We need a Leader, We need Outrage !!!

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

I'm just sick, mentally and getting physically, as I'm sure everyone here is.

What the fuck is going on in this country?

Oh dear me, I thought that electing a Democrat last election would "solve" some problems. Guess not!

Obama was not my first choice, or second, but I supported him. Gave my hard earned dollars to his fucking campaign, hoping for some semblance of leadership.

Realizing that the problems stemmed from a previous administration, gave patience. Allowed patience to my patience. Practiced Zen.

Meditated on the HRC koan.
Thinking something is better than nothing. Still will have no health insurance, maybe have to pay for it. Low wages good. ???

Hey so what? It "did fix" some things. Excuse me, I have to have a sip of my Kool-Aid. AHHHH!! That's better! Refreshing, to say the least, mind-numbing at best.

Silly, Silly, Silly me.

Mine eyes were blinded by the coming of the Change.

Please don't get into a rant here on "just what he has done", about the changes that have been put into place. Some are just rouge and lipstick. Policies that needed to change.
Policies that any good, logical administration would have instituted - after rule by the Neo-Cons. Need I say more? You are all intelligent people. They are policies that, you would have changed.

Come on Obama, give us daily, ok, maybe weekly updates on the Gulf, on the stupid, fucking, money sucking wars that you continue, on unemployment, on job creation, on anything.
Just not the radio address, that many don't or cannot listen to. Give us the full treatment, just as you did for your campaign, e-mails, videos, t.v. commercials, t.v. addresses.

Updates, transparency. Talk to us, just talk to us. Lead.

Let us know what your doing and thinking. Let us know what we can do. Implore to us, plead to us, educate us, enjoin us, just don't leave us alone.

I had to find out online, that I could go to collect hair to help suck up the oil in the Gulf.
I went to at least twenty salons and a few people that do hair in their "basement". All but two signed on and sent or are sending the collected hair to the Gulf.
Not a real big deal, a minute in each salon at most, spent less than 3 hours of my time. Got their email, sent information, simple.

Obama, why didn't you ask us to do that? More would have signed on. Foot soldiers for a cause. Lead us, please! Lead us. Lead.

Talk to us about the simple stuff that infiltrates the blogs, address the issues that bother us. Your people, the ones that elected you, The ones that also gave you money.

Tell us about the Teaparty people, bring them down.

Tell us about your outrage about BP and the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico. And on and on, (put your favorite cause here).

Get mad, sound mad, spank someone, let us know your pissed, defend us, join our side.

Where are you?

Lead us, please.

[MineralMan]

1. Rant On!

[aquart]

2. Gee, just like with health care.

Well, I have to say that Obama's timidity has been as big a shock to me as everybody else. I thought he had the nerve for anything.

[snagglepuss]

9. +1

[AnArmyVeteran]

91. What is Obama so afraid of?

Public speaking is the #1 fear in America, and maybe the world. Death is the #2 fear. What in the hell is Obama terrified of? Success?

He needs to grow a pair and get tough. He could be an instant hero if he just followed the beat of the average American's heart and stood up for them. Maybe he needs to see a couple of movies, say 'Dave' or 'Mr. Smith Goes To Washington' to realize what can be done by one person.

I am so disappointed with him constantly giving in to the right or corrupt corporations. Why is he even listening to the right wing. He needs to force every piece of legislation through and screw any republican votes. And if democrats won't follow his lead then have them stripped of every title or committee they are on and then tell them the DNC will not support you in the future. Bipartisanship today is just a disease of weakness. Obama also needs to target all republicans who tell blatant lies and if needed, have speeches every night of the week to out the liars, the birthers, the deathers and all the other idiots out there. For an intelligent man like Obama to not be able to outsmart illiterate, gullible and ignorant right wingers is beyond comprehension. He needs to use his god given gifts for good, not to constantly succumb to evil.

[LiberalLovinLug]

114. Right on brother

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[truedelphi]

126. Great post. Unfortunately, he has grown a pair. And he has grown them

For the Advantage of the Upper One Percent.

Right now there are so few in Washington that are worth any cosnideration from us.


This week marked some type of anniversary connected with the Pullman Strikes in Chicago in the 1890's.

At that point in time, THE REPUBLICAN PARTY had ads in newspapers announcing their support for workers. (Source: Howard Zinn.)

These days, no one in either party gives a rat's ass about something so quaint as the support for the working person.

[AnArmyVeteran]

133. Thanks for that bit of history, and you're right. Workers have no representation at all.

I wonder about what happens to people when they go to Washington DC to supposedly serve the people. Are they secretly injected with a virus that destroys anything they had inside that was good? Or are they just all weak people who sell themselves out like prostitutes to corporate pimps?

The root of the problem is campaign finance reform. I ran for office in the Reform Party. They believed in tough campaign finance laws. The Rs and Ds were mostly against them, but the conservatives were rabidly against reforms. We have a one party system, the party of whores and both major parties love the 'whoredom' they have created. We don't have a government. We have a brothel.

My suggestions:
No one can donate to any candidate they can't vote for.
No foreign money can be used to finance any local or state elections.
No one can give more than $100 to any candidate.

Better still:
Have publicly financed elections and prohibit all private funds.
Eliminate all political ads and have public debates instead which the media is REQUIRED to air for FREE. (They're our airwaves)
All votes must have a paper trail so they can be verified.

Unless we make these changes our country is doomed. What we have now is a complete disgrace where only the rich get representation. And fuck the average American, even though the poor and middle class built this goddamned country, not the lazy rich...

[truedelphi]

134. I am admiring all of your ideas. I especially like

"if you cannot vote for the person, you cannot contribute to their campaign."

[AnArmyVeteran]

137. Thanks Truedelphi...

I'm glad you liked that idea too. But I haven't heard one person anywhere, or in the government, come up with such a simple idea. I am tired of millions of dollars flooding into my congressional district from all across the country to distort, manipulate and strip the citizen's right to have an honest election. I'm sick of groups from outside a state or district buying unlimited amounts of airtime to blatantly lie about one candidate or another.

But with the corrupt conservatives on the Supreme Court's recent ruling even foreigners can corrupt our elections with their money. I've heard so many stories from conservatives whining about illegal alines voting in our elections, but they cheer on wealthy foreigners or foreign corporations when they flood their districts/states with unlimited amounts of money. Are conservatives really that stupid? I know they are brainwashed into blindly supporting corporations, but you would think at least a few of them would figure out they are hurting themselves when they mindlessly cheer on the rich and powerful. Money is NOT free speech and I don't give a damn what the corrupt supreme court said.

If I ran for office the only way I could win is to either be rich and finance my own campaign, or sell myself out to those with money. Like I've said in other posts, we don't have a government, we have a brothel. I'm working on a book with that as part of its title.

BTW, I just returned from a demonstration against BP right in front of their building. Code Pink was one of the organizers. I took tons of pictures and will post them on DU after I get some needed rest. It was a great protest and BP had so many cops on guard. I thought how bizarre it was the cops were protecting the criminals, while law abiding citizens were just exercising their Constitutional rights. When we tried to get a photograph in front of the BP corporate sign the cops immediately responded by saying if we didn't move we would be arrested. Am I living in a bizzaro world or something? 'We the people' and our environment keep getting violated by corrupt, soulless corporations and they use our government ( in the form of law enforcement ) against us. OUR taxes paid for the very police who are protecting the corporate criminals.

All the best...

[SammyWinstonJack]

139. His 'pair' was always for the upper one percent. ALWAYS!.

[saracat]

3. Apparently the only ones willing to lead on this are Kevin Costner and James Cameron!

Isn't that a kick in the head? And to think Costner "Bought " the technology from the Energy Dept and developed it on his own while we develped nothing but we greenlight new drilling? And the US Government doesn't have subs capable of going deep enough but a film director does? Thank God for Hollywood.

[NCarolinawoman]

59. But but, we have to channel all our money into weaponry.

We can't afford such helpful technology--our gas guzzling weapons need a lot of funding. :evilfrown:

Oil guzzling weapons and oil guzzling wars protect us from all the bad guys that want to bring us down. Even though many of these bad guys just seem to pop up from nowhere, (Times Square bomber), despite all our fancy expensive oil guzzling weapons.

And don't forget that foreign entity BP, who has reeked more havoc on American land and waters than all the bad guys from WW2. No, we can't afford to invest in technology that would help us clean up this mess. We need those weapons and all those oil guzzling wars. We need to be kept safe. :sarcasm:

The logic of it all! :crazy:

[sce56]

95. That statement deserves a post of it's own

[chimpymustgo]

121. The tragic irony.

[MisterP]

4. we need a change from the politics of triangulation (which only ensures that public discourse moves

righwards), neoliberalism, and obedience; I'm afraid just voting in primaries or even boycotting stinker Dems won't cut it; we may have to take the Henry Wallace route and win on platforms rather than on name-brand loyalty and generational inertia

and the neo-Progs will be relentlessly purged and blocked from talking to each other by loyalist forums (the verboten "third party advocacy") and what FDL termed the "veal pen"

[swilton]

43. The policies of 'triangulation'

have become the policies of 'strangulation' economically, environmentally and sociologically.

[truedelphi]

138. However, should we move toward some real success, they would just have another

massive "terrorist" attack. The Powers that Be did it once, and they can do it again any time they want.

Wasn't it interesting to see the Tonkin Bay incident repeated last week? As if to remind us that, yes, although our government and the Oil Industry are one and the same, without the government and the oil it relies on, we would all be speaking Korean with a decidedly North Korean dialect!

[Lorien]

5. Amen brother! I can see that the "Party over principle" people are hitting you with

unreccs. Why would they NOT want Obama to lead us all boldly in these times? Seriously, do they honestly think that "keeping our powder dry" has worked well for Democrats? The situation in the Gulf is a National emergency that cannot wait. Bring America together to save our seas Mr. President!

[William Z. Foster]

71. they want to move to the right

They will first deny that we are moving to the right, then when that fails they will say we have to move to the right to be practical and realistic, and then when that fails they run around posting the same talking points over and over again and unreccing any thread that expresses even a vaguely left wing point of view.

They are not loyal to Obama, they are promoting right wing politics. They continue to promote right wing politics even when doing that harms the administration and the party.

[amborin]

79. as another very sage poster remarked:

all this defense of Obama's puzzlingly detached and hands off stance vis a vis BP is ironic; the very same people who (rightly) rail against Rand Paul's insane defense of BP are nonetheless content with the current policy of giving BP carte blanche and impunity to boot

(thanks to Girl Gone Mad, for that insight)

[secondwind]

6. here you go......

http://www.doi.gov/news/doinews/Update-5-20-2010-The-Ongoing-Administration-Wide-Response-to-the-Deepwater-BP-Oil-Spill.cfm

[havocmom]

7. Evidently, plenty of boo-birds to unrec, but so far, no rebuttal to your points

Thinkin I am going to enjoy reading more from you, N_E_1 for Tennis. You seem like an honest, observant person with some common sense.

:thumbsup:

[Individualist]

14. They're too busy

posting look over here, not over there threads in an effort to distract from the oil catastrophe.

[havocmom]

17. Oh, like how BP ordered the USCG to keep press away from the disaster?

Typical.

[TheWatcher]

23. The Silent unreccers really can't offer a rebuttal other than repeating Propaganda that shapes

their reality.

Deep down, they know these words of the OP, while harsh, are part of the harsh reality that we face as a country right now.

The denial runs so deep with some people that it drives them to be hostile toward anyone that tries to break through their conditioning.

With others it's just cowardice.

With still more it's just the shock of being faced with something that is too overwhelming to deal with.

No one wants to believe that we really no longer have a voice, a choice, or any kind of representation from our government and the leaders we duly elected to run it.

No one wants to face the horrible reality that we are ruled and owned, not represented.

No one wants to deal with the fact that we are Truly ON OUR OWN.

But it does not change these circumstances.

if we want to survive as a People, A Country, A Nation, we must get over our fears, our denial, and our disbelief, AND STAND UP.

Or we will NOT SURVIVE.

It is that simple.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

29. If I was a nail ...

You just concussed me. Thanks.

:toast:

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

24. Thanks havocmom

Could care less about unrec's. There always someone to disagree, and that's good. Wish they would leave comments though, that's how things get discussed.

I work in the art world, photography and magazine layout. When I was much younger and submitted photos for competition, any response was welcome.

Negative or positive. A response meant you made someone think. Maybe the unrec button takes thought away !?! Hope not..

[dgibby]

8. Welcome to DU,

and thanks for trying to help with the Gulf cleanup. Unfortunately our corporate overlord, BP, has rejected the hair booms idea, and now the donated hair/fur sits unused in a warehouse.

[snagglepuss]

18. Are you serious? This whole thing is effing unbelievable. Why won't

they use it?

[dgibby]

72. Evidently they dismissed it as being ineffective.

I saw a news report about it the other day, either CNN or MSNBC, but can't recall which.

I have a feeling it's because they know it will work, but don't want to use it because they want to use their own chemicals, even though they're toxic. It's not like they give a rat's ass about the people or the ecosystems in the Gulf.

Interesting enough. I just watched an ireport with Bill Nye, the Science Guy. He says straw, hair, and fur will all work.

Go figure!

[BREMPRO]

140. Hair booms sink, not as good as commercial boom to soak up oil

"Charlie Henry of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told the AP that hair booms became water-logged and sank in a short period of time.

In February, a test during an oil spill in Texas showed that commercial booms absorbed more oil and less water than hair booms."

nice that people are trying to help, but i'm a afraid its a wasted effort.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

26. Thanks for your welcome.

Saw that online somewhere, but so what? Sooner than later pragmatic fixes will have to be used. Somethings may be well in place then. Won't stop me.

[snagglepuss]

10. Bang on.

:applause:


Welcome to DU.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

31. Thanks for your welcome.

[WeDidIt]

11. Oh brother!

:eyes:



What a crock of shit.

[Name removed]

27. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[G_j]

39. ha

trying to hijack another thread with insults, eh?

busy, busy...

[Tesha]

131. You can feel it; it's falling to pieces for them, they know it, and no amount of jabbering...

...is having their desired effect of hiding the truth.

So the pitch of the wailing becomes ever-more shrill.

Tesha

[Forkboy]

75. Nice rebuttal.

[Tesha]

130. Ahh! Well-rebutted!

How entirely typical!

Tesha

[bluestateguy]

12. I guess these types of attitudes are prevalent on the Left too

The all consuming demands to have a "strong" leader who will make everything all right.

It must be wired into the American DNA or something: the yearning for a "strong" leader who will fix everything, never mind how.

[Ardent15]

13. Apparently, making excuses for your party is also prevalent on the Left

nt

[Lost4words]

16. I would be happy with a leader that would fix anything!

he does an OK job of making sure the bankers dont suffer too much. The audicity of NOPE!

[amborin]

15. start by banning Corexit

[RoyGBiv]

19. Yes, exactly ...

What we need is more people screaming "FUCK!" at the top of their lungs.

[hayu_lol]

20. One thing about Obama's past stands out...

his entire life has been spent avoiding anything controversial. The blow out is controversial. Don't expect words of either wisdom or ignorance from him.

Clinton would have been reporting regularly to us...he proved that time after time during his presidency.

Obama knows about Chicago.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RoyGBiv]

38. Balderdash

Am I allowed to say "Balderdash"?

[Greyhound]

78. "Obama knows about Chicago"

:thumbsup::rofl:

[cliffordu]

93. Funniest post here.

:rofl:

[ProSense]

21. Leadership?

Come on Obama, give us daily, ok, maybe weekly updates on the Gulf, on the stupid, fucking, money sucking wars that you continue, on unemployment, on job creation, on anything.

<...>

Tell us about the Teaparty people, bring them down.

Tell us about your outrage about BP and the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico. And on and on, (put your favorite cause here).

Get mad, sound mad, spank someone, let us know your pissed, defend us, join our side.

Leadership = daily addresses on anything that crosses anyone's mind?

Ludicrous.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

35. Your definition of leader is ?

Can't just talking to us be a start?

[ProSense]

45. "Can't just talking to us be a start?"

So your definition of leadership is for the President to do more talking?

The President has a lot to do, and doesn't need to commit to more talking.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

47. Again, Your idea of a leader is ?

[ProSense]

58. Someone

who doesn't govern based on bullshit outrage.

Your definition of leadership is simplistic, no ludicrous, especially in the light of people who are ridiculing the President's actions. They're not satisfied with anything he has done so you propose that he begins daily chats.

Ridiculous.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

61. I never defined a leader, but ok here goes..

Some aspects I look for in a leader is one who can join the people together, sets common goals, outlines the how's and when's.
Teaches those that just can't understand, explains the situation that is before us for those that do.
And yes on occasion gets angry at offending parties, be whatever the offense is, if justified. Not anger for angers' sake.
We had eight years of that.

A leader is one that can voice not only the popular view, but can embrace the opposition looking for the good traits in their views.
And once again, a leader talks to his people.

Being married for 35 years, to the same dear woman, I feel conversation is the backbone in any relationship. Talk, listen, empathize, govern.
Probably listening being the most important.

I also stated more than just "daily chats". Re-read. We got more from him during the election campaign.

Thank you for your response.

[treestar]

50. If the President talked about it, it would be "Oh, just words."

:rofl:

[O is 44]

60. Ha,ha very true.....

Randi Rhodes on her show Friday said he should go out to the rig and tell us what is going on. Hey I thought the rig blew up but whatever.

[saracat]

63. Words do have to followed with action .It is sad Costner and Cameron are the only ones stepping

forward. They are actually offering more and commnicating more than the Prez. And golly gee, they are proposing ACTION to back their words!

[O is 44]

65. Oh please, the WH has done plenty please go read

all that the administration has done to date. Your no action charge is ludicrous; I guess you should tell that to all the government and academia personel the President has in the gulf region. They must be down there just sitting on the hands....

[saracat]

69. So far as anyone knows, they are! Oil still spewing and BP is still in charge.

[pundaint]

136. Well we just think that, because, so far, every time he has talked about something it has

been "just words." But let's say he took a bold position without even clearing it with corporate lobbyists, and ordered resources to be brought to bear for something other than blowing people up, and it happened; then there would be some Leadership to talk about. You surely can understand how some of us may have mistaken him for a weak hold-over Republican administrator.

[LiberalLovinLug]

115. A leader is definately a big talker

That is part of what a leader does. Communicate to his people about what to do, what is going to happen, what has happened. And also to use his natural born charisma to soothe fears and also express the outrage on behalf of citizens.

Of course he must be working, but he has thousands of foot soldiers working for him that tackle the actual day-to-day chores. A true leader does not hide in his castle and work behind a curtain.

[pundaint]

105. Aside from lying about "historical change," there has been no leadership. There has been an

affirmation of the last administrations worst policies, and a further entrenchment of corporations in the leadership of the country. We have been sold out, We know it, and while you may be the last one to get it, your baseless defense of the current president is not going to carry the argument anymore. There is just too much experience giving lie to the whole campaign.

My candidate does not support corporate interests of the People's interest no matter what his party affiliation is. My candidate does not continue and extend the illegal wars begun by Republicans. My party doesn't sell out the American People to Bankers, Oil Interests, Military War Profiteers, or Insurance companies. If he claims to be a Democrat, the onus is on him to act like a Democrat, the onus is not on me as a Democrat to go along with policies directly opposed to the stated platform of Our party.

We are not Obama's party, the is supposed to be of Our party. He has chosen another path. We must let him go.

[Newest Reality]

22. I find it curious that

the knee-jerk reaction to most major societal problems is to ask for a leader. Have we not already been led into enough?

Do we really need leaders, (he said, sounding rather anarchistic)? Historically, that has been the position of the landless peasants, but not always.

We need solutions, right? We need a new system perhaps. A leader is titular in many case and does not equate with what we need in this case. Leaders also bring with them their own vulnerabilities as well as a a subset of their own issues, views and desires. They don't only work for us and our issues, ever.

Certainly, we could use a cohesive icon, but that could be a solution idea, a name or even a mascot, for all I care.

Perhaps we need to take the lead rather than ask for another figurehead cum puppet to show us the way, using our wn angst, fears and anger as the fuel. Yeah, that sounds like an effort when you think you are going to take on a huge problem yourself, but that's overreaching. Take on just YOUR part ... even if it is small. Start by changing some things in your life as if they matter. Learn more about what is going on and disseminate that to others subtly if needs be considering the dose required for the patient, so to speak.

That's taking the lead sans leaders and it is only the first step of a thousand miles, but the journey will begin with you, me, us. we.

[Radical Activist]

32. This sounds like what Obama was referring to frequently during his campaign.

But I think many people, particularly boomers, have been so thoroughly socialized to look for a leader that they'll never hear or fully understand what you're calling for. I was pretty disgusted when Neil Young's political album attacking Bush had a song called "looking for a leader." We saw how quickly the last people's movements were destroyed when its leaders were killed, but some people never stopped looking for a new one.

[BeFree]

36. Tell ya what...

...be your own leader and take your hair booms down to the seashore and see how long it is before you are led to jail.

That's right, just try to do something that is sans the government and see who you end up following.

We elect a leader to lead us, not mix among us. Say what you will about bushco, they did lead. That's how America works and no amount of dreaming is gonna change this reality.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

46. Epsom salts will heal most bruises

We do need a systems change. I agree. The leader to come may not be one that is already elected. Even though leaders by rule are titular, to some.
Someone or some system needs to take a stand. Hell we do it here, let it go into your daily life, you may already, then I apologize to you.
Activism does begin at home, but a true leader could congeal those Ideas, that angst, those fears and anger and direct those same into a positive direction.
This site is loaded with leaders, you New Reality being one.

[Newest Reality]

141. Thank you for your thoughts on that! - NT

[olegramps]

85. As FDR said, "Make me do it."

Where are the massive demonstrations by the so-called Progressives at the Mad Hatter's Tea Parties?

In regard to the original post, as far as I can tell so far this administration has been challenged at every step by a solid block of Republicans that have opposed everything that he and his party have attempted to do. I think that it is rather silly to think that all he has to do is to be making speeches on a daily basis.

I will agree that his policy of bipartisanship is wasted on the Republicans who are mean spirited bastards of the first order. But that is the reality of the situation. In fact, both my wife and I agreed prior to the election that only a fool would want to be willing to attempt to clean up the damn mess that the Republicans have left the nation in. As for the wars, he didn't get us in that abomination and if you can't see that we can't abruptly leave without some serious consequences that could threaten our own security then I am glad that someone so short sighted isn't in command.

[Radical Activist]

28. No, we don't need a leader. We need many people who take responsibility for leading

instead of waiting for big brother to change everything for them. That was Obama's message for the entire campaign. The fact that you would rather have a parent figure solve all of your problems for you is probably why you supported other candidates who offered that in the primary.

[amborin]

30. Obama can start by telling BP to stop Corexit. EPA finally said stop, but BP keeps using it

it's only making things worse and is mainly for cosmetic purposes


it's banned in Britain

[Radical Activist]

33. Have you told them to stop?

What's the difference between Obama's EPA telling them to stop and Obama telling them to stop? You would just be more impressed if Obama does it personally?

[amborin]

34. you are essentially saying Obama is a powerless figurehead w/ zero control over any US gov't agency

[RoyGBiv]

37. No ...

He's expressing how government works, which clearly some people around here seem not to understand at all.

[amborin]

48. Prez has power to seize property during national emergency

[O is 44]

62. After he seizes it what next?' he still can't stop the gusher....

[amborin]

he stops BP's use of Corexit, and allows ind scientific assessment, for starters

[Radical Activist]

42. You're the one suggesting EPA has no connection to Obama.

If Obama has control of government agencies then he already has told BP to stop through the EPA.

I'm also saying that the power of people working together is greater than the power of any President. Have YOU told BP to stop? You didn't answer my question. Do you believe in your own power? Do you believe in the power of millions of people calling, boycotting, and demonstrating against BP until they stop? That would be a hell of a lot more effectively than lamely calling the White House and expecting daddy Obama to solve the problem for you.

The fact that whining for Obama to solve our problems for us is what passes for activism anymore is completely pathetic.

[amborin]

66. Nope; You apparently think it's ok for BP to diss our EPA; I think Obama should not tolerate this

[Radical Activist]

68. Sure because I wrote anything remotely implying that.

:eyes:

[Scurrilous]

40. LOL

:thumbsdown:

[Swamp Rat]

41. Imagine how angry I am... use your wildest imagination.

I live in Coastal Louisiana.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

52. I may live up North

In Michigan to be exact. Lived in Alabama for about 6 years. Missed winter, came back.
I look at the weather maps and see where our storms come from in the summer,
I sometimes can smell the salt water from the Gulf. Don't cha think most of the Midwest
will be inundated with water from the Gulf before too long?

Sorry if it seems like I'm chastising you, that is not my intention.I apologize. Gulf residents have the most to lose.
But this will affect us all, quickly. The evaporated water falling on our food crops, complete with oil and
associated chemicals, the dispersants and whatever else they are using, we will be eating in years to come.
Adding to what we eat already.

[Swamp Rat]

55. I feel sorry for you, me and and everyone.

:cry:

[dgibby]

76. I don't know how you can stand it, Swampy.

I thought Katrina was more than enough to last you guys a lifetime, and now this. I wish there was something I could do, that any of us could do that would make this go away. I am so very, very sorry.:cry:

[ChiciB1]

88. And THAT "IMAGINE" Isn't The ONE John Lennon Was Talking About!!

I myself live on the Gulf Coast of Florida. The beach is right up the road from me, and I do admit I DON'T know exactly HOW this is going to affect me (us) but I DO FEEL this place is going to be impacted!

My very, very, very big problem is that so much of what I see is HAND-RINGING for the most part! As one said already, JUST TRY to do something that THEY don't want you doing and THEY will take you away!

We DO need LEADERSHIP if only to say it's OKAY to be "mad as hell" and "rant & rave" which ISN'T a message I'm getting. I talk to my neighbors and even so many just say "what can you do?" Too many people don't know what to do so then they turn their anger on ME! They tell me I WORRY too much, get out and smell the roses or something! I KID YOU NOT!

Go to the beach an enjoy it while you can, go to a gym and work off some of my worry! Am I INSANE?? APATHY has become a REAL DISEASE from where I'm sitting! Who do I blame? Myself for wanting to see people up in arms in UNITY saying no more? Or wanting to see a President getting tough and saying NO MORE? Or do I keep fighting with my neighbors who say I WORRY too much! Most UNDERSTAND the horror, they just DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!

I too am physically SICK now, and while I ALWAYS try to keep my weight down, I've actually lost about 6 pounds in 2 weeks WITHOUT even trying! I FEEL so lost and don't know where to turn! My activism is all but dead these days!

This OP is EXACTLY how I'm feeling and there are days I JUST DON'T want turn on ANY news because my GUT tells me I'm NOT going to feel better! I've been thinking I'm getting an ulcer, but mostly think it's just worry, worry, worry all the time!

WELCOME TO DU, I UNDERSTAND what you are saying... Obama and Washington seem to have abandoned "we the people" so many times of late!! OLIGARCHY??? Sanders... PLEASE keep screaming that, PLEASE! I think I UNDERSTAND what Bernie Sanders is saying and my HEART ACHES!!
:scared:

[Swamp Rat]

129. .

:hug:

[Common Sense Party]

44. Anger is not leadership. n/t

[treestar]

49. Authoritarian personalities demand others be their leaders

You were expecting a Messiah! You are what the right wing laughs at.

[proteus_lives]

81. +1

[Skidmore]

51. Seriously? We need to get a grip and

focus instead of collapsing in hysterical gibbering heaps. We have a leader. What are you doing to help him? Are you as demanding of your legislators and local leaders as you are of this one man? Are you as demanding of your community, coworkers, family, and self?

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

54. Oh, yes I am !

Community activist. First name basis with community leaders, talk to my Senators on a regular basis. Talk not email.
Starting and maintaining neighborhood "free" gardens to help those that need food. Work at numerous events to help the same.
I am as demanding of myself as I am of our elected leaders.

I am outraged and letting it be known. Tried some solutions some worked some not. But I tried.

[Skidmore]

64. Good for you.

There are lots of leaders and people between here and the top. I guess I just think it is unfair to continually place every problem and solution on the shoulders of one person.

[dgibby]

77. I'm growing food for the local food bank.

I have a small yard, but am using the square foot method. Amazing how much food you can grow in a 4x4 raised bed! It's not much, but my neighbors and I are doing what we can.

[spanone]

53. ...

[NorthCarolina]

56. You didn't help elect a "Democrat", you elected a DLC New Dem

Could have voted for McCain and got the same governing. Democrats really need to learn to be able to distinguish "Traditional Democrats" from "DLC New Democrats", and vote accordingly in the primaries. Odds are if the MSM says "so-and-so doesn't stand a chance" or is "unelectable", then you probably should take a good hard look at what that candidate stands for before listening to the rhetoric and discarding that candidate offhandedly. The true Liberal/Progressives that form the heart of a traditional Democratic Party are the ones that will get little, if any, media exposure. Look for them.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

57. You are absolutely right

I'll be the first to admit that I was snookered. But, I along with a great many people was very hungry. Hungry people eat almost anything.

As I said in the OP, Obama was not even my second choice, but when faced with no other choice, I decided to support the Democrats and their chosen.

I have voted Green, Socialist, Independent in the past, all it left me with was a distorted sense of pride and a great big "I told ya so" attitude.

Fell for it this time thinking something different was in the winds.

And Hey! There may well still be something there, we can hope.

[Greyhound]

67. We do and we did. Unfortunately you have to really dig to find how

easily they manipulate what we are allowed to see and hear, all to maintain the illusion of a choice.

Nixon-Kennedy taught them a lot more than to wear makeup when on camera.

[saracat]

70. BTW, welcome to DU!

[emilyg]

73. Welcome to DU.

[lib2DaBone]

74. Thanks.. keep up the good work...

eventually.. if we stick together... there HAS to be some sort of change....

[Mira]

80. RECOMMENDED - seconded - supported - and appreciated. No further text lest I bust.

[TheKentuckian]

82. Meh..I just need the guy supposedly in charge to stop carrying water for big money

and stop sneaking around behind the scenes cutting sour deals and to work for the people rather than triangulating.

[Divine Discontent]

83. K&R for the wildlife, for the Earth, for real change to commence in the name of The People. eom

[Fruittree]

84. Personally I don't agree with you...

on your opinion regarding Obama but I understand your caring about how things are going. I just happen to believe that the situation is so bad that to try to put the entire burden on any one person is ridiculuos. What happened to citizen involvement? I live in a progressive, liberal town yet when Move-on sponsers an event very few people show up. There's one woman, in her late 70s at least I'm sure, who stands at an intersection with her Peace sign every day - Think if we all did that? But where are we? Where are we standing up and saying - I can sacrifice in order to reduce my footprint on the world? It's not that Obama is not leading - it's that we aren't leading.
Addressing just one issue in your post - the hair. Do you remember what happened during the campaign when Obama suggested people inflate their tires to better their mileage? It was ridiculed non-stop. Imagine the field day at FOX if he's suggested sending hair to the Gulf...

[olegramps]

86. I am with you.

I went downtown on the bus to oppose the Tea Party Mad Hatters. Hell there were only a handful of us old farts as opposed to several hundred of the Tea Party nitwits who were yelling on bullhorns and waving their stupid misspelled signs. I remember the massive crowds that attended Obama's campaign speeches and I wonder why they aren't here to oppose a return of Republican dominance that drove our nation into desperate straits. It appears that we are suffering from a massive case of ADD.

[AnArmyVeteran]

90. Good post, except for airing tires... Also: Obama needs GUTS!

Properly inflated tires save at least 5% of your fuel consumption and it also saves lives. Blowouts due to low pressure in tires can cause and has caused horrible car crashes.

So what if the ignorant right wing attacked tire pressure. That one thing was better than ALL the energy policies from the EVIL YEARS (bush). But Obama should have hammered back, even calling right wingers stupid if they didn't believe a verifiable and scientific fact. We are in a war between intelligence and stupid. And when you have someone like Obama's intelligence unable to completely destroy a group of illiterate, gullible and ignorant tea baggers is inexcusable.

If i happened to be president I would personally out any idiot who dared to lie, whether they were right or left. I would NEVER have let the tea gagging movement retain any credibility at all. It would have been easy, but for some reason Obama is terrified of confrontation. He has virtually zero guts.

BTW, I was an Obama delegate and I donated to his campaign. But I didn't support a p&ssy. I supported a man. And Obama needs to grow a pair of balls. In tough times people need to get tough. But Obama is more concerned with bipartisanship and giving in to the other side of corrupt corporations rather than represent the PEOPLE!

Yes, I'm as concerned and as pissed as the OP. But I hate pussies who are in positions of power but do not use their god given abilities to help others. The president needs to wake up as he said in one of his speeches and do something, and do it with courage.

[tavalon]

87. I don't expect that Obama can really do much about the spill right now

but the impression is that he is uninterested. He is too savvy a politician to be taking that position. I admit readily that I'm not as smart as him and I don't have access to all the info he has, but the perception out here is that he is uninterested. He needs to look interested. He needs to play the game better. He can turn this into a resounding victory for his team or at least mitigate the damage to the Democratic party if not the gulf. He knows what to do and he isn't doing it. And I'm confused.

[AnArmyVeteran]

89. Obama, get off your ass and LEAD! I'm tired of having you not having GUTS!!!

[Pryderi]

92. You've got to say, 'I'm a HUMAN BEING, Goddamnit! My life has VALUE!'

So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell:

[scentopine]

94. Fucking pissed as hell - rest of nation needs to get off the meds -nt

[Dystopian]

96. KandR

Thank you.



peace~

[mfcorey1]

97. I wish that some people who rant could have a seat at the table of this chaos. Then they will see

that it is easy to Monday morning quarterback situations. I will not jump off the President's ship just yet. As conscientious a person as he is, I am certain that he is doing all that is humanly possible to insure that every available resource is being sent to the gulf. What he is not doing is stroking our egos with a bunch of information that only serves to create more angst and panic. If somewhere on the corner of this earth, there was an immediate solution to this crisis, he would grasp it and make sure that it is used. All of these ideas we keep hearing don't necessarily work. One of the most thankless jobs in the world is that of the President of the United States. You are damned if you do and damned if you don't. That extends to Democratic and Republican administrations. The people will always holler, "Give us Barabbas."

[scentopine]

103. Then invite us. We tried with health care but the door was slammed shut and

only for profit corporations were allowed write legislation. Allow us in the door and we will show you a better way.

Bush was great at offering his Fortune 500 constituents and supporters a seat at the table.

Liberals have ZERO representation in Govt even though our grass roots organizing was a key part of getting this Admin elected.

We are being governed by a fucked up neo-con/neo-lib hybrid monster.

Geithner, Summers and Bernanke? Two extreme centrist Supreme court picks? Bloody endless war? Trillions for Wall Street? Torture?

Slam the door shut in our face, call us retarded and then complain that we are Monday morning quarterbacking.

[icee]

98. Excellent post, NW1 Tennis! Obama's BP chickenshit dance is

the last straw for me.

[scentopine]

99. The moment he stepped in it with "drill, baby, drill" he has been trying to wash it off

in the Gulf of Mexico.

Actually - I prefer the rhetoric of

"drill, baby drill"

than Obama's gas plume of arrogant flatulence:

"I want to put out, by the way, that oil rigs today generally don’t cause spills. They are technologically very advanced. Even during Katrina, the spills didn’t come from the oil rigs, they came from the refineries onshore."

Obama uses 12x the energy to say the same goddamn thing.

[icee]

101. Look at Obama in this picture and tell me what you see. Spare

no adjective.

[ooglymoogly]

104. A shapeshifter, seeking the eye of the camera.

desperately trying to be accepted as pug.

[scentopine]

108. I see this...

and this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4264756&mesg_id=4264799

[Andronex]

122. Look at me, I'm important now... part of the big club !

Tell the people what they want to hear but remember who is pulling the strings.

[pundaint]

100. After 16 months, it's time to believe our own eyes. Obama sold us, and we bought an empty shell of

Hope. He is working for other interests than the People's. He must be challenged in the primary..

[ooglymoogly]

102. Alas, he is not our leader

He is just a puppet in the billionaire chess-game of world greed. But your premise is right; We need a leader with gravitas....Bueler, Bueler, anyone? For me that leader is Howard Dean and he will be my write in come next election, unless something spellbinding happens that would dissuade me. Not sure our votes will mean anything by then or any vote for that matter, the way things are going.

[Deadgnome]

106. I'm with you

Unfortunately this country hasn't had a "Leader" for years and years. What we have are "CEOs" and "Bosses" and that is certainly not any way to run a country. Look up the styles of leadership from a leader versus a CEO and you'll see what I mean, sorry so brief and couldn't do it myself, work is calling.

[Greyhound]

116. Typically American ignorance of language and meaning.

When you have a population of illiterate, ignorant children, conflating or confusing language to fit the image you wish to portray is simplicity itself.

In what has become the American mind, "A Boss" is equal to "A Leader", slavish obedience is equal to loyalty (which is never reciprocated, BTW), and spin is equal to history.

[Deadgnome]

119. I lost ya

At the "spin is equal to history." Embellish on that point, I'm not sure if I grasp the entirety of what you're saying there. The rest of course is spot on and sadly compounds the problems we are experiencing.

[Greyhound]

128. History is what they say, they being whomever is in charge at the moment.

It's not a new phenomenon by any means (see Richard III), but the time between event and acceptable narrative has been compressed to weeks or days.

The bankster bailout is a decent example, within days the belief that we had to give hundreds of billions of our dollars to known thieves in order to save "our economic system", had evolved from a fictional narrative, pushed by the beneficiaries, to common knowledge. We're seeing it today with the devastation of the gulf, the narrative is diverted from who/how was this allowed to happen, to "what's done is done and it's no use assigning blame".

[theFrankFactor]

107. Kick Rec!

[Butch350]

109. Nice Rant...

What should Obama Do? You left out that part.

[guardian]

110. kick

[byrok]

111. +1

[William Z. Foster]

112. federalize the response

As always in times of danger and in emergencies, the marshaling of resources and talent, coordination and planning, and the protection of the public welfare demands that the government take charge of all aspects of the response to this catastrophe.

People are arguing for the privatization of emergency response at a time of great peril, undermining the very concept and purpose of having any government in the first place. This is the doctrine of libertarianism run amok, and we have many Democrats aggressively promoting the doctrine right here in thread after thread.

[rtassi]

113. Yep, lets keep waiting for a leader ... its worked so far .. n/t

[NodQuestion]

117. You're not waiting for leadership

Don't buy it man. You're post isn't about waiting for leadership, it's about waiting for some benevolent man-God to come and save the day. Nothing is going to get fixed until American get reengaged in their government and start seriously facing the tough decisions we'll have to make in the coming years.

Everyone wants everything and they want it in a year. It took eight whole years to destroy this country and to expect it all to be fixed in a year and a half is a joke. People want the government to take care of everything for them without them having to think or be involved or having to face the seriousness of our condition. For example: we all will have to pay higher taxes in the coming years, should be paying a higher tax rate in every bracket, but keep asking for tax breaks and threatening anyone who even suggest that we may have to raise our ridiculously low taxes to pay for things.

And what’s worse is that other elected officials get off the hook completely. Obama should have gotten the public option while he was being vilified, destroying his approval ratings, and dealing with at least 5 senators that threatened to shut healthcare down. ALL WITHOUT ANY BACKUP FROM ANYONE IN THE DNC. And don't tell me about reconciliation bullshit. You'd put Biden on the spot and deal a serious blow to the President just to get a public option that the DNC never took the time to argue for or explain in a way that the average American could understand.

Obama should end offshore drilling (which he fucking SHOULD)even though American still favor it even after the spill.
Obama should make gay marriage legal even though he said he wasn't in favor of it and couldn't get the votes
Obama should repeal DOMA with little backing from congress in the middle of two wars so progressives can feel good at night.

It's all a joke. Democratic Members of congress will throw Obama under bus to save themselves, wont help him, and he's the problem. It also doesn't help that all of our arguments are based in a 'we know what’s best' mentality, a mentality that hasn't ever resulted in a significant democratic legislative victory. Look at FDR, LBJ, Clinton, and others for the appeals to the public they made that were successful. They got to people that not only explained why we should do it, but made them proud to approve of it, that go to them on an emotional level the RNC seems to have mastered.

It's all a load of bullshit. 2008 was about getting people involved again, you want something go fight for it, write a letter to your elected representative that could actually vote in the legislature, and wake up yourself. The President's job isn't to replace the news, to inform you everyday about anything, or to make you want to change this country. It is actually a pretty intense job, especially with two wars and this economy, so no he doesn't need to do any of this stuff.

You want results, then fix this piece of shit Democratic party. Join a club or organization. Plant some tress. PROTEST. Just don't wait for the president to tell you exactly what to do on everything, that's never how change has worked in America. Look at rights movements and so on, change come from the bottom up friend.

Maybe if the President knows that someone will actually have his back in an effective way he might actually go harder on legislative initiatives.

[orbitalman]

118. Clearly, talking the talk (ok!) but NOT walking the walk.

Leadership is more than just talking. Leadership is putting the screws to things wrong and getting them fixed. Just talking is NOT working. Hell, health reform did NOT even help me You'd think the earth was made of eggshells. The middle of the road is the road to failure. It does not have a true direction.

[Political Tiger]

120. It's all Obama's fault! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

I think the people who need to "grow a pair" are the ones who can't get through the day without complaining that Obama is not holding their hand and giving them a reassuring hug every time something happens. Grow up people!

[n.michigan]

132. You expect so little for America- leaders make a difference, just look at what BAD is getting us

[pundaint]

135. So that's what you Think, eh. Do you also aspire to the consideration of governments potential role

in causing or addressing some serious challenges facing many Americans? Or is Nyah Nyah about the extent of it? While a 6-year-old is not a baby, the advance is a little less of an improvement than your rhetoric presumes.

[MadMaddie]

123. So tell me what would the response be to an angry black man on

national tv? Just sayin.....some may not understand that issue but it is a very fine line that he has to walk. I don't know how I would do it.....

I will gladly admit that I would like to see Obama face on the tv more about the spill.

Salazar was just now on the TV and they now have NASA scientist involved in trying to resolve the problem of capping this well.....again NASA!!

Here is the reality, American have become so complacent and dependent on believing that corporations really follow their own bullshit rules. This is our fault for accepting this facade of reality. This current situation is the result of 30 years of bad policies and there was no other way for it to end.

I believe that if you go into a situation with "unrelistic expecations" you will always be disappointed.

It is time for Americans to reset their expectations with reality and improve that reality. Hold corporations accountable for their fuck ups make them pay until they close their doors. The taxpayer should not have to pay for their mistakes.

[JDPriestly]

124. Do you suppose that Obama might be pretty busy trying to

intervene in a potential nuclear war in Korea or a bloodbath in Thailand or maybe the peace negotiations in Israel and Palestine?

I know the Gulf is the most immediately pressing crisis in the world in our eyes, but, what, really, can Obama do about it?

Sending in the navy is not going to help. Organizing an international crew of tankers to suck up the oil is about the only realistic solution I can think of. But it is my understanding that someone would have to invent and manufacture equipment to attach to the tankers so that they could soak up the oil. Once again, that would take time.

The hair thing is a joke in my opinion. It's kind of the duct tape of the Gulf spill. If you shaved the heads of every human being on this earth, living or dead, you would not have enough hair to soak up that much oil. And what is more, you would just be adding another substance to the water that would in the quantities you would have to use, kill the delicate wildlife that lives in that Gulf.

We have to drastically reduce our dependence on oil. And we have to do it starting today.

Try to think of one thing you could to reduce how much oil you use. Get together with people in your community and push the leadership right where you live to go alternative energy.

(An asode" Don't even think about nuclear energy. There have been a lot more problems in that industry than you and I know or would care to know about. Somehow, the French have been lucky thus far. But nuclear energy is a poison for our grandchildren, and we do not know whether they will have the resources to deal with that poison. Nuclear energy is a time bomb in our midst. If you think this oil spill is bad, just imagine what damage nuclear reactors can do.)

[n.michigan]

125. All OBAMA needs to do is SERVE THE PEOPLE. Simple.

What we are seeing is his hypocrisy - serving the rich corporations- ignoring the outrage even. What a fraud for a leader. Vote different.

[Andronex]

127. we need both...

A mass progressive movement and real leadership, I don't think one is possible without the other, the democratic party is only an electoral machine that can be easily manipulated to serve corporate interests.

[Cetacea]

142. As Donna Brazile asked, "where is the urgent sense of NOW"!