Look, I'm not going to try and convince anyone that this deal to raise the debt ceiling is good. Sure, I would prefer that jobs be the focus right now, but obviously that isn't going to fly in the current climate save for a major shift of some sort.
Honestly, I can't say that this current deal upsets me or pleases me all that much. But what I can't stand is how much the progressive left makes a fetish of Barack Obama, either as its idol or as its bete noir (I wish i had those cool little french hats in HTML).
I've been here a lot of years, and the one thing that is constant in the debate at DKOS is how everything the President does is viewed through the lens of either spinefulness or spinelessness. No middle ground exists.
Each time there is a major presidential decision, or a major legislative breakthrough of some sort, there is a constant debate about whether Obama is really looking out for us, or if he is a complete corporate sellout who is really just a Republican in disguise.
Spare me, please.
The honest truth, and I think most of you would see it if you stopped automatically taking sides, is that Obama is neither truly a sellout or truly a hero. He has made good decisions, and he has made bad decisions.
On health care, I really do believe he did everything he could to get the best deal that he could through Congress. However, on climate change and on the debt limit, my personal opinion is that he really failed to suck it up and do what is absolutely necessary - to begin to develop long-term frames for these critical issues.
But do any of these things, bundled together or taken separately, make him a sellout or a hero? Hardly.
The greatest challenge in an era of partisanship and divided government is when the netroots of the opposition party see their party in power. Having power and the responsibility to govern is complex and not without tremendous risk, and it is not an activity that lends itself to extremes.
Government is not an activity of black or white, principle or cave. These issues are too hard, too complex to put in a little box. In the same way, I refuse to say if Obama is a sellout or if he's really playing 11-dimensional chess to really fight for the ideals of the progressive left.
In the end, he is just a politician, just a president. Presidents have to compromise. Presidents have to know when to hold em fold em, walk away or run. That's just life.
So stop trying to make him into Superman or Lex Luthor. He won't comfortably fit into either costume. But neither, at the time, would have Roosevelt, would have Truman or Lincoln.
The greatest leaders are the ones that move us forward. Only time will tell if Obama is Superman or Lex Luthor. But one thing is for sure - progressives must make their own way. It is not about the leader. It is about us.