so strange that the people whose vision is the most tilted toward seeing the worst in everything nonetheless have the highest expectations that the world ought to be perfect. i would just pity these people, doomed as they obviously are, except that they also are the ones who scream the loudest about everything.
it's a conundrum.

let's hope it doesn't destroy are best hope to save our country and our planet.

keep up the good fight, frenchie. i admire your perseverance.

[FrenchieCat]

10. What is ironically true.....

Is Those who say Obama isn't perfect or immune from criticism,
also happen to be the same ones demanding perfection, or else.

[mopinko]

11. the world is full of people like that.

sad things they are.