Mr. President,
PLEASE: be the man of your speeches.Please, please, please: appoint a "Truth Squad" to de-construct and explicate these utterly false, fabricated "news/stories" that frighten, inflame, and incite our fellow citizens. Sadly, we Americans no longer have a viable "Fourth Estate" to do the requisite fact-checking and the necessary investigative reporting they once did. So, YOU must confront these lies and distortions.
First impressions, especially when they appeal to our fears, are long remembered. The bigger and more outrageous the lie, the easier it is to remember. The right has learned these lessons well. They magnify the effectiveness of their machinations by repeating the lie over and over and over.
Right now, there is no one to say: "the emperor is wearing no clothes." We need truth-speakers. We need a president who stands up for his appointees, not a president so intimidated by right-wing talk-show hosts that he acts without all the facts.
Please, please, please: give up your fantasy of changing the Washington atmosphere. It is too toxic, and only getting more so as you refuse to name their destructive tactics. Republican'ts know only how to obstruct and to manipulate. They are incapable of negotiating in good faith and they have made their goal patently clear: Obama must fail. Stop colluding with them. Find your backbone...Please.
Stop giving away YOUR power to the enemy. They are winning the war to capture the hearts and minds of our fellow Americans - because our president is minimizing the damage that the right's lies are doing to our body politic.
By trying to ignore their obfuscating and reprehensible political machinations, trying to "take the high road", you have ceded the national dialogue to the right.
Please, stop trying to "look presidential". You must fight for us. This is a war for the hearts and souls of our fellow citizens, and you are on the sidelines. Get fired up, Mr. President. Mount your stallion! GO! Fight the good fight with all that is within you. NOW. PLEASE.
Earlier in the week, Emily drew my attention to this letter-to-the-editor, by Erik O'Dowd. It clearly states my reaction to yesterday (and beyond). You can call it, On dissing Obama:
ReplyDeleteAs a progressive, I'm running out of "dis-"adjectives to convey my feelings about President Obama. Initially, I was disturbed by his retention of Gates at Defense and his appointments of Summers and Geithner to financial positions. These choices signaled merely a continuation of policies that caused us massive military engagement and economic loss.
Thereafter, I became distressed by Mr. Obama's decisions on civil liberties: his maintenance of President Bush's policies of governmental secrecy and restriction of our civil liberties in the name of "fighting terror."
My distress became disappointment when Mr. Obama refused to consider single-payer health care and made backroom deals with Big Pharma, allowing them huge profits in the health care package -- a package that is actually a federally funded windfall for insurance companies.
My disappointment turned to disillusionment when Mr. Obama sent 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, elevating it to a full-scale military operation.
My disillusionment became dismay when his economic plans failed to deal with crushing unemployment of American workers, and avoided confronting fundamental reasons for our financial catastrophe: "Too big to fail" banks and Wall Street's systemic gambling with security derivatives.
Indeed, by now, I've come to agree with Anthony Romero, executive director of ACLU, who recently declared his disgust for Mr. Obama's policies.
But I'm not ready to disengage , to sit home on Election Day 2012. I believe, instead, that we progressives should disassociate from Mr. Obama and launch a campaign -- as improbable a campaign as was Mr. Obama's in 2008 -- to elect a true populist/progressive to dispossess him of the White House.
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ReplyDeleteYes Emily-thank you so much for this. If anyone has the power to change this quickly it's Obama.
ReplyDeleteBut he will not.
Emily, I'm not sure even where to start, so I think I'll just say "I feel your pain."
ReplyDeleteVigilante, You and I most assuredly agree: Barack Obama MUST go.
ReplyDeleteWe cannot have a President who is this incompetent and this uninvolved with the actual duties and responsibilities of the job.
VIG: I could not agree with you more.
ReplyDeleteObama was the Manchurian Candidate.
IMO He is a complete failure for any progressive thinking person. This should not have been a real surprise to any one though.
Why these spineless, cowardly dems still back him is beyond me.
He has proven himself to be a Republocrat Corporatista.
He has shown that he relishes in being a War of Choice President.
I do not expect it to get any better. Bush set the low life standard with Rove collecting millions secretly to make it even dirtier. Cheney/ Bush and Rove set the dirty standard everyone is following today and not just in Politics.
ReplyDeleteObama is doomed to be a one term President.
ReplyDeleteActually I think that's all he wants of political Horseshit. I call him the great appeaser. He just never had a chance. Yeah I voted for him, it was better than McCain. We would have been in three additional Wars if Crash McCain won. Of course we would have had to deal with Sarah too.
Wiz, you are putting words in my mouth. I do not agree at all with YOUR assessment of this President.
ReplyDeleteI think Obama works his a-s off every single day, attempting to bail out our sinking Ship of State, but he is impeded by the unconscionable wiles employed by the "The Hypocritical Lying Obstructionist Fear-Mongers" (read: the Republican't party's members of Congress). Of no help is the useless media.
These persons, elected to work for the good of the Country, but instead, they've chosen to merrily promulgate their lies, flout their obstructionist filibustering, and continue to erect roadblocks to stop the President from solving our nation's pressing problems.
They persist in mounting baseless attacks upon the ideas and the person of our President, in an effort to de-legitimize him. They should be national pariahs. Instead, they may be re-taking control of the House of Representatives.
Obama is not disengaged, as you write. He IS too engaged - with his ideal of uniting our country. He stubbornly persists in reaching out to the Republican'ts in his desire for bi-partisanship. He has "given away the store" watering down bills to woo Republican'ts, only to find that the Republican'ts CAN'T and WON'T reach across the aisle for the good of the Country.
Republican'ts want our beleaguered and nearly moribund Ship of State to sink, so they can resume their treasonous attempts to hijack our democratic republic and turn it into a theocratic oligarchy.
I don't want to get rid of Obama. I want Obama to get fired up, and GET GOIN'. We are in a fierce battle with those who hate democracy. It is a battle which we MUST win. He needs to act, NOW. Obama needs to find his backbone - stand up and speak out. He needs to be the man of his speeches.
Reality Zone, Obama fooled me. He was a Manchurian candidate. I'm lucky anyone comes around and reads my pages now since I've proven I can be fooled. I was. I admit it. Maybe that woman was better. She knew, going in, that the Republicans hated her.
ReplyDeleteBut Wizard doesn't fool me. He smoozes Liberal (and Unitarian!), but he thinks Corporatist.
And Emily, nice going! I agree totally with what you say.
I go back with my first comment: Since Progressives are paid less attention by the White House, Erik O'Dowd is right. We should look around for a candidate to challenge POTUS in the 2012 primaries.
Nice post,Emily.I am of similar mind as Vigil (as well as similar advanced age and Dodger-mindedness).
ReplyDeleteI could not in good conscience vote for a war-supporter, I voted for Nader but wished Obama well and welcomed what I felt was an upgrade at POTUS.
Other than better public speaking skills I have observed no difference. I won't bore you with a list because I'm sure you're aware as I am of the left's grievances.
It frustrates me to no end when most criticism of Obama is assumed by his supporters to be from stupid (I ain't that)or naive (that neither)people, generally followed by the idiotically witty "So you would rather have McCain and Palin running the country?"
I'm not addressing this at you Emily, just venting. I enjoy your posts.
I agree with you, Emily.
ReplyDeleteYou rock Emily, great post!
ReplyDeleteEmily, I tried to be careful by addressing one reply directly to you and then a completely separate reply directly to Vigilante. All I said to you was "I feel your pain."
ReplyDeleteMy comment saying "Obama must go" was addressed directly to Vigilante and was a reply to his lengthy note quoting Erik O'Dowd.
This doesn't change any facts concerning the failing Obama Presidency. Perhaps, if Obama were to follow your advice, he could "turn it around."
In short, I'm not "walking back" any of my comments, I just wanted you to realize I WAS NOT "putting words in your mouth." I apologize for the confustion.
I concur that Obama has the look and feel of a one term President. But, really, who do the Republicans have? Palin? Romney? Huckabee? Pawlenty? Barbour? Jindal? Let's face it here, folks. Rumors of the President's demise are being greatly oversold.
ReplyDeleteI wrote back in October of '08 that the next Republican candidate for President would be Jeb Bush and I'm sticking by it.
ReplyDelete23:
ReplyDeleteEvery one that I say that to says I am crazy.
Jeb was Papa Bush's first choice. Not idiot boy W.
Jeb will shed the W legacy.
Lets not forget that his wife is Mexican. Jeb has been promoting comprehensive immigration for some time along with his CFR cohorts.
If Obama fails on immigration like he has on every thing else. The Hispanic vote will got to Jeb.
If Jeb is not on the top of the ticket, I suspect he will surely be on the bottom.
1) Does the country have the stomach for a 3rd Bush Presidency? 2) Would the Republicans (regardless of the name recognition factor) see this individual as divisive enough?
ReplyDeleteIt disheartens me to agree with Mr. O'Dowd.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I most heartily agree with Emily. His speeches still carry the soaring rhetoric that they once did, but he is too accomodating and the words seem hollow now. We, THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SO FIRED UP OVER THE VISION HE SPOKE OF, need to let him hear us loud and clear and over and over. We need to help him find his backbone. We have work to do.
I want the Obama we thought he would be--before they wore him down. Let's help him find his way back. It's not just him; it's us,too.
Alas, he promised to work toward peace. His failure to end the military madness is one of the things that will make him a loser in 2012 in my book. That is my greatest disappointment.
I am curious about the earlier Unitarian comment, Vigilante. Please explain.
ReplyDeleteGR8 comments like Judy T's instantly land space on my blogroll.
ReplyDeleteTo answer her question about Wizard and Unitarianism: Wizard and I go way back in Bloghistory. One time he disclosed he was a Unitarian. That impressed me. It may be one of the reasons I enjoy Wizard's company. Somewhat. I should add that I have been a member of three Unitarian congregations and can say that they vary widely. Extremely.
Rocket post Emily!
ReplyDeleteVig, I read you (I c many names here) and I overwhelmingly agree with you much of the time. It's a good thing to disagree sometimes, it's a way into relative growth. But I have to say, when it's a constant, it begins to wear you out. I never find that here.
Mycue, I think you are right on the head! Bush. But will this just push the President back into the White House? LOL There is no Democratic challenger ... never is when incumbent, is there? Or will there be? If Bush is the Repug, the Independent will be interesting... Right now, Obama has lost my support and vote. I don't hate him Michael, I'm disappointed and rightly so. And his last few months from my perspective, are dismal as hell. Still, I've learned to never say never.
Vig? Thank you for providing this space and these writers to give us their voices, as well as your own. I value it and the information / opinions I find here. Much. ta.
Thank you, Ms Barry.
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