Reply #157: Well, now...

[chervilant]

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."

Teddy Roosevelt, May 7, 1918 (emphasis mine)

I find it disheartening that so many of our fellow DUers are bent on vilifying those of us who voice our concerns about Obama's 'leadership.' This tendency to denigrate those of us who are questioning Obama's performance reminds me of a rather interesting subtext to Obama's controversial record, to whit:

Recently, Obama admiringly quoted St. Ronnie, during whose administration this nation's massive economic train wreck first occurred. Ronald Reagan spent more than EVERY other president before him COMBINED. Our country saw its first trade deficit EVER during Reagan's reign of terror. Does anyone else remember how the intractable Ronnie Raygun irrevocably damaged unions when he fired the air traffic controllers? Does anyone else remember how he embraced and promoted Uncle Miltie's catastrophic economic creed?

The uber wealthy corporatists, who installed Reagan in office for their express purposes, grew ever MORE wealthy and powerful during his tenure. So, WHAT is it that Mr. Obama admires about Mr. Reagan?

How about this patronizing little sound bite from Mr. Obama during the Debt Ceiling Kabuki Theater:

Now, every family knows that a little credit card debt is manageable. But if we stay on the current path, our growing debt could cost us jobs and do serious damage to the economy.

Really? Setting aside for now the fact that the uber wealthy have not been asked to make sacrifices like those expected of the vast hoi polloi, Mr. Obama needs to use the correct tense when discussing job losses and serious damage to our economy--especially NOW that the wrecked engine of our economy is FINALLY grinding to a halt. We are already witness to the relentless crumbling of this global economy, quite the logical outcome of decades of unfettered hedonism from the disaster capitalists.

What say you about this, from our Paternalistic POTUS:

"We must eat our peas."

Really, Mr. President? How presumptuous to use peas (a most delicious vegetable) as an analogy for the austerity measures shit sandwich we're expected to swallow.

Actually, Mr. Obama pegged the meter on condescension when he asserted that "YOU progressives" view the glass as "half empty" (Cenk did a great commentary on this which was recently posted here on DU). Like SO many other jobless, soon-to-be-homeless citizens in our beleaguered nation, I DON'T need Mr. Obama's condescension; I need a *JOB.*

Which brings me to this final observation:

Obama's appointment of Arne Duncan as SecEd, ALONE, put a huge question mark in my mind about his integrity. Then, his casual dismissal of teachers as 'resistant to change' provided an accurate, if disheartening, picture of his attitude toward a profession that is VENERATED in nations that excel at educating their citizenry. How many teachers (firefighters, union workers) support him now?

Mr. Obama (and his sycophants) can ignore our anger, or he can hear our concerns. Dismissing us as whiners, malcontents, or pathetically misinformed is both disingenuous and disrespectful, and it will NOT help us save this nation.