Summers and Syria. Good.

[cthulu2016]

And in both cases, the "wait until something happens before pitching a fit about it" approach is exposed as a recipe for poor outcomes in a democracy.

In a democracy, we have more options than "revolution" or "take it and like it." Our goverment is, ideally, somewhat responsive to a breadth of opinion.

If something is going to happen, depending primarily on how popular it is (as both Summers and Syrian strikes were), that is the time to pitch a fit. Not afterward.

The game is getting good results, not crippling the President with "yes man" syndrome. Nobody survives "yes men" for very long.

When sub-optimal, objectionable things are about to happen, or are even being seriously considered, pitch a fit.

A smart and reasonable leader will notice a well-pitched fit. Obama is not a visionary architect of the world of the future. (Which is not a knock! Visionary architects of the future are usually pretty scary maniacs.) He is a manager. That is his strongest suit. He is probably the best managerial president I've ever seen.

And feedback is central to successful management.

Dissidents deserve credit for dissenting, and Obama deserves credit for listening. He made the right call.

[LittleBlue]

1. Exactly

Superb thread. There is absolutely nothing wrong in making our wishes known to our government, and pressuring them to get an outcome we want. They are supposed to be working on our behalf, in theory at least.

[woo me with science]

2. K&R

[leveymg]

3. I'm always amazed when some people here tell us to just calm down, nothing has changed, or to"prove"

that such-and-such action that's about to break out into a full-scale shit storm is anything other than "conspiracy theory" and radical hysterics.

Thank you for pointing that out. Very good post.

[NuclearDem]

4. Precisely.

[ProSense]

5. "He is probably the best managerial president I've ever seen. "

You mean, he isn't a "clueless," "incompetent," "tone deaf," "in over his head" "warmonger" who is determined to destroy the country?

[libdem4life]

6. I'm encouraged that both issues were soundly and publicly trounced by We the People.

not to mention some others, but I agree with Obama the Manager thoughts. He gave ample time for public opinion...and Congress...to take his cues. He will get a lot of credit, as he should.

[cthulu2016]

7. He is cautious and reasonable, and to me those are excellent traits.

Pretty much the first things you want to know when voting someone control of our nuclear arsenal.