I Stand With President Barack Obama 0 comments

I stand with President Barack Obama
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by jackstorange

Sat Dec 11, 2010 at 11:54:28 AM PST

President Obama may not be as liberal as many of you would like. Rest assured if he was, he would never have been elected President. While I admire the passion and ideals of Howard Dean, Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kucinich, I never voted for any of them and none of them would ever stand a chance of being elected President. No, I voted for Barack Hussein Obama and I am as proud today of that vote as I was the day I waited outside for hours in freezing temperatures to witnessed his inauguration.

jackstorange's diary :: ::
The problem as I see it is that many on the left are suffering from a few unrealistic expectations. First, expecting Obama to be someone that he never promised to be. Second, expecting change to happen overnight.

First, you called him a sell out when he sent more troops into Afghanistan even thought that's exactly what he promised he would do in the campaign. You called him a sell out when he didn't push harder for a public option, even though that phrase was never even mentioned during the campaign. Look, I'd like a President who would stand for legalizing gay marriage, but that's not who he is and he made no bones about that during the campaign either. I realize that he did talk about rolling back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy during the campaign. But, the Republicans have the votes to make sure that won't happen, a fact that many on this site would like to ignore.

Secondly, many of you apparently expected everything to change whole sale the day Obama was sworn into office. Progress doesn't work that way. The Emancipation Proclamation did not end prejudice and discrimination in this country, nor did the The Civil Rights Act. It's been a long slow struggle, but we continue to move in the right direction because progressives have always had the dedication and endurance to fight for incremental change.

Ironically, some pundits and liberals claim that Obama isn't a fighter. Meanwhile, they're ready to abandoned ship every time he doesn't advance an agenda that is 100% in line with their ideals. We couldn't get a Universal health care bill passed, but thanks in part to President Obama's leadership, we are closer to that goal than any other time in the history of this country. We may or not get DADT repealed, but this wouldn't have even been a discussion three years ago. We can find many other examples where we're moving in the right direction, even though you might be frustrated that we're not at the finish line yet.

President Obama is the best progressive leader we've had since Bill Clinton. If you believe in progressive ideals, be proud that you voted for him, recognize that change comes slowly but we are heading in the right direction. Be willing to support our President even when you don't agree with him 100%. If you don't like the way the country looks right now, how do you think it will look with a President Romney or President Palin and both housed controlled by Republicans, a distinct possibility if the base does't not rally around this president.

Thanks for the Rec list. Clearly a lot of folks disagree with me. But, I also know many share my POV. But, some how our voices are not featured as often. Maybe it comes down to the John Stewart philosophy that only the folks with the pitch forks yelling the loudest ever get through all the noise.

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