Ok, let’s get this out in the open, fight it out and “move forward,” lol.
Let me say from the outset that this does NOT mena that Obama is “bad.” This is about political tactics and strategy, NOT about him as a person.
I LIKE Obama, ok?
But….
Obama supporters everywhere will no doubt find a way to spin this as an 11th dimensional win that we mere mortals and common folk can’t understand…but after allowing the Republicans to cost them 30 points in the polls on the Public Option and 10 points on Barack’s personal polls….it appears the Obama Administration has woken up to the political reality they face.
The reality that they are not in some political fantasyland where there opponents are reasonable, honest and have a shred of integrity or honor, they have apparently, finally figured out that they are dealing with the 21st Cenury Republican party and their whiny wannabe acolytes the Blue Dogs.
They seem to have finally figured out, as some of us have been saying all along, That they are in a fight with pirates, not at a tea party.
While he was being No Drama Post-Partisanship guy, we lost the momentum of the election and a HUGE chunk of Public Opinion to the outright LIES of the Republicans. No Drama Obama’s poll numbers have dropped and we are on the verge of losing the Public Option. We have already lost public support for it, lost the media battle, lost the spin, and half of Ameriica has been persuaded by the trench warfare of Republican lies.
No Drama Post-Partisanship DOES NOT WORK.
It was never going to work, and to put it bluntly, we told you so.
Which I think I can safely say for all of us….gives us no satisfaction at all. We WANT Obama to succeed, despite the nasty shit the Obama supporters have said about the people who remained reality based.
While the actual reality based people here and elsewhere have realized this all along, and have been pushing for fighting the Republicans, were told to give up our “ponies” and STFU about gay rights and torture and the capitulations and giveaways to the Banksters and Wall St…..because the REAL issue was Health Care.
Nearly everyone who was saying that this is a war are wizened and experienced political observers and participants. And we had to put up with being shouted down by a bunch of hopeful naifs. Hopeful, but NASTY, naifs who drove some VERY good people off of this site with their nastiness.
Just yesterday we had another in a long string of ‘STFU, Obama has GOT THIS diares.’
And then today comes the news that we were right all along. That Obama HASN’T GOT THIS….and is having to change tactics. The “news” that the only way we are going to get ANYTHING done is to go to war with the Repubs and hammer the Blue Dogs.
Duh.
Shut up, trust Obama, we were told….he’s smart and you are stupid, stop Yelling, he knows what he is doing and negotiating with the cutthroat ideologically blinded Republicans and cowardly curs of the Blue Dogs will lay down at his feet….after all, he has only been in office for xxxx months and if you give him time you will ALL have to choke on your words and apologize for ever doubting him and lay down there too, at his 11th dimensional feet and worship him as we do.
And now Rahm and Obama are forced to admit that they have to do exactly what we were talking about. And precisely what we were getting shouted down about…..FIGHT.
A LOT of people need to apologize and choke down some words….and admit they were naive and NOT reality based.
But it sure ain’t the people, most of us pretty damn savvy and grizzled political observers, who doubted that the political experiment of No Drama Post Partisanship would work….against this batch of Republicans, lobbyists and Blue Dogs.
The people who need to tip their hats and offer a BIG apology are the sincere but misguided folks who put their well meaning and good intentioned hopes on the charisma of one VERY good man, HOPING that he could single handedly change the swamp of DC overnight …. against the corporate political juggernaut that the government, media and public opinion manipulators created under George “the Torturer” Bush. They need to apologize for all of their naive crap and their nasty rudeness and STFUosity that they perpetrated on this site and elsewhere.
I am waiting, lol.
And while I am waiting, (which I expect will be a VERY long time, lol) folks around here need to need to change their tune, their strategy and their tactics. And adjust their attitude.
They, and Obama FULLY need to face the fact of what politics in America IS. And that it is not what they would like it too be …or what they naively thought it was.
The folks we are fighting TORTURED people. If that is not a clue I don’t know what is.
It is a War. It is a continuation of the Culture Wars and an escalation of The Class War.
And until Obama and his supporters start treating it as one, and start FIGHTING back…..It is a war that WE, The American People….are going to keep losing.
There is one simple fact at work here. You simply CANNOT negotiate in Good Faith with people who are negotiating in Bad Faith.
The Republicans and Blue Dogs have been yanking Obama’s chain for eight months now.
EVERYTHING he has gotten done, he has gotten done with NO votes or support from the Repubs and only grudging support for the Dogs.
In another political environment, one less toxic, I would admire the No Drama Post-Partisanship approach to politics, but not in THIS political environment.
It was a noble experiment.
AND IT DID NOT WORK.
It is time to STOP pretending that this is not true or that this is going to change.
It is time to STOP being nice.
It is time for Obama to step up and LEAD the fight against the Repubs….and to whip The Dogs into line….or threaten them with primaries.
It is time to stop caring about the ConservaDems and Republicans widdle feelings…..and kick some ass.
To quote Maimonides (sorta) “this ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around.”
This is war.
So say your silent Mea Culpas, you folks who were so nasty, and so wrong and change your tune. It is time for you to stop urging US to join YOU. Time for you to stop saying that WE are the ones being divisive.
It is time for YOU to stop being divisive and fess up that Obama was wrong and that YOU were wrong.
It is time for YOU to join US.
In this FIGHT against the Republicans.
A fight that we damn well better get to work winning.
Because there is a HELL of a lot more at stake here than Obama’s charisma ….and your pride.
Because once Obama abandons No Drama Post-Partisanship, he WILL be a great and transformative President. And TOGETHER we will turn this ship around and win this war.
On second thought, DON’T apologize, don’t bother, we have work to do.
Just….Lay down your internecine arms and join us. The reality based water is fine.
And TOGETHER we can apply the pressure we need to win.
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There was the no drama desire, there is no doubt about that. But I also see an ideal from the president be followed in this. He felt the system should work and the way to try to get that is to try to work the system the way it is designed. That means letting Congress write the bill. That means working to find common ground with the Republicans.
All of that is to the good from my point of view, what they failed in was the time they gave it. It is not a bad thing to let our conservative Dems weigh in, at least they are in our party. But they should have cut bait sooner than this, that is the major failing in this struggle.
make and scale back his expected take from the insurance companies. The Obama I want to succeed is the one that I voted for, but more important is that real healthcare reform succeed and that depends more on progressives in the house and senate like Weiner and Sanders than on the continued cult worship of celebrity presidents. Let Obama float back down to earth and realize that serving the country comes first before putting away his and Rahm’s retirement fund to collect in 2017! Let’s leave the presidential hero worship to the likes of John Meachem and Charlie Rose, we have real issues to deal with.
Chris Bowers???
Nice work! 😉
The Limbaugh Corporatist Republican Party only cares about PROFIT & POWER for their CORPORATE OVERLORDS!
If Obama & the Democratic House Majority & the Democratic 60 seat Majority in the Senate do not stand up for the PEOPLE – then the CORPORATIONS “WIN”!
The Health Care debate is VERY simple, which side are you on, THE PEOPLE or THE CORPORATIONS?!?!?!?
Obama has played the “bipartisan” game, hopefully NOW he knows that “bipartisanship” with the Party of Corporate interests will NEVER work!
So the Democrats should go back to square one & propose “SINGLE PAYER”, MEDICARE for ALL!!!!
The Limbaugh Corporatist Republican Party is a cancerous, suicidal, insane force in America – Republican input is as valid as the “slave owners” opinions in Lincoln’s time!!
CORPORATE EMPIRE MUST BE DEFEATED NOW!!!!!!!
Fucking right.
This should be at the top of the recc list at DailyHypocrite, but that place is still filled to the rafters with alleged progressives who never take a stand, who call themselves “realists” while they slap lipstick on the latest Democratic betrayal, parade that pig around as a shining example of sophisticated political strategy, and then oink in outrage if anyone calls that pig a pig.
I remember posting Impeachment Reality on Daily Kos during the Impeachment wars. Like Buhdy did in this essay, I said what needed to be said, it got a lot of reccs, but I was told by Meteor Blades that I shouldn’t have “trashed” so many people.
I didn’t trash anyone, they trashed themselves by opposing Impeachment. All I did was POINT THAT OUT.
Great essay, Buhdy, you said what needed to be said. Thank you.
And the Dems are in denial. The Repugs are living in blissful immunity as the media cheers them on.
This is truly sick.
in Orange over two years ago, much of it derived along the same thought lines.
Trying to be “reasonable” in dealing with these
congressmen and womenchildren is futile when they are constantly throwingup roadblocksa hissy fit.