I am sure that what I am about to post will ignite a huge flame war. I am sure there will be shrill charges with lots of of exclamation marks screaming "YOU CENTRIST CORPORATE, SHILL, DLC-LOVING, DINO, REPUBLICAN IN SHEEP's CLOTHING YOU!" I will (futilely) attempt to head off these attacks by reaffirming that I occasionally blog here because I am a progressive, a liberal who would very much like to see politics both here and abroad shift to the left because I believe that that is the only way our world can get better for those whose lives are too often defined by hardship. I write this post out of love and a well-intentioned desire to provide a small segment of the DailyKos population with some perspective.
That being said, I am sure that there will be plenty of people who take no heed of that statement. So here goes.
DailyKos is usually an excellent resource for progressives to read useful or interesting posts from people genuinely interested in making the world a better place. But often times, the comments sections for these posts are dominated by a series of maybe 50-100 users whose only interest seems to be in turning everything, including HUGE progressive victories and champions like ObamaCare and Obama into straw men to howl at the moon about. The cynicism is some combination of willfully ignorant, cynical, and counter-productive.
Obama is not a centrist sellout. ObamaCare is not a massive giveaway to the insurance industry. The Democratic Party is not a series of marionettes controlled by Wall Street puppeteers in smoke filled rooms.
Is Obama an above reproach saint who never makes mistakes or holds incorrect policy positions? Of course not. Is ObamaCare perfect? Definitely not. Can the Democratic Party be improved and moved in a more progressive direction? Absolutely? But there seems to be a large contingent present at DailyKos intent on ignoring the massive progressive victories we have seen over the course of the last four years and attempting to paint the setbacks at the primary tale of what has happened.
On the contrary, I am very proud of the accomplishments and optimistic about the direction the Obama administration, the Democratic Party, and the nation as whole since 2009. I will not outline every policy victory we have enjoyed (but I will highly recommend The New New Deal by Michael Grunwald).
I think constructive criticism is not just okay, but is useful and should be welcome. But what happens in the comments is often never constructive criticism. Just unhinged cynicism suggestive of an impossible-to-please mentality.