I’ve been pretty critical of Barack Obama for some time now.
I feel qualified. I was a huge Obama supporter in 2008. I had such high hopes. And I’ve been devastated – not just saddened, but thrown into a major spiral of depression – time and time again by the GOP-friendly decisions he’s made since taking office.
I’ve written about his specific betrayals and capitulations before. I don’t need to beat a dead...er, donkey.
My most recent tirade was in response to his caving on the debt ceiling negotiations. I ripped him a proverbial new one over giving the GOP “98 percent of what it wanted,” according to the repulsive Weeper of the House. No tax increases. No closed loopholes. No ending subsidies for Big Oil, which is enjoying record profits. No new revenue whatsoever. Only massive cuts – including to Social Security and Medicare – and punting to a “Super Congress” of six which some believe will make the grins on Eric Cantor’s and Grover Norquist’s faces even wider.
And f*ck the poor, the needy, the middle class.
Some of my recent Facebook status updates have generated intense rebuttals from Obama loyalists:
- Time and time again, he's chosen the GOP position on issues large and small and then pretended he had no choice when he did. Unfriend me if you like, but my mind's open and the evidence points where it points.
- "If I ever get a divorce I want Barack Obama to be my ex-wife's lawyer in the settlement so I'll get everything." ~ John Fugelsang
- It's not compromise when one side gets everything and the other gets nothing, people.
One Obama worshipper in particular is quite unhappy (although, strangely, he hasn’t unfriended me yet) and chastises me mercilessly for aiding the enemy. Another keeps reminding me how much smarter Obama is than I really know, and thinks it’s just a matter of time before the president’s true wisdom will be revealed and his Super Duper Master Plan will kick into gear.
Another Obama defender even went so far as to accuse me of racism. It’s as ignorant to label me racist as it is to label Dubya a war hero. And it’s utterly ridiculous to assert that the president deserves a free pass because of the color of his skin. I’m pretty sure Rosa Parks didn’t refuse to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus so that 56 years later, a black politician could make whatever decisions he wanted to without question. I don’t think those who marched for civil rights and fought segregation in the 1960s were trying to earn future presidents of color immunity and blind allegiance. Yes, racism is, regrettably, alive and well in this country. This doesn’t mean everyone who disagrees with a politician who happens to be African-American secretly burns crosses and wears white sheets.
When I’m attacked for challenging the
I think I’m doing my job.
It wasn’t until I received, surprisingly, a private message from someone I respect a great deal – not that I don’t respect the others who’ve objected to my objections – that I considered toning down my criticism of the POTUS. I don’t want to help the Dark Side in its efforts to divide and conquer Obama’s base. I don’t want anyone to think my anti-Obama missives are indications that I don’t intend to vote for the guy next year. As I said in a subsequent status update, I’m disillusioned, not stupid.
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| An expert on fools |
But as Benjamin Franklin once said, “Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.”
I’m nobody’s fool.
Bottom line is this......we don't give him a Democrat controlled House an Senate next year, nothing gets done for the people and he goes down as the most do nothing POTUS the country has ever had, AND the GOP has incredible weaponry against the Dems for the next 20 years. If we don't vote smart next year, we might as well figure on losing the vote totally to GOP dominance.
ReplyDeleteOverall, you know how I feel. Yes, there are intricacies in the debt deal bill, (a bill I might add, that Obama is very unhappy with), that persons much smarter than me have called clever, smart, etc. Also, just to stick to facts, this bill does not touch Social security and only reduces funds to medicare providers/not recipients, (something Dems have been for), up to at most 2%. I have been in turmoil, like you, and extremely frustrated. The debt deal demonstrated something to me clearly. He had very little recourse, we are lucky that he is as smart as he is so he could negotiate the exemptions in the bill, and certain other provisions that at least put us in better stead for when the committee meets. Beyond that; he did not have recourse to invoking the 14th as so many claim, as it would eventually wind up with the Supreme Court and the Insidious 5 would have ruled against Obama no matter what the legal precedent and arguments would seem to indicate. To have just called the Republican's bluff, would have been the ultimate in irresponsibility and devastated an already dismal world economy. I insist that we educate ourselves to the facts, the little details you never hear anywhere on TV.
ReplyDeleteAnd I do hope you were not referring to me regarding the racism charge. I never thought any such thing. I stated that the small , approximately 23%, of the population that are vehemently racist are in control of the Tea Party, who seem to have their hands on the rudder of the Republican Party, will do anything, go to any extreme, to get a Black man out of the White House. This in no way implied that I thought you were aligned with these nut jobs. I really want you to understand that. Our president does deserve criticism; I can find many times where he simply credits the other side with a presupposition of reason and rationality that does not exist. Mostly, I believe that unless we work as hard as we ever have to get him a filibuster proof Senate and a full house , we are going to see very little or no progress towards justice, a viable economy and middle class and a country we can be proud of. Overall, I genuinely believe if we look closely, at the details, and see the reality of the situations he has faced we will be amazed at how dexterous and smartly he has performed.
As you are more than likely aware, this is Mary Clark. I cannot get the profile selector to accept my FB URL.
Please keep up your honest criticism. Our government is owned, bought and sold to the highest bidder. Putting a black face on it does not change that. You are right. Keep up the criticism and the pressure or we won;t even get that 1%. Furthermore, I have concluded that the concentrated power in this country is behind Obama because he will bring the vote of people of color which is needed to win. THey throw us a bone or some splinters and Obama gets them what they want. And I am black and I ain;t color blind. They are using Obama;s race to manipulate black people and he is letting them probably so he can throw us the bone. I am not voting for Obama or either of those clowns representing the major parties. I f we don;t stop letting ourselves be taken for granted we will continue to be taken for granted. Obama is handsome but I am tired of being screwed.
ReplyDelete