Obama

[The Straight Story]

We find ourselves in a unique position since DU came into existence.

We have someone in power who holds a designation other than an R.

On the one hand we hold him to a high standard, and peg our hopes of making things right after so many years of darkness.

On the other hand we want to cut him some slack - he is after all, one of us.

Being progressives and coming out of 8 years of hell it is natural to want things to happen as fast as possible. Being part of the 'underground' it is even more apparent that we want the change we see as good and right to happen as fast as possible.

The reality of politics is often not the same as what we perceive it to be.

Obama finds himself in a position where he has well over 200 million people relying on him.

And it seems they all (myself included to be sure) want that change yesterday.

I voted for change. I have not seen it as much as I would like yet. But it would be wrong to say I have not seen it.

If you have seen no change at all since old george was in power, then you have not been paying attention.

After 8 years of hell, we have had a few months of fresh air. And to be honest some really stale air.

What we can say is business as usual may well be true. And I will be right there with you kicking ass about it.

But we also need to give this new admin a chance. Change takes time.

I have watched my X over the years, the woman I adored and loved, slip away from her disease. She did not slip away overnight. Her change, a bad one in this case, has happened over time.

Our nation has a disease, deep in our history. And that change we all seek is not going to happen over night.

At least now we finally have a foothold. Slippery as it may seem at times, I would take a bad Obama administration over a bush one any day of the week.

We can improve. We should complain. We should hold him and his to the same standard we did bush. We should not forget how hard we researched to find the problems and flag them.

But I think we should also be open to the fact that what took years to fuck up will take years to fix - and Obama is still learning his way around.

having the best intentions does not always produce the best results when you are new on the job.

I'll be there to complain to be sure, but I will also be there to tell him 'I understand - and will give you a chance'.

Hold feet to the fire, just don't throw gas on it.

And if it turns out he and his are not the best thing for our ideals - well, we have the choice to elect someone more progressive.

[ohheckyeah]

1. Complaining on an Internet message board

isn't really holding his feet to the fire.

I'm of the opinion that everyone who joins Democratic Underground does it with the understanding that it is a Democratic site that supports the Democrats in office. If anyone can't deal with that they need to find another message board.

Criticism is fine but we have seen a lot of posts that go way beyond criticism and most of it seems to stem from an unreasonable idea of what can be accomplished in a given period of time and within the constraints of our political system.

[peace13]

2. Welcome to DU.

There are some people who have worked their balls off to get Obama where he is. If you think that those folks have no right to express their concerns then I would call you wrong.

[ohheckyeah]

7. Thanks

and no I'm not saying that concern should never be expressed. But judging his whole presidency on the first 100 days isn't fair in my opinion.

[The Straight Story]

4. I support ideals first

And dems second.

In this case, I am willing to put aside my usual desires to see people in power run out of town on a rail because I don't think they are doing everything all at once.

'A Democratic' site means what? That we give our full support to someone because they belong to our party? Not to me - but it does mean to me that I am more willing to give them a chance than someone else in power that I KNOW will not ever try to make changes I believe in.

And in case you missed it, part of the name of this site is 'underground'. We support dems - but mainly those who cherish the same ideals we hold.

Democrat is not a name. It is an idea.

[Reterr]

9. Thats all well and good

But we don't all agree on the same ideals/ideas :shrug:. For instance, if I were to go by the majority of your posts, I would say you are significantly more libertarian than a life long Dem voter/activist like myself for instance. You post about being against regulations/fast-food/cigarette taxes etc., seem to speak slightingly of environmental considerations sometimes etc.
Around the time I joined this board, I saw you post about being a former Freeper, something I cannot conceive of because the Freeper fundies are as alien to me often as life-forms from another planet. I have been a liberal Democrat all my life and I find your views very opposed to mine on many things that are most important to me-science, environmental issues etc, as they can get.
Yet you and I are both Democrats.


I am not calling you out TSS, but my point is that we have different definitions of the ideals involved so there are bound to be conflicts even within this side of the spectrum.

[Booster]

3. I haven't agreed with everything Mr. Obama has done either,

but I've been willing to cut him some slack because, as you say, change takes time. But I really got angry about the way I perceived him of handling the torture issue. If we don't show the entire world, as well as ourselves, that we have laws and we punish those who break them, then we have nothing. No one is above our laws, including Bush and Cheney - no, especially Bush and Cheney. I hope those that are saying he's playing chess while Cheney is playing checkers are right. This is an especially important point to me, and I truly don't believe we should just shrug our shoulders and say "we're moving on".

[The Straight Story]

5. And I will be right there beside you in being upset/disappointed

as each issue comes up. But I will also keep believing in change for a time - because it is so early on.

Complain away, let folks in power know we won't put up with their crap.

Just asking in my own way that we don't abandon all hope just yet.

If there are no real changes we can all believe in after a few years, then I say throw em out.

Because my loyalty is not to a person, but to our ideals.

[Booster]

6. I feel exactly the same way. I keep fighting with myself everytime

I hear myself say "they're all the same - crooks and liars". I don't really want to believe that and I'm counting on Mr. Obama to show me that it's not true. I'm willing to wait a couple of years for change, but, damn it, I want it and I think the rest of the U.S. wants it too.

[DonCoquixote]

8. K & R

[MarjorieG]

10. Let's not forget the mess we're in. Really dire financial hole that no one can agree how to climb

out of and move forward. Conservative Dems and GOP would rather we stalemate and stop every effort to create and spend stimulus. They'll be there after Obama and self-servingly vote that way, although in their heart of hearts don't think so.

Sorry, but every issue is complex, really complex, despite what may seem as morally clear.