Some years ago, someone close to me was dating an asshole. Another in a series of assholes. I told her. I told her that her entire approach to men was leading her to the wrong men. She got upset. A mutual friend told me I should be more supportive, and I said I considered it supportive to be honest. Over time, the person close to me figured out I had been right. She thanked me.
Most of us on this site support this president. Even we critics. Sometimes the best friend we have is the friend who will tell us what we don't want to hear. When we tell the president that he is making terrible mistakes, it is because we want him to do better. It is because we want him to be successful. It is because we worry about unemployment and war and health care and climate change. It is because we worry about the political consequences of important issues not being successfully resolved before the next two election cycles.
If more people focused on the issues and forgot about the personalities, the discussions on this site would have a very different tone. There's plenty of hyperbole to go around. If it were a stock, I'd invest. But no Republican is going to make this country better. No primary challenger is going to defeat this president. This is our president.
Most of us haven't often voted for a winning presidential candidate, but most of us did, last year. He is human and he is subject to all the usual pressures a president faces, plus he succeeded the worst president ever. But we can't expect him to be as good a president as he can be unless we try to make him be the best president we want him to be. We are his base. We are much more politically active than are most people. We must tell him the truth, even if the truth is painful to hear.
In the near term, the only way this country is going to get better is if this president and this Congress enact policies that will maker it better. When they push detrimental or inadequate policies, we must say so. We must articulate the whats and the whys. We most lobby. We must make calls and write emails. At times, we must take to the streets. We also must focus on local issues and local politicians, about and with whom we have greater opportunities to make a direct impact.
Even the best presidents have had their failings. All presidents deserve to be criticized for their failings and praised for their successes. All presidents are subject to the political dynamics of their eras. No political era is easy. Most of the greatest accomplishments achieved by the greatest of our presidents came despite fierce opposition. All presidents are to be judged by their accomplishments.