When your mission statement is practically 'All or Nothing', the President will never satisfy the Left. When he signed the hates crimes bill, people were commenting that it was some kind of appeasement to shut the gays up on dadt and doma. They were saying that he was walking feeling all good about himself and also asking why did it take 10 months?!!! WTF!! 10 months - this shit should have been done years ago and some how Obama gets hated on as if he implemented these laws in the first place.

Until O gets clearance to do whatever the hell he wants, there will never be a bill Liberal enough that it will bring back the Far Left. Why? well, these bills have to go through the House and the Senate and we all know how that goes.

If the Left wants some victories during O's term(s) in office, they are going to have to let go of this All or Nothing/Not Enough attitude. It doesn't work that way in real life (I can testify to that), it doesn't work that way in business (I can testify to that too)and it sure as hell doesn't work that way in politics.

Excuse me, I'm a little pissy today and in general I have little patience for people who complain when the solution is right in front of them.

Just wanted to add: Don't take my comments personally.

There are a lot of people out there who live only to complain. And there are those who's entire personality revolves around being dissatisfied 'round the clock.

There are things about this administration that im not completely pleased with, but for every bit of bad there are larger bits of good. You can't expected to be completely pleased on all issues overnight, especially when you consider where we were just a year ago.

One year ago, we had the most far-right most idiotic president we've ever had and we had a presidential and vice-presidential candidate talking about the current president paling around with his muslim marxist commie terrorist buddies. One year ago we had, the worst bank crash in decades and people were calling their wives and telling them to go to the ATM and grab as much cash as possible.

Fast forward to today, and we are on the verge of passing Healthcare Reform. This reform might not be perfect, but the success of passing it will be the perfect platform to build on and improve in the future. If this administration can pass a comprehensive healthcare reform bill with a public option, then Im fairly certain there is nothing else they cannot pass.

The President doesn't need the far-left anymore than he needs the far-right. And I dont think the far-left abandoning him will in any way alter his policy goals.

Eugene Robinson had a good editorial today addressing this very subject, he's the President, not a liberal action hero.

I think it's partly a result of the last eight years. We just watched a president do whatever he wanted when he wanted and he would have his lackey congress legalize it later. As much as there is complaint from the left about Obama being "just like Bush", many on the left want him to just enact the progressive agenda. I'm a little guilty of this too. DADT? Just end it by executive order. Single Payer? Oh, he could just do it if he wanted so why doesn't he? Close GITMO? He's the CIC so he should just close it and worry about congress later.

Both the left and the right have no problem when a sort of authoritarianism is used to advance their own agenda and complain bitterly when it's used against it. The Teabaggers are just louder and crazier about it. If Obama did all we wished for from his desk in the oval, we'd cheer him on and say fuck the congress if they didn't want to come along. Obama, however, is playing by the rules we've all forgotten.

I'm willing to be a little more patient now. He's actually gotten a lot done and we're only eight months in. Imagine what's to come over the next three years.

I think a big part of the problem is O's advisors. I think in his mind and his heart he is a lefty. But he's done some stupid stuff of late, which I won't list. I know he knew he would get push back from the rethugs on his agenda, but I'm fairly sure he had no clue they would try and block every single thing he tries to do legislatively and his nominations (ie Surgeon General).
I know we all hoped he would be a "progressive" but he's not. He needs to give up on the bi partianship schtick and move on.

He will lose in 2012 unless he fires up the base again. The hc debacle will follow him to 2010 and 2012. If we get a crappy watered down hc bill, he's going to lose what support he has left and the wingnuts will take over.

Jan:

He will lose in 2012 unless he fires up the base again.

Yeah but the base has to be willing to be fired up. What I'm suggesting with this post is that the base is too angry to be fired up by anything the president does. If they had the ability to be fired up, last week should've been one of those fired up weeks.

The only reason the base isn't fired up here in VA is we have a crappy candidate who ran a crappy campaign.

So I think Obama needs to concentrate on getting some lefty things done- like DOMA, DADT, jobs, extension on unemployment benefits (which rethugs are blocking and we haven't heard a peep from the WH on that problem), stop renditions etc.

Afghanistan is huge for him-sending in MORE troops will infuriate more of the base.

So I guess he needs to decide- does he want to lose 37 governorships next year and the WH in 2012 or does he want to stop being a centrist and get his base back-far left included.

His decision. Unfortunately no one seems to be having this frank conversation with him one on one. I believe he can get us back and fired up if he does some good stuff and to hell with Olympia Snowe et al.
Hopefully it won't take 3 years to figure this out because it will be too late and we'll be gone.

Short version- he needs to stand up and fight. Kick the rethugs to the curb. THAT's what us lefties want.

Jan:

>>>So I think Obama needs to concentrate on getting some lefty things done- like DOMA, DADT, jobs, extension on unemployment benefits (which rethugs are blocking and we haven't heard a peep from the WH on that problem), stop renditions etc.

There were several lefty things last week, but you'd never know it judging by the lack of base reaction. What about hate crimes? Lifting the HIV/AIDS ban? Ending abstinence-only education funding? Restored Intelligence Oversight Board powers?

I don't know. Maybe these items aren't very lefty after all.

This administration got off to a bad start with the mollycoddling of the financial industry, and the appointment of too much old blood in major advisory positions (CEA, Treasury, Defense).

They have used some truly pathetic logic to argue why their hands are tied on certain controversial issues, such as DADT and asylum for gays.

They push religion into everything. I swear I hear more god talk from Obama then Bush. And they say they are going to continue this faith-based funding, and review things on a case by case basis rather than banning religious discrimination (as promised) for groups receiving tax dollars. A case-by-case basis is a license for Obama to do whatever the fuck he wants; it's not a nation of laws is meant to operate, and it doesn't feel like change.

Anyway, yeah...fire me up. End a war, tax carbon, reform the fuck out of healthcare, publicly fund elections, get our money back from Wall Street...

Do something AUDACIOUS.

If the Republican party gets the power to block legislation in 2010, a part of the blame will go to the far left who've been complaining about President Obama since about three weeks into his administration.

I read it and hear is so often - "How can these wingnut Republicans keep getting in office?"

The reason is because you won't support a third (or fourth) party, and Democrats attack themselves while Republicans don't.

Try to smarten up this time around. Keep the positive pressure on Congress. Stop the whining.

I can't believe I am saying this, but I think that Obama is paying too close attention to the big picture. Especially when it comes to the Republicans. He seems to be afraid to piss off this or that group of Republicans or individuals because he might need them down the line for something else. That might work in normal politics, but he his not dealing with a cohesive party. He ends up having to deal with tens of individuals and their own agendas. No Republican is willing to do anything "for the party" any more.

That means that the Republicans are more unpredictable than normal and cannot be relied upon. So, he is bowing to the pressures of individual congressmen with little or no assurance that it will help with anything else ever.

This has caused him to unnecessarily to chip away at his goals.

Plus, Obama does not know how businesses work and Geitner is taking him for a ride. Add to that, Emmanuel is giving him terrible advice based on politics and not economics.

For example, the ditching of the SOX rules for "small businesses". All small business are geared up for this now because it goes into effect almost immediately and they have known about it for years. So, releasing them from the rules at the last minute is not really going to make a difference to small business but it sends a political signal in both ways - it signals that Obama cares about small (and these are not small by any stretch) businesses and that he cares more about them than investors.

I care most about climate change legislation and so does the rest of the world. Last spring all consultants, environmental groups, and politicians (except McCain) thought that this was going to be a slam dunk. Now I am not so sure.

I must say I totally agree with Bob.

And I'm Kucinich LEFT! But I'm also a realist.

If my fellow far left-wingers are stupid enough to sit back and watch the wack-a-loon right roll back into power they do so, not only at their own peril, but at the peril of the entire nation.

Here in Kansas we face what I'd consider a truly perilous situation next year: the possibility of a Governor Brownback, and either a Senator Moran or Tiahrt. I shudder to think!

I'd gladly take a Blue Dog Dem over those choices.

It's called being realistic.

I've come to feel that good governance emanates from the center out. Given my own political leanings, I want the direction out to be to the left. I haven't agreed with absolutely everything that I've perceived to have happened with this administration so far, but it's been decades since I've demanded that everything go the way I want it, and we're nowhere near a tipping point in all this, as far as I'm concerned.

Newsweek ran a cover story last week by Anna Quindlen that discussed some of these very issues. One line in the opening paragraph resonated with me:

"This is a country that often has transformational ambitions but is saddled with an incremental system, a nation built on revolution, then engineered so the revolutionary can rarely take hold."

The entire article is here.

I consider myself very left and I, too, am fed up with the whining and complaining from those who expect miracles overnight and ignore the big changes already made.

As I have said before, if some on the left expect the country to be far left they are as nutty as the right wingnuts. And if we mimic the right wingnuts we will end up with a small angry Democratic party that is as worthless as the GOP is now.

Now I want to go read Eugene Robinson's editorial. Thanks for the heads up indyinwc.

Eric, perfect quote!

I agree with Bob. I'm as liberal as they come...call me a socialist if you want. But I honestly think the left wants Pres. Obama to act like Bush did (like a dictator basically) and they're justifying it by saying well at least Obama believes what we do. But that's bullcrap and hypocritical.

What Obama is doing is putting an end to the "dictator-like" behavior that Bush started. I think his governing from the center is absolutely necessary to put the brakes on that kind of behavior. Think about it, even if the wing-nuts gain control of Congress or even the next presidential election.....the Dems and lefties can say, 'We had control and we didn't abuse it'. All of us progressives should gather around this ONE idea. We are the NEW center, we are for rational and measured change. We're NOT the extremists, we're the center. And we have the moral high ground. They're the true fascists.....look how they behaved when they had power and we can guarantee they'll do it again.

I think you're absolutely right, Bob. It seems the problem comes from two sources: One, as Nano stated so clearly, many on the left expected/wanted Obama to be a Lefty Bush--damn the man, save the empire! Not just in the Bush years, but for many many years, we've lost sight of what the true legislative process in this country is. It's no surprise that a constituional scholar doesn't have that problem, but it's clearly been a shock to the system. People believe the President's job is to browbeat people into doing what he/his party wants. Therefore, all the anger focuses on what the president hasn't "accomplished" and not nearly enough focuses on the constant failins of Congress.

Two, people thought that Obama was doing some of his triple layer chess during the campaign and that as soon as he was elected, he'd rip off his mask and become a raging liberal. He's a centrist, always has been. Yes, the center seems left when compared with the crazy conservatism of recent years, but it's still the center. And, since he didn't become a crazy liberal, it's seen as him failing/having lied when in fact he always told the truth, some just didn't want to hear him.

iLLogical wrote:

Anyway, yeah...fire me up. End a war, tax carbon, reform the fuck out of healthcare, publicly fund elections, get our money back from Wall Street...

I hear you. My concern however will be the reaction:

--End a war

NOT QUICKLY ENOUGH. See also Iraq.

--Tax carbon

THE TAX WASN'T HIGH ENOUGH.

--Reform the fuck out of healthcare

(Well, he's doing that now -- in a way that has eluded some of our greatest presidents.)

Etc, etc. Do you see my point? I think we passed a barrier of sorts. I think it'll be next to impossible for the president to win back a large subsection of liberals.

I call BS on the idea that Obama's lost the base. He's lost the Naderites who are too busy boycotting everything including the vote to be of much use. They were pretty worthless before, and that hasn't changed.

BTW all the complainers on the left - thanks for putting Bush into office!

Sorry, Jan but the base does not have the power to make O lose in 2012. And I recall very clearly how the Left and some very prominent people at HuffPo warned him that if O ran in the center during the general, he would lose.

And there you go with that more audacious, bold nonsense. Lots of catch phrases no real ideas on how to accomplish them. Oh wait, I'm wrong. This is advice on how to get er done: "step up", "grow a pair" "twist some arms". The WHAT is easy, the HOW is where O's critics are clueless.

Yeah, I don't want to chase Obama out to get another Bush, for certain, and I hear ya that we shouldn't be expecting the sky to change colors or anything, but I really hated the way the bailout went down and lost a fair bit of my enthusiasm for Obama right there.

Ditto for weak-ass, pollution-credit-giveaway cap-n-trade legislation.

In both cases, we seem to be rewarding the very people who have long profited off fucking this country up. And that feels a lot like Bush, on two very big issues that Obama has had to deal with.

That said, there have been a lot of lesser changes that I am happy about, as you often itemize. In search of patience, I am doing my best to go long-view and trust that Obama's political genius is simply beyond my comprehension. Sometimes that works, and sometimes I think the whole system is designed to drive us mad.

But sincere thanks, Bob, for your advocacy, and perspective.

Allonfla:

>>>Sorry, Jan but the base does not have the power to make O lose in 2012.

Interjecting, I think it's possible. If more of the base hadn't voted for Nader in 2000... You know?

Sorry, Jan but the base does not have the power to make O lose in 2012.

No, they won't MAKE him lose, they simply won't show up to vote, to work, to give money. They will be silent on all fronts.

the HOW is where O's critics are clueless.
Seems to be OBAMA is clueless also. And dragging his heels on getting stuff done.

And yeh, I'd like him to be a bit more of a dictator to get his agenda through. Stand up and fight for US.

Kinda makes you wonder why anyone would want to be President these days, prone as Obama is to the reactionary slings and arrows from either side as he seemingly attempts to delicately walk the tightrope of prudence and wisdom. I consider myself a moderate and I've got his back. We need more vocal advocates for this middle path--which I believe would translate directly into support for the Pres--lest the widening cultural divide devolve into something much worse and I'm forced to openly choose sides against the gun-toting wing-nuts (eek!)

I should add, thanks to the chronic complainers, the mess created was so big that taking at least this long to fix anything was inevitable. Yet Jan wharrgarbl's even more.

Oh the irony!

Complaining about complainers also registers as a complaint.

One group complains of Obama. The other about the group complaining about the complainers.

A complaint is a complaint is a complaint..

If my memory serves me correctly --- as I heard in an audio of Bob & Lee --- Mr. Cesca himself voted for Nader.

Totally agree with J at November 3, 2009 11:49 AM

Too many people bought the fallacy that Obama was a progressive liberal. He's not and never was. He's nearly the exact same thing as Hillary Clinton. He's a true moderate regardless of how he's framed by the media and people on the right. Just look at the dude's voting record. Nuff said.

He's running things pretty much how it was planned. He works with and inside the establishment. The problem is that there are no moderates on the right to work with. That said, after 4 years, I think Obama will have a pretty hefty list of accomplishments that will surprise many.

Faux populism seems to be the cause du jour. As soon as unemployment numbers start to go down, people will start to calm down. The vast majority of the globe let out a sigh of relief when Obama was elected and are still breathing much easier. Folks on the progressive left need to do the same. Rome wasn't built in a day. [/end rant]

Bob - I think the far left forgets that it is not the base. It just isn't. All of these disillusioned folks - need to recognize that they are advocates for whatever they are advocates for.. and not at all "the base"- which by and large doesn't give a crap about half of that stuff. If the advocacy folks could stay focussed on their advocacy issues, they'd know their role, they'd know how to negotiate from pragmatic progress, and they'd stop complaining everytime things didn't go exactly as planned, because they wouldn't be expecting that.

QT

Bob-

Thanks for helping me maintain my sanity. The Huffington Post has always been one of my favorite sites. However, I am sick of the constant Obama bashing that goes on in HuffPo. I appreciate your helping put everything in the proper perspective.

Best wishes,

PRC ( aka, Rick Greene, Knoxville, Tn. )

One thing the (far) left needs to learn from the (crazy?) right is the sticktuitiveness. the far right has YET to overturn abortion, disband the IRS, privatize social secuirty, put prayer in schools and halt civil rights progress on LGBT issues . . . and this during their "Golden age of St. Reagan and W the Dim". and they soldier on . . . they are the 20% that still defend W. They are still out there crying crazy all over the place wanting more Reagan. It seems to me that the left needs to learn some loyalty--otherwise our future will be dim of victories and we too will be enacting crazy purges of purity . . . Look at the elephant in the room! :)

I guess that there is no way to take a poll to measure just how many Obama voters have become full-on leftbaggers. Hopefully, those that post here and at HuffPo, etc. are not indicative of the ratio. That is a scary thought.

A Republican, religious right, bigot, or teabagger would never fail to vote for their candidate no matter how stupid or unqualified. Palin comes to mind.

I just never saw this coming.

My apologies, Chad. I posted without reading yours. I hope a huge number of folks on the left share this same view.

No worries Hielo--I agree, I hope the Left has learned to be smarter/craftier with our political power. The whining baby boomer hippy lefty is done (no offense to any of that generation--thank you for paving the way, we are indebted to you, but times change, we must adapt); the "new" left needs to be smart to avoid going the way of the teabaggers 40 years from now . . .

and good point Bob, lets remember the Nader-left helped give us at least the first 4 years of Bush (sadly I was one of them then, but I have learned my lesson).

I'm REALLY wanting Bob to do a follow-up on what the left needs to do to move "the left".

I don't mean becoming Obama-philes; but to recognize the progress we HAVE/ARE made/making. Change is always harder than staying the same or doing nothing; and ignorance and fear are always easier to fire up than progress and intelligent solutions . . . we should acknowledge and accept those facts before we complain about the "style" of Obama vs Bush. Bush could ram through stuff because the right's mindset is more geared to "lock-step" thinking; We're the left for a reason, you know??!!

And again, us getting every progressive wishlist item is the equivalent of the right getting all theirs (see my list in my up post) if those things didn't happen, we really should learn a lesson--not to expect less, but again . . . BE SMARTER! :)

grs wrote:

>>>He's a true moderate regardless of how he's framed by the media and people on the right.

Are you kidding? He's very liberal. Not netroots liberal or as liberal as the wingnuts claim, but he's definitely the most liberal president since FDR.

The criticism of Obama is that he hasn't lived up to what he campaigned on.

Not that he hasn't done anything. Not that everything should happen all at once. That's not what anyone is saying.

And this blog has become apology central. It's appalling groupthink. Any stories that don't fit the Obama Can Do No Wrong don't fit. Any comments that try to hold Obama to his promises are yelled down.

Stop apologizing for Obama not being the person we vote for and start holding him to the standards he ASKED US to hold him to. Stop lowering the bar so you praise a shitty health care reform bill that screws the middle class and working class and that props up the insurance companies.

Stop lowering the bar - he has a supermajority. He had a mandate. Stop acting like expecting more of Obama is the same as giving up. You are the ones who gave up and accepted every compromise. You're the ones who make excuses for weak leadership. Stop attacking those of us who remember that we WON the election.

I voted for Obama, not Hillary Clinton. That's because I wanted a non-establishment Democrat - that's how Obama sold himself. Against fake-liberal policy like Individual Mandates. Against just playing the DC game better.

So tell me - what has Obama done that Hillary wouldn't have? What has he done that any establishment Democrat wouldn't have done?

I expected more. Barack Obama told me to expect you. You all should expect more, too.

Lee

It really is time for you to respond to some questions that are very pertinent to your position. What would you do about the fact that:

1) The Republicans are in lock step to defeat HCR and will definitely filibuster;

2) Our system of legalized bribery has contaminated all sides of the political parties;

3) Compromise, while very frustrating, is the way things are done in our system

Thanks for your anticipated help on these issues.

3) Compromise, while very frustrating, is the way things are done in our system
__________________

Er --- lest we have a short memory on the Bush administration!

Bush -- and his lousy rotten policies --- got pushed through.

That ^$&#%^@ cowboy with his arrogant 'no compromise' way pushed his agenda through.

He was 'effective' in that he got what he wanted; of course what he wanted and pushed was horrific.

Bush got both D's and R's to go along with him on all his lousy policies.

Compromise is NOT how it's done.

Some might even say compromising is for sissies.

"The criticism of Obama is that he hasn't lived up to what he campaigned on"

Can you give some examples?

He promised healthcare reform and is about to deliver in the near-future.

The language he used during the campaign was very general and broad, and not extremely specific. And I saw every single one of his major speeches.

Maybe you just heard what you wanted to hear from him Lee.

If you can show me an example of where Obama said: "healthcare reform will specificly contain X, Y, and Z" I would appreciate that

If you dont like it around here maybe you should create your own blog where you can crap on Obama all day and the readers will all cheer you on. I dont see anyone here "yelling" but you seem content with playing the victim anyway.

Obama is exactly who I voted for, but clearly he is not who you voted for. Again, I think you just heard things from him that you wanted to hear. Thats your fault.

I'm with Nano - some people have the idea that the President can do whatever he wants & that part of his job is to write the legislation for Congress to pass. Not how it works. We have a president who actually knows what the Constitution says. A whole lot of people seem pissed off that he's acting like a president instead of a dictator!
Like it or not, change takes time in a democracy. Time to grow the fuck up and quit expecting instant gratification. Christ, give the man & the country a chance!

adding - interesting, Lee. I've noticed that you've harped on the individual mandates, but I haven't see you write much about subsidies for those who can't afford them. why is that?

@ Terri

"Compromise is NOT how it's done.

Some might even say compromising is for sissies."

I'll grant you the fact the the Democrats under Bush were wimps. But if we have no HCR legislation, we will have nothing to build on. I think that is exactly what you want.

Why don't you answer the questions I addressed to Lee? You seem to have all of the answers. I will wait.

Stranahan:

>>>And this blog has become apology central.

That's horseshit and you know it. Heretofore, I've engaged in this comment thread roundelay in the spirit of an open forum, but this has officially pissed me off.

Just because I haven't kneejerked at every anonymous Politico quote I'm somehow an apologist?

Lee, when there's a success I point it out -- and last week in particular was very successful in terms of policy *and* change. These successes are GOOD for liberalism, and GOOD for the country. In other words, it's good news. If you can't see that and would rather focus on anonymous quotes and misinterpretations of legislation, that's your call. But don't accuse me of being an apologist if I'm happy about, you know, good news -- especially after eight years of horrible news.

Meanwhile, I've ripped Democrats and you know it. I've ripped Rahm Emanuel. And you even admitted here that I ripped President Obama on the Rick Warren fiasco and other mistakes.

But most of the time, I blog about healthcare policy and I make fun of wingnuts. In fact, very few posts are specifically and solely about the president, and when I do hit that beat, it's more often than not with the goal of making a broader point, whether about the Republicans or cable news or, recently, opponents of healthcare reform on the left.

And unlike you, when I'm wrong, I admit it. When you accuse the White House (over and over again) of somehow conspiring with Max Baucus and I correct you on Senate jurisdiction (over and over again), you keep repeating the same misleading attack, while skewing the debate into some sort of too-clever tangent. Or when I correct the factual basis of your latest video, you weasel around and refuse to correct your mistake.

I simply can't debate someone who argues in broad generalizations, nor can I debate someone who invokes other writers as a crutch and makes me debate their points, too. When you're ready to debate based upon factual information and empirical reality, let me know.

Bob--I must say, I completely agree! your blog and thoughts are exactly what the left needs. We still need the fire and righteous indignation of the moveon.org movement; but we need smart savvy thinking if we're going to keep the Repubs from bumpersticking every issue to their favor. Your approach has been dead-on and exactly what Progs need. your not apologizing or a sychophant; and you have held the President accountable as he asked.

Keep up the good work and write a follow-up on where the left needs to go from here. :)