Fuck You, President Obama
2010-12-08 08:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darkladynyaraBarack Obama does not deserve a second term as president. As far as I'm concerned, that's no longer up for debate. He doesn't even deserve a second chance to run, and if the DNC doesn't want to lose everything next election, they'll nominate someone else.
Now, I know what you're thinking- "Well, you can't expect Obama to fix all the damage done by eight years of Bush in just two years." and I agree with this. I've said it before. Loudly.
So let me explain where I'm coming from. If Obama had said "Look. I understand why you are upset. I've made mistakes, I'm not perfect, but I'm trying," I'd have sympathy. I'm not mad because Obama didn't carry out all of his campaign promises. I'm furious that he didn't even try. And I'm even more furious with the blatant contempt that this man has for his base. When the people who fund-raised/campaigned/voted for him ask "Hey? What's up with this?" he responds by treating us like ungrateful children. When someone tells you that your base has vanished due to your actions, the proper response, Sir, is NOT (and I quote) "Well, they must not have read the details." It's not that I think compromise is OMG EVIL!!! It can, in fact, be a vital tool in politics. But compromise only works if both sides give up something. In the fight over Health Care, Obama took the public option (That he fucking campaigned on) off the table at the start. And gave the insurance companies a captive customer pool with the mandate. And the Republicans still voted against it. That's not a compromise. That's a sign that you need to utterly ignore these people and actually get shit done.
And it's not that he caved on Health care. It's that he caved on that, and accountability for war crimes, and closing Gitmo, and financial reform, and the tax cut extension, and dozens of other things. I'd say he caved on gay rights, but I'm pretty sure he never intended to support that to begin with. (That's a whole other rant in and of itself. Fierce advocate, my ass.) And then acted like a pissy teenager when people complained. "You don't understand what I'm going through." "No one appreciates me!" And so-forth and so-on. Yes. Obama has done some good. So he isn't John McCain. Great. Give the man a fucking cookie. He isn't a complete waste of oxygen. But that doesn't come close to excusing what he hasn't done. More to the point, it doesn't excuse what he has done. (Defending DOMA- in incredibly homophobic terms, defending DADT when a judge in Riverside issued an injunction against it, okaying Predator drone strikes (an estimated one-third of those killed have been civilians), okaying the assassination of a US citizen...yeah.)
And after all of that he has the audacity to attack his own supporters for protesting? The man finally shows some backbone, and goes after- not his political opponents, not the people who have made it their sole mission to bring him down, but his own base? And we're supposed to accept this, because he isn't as bad as Bush or McCain? Fuck that shit.
Now, I know what you're thinking- "Well, you can't expect Obama to fix all the damage done by eight years of Bush in just two years." and I agree with this. I've said it before. Loudly.
So let me explain where I'm coming from. If Obama had said "Look. I understand why you are upset. I've made mistakes, I'm not perfect, but I'm trying," I'd have sympathy. I'm not mad because Obama didn't carry out all of his campaign promises. I'm furious that he didn't even try. And I'm even more furious with the blatant contempt that this man has for his base. When the people who fund-raised/campaigned/voted for him ask "Hey? What's up with this?" he responds by treating us like ungrateful children. When someone tells you that your base has vanished due to your actions, the proper response, Sir, is NOT (and I quote) "Well, they must not have read the details." It's not that I think compromise is OMG EVIL!!! It can, in fact, be a vital tool in politics. But compromise only works if both sides give up something. In the fight over Health Care, Obama took the public option (That he fucking campaigned on) off the table at the start. And gave the insurance companies a captive customer pool with the mandate. And the Republicans still voted against it. That's not a compromise. That's a sign that you need to utterly ignore these people and actually get shit done.
And it's not that he caved on Health care. It's that he caved on that, and accountability for war crimes, and closing Gitmo, and financial reform, and the tax cut extension, and dozens of other things. I'd say he caved on gay rights, but I'm pretty sure he never intended to support that to begin with. (That's a whole other rant in and of itself. Fierce advocate, my ass.) And then acted like a pissy teenager when people complained. "You don't understand what I'm going through." "No one appreciates me!" And so-forth and so-on. Yes. Obama has done some good. So he isn't John McCain. Great. Give the man a fucking cookie. He isn't a complete waste of oxygen. But that doesn't come close to excusing what he hasn't done. More to the point, it doesn't excuse what he has done. (Defending DOMA- in incredibly homophobic terms, defending DADT when a judge in Riverside issued an injunction against it, okaying Predator drone strikes (an estimated one-third of those killed have been civilians), okaying the assassination of a US citizen...yeah.)
And after all of that he has the audacity to attack his own supporters for protesting? The man finally shows some backbone, and goes after- not his political opponents, not the people who have made it their sole mission to bring him down, but his own base? And we're supposed to accept this, because he isn't as bad as Bush or McCain? Fuck that shit.
