So about this “fighting back” thing

[Cyrano]

It seems evident that President Obama has decided that “fighting back” is not part of his political strategy, or overall plan. And it makes me wonder if “fighting back” is even a part of his vocabulary, or philosophy.

“We The People of the United States,” have been mugged, mauled, robbed, impoverished, abused beyond belief, and have had far too many of our constitutional rights stolen from us since the beginning of this decade.

President Obama did not initiate this abomination. He did not decimate our lives, or our concepts of what we believed our country to be. But he sure as hell hasn’t done all that much to turn it around. And in many cases, whether intentionally or not, his decisions and actions have abetted it.

I know there are many here on DU, and many others, who disagree with my opinions. It has taken me until fairly recently to admit to myself that he is not acting in our best interests.

I’ve said before that this is a man in which I once saw greatness. It seems I was mistaken.

[DainBramaged]

1. You are not alone, in spite of those who would silence us

:hurts:

[Vincardog]

3. +1

[obxhead]

6. +2

[NNN0LHI]

11. Who is trying to silence you?

[TheWraith]

18. Apparently as long as there is ANYONE left on DU who doesn't want to destroy Obama...

...then they're being oppressed and people are conspiring to silence them.

Nevermind the fact that the most idiotic, fact-free anti-Obama hysteria gets recs by the dozens, while factual debunkings of the lies and smears get unrecced into the ground.

[Capn Sunshine]

23. It's the new tone at DU

Funny how similar the anti-Obama types are to the extremists on the Right.
No, it's not, come to think of it.

People that have a problem with the OP are attacked at every turn now.

[DainBramaged]

24. As if those who question his direction weren't attacked and MANY tombstoned?

You're being so kind to the wrong side.....



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9681500&mesg_id=9681500

I called Melody Barnes an asshole and my thread was locked even though she was being condescending to Progressives.

[jefferson_dem]

14. Trying to silence you?

Booo!

[DainBramaged]

25. Perfect example

My upside down D avatar was deemed too controversial so I was asked to remove it because of the complaints from the defenders of free speech here.

[bigtree]

2. what you seem to want is flailing about or shadow boxing for public consumption

The real 'fighting' goes on behind the scenes as lawmakers work to reconcile their differences.

[Angry Dragon]

4. Then he must not fight very well in back rooms

[Warren Stupidity]

5. There is no freaking reconciliation, only one-sided concessions.

The 'behind the scenes' lawmaker 'work'? Seriously?

[bigtree]

12. you act as if Democrats are the only ones who would concede in a negotiation

. . . yet we argue everyday that republicans don't actually want or support any of the things the President is fighting to preserve. It's a curious argument. Do you believe republicans really want middle-class tax cuts? Do you believe they wan any of the tax incentives and breaks that originated with the President to prevail? If there is a compromise there will be plenty the republicans said they oppose that will prevail. Are they 'caving' in that case, or is that euphemism just reserved for our Democratic president?

[Warren Stupidity]

19. you aren't really making sense.

The republican position has been clear: the rich get theirs or nobody gets anything. They will stick to that, and we will concede and give them their position.

[bigtree]

30. that's just rhetoric

. . . 'nobody gets anything'? You can't have an honest debate with that as a premise. We will get an extension of our middle class tax breaks, an extension of unemployment benefits and a few other items. Republicans will not get the permanent extension of the breaks they support.

If republican votes are needed, you can be certain that there's something favoring the rich. It's been that way for years and years. That's never been a reason not to compromise before; just now with liberals drawing an unworkable line in the sand. If you don't want the middle-class tax breaks to continue, just say so. If you want them to continue, Democrats will have to make a deal. At any rate, the majority of Democrats in the Senate don't have any intention of letting the middle-class portion of the tax cuts expire. They're going to make or accept some sort of deal. All of the scorn heaped on the President assumes that there was going to be some other course set by the Senate, They had their votes on the middle-class tax cut and lost. Now they'll deal. You may well not like that, but they don't intend to let the middle-class tax cuts expire and republicans aren't going to allow them to continue without the other cuts continuing in some form. All of the 'fighting', stamping of feet, name-calling of the President, etc. isn't going to change that.

[Warren Stupidity]

31. "Republicans will not get the permanent extension of the breaks they support. "

seriously? That is what you view as an acceptable compromise?

[asdjrocky]

9. If that's the case, he's getting his ass kicked behind the scenes

and in front of everyone.

[treestar]

21. Exactly, it's like people want dramatics and entertainment

[FirstLight]

7. The people have been abused for a long time

there is a collective 'battered housewife' feel to it.

I don;t know about you but I was honestly horrified to watch the Bush trainwreck over the past 8 years+
Obama came along and he was our knight in shining armour, Finally! we would see justice, and someone who wasn't afraid to fight for the reality we wanted!
Finally! we would have justice, we would see the undoing of the constitution put aright, we would see the end of cronyism and war for profit, we would stop the backslide of the average middle class family, we would be able to build our lives again.

and now,there are plenty of things one can list that Obama has 'done' but this wasn;t supposed to be about the amount of administrative actions you can take, this was supposed to be about something bigger, something important.
So it's like the flowery language of the knight was just what was needed to get where he wanted to go
and now we have a guy who is going through the motions, but the passion is gone and we question whether it was ever there to begin with?
oh shit, did we really drink the koolaid?

i don't know, but i keep waiting like that neglected wife, hoping he will bring me flowers out of the blue and find his way back to the ideals he held true... dammitt, I want that!

it can also bee seen as a 'jesus complex' of sorts... I want a man to be perfect and idealistic and brave and heroic, and when he turns out to be just a man, I can't handle it...does this make any sense?

[jefferson_dem]

8. Meh...

Don't buy into the misguided rage and hysteria. He's doing fine...and is absolutely acting in our best interest.

You know ... this is not a dictatorship, right? Congress passes the laws. The Repugs have 42 Senators. They can effectively stall EVERYTHING with only 41. Still, Obama has presided over the most impressive list of *progressive* policy accomplishments in a generation. It's unfortunate that it's now become fashionable in certain SMALL circles to pretend that none of that matters.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. Despite the catchy slogans, Obama is just another professional politics-as-usual politician.

And, not even a very good one.

[bigtree]

13. I'm to be forgiven

. . . if I'm not shocked by that. A politician practicing politics . . . who knew?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

15. Kinda like car-jackers jacking cars. Tho' the carjackers wouldn't tell you that it's good for you.

"When politics enter . . . government, nothing resulting there from in the way of crimes and infamies is then incredible. It actually enables one to accept and believe the impossible." Mark Twain

[bigtree]

16. carjackers? Really?

sigh.

[struggle4progress]

17. Stop expecting change from the top-down. If we want somebody to fight back,

then we ourselves have to provide most of that fight. Through hard work, we can create political conditions that give our more highly-placed political allies more maneuvering room; absent any real organized effort from below, we'll lose. It's that simple

[treestar]

20. What does "fighting back" mean?

No President is going to act like a sixth grader on the playground.

It's not a fight by nature, it's a consensus. That's the way our system is set up.

It's so ridiculous. What would you have a President do? Just criticize people in high places, while nothing gets passed?

This back seat driving is ridiculous. A President who did what you want would get nowhere.

[Cyrano]

26. As used in my OP, "fighting back" means standing for your principles.

Referring to concept in your second sentence, nothing will get passed while the other guys keep saying "no" to anything and everything.

Referring to the meaning of your third sentence, this President has caved in, not only on anything and everything, but on things that weren't even on the table yet. And as a result, he not only has gotten nowhere, he's allied himself with our enemies.

I say "our" enemies, because the GOP don't seem to be his enemies. He has consistently given them everything they want, wished for, prayed for, and dreamed about in their wildest fantasies.

In the meantime, all we've gotten is screwed beyond belief.

[Recursion]

29. His concessions have been to Democrats to keep the caucus together

Take health care reform. He did not concede to a single GOP issue. Republicans wanted medical savings accounts; didn't happen. Republicans wanted tort reform; didn't happen. Republicans wanted pricing transparency; didn't happen. What he did do was concede to blue dogs (and arithmetic) that we couldn't keep the bill deficit-neutral with an public option (unless its premiums were so high that it would be pointless). He did that so that Democrats would vote for it; he didn't even address any of the Republicans' concerns.

[Individualist]

22. He didn't initiate this abomination, but he has continued it.

[Cyrano]

27. Yes. And I don't have a clue as to whether or not he is aware of this.

But given the right wing things this man has caved into while in office, I really don't know if he is pursuing these policies intentionally. And if not, I find the alternative terrifying.

[Laelth]

28. I admire your honesty, and I appreciate your ability to learn. n/t

-Laelth