Dr. Quentin Young's letter to Robert Gibbs

[Enrique]

Chicago DUers know Dr. Young very well, a long-time single payer activist, based in Obama's Hyde Park, who knew Obama very well and is friends with him.

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/64543

August 10, 2010
Mr. Robert Gibbs
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. Gibbs,

I’m writing you concerning remarks attributed to you and reported widely today. When I first read your interview, my reaction was incredulity. The quotes you offered reflected the worst Tea Party disinformation. I and many others strongly believe these intemperate and mendacious attacks on progressives dissatisfied with some of the administration’s incredible concessions to the militant right-wing Republicans are extremely destructive.

Both the content and the formulation you ascribe to the “professional left” must make Karl Rove proud. One right-wing party is more than enough for this troubled nation. For the spokesman for the other party, the administration, to embrace the hard-right’s position is alarming. Your statements take a page from the infamous (and discredited) House Un-American Activities Committee.

I believe that unless you retract the insulting description of deeply committed citizens, you will drive off those of us who supported the President’s campaign and have anguished over the fruitless lurches to the right that have characterized the first half of the President’s first term.

Sincerely,
Quentin Young, M.D., M.A.C.P.
Chicago, IL
cc: President Barack Obama

[LaurenG]

1. Here's hoping someone in the Whitehouse is listening/reading. k&r n/t

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. a faint hope, given their behavior.

Obama won't be happy until he changes that D to an R, in hopes of getting the GOPers in the senate to vote with him.

I am growing ever more frustrated with this president and his staff.

[Kdillard]

2. Seriously what is with the thin skins of people. They can dish it but not

take it at all. Gibbs really hit the nail on the head.

[JamesA1102]

12. Well said nt

[LostinVA]

15. "It's YOUR fault you don't like being treated like shit, not mine!"

[glitch]

42. Gibbs certainly has thin skin. What a whiner. Talk about someone who can't seem to take it.

See how that works? And what have we accomplished?

[Vincardog]

3. I have anguished over the fruitless lurches to the right that have characterized the first half of

the President’s first term.

[Mz Pip]

5. Oh good grief

What Gibbs said doesn't come anywhere close to the Tea Party trash spewed against Democrats, liberals and progressives.

[ProSense]

6. "The quotes you offered reflected the worst Tea Party disinformation."

How ridiculous.

[Bluenorthwest]

9. It is the opinion of a man with strong standing in the community

But you do your typical one line snark at anyone, regardless of their worth to the nation, the good they do for people. This is another aspect of the OFA methods that smacks of HUAC tactics, by the way. You offer nothing but a put down, an opinion on his opinion, your fully unsupported with fact or your own personal reputation. I know who this man is, as does the President. I've asked you a few times what you do for a living, you will not even say. So you are, who again, saying what again? And again and again....

[eleny]

11. ...

K&R for the OP, too.

I just heard from a friend in the Chi area who sent me the url for this OP. She said there was real flack over this in the area.

[moksha]

17. Keep asking.

As happens with all Administrations, they adopt a siege mentality and withdraw into an ever-shrinking bubble of 'yes-men'. After a couple of years, no one outside that bubble is 'credible'. It is so obvious from the outside.

At some point, the Administration has to ask if the accelerated criticisms might actually be warranted. That maybe, just maybe, they messed up somewhere along the way. They lost the message, the upper-hand, their values. It should be looked into.

[LaurenG]

41. + 1 I'd like to know what "they" do for a living myself. nt

[flamingdem]

24. The Dr. needs his head examined nt

[girl gone mad]

43. And a drug test, too.

[Milo_Bloom]

29. Because everyone knows everyone on the professional left wants

to close the Pentagon.

Do you think before you post your nonsense?

[brentspeak]

30. No one will argue that you, of all posters, is an expert on the topic of disinformation

And if anyone can judge what ranks as the worst/best disinformation, you certainly would be very qualified.

[Chef Eric]

40. No offense, ProSense, but nobody needs your nonsense. nt

[Big Blue Marble]

7. That pretty well sums it up for me. N/T

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

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

[JamesA1102]

13. As someone who actually worked for the President in '08

He is governing exactly as I expected him to. He ran as a moderate and is governing as a moderate. The problem is that many on the extreme left projected their views on to the President and are now disappointed because he's not doing things they wanted but that he never promised in the first place.

[LostinVA]

16. You have no idea what the so-called "Extreme Left" is

Let's make believe there is something called the "Extreme Left": it would be Communists and pure Socialists. They would never vote for Obama.

Why are RW talking points about liberals allowed on DU?

[JamesA1102]

21. Yes I do and many post here on DU nt

[Forkboy]

31. LOL...come visit. I have some people I'd like you to meet.

Actual extreme lefties. Here's a clue...they don't post on online message boards, and they aren't Democrats or even Greens.

[JamesA1102]

34. Come visit where? nt

[myrna minx]

39. I know! I just posted down thread about the same thing.

It's obvious that these folks have never been to Rome or Paris to meet real 'extreme leftists". That comment was so

[Chan790]

45. I'm thinking of the lyrics to "Baby, I'm an Anarchist." by Against Me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ScFU0UxKWA

Through the best of times,
Through the worst of times,
Through Nixon and through Bush,
Do you remember '36?
We went our separate ways.
You fought for Stalin.
I fought for freedom.
You believe in authority.
I believe in myself.
I'm a molotov cocktail.
You're Dom Perignon.
Baby, what's that confused look in your eyes?
What I'm trying to say is that
I burn down buildings
While you sit on a shelf inside of them.
You call the cops
On the looters and pie-throwers.
They call it class war,
I call it co-conspirators.

'Cause baby, I'm an anarchist,
You're a spineless liberal.
We marched together for the eight-hour day
And held hands in the streets of Seattle,
But when it came time to throw bricks
Through that Starbucks window,
You left me all alone.

You watched in awe at the red,
White, and blue on the fourth of July.
While those fireworks were exploding,
I was burning that fucker
And stringing my black flag high,
Eating the peanuts
That the parties have tossed you
In the back seat of your father's new Ford.
You believe in the ballot,
Believe in reform.
You have faith in the elephant and jackass,
And to you, solidarity's a four-letter word.
We're all hypocrites,
But you're a patriot.
You thought I was only joking
When I screamed "Kill Whitey!"
At the top of my lungs
At the cops in their cars
And the men in their suits.
No, I won't take your hand
And marry the State.

'Cause baby, I'm an anarchist,
You're a spineless liberal.
We marched together for the eight-hour day
And held hands in the streets of Seattle,
But when it came time to throw bricks
Through that Starbucks window,
You left me all alone.

[myrna minx]

38. Seriously. These folks should go to Rome, Athens or Paris

and see what real leftists are like, because no one on this board is anywhere near being a 'radical leftist'. Terms like 'extreme left' being used against people who desire Gitmo being closed or protecting social security always make me "Extreme leftists"

[moksha]

18. As someone who also worked for the President in '08,

I see a great opportunity lost. Squandered on unnecessary compromises with conservatives from both parties. I am sadden at such lost potential. It will likely be decades before we get another such opportunity.

[JamesA1102]

22. Wow! Less than 2 years of his term is completed

and you're already declaring it over. Do you walk out of baseball games in the 4th inning too?

[moksha]

26. I can see the direction we are going.

Politics isn't baseball.

[JamesA1102]

33. Yes in baseball people wait to the end of the game

before throwing in the towel.

[TfG]

37. Yeah, like did you see that Rangers/Yankee game tonight?

My son was pissed by the time the game was over, lol. Oh well. Texas won last night.

[rsmith6621]

19. And what exactly did you do for Obama....

.....pass out brochures on the street corner???

[JamesA1102]

23. And worked phone banks,

traveled two states away to do door to door canvassing, get out the vote efforts, etc.

[Lorien]

35. Um, so did about 80% of the people posting here.

We all worked hard for his campaign because the previous eight years were a fucking nightmare. But we honestly believe that, to at least a somewhat significant degree, that nightmare would have ended once Obama was in office. Obviously we were wrong.

[JamesA1102]

36. 80% can you back that up?

And if you don't think that President Obama is not significantly different than President Bush, then you are not only denying reality but you just proved that everything Gibbs said was justified.

[Joe Bacon]

25. I remember when there were REAL Liberal Republicans

I remember Kuchel, Pearson, Case, Cooper, Brooke, Aiken, Schweicker, Rockefeller, Scranton, Warren, Percy, Hatfield, Javits, Mathias and others who were Liberal Republicans and they are all far to the left of the current Democratic leadership. Of course, all of them were purged out of the Republican Party.

[ibegurpard]

10. k & r

[fogonthelake]

14. Thank you. Good on the doc. K and r

[Laelth]

20. k&r for righteous indignation. n/t

-Laelth

[ncteechur]

27. Oh, what utter bullshit.

[RBInMaine]

28. The Doc NEEDS a Doc. Gibbs was criticizing the very small far left fringe who have gone so far as

to compare Obama to Bush, and, on balance, there simply is no comparison. There are light years of difference. The Dr. and some who think like him need to start seeing the whole picture. Gibbs' frustration has to do with a fringe that attacks Obama and Dems perhaps MORE than they do the RePUKES. This frustration is surely shared by the large majority of Dems who understand that to actually govern there has to be some amount of compromise. Still, this President and Dems have achieved one hell of a lot, and there is plenty there for progressives to be happy with.

[slipslidingaway]

32. knr nt

[mcollins]

44. K&R!!! nt

[BrklynLiberal]

46. Hope that letter is read...carefully and thoughtfully...in the highest offices of this administratio

[xchrom]

47. awesome, dr quentin! nt