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Is
Obama the Problem?
by Robert Parry
Despite some recent victories like
repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” many on the American Left are
feeling
a cumulative disgust toward President Barack Obama, not just for his
generally timid policy choices but
– even more so – for his failure to articulate and fight for
progressive values.
After eight years of getting bullied by President George W. Bush – and
even longer by Fox News, talk radio
and congressional Republicans – many progressives, including many young
voters, wanted a passionate advocate
in the mold of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, himself a member of the
American elite who treated his class with a
knowing disdain. They got instead a
silver-tongued conciliator who
strives for the elite’s blessings.
Reminder:
This was written by Robert Parry, perhaps Obama's loudest cheerleader
in 2008.
Or was it his
unmatched-on-the-Left Hillary hatred that drove him into Obama's arms?
So, even as Obama ticks off his
legislative
accomplishments, he is not likely to gain much traction with
his liberal “base”
because he has failed to be what many of them hoped he would be: a
battler.
While that estrangement will be difficult for Obama to overcome –
especially given this month's compromise
with right-wing Republicans
over extending Bush’s tax cuts for the rich – the other question in
this troubled
marriage between Obama and his angry “base” is whether
Obama is entirely at fault.
Or does the Left deserve a share of the blame for its own failures,
especially how it sat back over the past
few decades as the Right moved
ahead in media, think tanks and other elements of an ideological
infrastructure?
Should the Left be more self-critical about its
tendency in recent years to be more a sideline critic than an
on-the-field participant?
He's almost exactly right.
One of the Left's biggest problems (that Obama has in triple spades) is their desire to "be fair."
The Right wants to win and they're not above lying, cheating, jamming phones etc.
The Left's biggest concern is being fair to the GOP.
...and why don't we have a "news" network like the GOP does?
I'll tell you why - because that wouldn't be fair.