Imagine my surprise this morning when I awoke to the news via Politico that Liberals are pissed at Obama. I was so mad because I hadn't gotten the memo from fellow progressives with information about the "we hate Obama" club.
According to the Politico:
Liberals are growing increasingly nervous – and some just flat-out angry – that President-elect Barack Obama seems to be stiffing them on Cabinet jobs and policy choices.
Obama has reversed pledges to immediately repeal tax cuts for the wealthy and take on Big Oil. He’s hedged his call for a quick drawdown in Iraq. And he’s stocking his White House with anything but stalwarts of the left.
Who exactly were the Liberals interviewed for this Politico article? I can't be sure but they have got to be Republican plants. As a progressive and long-time community organizer, you would not catch me being interviewed by the traditional media offering up what may be the flimsiest, whiniest, complaints in HISTORY. Is this article FOR REAL? Impossible!
The article continues to get even more HI-LARIOUS from there.
Now some are shedding a reluctance to puncture the liberal euphoria at being rid of President George W. Bush to say, in effect, that the new boss looks like the old boss.
"He has confirmed what our suspicions were by surrounding himself with a centrist to right cabinet. But we do hope that before it's all over we can get at least one authentic progressive appointment," said Tim Carpenter, national director of the Progressive Democrats of America.
Any progressive who compares Obama to Bush at this stage of the game loses ALL CREDIBILITY (if they had any to begin with). No, this is beyond silly. Poor Tim Carpenter from the Progressive Democrats of America has just seen his entire organization go up in flames today. I don't know the man and he seems very sanguine but my GOD. To have your quote come right after a sentence claiming that some liberals "say, in effect, that the new boss looks like the old boss" is malpractice. He ought to sue Politico for defamation. Who exactly is the constituency of the "Progressive Democrats of America?" Really, no snark here. Who exactly belongs to this organization? Who does this organization purport to speak for?
Mr. Carpenter long "suspected" that Barack had center-right leanings and now apparently these are confirmed. For some reason, this sounds weirdly 50's McCarthyite to me. Politico succeeds in making Liberals and Progressives look like a bunch of effete, ineffectual, losers with this amazing sentence:
Even supporters make clear they’re on the lookout for backsliding. "There’s a concern that he keep his basic promises and people are going to watch him," said Roger Hickey, a co-founder of Campaign for America’s Future.
Barack is surely losing sleep now. I am sure that he was unaware that he is being watched by "people."
Politico throws Chris Bowers under the bus by characterizing something that he wrote as a "plaintive plea." Jesus Christ! Poor Chris.
http://www.politico.com/...
Then later this morning, Steve Hildebrand, one of the masterminds of Obama's field operation, wrote a blog on Huff Post.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
I basically read his message as wait before jumping all over Barack. Let him have a chance to implement his policies. Well, bad move on Steve's part. Right away, David Sirota came firing back with this retort: Now, here's a rant-ish "Message to Obama's Progressive Critics" from top Obama aide Steve Hildebrand today demanding the Dirty Fucking Hippies of "the left" STFU.
Prozac anyone? Seriously, the hyperbole does not further debate. Many will disagree with what Hildebrand has to say and that is their right. In fact, I say let's disagree. However, where in Steve's missive did he imply that the left were "dirty fucking hippies?" Projection much, Mr. Sirota???? He continues:
Can anyone even ask a non-ideological question of Obama without being attacked as some sort of raving left-wing lunatic?
I absolutely LOVE this question. It's the best canard EVER invented. Come on, David. You can do better than that. Who they heck is attacking you as some sort of "raving left-wing lunatic?" Surely not Hildebrand! This is victimology 101 and it is a SICKNESS. Ask your questions, complain about Obama's cabinet, do whatever you want but please spare the rest of us the victimology? If you can critique, then others can and should write their own responses to those. Incidentally, it did not seem to me that Hildebrand was telling the "left" to STFU. Once again, hyperbole does nothing to advance discussion.
Note to fellow Kossacks: Can anyone point me to David Sirota's constituency? Has he built any organizations? Mobilized any large groups of marginalized folks to action? Organized locally? These are real questions and I would appreciate it if folks could point me to some concrete applications of his theorizing. I'd love to learn more.
OK, so apparently the Liberals and the Progressives are very, very, mad at Obama. According to the traditional media, "many" are planning to "watch Obama" closely and are threatening to.... what exactly? I am not sure.
THIS progressive is actually not mad at Obama and plans to continue to advocate on BEHALF of the issues that I care most about. It's what I was doing before Barack and what I will continue to do now. I am not exorcised by his cabinet picks. I along with many others plan to keep offering an affirmative case FOR my positions and plan to influence policy and practice at the local level and the national level that way. I'll criticize him when he offers policies that don't support my views. I will continue to proactively work to affect his decisions on cabinet picks in the areas that I care about (urban policy, education, and labor) by offering MY OWN AFFIRMATIVE suggestions through organized listserves and direct channels. If he picks someone else, so be it. For me the proof is in the policy.
Update: Just as I finished writing this, a friend forwarded the following very interesting article which speaks to what seems to be currently taking place. It's a little long but well worth the read.
http://www.thedemocraticstrategist.o...
Update #2: The New York Times is now in the act... God help us all! People are living on the streets for God's sake... This is beyond characterization.
http://www.nytimes.com/...