The reality is that there are too many progressives who beat Obama up for what he hasn't done. . .

[wndycty]

. . .and never give him credit for what he has done.

It seems that people are looking for reasons to criticize. Obama's presidency has been one of the more successful ones as it relates to advancing a legislative agenda, however that is not good enough for some who he should think are on his side.

[EC]

1. Amen...

:thumbsup:

[ibegurpard]

2. quite frankly i wish his list of accomplishments was a lot shorter

i'm not happy with a lot of the things he HAS done.

[FrenchieCat]

3. I wrote about that....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x405828

[wndycty]

8. Excellent read

:kick:

[IndianaGreen]

4. LGBTs in the military have suffered far more

and Obama hasn't done shit for them as they continue to get discharged.

[wndycty]

6. Great in November and in 2012 vote for the people you think will do a better job on that. . .

. . .go right ahead. Let's hold him accountable but not ignore what he has accomplished.

[jgraz]

29. If that's your only answer, there are gonna be a lot of people staying home in 2012.

You have to give people something to vote for, not just a bogeyman to vote against.

[Political Tiger]

21. Neither has Congress, you know, the ones who passed DADT

and the only ones who can repeal it yet you don't seem to have much anger for them. All your anger is directed at Obama. I can't imagine why......

Us "LGBTs" not consumed by hate and anger are able to see all the good Obama has done for the "LGBTs" and don't sit around simmering in bitterness because one of many, many issues that effect the "LGBTs" has not yet been resolved, although a resolution to it is in the works.

Millions of "LGBTs" appreciate all Obama has done for them, because we see life not through a narrow lens but instead look at the whole picture. I am one of those "LGBTs" and I wake up happy everyday knowing we have President Obama on our side!

[IndianaGreen]

25. I am happy you are not in the military or have a loved in the military

or even been in the military, and experienced what it is to live a lie and be fearful of being outed.

[Political Tiger]

30. Please! Get over yourself! You know nothing about me

so spare me the pretentious.

In the first place, I wouldn't join the military knowing they don't want me.

And if I did, I would do so knowing that while DADT is in place, I would have to abide by the law or face the consequences.

And let me tell you something darling, there are very few gay people alive or dead who have NOT "experienced what it is to live a lie and be fearful of being outed!"

Every day gay people have to "live a lie" while "being fearful of being outed." It's just not gay military members who live with that reality!

Millions of gay people have to hide their sexual orientation at work out of fear of being fired or becoming targets of harassment (or worse).

Gay people have to hide their sexual orientation from their landlords lest they be found out and kicked out onto the streets.

In my state, gay people are banned from adopting children, and now they are trying to make it illegal for us to even foster homeless children.

We face discrimination in all walks of life, not just the military.

But to people who don't understand what it is like to be gay, after listening to people like you they could easily get the impression that DADT is the most pressing issue facing the gay community.

It is NOT!

Only a small number of gay people are effected by DADT, and frankly, they knew what they were walking into when they made that choice to enter the military.

That doesn't make DADT right or acceptable, it's just the reality of the situation.

I'm sick to death of the DADT mantra, as if once DADT is gone everything will suddenly just magically become peachy keen for gay people.

Sweetheart, I live in the real world! I know our struggle goes far beyond DADT.

While you whine constantly about nothing but DADT on message boards, I prefer to be out there fighting for equality for gay people where it will have a greater and meaningful impact on the lives of the gay community at large, not just a select few.

So save your smugness for somebody who doesn't know "what it is to live a lie and be fearful of being outed," because the rest of who are not hung up on using DADT as just another excuse to bash Obama know we face challenges much greater than just DADT!

[SeattleGirl]

31. Bravo, PT!!

:yourock:

[IndianaGreen]

32. I am the military veteran here

and I think the Administration's conscious decision to not use tools such as STOP LOSS to freeze the discharges of LGBTs, together with the disgusting popularity poll the Pentagon is conducting on DADT, really shows how much unlike Truman this President is.

[SeattleGirl]

33. Okay, you're a veteran.

Does that mean you think you have more of a right to an opinion than anybody who isn't a veteran?

[IndianaGreen]

34. DADT hits closer to home

particularly since I still have ties to the military and to LGBTs currently serving.

I won't be joining the chorus of Hosannas.

BTW, how is an all-inclusive ENDA coming along? Last round Barney Frank threw the "T" of the LGBT under the proverbial bus. I hope we don't repeat that shit again!

[Born_A_Truman]

35. As a TRUMAN whose whole family is military ...

do NOT assume you speak for ALL veterans. You do NOT.

[IndianaGreen]

36. Strawman argument

I never said I spoke for all veterans.

[Born_A_Truman]

37. And you're no Truman either

[SeattleGirl]

38. Funny how "strawman" comes up so frequently on DU

Any time someone doesn't agree with someone else, out comes the strawman.

[Political Tiger]

39. That's right, it's all Obama's fault....blah....blah....blah.

You act as if DADT is something new. It isn't. It's been law since 1993. Did you demand that Clinton issue a "stop loss" order then?

And what if Clinton did? Then when Dumbya became President he would have turned around and reversed it.

That's what Obama is trying to avoid. He's trying to end that policy once and for all! He's going about it as is proper, through the legislative process.

You want him to pull a Bush and have him disregard the law of the land, a law he had nothing to do with. And if he did that, then Congress would be off the hook and they wouldn't have to take the necessary steps to repeal the law permanently, so then when the next Republican president comes into office, he or she can do the same thing, only in reverse, and reinstate the policy. This is just common sense!

The problem is that you demand instant gratification. That's not realistic. Your dislike of Obama is causing you to see this issue through an extremely narrow lens, and by doing so, you are missing the big picture! Put aside your hate and try using logic and reason instead.

You blame Obama for the "the disgusting popularity poll the Pentagon is conducting" and in the same breath you actually say that that "really shows how much unlike Truman this President is."

Are you kidding? Have you no sense of history at all? Are you telling us you don't know the Pentagon conducted similar polls about African-Americans and Jews serving next to white soldiers while Truman was president? If you are unaware of that, I suggest you do some research next time before saying something like that because by getting it so wrong you lose what creditability that you might have had.

The facts of life are, if you continue to live life with blinders on and depend on selective memory, the only thing accomplished is that you end up looking foolish.

Trying using reason instead of emotion and educate yourself!

[NJmaverick]

51. Statistics show a drastic drop in DADT discharges since President Obama

has assumed office.

[cherokeeprogressive]

58. That's awesome! Care to share where I can find those statistics so I can pass that along? n/t

[NJmaverick]

59. here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_ask,_don't_tell

[cherokeeprogressive]

62. ...

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. Please search for Don/'t ask, don/'t tell in Wikipedia to check for alternative titles or spellings.
Start the Don/'t ask, don/'t tell article, using the Article Wizard if you wish, or add a request for it.
Search for "Don/'t ask, don/'t tell" in existing articles.
Look for pages within Wikipedia that link to this title.

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If the page has been deleted, check the deletion log, and see Why was my page deleted?.

[NJmaverick]

68. That's wierd, let me try again

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_ask,_don't_tell

[griffi94]

5. my issue

is the things he promised that he hasn't delivered on.
gitmo
patriot act
and for me the biggest one the public option, which was a point he drove home in the primary debates.

now his mouthpiece is openly attacking progressives because they've had the audacity to notice that he hasn't delivered, and to speak up about it.

[wndycty]

7. Does he have a magic wand? Is he a dictator?

:kick:

[griffi94]

11. no magic wand

would have been needed to close gitmo or let the patriot act expire. or to stop torture.
that didn't require anything but obama doing what he campaigned on.

[FrenchieCat]

16. Congress refuses to fund a closure of gitmo.....

twice,
last I checked.

[Warren Stupidity]

49. Fine. Transfer prisoners to federal prisons.

Using existing funds for prison operations. The money for gitmo will sit there not being spent. The excuse "congress didn't" somehow didn't deter Bush from doing anything.

[ncteechur]

14. when did he promise a public option? cause I watched all the debates and I don't recall him saying

that. He said everyone would be covered, not that there would be a public option.

Did he say he would repeal the Patriot Act? When did he say that?


the op demonstrates the problem that everyone heard what they wanted to hear and made Obama into what they wanted him to be.

take the rose-colored glasses off

[30rock]

23. Public option is listed as promise (broken) #518

In politifact.com

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/518/create-public-option-health-plan-new-national-heal/

The website is often cited by those who praised Obama for having fulfilled many of his promises (which is true). But let's not deny he promised a P.O.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

45. Politifact has it wrong....

Obama never promised a Public Option, nor did he campaign on it.

Sam Stein from Huffington Post: "An examination of approximately 200 newspaper articles from the campaign, as well as debate transcripts and public speeches shows that Obama spoke remarkably infrequently about creating a government-run insurance program. Indeed, when he initially outlined his health care proposals during a speech before the University of Iowa on March 29, 2007, he described setting up a system that resembles the current Senate compromise - in which private insurers would operate in a non-profit entity that was regulated heavily by a government entity."

First Read

Gets to the heart of this thread. Some people have pre-conceived notions of what the Obama Administration would be like (Obama was created in our own image) and are now upset because the real Obama did not live up their expections.

Sorry for your luck.

[sandnsea]

20. Why?

Wasn't the closure of Gitmo rejected by the House? And wasn't the health care bill fight extended for over six months, primarily over the public option?

And what incidents of torture are you talking about? I keep seeing these accusations and they always seem to start at wsws. They were calling Obama a liar 3 days after his inauguration. Is this what you're basing your opinion on?

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jan2009/guan-j23.shtml

[NJmaverick]

54. Focus on the negatives while ignoring the potivies

just like the OP said

[Hello_Kitty]

9. That doesn't justify Gibbs' gratuitous RW talking point laden slam.

He's disappointed that Maddow and Olbermann and the lefty blogosphere aren't fawning sycophants in the Faux News mold, obviously, so he uses their rhetoric to attack.

[wndycty]

10. Its politics, its time for many on the left to grow the hell up and grow a thicker skin

It seems like many on the left can talk BIG SHIT about the White House and then when they get it thrown back at them they cry like a bunch of immature children.

[griffi94]

19. i don't view politics

like a team sport us versus then our team right or wrong.
he made promises to the people whose support he needed when he was running for the whitehouse.
after he won then he suddenly couldn't deliver.

[FrenchieCat]

17. You got yourself a good one to throw around for at least the next 10 years!

You are gonna be having fun! Admit it!

[Hello_Kitty]

22. And you'll have hippies to kick for the next 10 years.

And to blame for Obama's electoral failures in November.

[caledesi]

12. Agree w! We don't know what he knows. nt

[ZombieHorde]

13. The reality is zombie movies are the best movies.

The reality is Gary Gygax is the greatest person who ever lived.

The reality is Hentai is cool.

The reality is Coil is an awesome band.

[rucky]

15. I think it's a trick your message board is playing on you.

We start topics. Some are general, but most are focused on a single issue - positive or negative. The formula we use to generate discussion around here typically amounts to a cheap attention getting device: We post an article, and in the OP or not soon after, we form some dramatic all-encompassing opinion.

And not soon after that, a dig at one of our own. We can't post a positive story without a dig on critics. We can't post a critical story without a dig on supporters. Every behavior we follow in a story - positive or negative - is a reflection of the subject as a whole, then we internalize that amongst ourselves. Reason and objective analysis doesn't have a chance in this environment. We've become amateur pundits, and the world needs less of them - not more.

[alcibiades_mystery]

24. Possibly the best post ever on DU

EVER.

:thumbsup:

[depakid]

18. Returning accountability under the rule of law to pre-Bush norms was THE major thing he had to do

and he promised as much throughout the campaign.

Yet on front after front, he and the administrative agencies he controls have willfully failed to do so.

Sorry to tell you, but that's going to be an indelible black mark on their legacy and a great disservice to the nation.

Something well worthy of political pressure and criticism.

[jefferson_dem]

43. You are case in point.

For weeks you've been demanding that Obama appoint Warren. Now that it looks like it might happen, you're saying he's doing so only due to sheer politics, and he had no choice. That's the "damned if he does, damned if he doesn't" attitude I think is being expessed in the OP.

[NJmaverick]

55. Another post that proves the OP"s point

precisely

[EFerrari]

26. That's not reality, that's your opinion put out as "reality".

And you're entitled to it, of course.

But if you're talking about this week's flap, lashing out at people who you think don't give you enough credit will not result in your getting the recognition you want or need. It just causes more problems.

[NJmaverick]

56. There are over half a dozen posts just on this thread that prove the OP is a reality

so you're wrong

[R. P. McMurphy]

27. k & r n/t

[Rosa Luxemburg]

28. I think that this administration needs to tell people what they have done

because you won't hear it on TV or read it in the press.

[wndycty]

41. Or hear it on DU

:kick:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

50. sadly yes

If I was the president I would have bulletins run on TV before ballgames and American Idol comes on and tell the public what was passed through congress and how it is going to affect you. Also bit on what we are going to do and give them updates on what they are doing on certain important issues like alternative energy. This would have to be factual and accurate. No spin. I still don't know where we are up to with that? Also page 3 of each newspaper would have to have a government information update. The media would have to do this for free.

[cherokeeprogressive]

61. So you think the Government should FORCE the media to promote its message.

Holy Fucking MOLEY Annie... that's some crazy shit right there.

Would the information you (as the Government) were forcing the media to print on your behalf include such things as a running daily total of the budget and trade deficit, current unemployment figures, the number of servicemen and women wounded or killed in the last 24 hours, the number of congresscritters currently under indictment, investigation, or in rehab, and the like? Or would you have rigid authority to decide which information the media printed for you?

Yours is one of the scariest posts I've read here on DU and completely at odds with what I consider freedom to be.

[NJmaverick]

57. That used to be the job of the liberal internet forces

the right wing controlled media would never do it. However instead of getting the word out to the general public they are too busy piling on the President.

[TheKentuckian]

40. You make a case based on check marks and their quantity

The agenda being advanced sucks.

There have been positives for certain but mostly we get counter productive and/or ineffectual pigs with the lipstick caked on accompanied by petulant demands for praise for policy I do not support and screeching for loyalty oaths and reverent compliance from recreational and big time professional woodchucks and mealy mouthed crumb beggars.

[Exilednight]

42. I prefer quality, not quantity. Obama has kept many promises .........

but it was the small promises that he kept. None of the big ones have yet to be fully achieved.

[wndycty]

44. Healthcare reform is a little promise?

:kick:

[Exilednight]

66. He didn't deliver on HCR. You can go to any truly progressive website ...............

and see that the health-care bill he signed is nothing like what he promised.

[Exilednight]

69. Health-care "reform" has not been fully achieved as according to his promise. n/t

[NJmaverick]

53. So you down play instead of ignore all the President's historic accomplishments

again proves the OP's point exactly

[backwoodsbob]

63. what historic accomplishments?

He mandated insurance.Something he BLASTED Hillary for promoting in the primaries.

He spent a lot of money that didn't help a whole lot of people.Wall street thanks him.

He put a group together to STUDY dropping dadt..something he promised would be dropped.

What MAJOR promise he made has he kept?

[Exilednight]

67. See the backwoods' reply. Nothing he's delivered on has been historic. n/t

[Name removed]

46. Deleted message

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

[POAS]

47. "Force"? Numbers maybe, But Force? n/t

[Warren Stupidity]

48. I guess if you promise hope and change you ought to at least try to deliver

otherwise there are going to be a lot of disappointed people who have lost hope that anything will change.

[NJmaverick]

52. Deliver Healthcare reform, deliver new regulations of Wall Street and the Banks

deliver green energy initiatives and energy conservation. Deliver the economy from a depression. Deliver liberal female judges to the Supreme Court.

Your post proves the OP is correct

[Warren Stupidity]

60. nope on the first three

it wasn't health care reform it was health insurance reform and it is just barely defensible for what it is. Wall Street has not been re-regulated, as with HIR, the corporate corruption and the tendency for this administration to start negotiations from the weakest possible position withered away 99% of anything substantial. The banks - feeble nonsense. Delivered essentially nothing on energy and climate change. The economy is stuck in neutral and fear of a return to recession is growing. The employment problem is the worst since the Great Depression and has not improved.

Obama did appoint two women to the supreme court. Neither of these choices were not particularly liberal, rather they were chosen instead to sail through the senate without controversy because they were both so solidly centrist.

[backwoodsbob]

65. what hcr?

he mandated everyone buy insurance

What he RAILED Hillary for in the primaries!

[4lbs]

64. After that DailyKos article published yesterday, it appears to be par for the course.

That article showed how badly FDR was beat up by Progressives 18 months into his first term, for almost the same reasons President Obama is being lambasted.

[Exilednight]

70. This administration has been more successful as compromising .................

legislation in an attempt to gain support from the gop.

None of his big promises have yet to be FULLY achieved. And I am willing to bet money that will back down on the Iraq draw down before is all is said and done. He partially already has by wanting to keep 50,000 soldiers behind. And let's not fool ourselves, those 50,000 troops don't include the gun toting private contractors.