Mea Culpa

[Liberation Angel]

First let me explain a few things:

1. I support Obama 100% or more on MOST of his agenda.

2. I am pacifist an am opposed to the continued wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. i support an immediate prompt and safely executed withdrawal with UN supervision to rpotect the human rights of noncombatants (which may need to continue for a long time - and I support UN NOT NATO forces to do this). I think Obama is in error in his policies of continued hostilities - we cnnot afford it and it is only making the situation worse for the populations there and here.

3. I am for universal healthcare and, in lieu of that for now, a pubic option. (I hope Michael Moore is right that the public option will led to universal healthcare)

4. While I protested the war and oppose Obama's policies in these wars, i voted for Obama and want him to succeed in most of hat he is proposing. i think he is the best President we have had since JFK if not better. But I think he is a work in progress and can benefit from our continued critiques and opinions.

5. I believe t is CRITICAL that we hold his feet to the fire on progressive issues an that when he is TOOCLOSE to the wall street elites we ned to be vocal and point it out long and loud; it is hard to be heard behind the walls of the white house bubble; especially when you have many wall street and industry elites so close and controlling a lot of what gets to Obama.

6. i think DU is critically important NOT in being a cheering section ONLY for Obama but in keeping the PROGRESSIVE perspective alive and heard as much as possible. When Obama slips we need to call him on it and try to get him back on the path (the way Jon Stewart or Colbert or Bill Maher try to do)

7. I realize that by criticizing Obama in harsh terms it may provide fuel to the fires of hate and distrust, BUT I do not believe that silence in the face of his mistakes serves progressive causes any better.

Hence, I wish to apologize and say that, hey, blame me if you need to for being critical when I believe Obama is wrong and I speak out about it. Frankly I worry too that if the critique are too harsh they may do more harm than good. My purpose is to make Obama BETTER, through honest critique not to hurt his agenda. if all Obama hears is a chorus of adulation from the democrats and those a little left of center, then he will NOT hear the calls from his deeper bases and from those of us farther to the left who truly wat him to make the world a better place.

But if I erred by being to critical, too harsh, of being too negative, I did not mean to hurt Obama, i meant to help him and to help all of us (my children and future generations particularly, but also the people and civilians of Iraq, and Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as our own troops who RIGHT now are in harms way, dying, or near death; those in illness and hopelesness too.

I accept the criticism and even the contempt who say that criticizing Obama hurts more than helps.

I accept that some will blame me for this approach and that is okay.

But maybe i we are all free to speak what we believe without fear of hate and vitriol on the left, we can push Obama farther to enact the progressive causes we all HOPE he will embrace.

I have been afraid that the DLC centrists have taken the reins and that the right is drowning out the left so that our voices will not be heard.

And I still have some hope left. I am gripping it with all my heart.

But I fear for my children's future. And if the progressive left is silenced then Obama may not be moved to push harder and farther.

So I push...

Blame me for it if you want. That is okay.

But we would do better if we all pushed together.

[grantcart]

1. It is fine to criticize the policies of the President

But the President could have 'cashed out' a long time ago when he was the first Black editor of the Harvard Law Review.

He didn't he passed the big and easy bucks and the clerkship with the the SC.

He went back. He could have taken the route the Tiger Woods took. Even as a Senator he never moved his family to DC.

He could have simply opted out for the easy path to the Presidency - strike a deal with Hillary for VP.

We can disagree with the strategies and tactics but when you start questioning his dedication to the ordinary folk then you simply don't understand the man.

He carries his mother with him at all times. He keeps his eye on the ball but realizes how difficult it is to actually get something passed into legislation.

[Liberation Angel]

4. And the one thing that makes me admire him more than any other?

His life is on the line every day for us.

i get that.

I actually do not really question his dedication to ordinary folks at all: but I do question some of his approaches and do have my serious concerns that it may be more "noblesse oblige" without a true experience of what is at the heart of the cause of impoverishment and oppression in America (i.e. corporate fascist monopoly capitalism).

As for Hillary i think he made a very wise choice not to go with her and while maybe not politically expedient it certainly was a move designed to protect his longevity (but of course I see the Clintons as Bushbots and thus HRC as VP would have put him in MORE crosshairs from the extreme fascist right)

I honestly believe that his heart is in the right place most of the time.

But i do think he is in a bubble with the Washington elites and that we need to burst that bubble by being rowdier and louder and smarter and wiser than the rightists and brownshirts mobiolized by the corporate fascists media and PR ops. We do not need to be hooligans but we need to be seen and heard and we need to be angry when the right tries to destroy our democracy and our America and our world. Obama needs us to be behind him shouting encouragement and praise when he does right. And nays and howls when he missteps.

But we have to do it with love and respect.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. Obama is a public servant and a politician. Not a monarch, icon, or "leader".

As such, it is the responsibility of the citizenry to hold him accountable for what he does and his policies.

No mea culpa is necessary for fulfilling that responsibility.

[omega minimo]

3. Don't "accept the contempt." It is shortsighted and misguided. A reaction to having to

:think: -------- Your appeal is appreciated. :toast:

[Liberation Angel]

5. I want for my voice to be heard, i do not want to alienate

but I understand the need of many to vent. Especially if they think Obama is getting a bad rap

And some folks hear what they want to hear, no matter how clear you try to make the message.

But thanks anyway.

See, the reality is it is very hard not to love Obama and his family. To criticize him at all just seems so unfair because we want to believe that he is SO GOOD that he is flawless.

But he is only a human being. And human beings make mistakes. I try to own up to mine or apologize if they injure or re perceived as injurious.

But Obama needs to clearly hear our voices behind him urging him on. urging him to do ALL the right things. And not just what Rahm Emanuel or some other "pragmatist" thinks will work.

[omega minimo]

7. Sure they can vent, but they want to vet.

"And some folks hear what they want to hear, no matter how clear you try to make the message."

Tell me about it :rofl:

Yeah, you're on the right track. Bending over backwards to not offend those who have no trouble misinterpreted and totally trashing what others say, including making them out as traitors and trying to get them off the board. We've seen the Obama wars. A lot of folks didn't make it. The trenches are lined with the well reasoned concerns of those not quite as polite as you.

"To criticize him at all just seems so unfair because we want to believe that he is SO GOOD that he is flawless."

That's part of the problem. The worship of him as a diety and the undeniable "disappointments" in office, have skewed some folks ability to view him as human, fallible, in need of praise and criticism, support and input from an informed public.

No one here should have to apologize or "accept contempt" for making informed comments, asking questions, raising concerns, that are in the best interests of the country and contribute to a healthy debate and well-used Democratic power.

We are not responsible for the blind spots and vitriol of those who "hear what they want to hear, no matter how clear you try to make the message."

As you and others have pointed out, President Obama himself may need us to "clearly hear our voices behind him urging him on. urging him to do ALL the right things. And not just what Rahm Emanuel or some other "pragmatist" thinks will work."

[polichick]

6. Pointing out the "elephant in the room" is not always popular...

...but somebody has to do it.

So you stirred the shit a little - that's not a bad thing. As I've said before, I didn't work that hard to win this election only to see the opportunity of three generations go down the drain. It's our job to hold the administration's feet to the fire.

For whatever reason, this president HAS surrounded himself with corporate insiders.

imo that is a BIG elephant in the room!

[Liberation Angel]

8. How does one encourage Obama to do the right thing

when he is straying from the progressive popular mandates that we gave him?

Do we remain silent and just praise.

do we damn him with faint praise?
My approach is simply to call the things as I see them: where Obama makes mistakes and missteps we need to supportively help him find the right path again.

Letting him fail us because we are afraid to critique him is not an option.

It is suicide under the current circumstances...

we are in a crisis. Actually many crises.

It is not time to step gingerly around the fascist hordes and let our president fail by remaining silent when he is wrong,

or simply not hearing us.

We have to make Obama hear us and respond.