Compromising away our souls, piece by piece

[MadHound]

Well, the first cabinet members came out, the economic team, Summers, et. al. There were those of us on the left who were outraged at some of these picks, seeing them as a repudiation of values that we hold dear. Yet we were told to sit down, shut up. Obama is reaching across the aisle, we have to rise above partisanship, we have to compromise

Then there were the foreign affairs/national security picks, pro-war hawks all. Yet again, we went through the same cycle mentioned above, wash, rinse repeat, this time the anti-war community, again more compromise.

Hints about extension of the war, hints about going back on other promises, more compromise was the answer.

More compromise has been the answer to teachers who disagree with the Duncan pick, more compromise has been the answer to environmentalist concerned about the Salazar and Villsak pick. More compromise, more compromise, more compromise.

Now comes the inclusion of a bigoted homophobe in the inaugural ceremony, a slap in the face of those who are in the LGBT or simply care about human rights.

And again the Obama army has the same answer ready, you must be prepared to compromise, a post partisan world, a new kind of politics.

I'm sorry, but there comes a time when people can no longer compromise. There comes a point when compromise becomes caving, when compromise goes from being a gesture of friendship to a gesture of repudiation. I think that this time is quickly coming upon us. We have seen that the left is expendable to Obama, the anti-war movement is expendable to Obama, that gays, small farmers environmentalists and teachers are expendable to Obama.

Please, before you even start, please don't tell me that this picks are meaningless, that this people aren't indicative of Obama's thought process. Deep in your heart you know that as much as I do. After all, we all read the tea leaves and came to the same dismal conclusion when Bush picked his cabinets. We all know that the choice of cabinet has always been a good indicator of how an administration will govern. If you say otherwise, you're either fooling yourself or ignorant of basic political realities. Yet we're still supposed to compromise.

I'm sorry, but there comes a time when it's no longer possible to compromise. We've seen the left, the anti-war movement, environmentalist, the LGBT community, teachers, and small farmers being thrown under the bus with these picks, and in my opinion, enough is enough, no more compromise.

I am still willing to wait and see what Obama's policies are upon taking government. But I'm no longer willing to compromise. I have compromised all I can. At this point it is up to Obama to demonstrate that he is willing to reach out to me, that he is willing to compromise in order to accommodate my beliefs and desires. The ball is in his court. Let us see if he is willing to compromise. If not, well:shrug: There's always another game in town. If Obama isn't careful at this point, he may very well compromise himself right out of a job in 2012. We've all got to give a little to get a little, Obama, we've done our share of giving, it's time that you do yours.

[DJ13]

1. I really like Obama, but its looking like someone else is pulling his strings

At this point Im no longer sure ANYONE elected President is the person actually in charge anymore.

[MadHound]

4. Frankly in my opinion, it's back to the same ol', same ol' two party/same corporate master

System of government. Once again, as with Clinton, the Democratic president will be a friendlier face on the matter, will play good cop to Bushco's bad cop. But real change in this country, it ain't going to happen.

[dkf]

2. Hey I couldn't stand the Hillary as SOS thing either.

But what can ya do?

I certainly don't plan voting for Palin any time soon.

[MadHound]

6. Well, for one thing you can stop thinking in an either/or fashion

For another thing we can raise a holy ruckus to hold Obama accountable for his actions, hold his feet to the fire.

I don't plan on voting for Palin either, but I don't think that I can continue to support the two party/same corporate master system of government we've been going around and around on for the past fifty years or so.

[dkf]

9. Frankly, if he can save our economy that is all I can ask for.

Anything else would be gravy.

We are soooo screwed.

[MadHound]

15. That's one of the big things that worries me also,

And frankly, his economic team really doesn't inspire me at all, considering that they're re-runs from the glory years of Clinton de-regulation. They could very well pull our ass out of the fire in the short term, but at what long term cost. Clinton came in and had to deal with a recession, and while he pulled us out of it, it was at the expense of creating a series of bubble economies, deregulation across the board, and disaster capitalism at it's finest. I hope we don't see a repeat of that again, because we're still paying the price for it now.

[truedelphi]

57. His economic team has the same players who put this mess together

Geithner, Rubin Larry Summers, they should all be serving time.

Why reward people who set up the Ponzi schemes??

[yardwork]

68. Larry Summers - very very bad choice. Have you seen how Harvard's endowment is doing?

I kept my mouth shut about Obama's cabinet picks because I was all into this unity thing but now I'm speaking out.

[truedelphi]

75. What is weird to me is how many at DU will stand by and allow for the economic

Enslavement of 99.999% of all humanity, but when their RIGHTS as a homosexual are violated, this deafening frenzy echoes. It seems to me that our economic policies deserve the SAME intense scrutiny that the gay rights matters are now bringing about.

Our economic freedom is of consummate importance. Does it matter if you can marry your sweetheart if the baby you adopt a month after your martriage will be working in a sweatshop twelve years later?

[SwampG8r]

3. when they came for the progressives

they said sit down and shut up
when they came for the gays they said sit down and shut up
when they come for them we will all be sitting down and shutting up
and they will ask why we didnt say anything

[bbgrunt]

11. exactly.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

50. Meanwhile in Greece...

we see real courage and action against tyrannical government. We will never be free in this country until we rid ourselves of the vermin that wage war against other peoples in order to achieve financial gain. Aristocracy or just some lobbyists -- if their goal is to fatten themselves on the blood of humans and keep the masses subdued through fear or poverty -- it is time for action against such despots.

[Jim Sagle]

5. Fuckin' A!

:yourock:

[Renegade08]

7. Did Bill Clinton get this much hate during his transition?

Or was he able to avoid it because the internet hadn't yet turned into this non-stop political chatter-box that it's become?

[MadHound]

10. A combination of things, yes, the internet is a contributing factor,

But only in terms of speed, not content. Bill was indeed blasted for his cabinet picks, and justifiably so considering that his economic team turned out to be seriously pro-deregulation, and Clinton's administration reflected that. Likewise, environmentalists blasted his picks, again justifiably so, Clinton's environmental record was pretty damn bad, especially in his first term.

But after twelve years of Reagan Bush, everybody let down their guard, let it slide, gave Clinton grace coming into office. That was a mistake, because by the time the left woke up to what was going on, it was too late. I think that memory is motivating people to put Obama under extra scrutiny now.

[Renegade08]

21. I don't remember any liberal outcry over Bill's cabinet picks.

The outcry I do remember is when Bill did something stupid like insisting on appointing a woman as AG, and made a couple of ill fated picks that got kiboshed (Zoe Baird) before he settled on Janet Reno. But, the outcry didn't come from liberals.

[MadHound]

27. I remember Mother Jones doing a scathing critique at the time

As did some other left wing publications. But it simply didn't have the reach or impact it does now with the internet.

[Bluebear]

12. What a dismissive, disrespectful post.

[Renegade08]

23. Right back at you. A fly by insult post. Real classy.

[QC]

73. You are talking to the dead. n/t

[rvablue]

28. A little.....but one thing about Dems.....they've always been pros at the circling fire squad. n/t

[Neshanic]

8. Nice. Very well said.

[MadHound]

26. Thank you, I'm half asleep at the computer and was wondering if I was making sense

I'm about ready to head to bed now, thanks for the kind words:hi:

[Beacool]

13. Most of you here wanted Obama to be the nominee

and hated Hillary. Ditto on the other LW blogs like KOS and Huff. Well, you got him. Enjoy.......

:shrug:

[MadBadger]

17. You never miss a party.

[Beacool]

22. Ditto, my friend, ditto..........

;)

[qwlauren35]

19. Was it really "Most"?

I do wonder, do you think Hillary's picks would have been drastically different - given that everyone says that Obama's picks are Clintonites?

I admit that I wanted the primaries to be over, and I got caught up in some of the rumors about who said what. But I would have been happy with either candidate.

On what issues would Hillary have been more progressive?

[Beacool]

25. I'm a moderate, I would expect Hillary to pick moderates,

but too many here railed for months against hillary and her "corporatist" ways only to end up with a cabinet pretty similar to what Hillary would probably have chosen. Its a delicious irony........

:D

[MadHound]

20. Wanted him? No. Forced once again into picking the lesser of two evils? Yes

I wanted Kucinich, but he was dismissed both by his party and the media, even though he's been right on the issues right on down the line. I didn't want Hillary, because I didn't want a repeat of the Clinton years. Therefore I threw in with Obama. However like many others in my position, I had little illusion about Obama's position, though I did hold out some hope.

In the end I voted for Obama in the general mainly because the alternative truly scared me. If McCain had picked somebody other than Palin, I could have very well gone Green this year. But Palin scared the shit out of me, so to prevent that I voted for Obama. And yes, I could very well wind up regretting that, we'll see:shrug:

However that doesn't mean that I have to refrain from criticism.

[Beacool]

30. I wanted Hillary because she was IMO prepared to do the job.

I liked that Hillary would fight to her last breath for what she thought was right for the nation. You may disagree with her on some issues, but she would not back down. I always saw Obama as someone who didn't like to make waves in either senate and never bucked the system. Like her or not, Hillary has more guts than most people I know, including her husband.

[FrenchieCat]

33. wow.....

let it be known.

You are still back in February.
Who knew?

[Beacool]

41. No, I just never looked at Obama with dewey eyes.

Therefore, I'm not disappointed since I never had any expectations about him to begin with..........

:shrug:

[Name removed]

45. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Beacool]

48. Just as baseless and offensive

as if I said that too many of you had your kneepads on for Obama.

:-(

[MadHound]

34. I'm really not here to re-fight the primary wars

I wasn't in favor of Hillary because I really couldn't bear the thought of another corporatist Clinton administration. Obama was the only other Democratic alternative at the time:shrug:

[Beacool]

44. I'm not fighting the primaries.

I'm just stating my feelings about Obama and why I preferred Hillary.

[thoughtcrime1984]

35. BWAHAAHHAHA!!! We suckered the WORLD into thinking Obamacon could do the job!!!1111!@!!11!

Ewe were right all along!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Beacool]

46. It's still a free country.

Some of you preferred Obama and just as many of us preferred Hillary.

:shrug:

[thoughtcrime1984]

51. Who will be President? Do you care?

I stand with POTUS Obama, VPOTUS Biden, SoS Clinton, and all of our leaders that endeavor to help lead this country forward. Are you past the damned primaries yet???

[Beacool]

52. I'll withhold judgment until he's actually in office and does the job.

Who knows? I may be pleasantly surprised.

;-)

[rvablue]

31. OMFG!!!???? Now Obama is the "lesser of two evils"???

Get a clue.

Dennis Kucinich is never going to be the head of anything.

And it is not because of the lame ass bullshit than can occur in American politics sometimes.....it is because Kucinich is, well, and idiot.

[MadHound]

36. Yeah, right, an idiot that's been right on every issue right down the line

Iraq war, Patriot Act I and II, the bailout, do I really need to go on here? Sorry, but both Hillary and Bill are terminally corporately compromised candidates.

[rvablue]

53. I didn't say anything about Bill or Hill...........the post was about Obama and Kucinich. n/t

[MadHound]

58. The same holds true for Obama

Whereas Kucinich voted against the FISA bill, against the bailout, Obama voted for them. And somehow, I seriously doubt that Kucinich, a man who is for same sex marriage, would have tapped Warren for the invocation spot.

[rvablue]

65. Maybe he would've asked Shirley McClain, instead?

:shrug:

[JAbuchan08]

66. You should really shut your f*ing mouth

Kucinich has been right about every issue - completely trounced Hillary AND Obama in the sense of being right on the issues, but the snark in you can't help but narrow it down to Shirley McClain.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

42. and idiot?

Really? Since when is anybody "and idiot"? Excepting yourself, of course.

[rvablue]

55. I can add one to YOUR LIST.....why don't you check post #20="Obama is the lesser of two evils."

[lapfog_1]

37. Hillary would be no better as POTUS.

And she is, after all, the designated SecState. One of the very picks that first irritated me.

Now one of many.

[Beacool]

49. Well, that's a matter of opinion.

For the record, I didn't want her to leave the senate to be in his cabinet. Se had far more independence as a senator and her own power base.

[dionysus]

59. someone's still bitter hillary lost.... banky required

[Beacool]

71. Hmmm, the banky is cute.

You, not so much.........

:eyes:

[Jennicut]

70. I never hated Hillary, I thought her "shame on you Barack Obama" line was ridiculous

but I never hated her. And during the debates there was not huge differences between them so it was all about personality and Hillz just didn't come of as good.

[Beacool]

72. To me Obama always came off as being way too slick.

He reminded me of some guys in college, they had game and were smooth with words but you knew that they would screw you and leave you if you fell for them. I preferred feisty Hillary who was not afraid to take a risk and was a fighter. The constant meme of change, change, change, turned me off since it all sounded like empty platitudes. But, he'll now be the president and I will withhold judgment until he's actually in office and does the job.

;-)

[bbgrunt]

14. k n r

[qwlauren35]

16. What Do You Plan To Do Between Now and 2012?

I don't see myself as compromising. I'm just accepting, rather passively, because I don't feel like I can do anything major. Kinda like how I felt with Bush, just sooner.

Will you really just "wait and see"? Or in parallel, put your energies toward things you think you can impact (or know you can impact?)

[MadHound]

24. Same things I've been doing under Bush, putting my energies into things I know I can impact

And even tilting at some windmills I know I can't conquer. I'm willing to wait and see right now because Obama isn't in office, but if he does get in there and fulfills my worst suspicions, well, then it's back to organizing for 2012, just in a different venue.

[lapfog_1]

38. Convince Russ Feingold to run against Obama in a primary? - n/t

[boppers]

18. How does one murder and burn half a jew? Half a gay?

His formula of triangulation/compromise seems to have run into some issues.

[Sebastian Doyle]

43. I don't know if I want to answer this question, but theoretically.....

Let's say you had a bisexual person with one Jewish parent. Wouldn't that be "half a jew" and "half a gay"?

Whatever you meant by that? :shrug:

[boppers]

54. Okay, bonus points for literalism, with deductions for same.

The point was that some positions are non-negotiable.

[babylonsister]

29. Let's vote us out now! Damn, we suck!

If you have an idea to make it better, I'm all ears. If you don't, you're another ass carrot.
Trash, trash, trash, no vision! What's your 'vision'?

Obama SUCKS, so who do you like, or do you just like complaining? If you are so disturbed, what will you do to rectify it?

www.change.gov is a start, until that is also badmouthed. Go for it=you're on a roll.

[FrenchieCat]

32. and we are souless.......and so is Obama.

Like Blago said....he's a motherf*cker.

Ps. This particular poster never liked Obama to begin with....so this rant is not a stretch. Might have been previously written, and beefed up due to today.

[MadHound]

39. Nice to see I have a stalker keeping track of my posts around here

But apparently you need to either get your eyes or memory checked, since I supported Obama in the primary(yes, after Kucinich dropped out), and went out and worked for him in the general. What did you do? Oh, yeah, sat around being a keyboard commando:eyes:

[MadHound]

40. Here's an idea for you

Publicly financed election campaigns, from dog catcher to president. We're not going to get the corrosive effect of corporate money out of our government until it is out of elections, and the effect of that corporate money is killing our country. I'm actually working to once again introduce a ballot initiative on that issue in my state again. What the fuck are you doing besides being a cheerleader behind a keyboard.

Until we get corporate money out of our government, all our politicians will continue to put corporations ahead of people. Do you understand that? Get off your own ass and do something constructive.

[TeamJordan23]

47. Days like today, I think Obama would have voted for the Iraq War (along with Clinton, Biden). nm

[Beacool]

67. I don't doubt that he would too, just as he told Russert

in 2004 when he said that he didn't know how he would have voted had he been in the US senate at the time. He later conveniently changed his tune while campaigning for the presidency and took it back by saying that he was just being supportive of Kerry. To me Obama has always been an appeaser.

[quakerboy]

56. So then

What do we do? If Obama turns out as poorly as anyone fears, what then? If He does not listen to those of us who worked to Elect him, what then? If he is a centrist, what then?

The facts really do put us in an either or. There is not another "game in town". How many Greens are there in the Senate? How many communists in the House? How many Independent Governors are there?

Which True Progressive Avatar, independent of the Democratic Party, do you see having a credible shot in 2012?

I don't see any. And that being so, I see our choices being, in the gloomy potentials you point to, Bad or Very Bad Worse. In historical terms, Bush or Clinton. There is a difference.


I am not so hopeless. I want to see actions. I contributed my action to make this happen. Now I expect to see it returned. I have written my letter to Change.gov, asking, pleading that Warren be removed from the Inauguration. But in the end, I want to see Obama's policy in action before I sit in judgement. The next presidential election is 4 years away. I can give him a few months in office before I decide not to reelect him.

[dionysus]

60. hasn't even been sworn in yet and you're crying like a baby. what a fucking joke.

are you expecting kucinich to fly up on his magic unicorn and save us all from the evil, evil obama?
:eyes:

[MadHound]

61. No, what I'm expecting is some sort of outstretched hand from Obama

Some sign that he's willing to compromise with those on the left as much as he's compromised with those on the right. Except we're not seeing that, all we're seeing is Obama swinging to the center, center right, and surrounding himself with centerists, corporatists and DLC types.

And frankly the joke is on you. Your dismissive, insulting tone will change if Obama doesn't change and we watch the spectacle of the left abandoning Obama in '12. Remember, this is a big tent party, and part of keeping that big a coalition together is careful feeding and watering of all the constituencies under that tent. When one group doesn't feel like they're getting their needs addressed, they leave. This happened in a big way with centerists, so called Reagan Democrats back in the eighties. It happened to a smaller extent in '00 with Nader and the Greens. And frankly, if Obama continues on this course, it will happen again in '12.

Oh, and what you call "crying like a baby", most people call politics as usual. Just goes to show how out of touch you are.

[Arkansas Granny]

62. There is no way that Obama or any other person could have lived up to

the expectations of some on this board. In their eyes, Obama was above reproach and they expected his policies would conform to their ideas of what constitutes good government. They could see no fault in him and would listen to no criticism. Now they are disappointed and outraged that he is not the perfect President that they constructed in their imaginations.

This is real life. Not everyone gets everything they desire and even when you do, it doesn't come immediately. If you want to get anything accomplished, you have to make some compromises. I have not agreed with all of his choices and I don't expect to agree with all of his decisions, but I trust that, in the end, Obama will have assembled a cabinet and administration that he can work with to take care of the business at hand. I will at least wait until he takes office and makes some actual policy decisions before I call for him to be replaced in 2012.

[MadHound]

63. That's quite possibly true,

However the vast majority of people on this board weren't wanting every single thing their way, but were indeed expecting some sort of bone thrown our way. Instead, we're seeing all the juicy bones going to the center, center right, corporatist, DLC wings of the party, with nothing left over for the left except crumbs, oh, and a gratuitous slap at the LGBT community.

That's not only insulting to a large group of voters who went to the mat for Obama, but it's making Obama's chances for reelection all that much more difficult. If the left is excluded again, along with the LGBT community, well, they will either go elsewhere or stay at home. That's realpolitik, that's how the game is played. In a big tent party you have to dole out to all of the different constituencies under the tent, not just a few select ones.

[polichick]

64. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything...

imo Obama's willingness to play politics with critical Democratic values is disturbing.

[lostnotforgotten]

69. Look At The New Boss - Same As the Old Boss - Rest In Peace MLK

eom

[Splinter Cell]

74. Right

So Barack Obama has to build his entire administration around you? Or he may "be out of a job"? If he lurched as hard to the left as some around here want, he would be out of a job, but he's actually going to govern in a manner in which something may get done.

You have a choice. You can support people that you agree with on every issue 100%, and lose. In which the rethuglicans win and you'll be happy about NOTHING. OR you can support people that you may agree with 75% of the time that can actually be elected.

Life IS compromise. The world is not Burger King. You can't always have everything your way, but you can make a hell of a lot of progress if you're willing to work with people who don't think just like you on every topic.