Reply #19: And what do you think it is when [View All]

[Occulus]

people who are not happy with Obama's performance as President hear Obama supporters smugly assert, "where ya gonna go?"

Is that not the work of the GOP, too? Or is it only okay when his supporters do it?

I have all the reason I need not to vote for Obama a second time: he's a bigot. He thinks my ability to get married should be left up to the state I'm living in, the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution be damned (he is a Constitutional scholar, right?).

I will not vote for anyone who expresses that sentiment. I doubly will not for someone who should damned good and well know better; that idea was wrong yesterday and it's wrong today!

Let me tell you something: Barack Obama has done more to drive former supporters away from Barack Obama than anyone else, be they Democrat, Republican, Tea Partier, bloody fucking lunatic, or Michelle Palin (sorry, didn't mean to repeat myself there at the end). The one thing Independents (whom we hear, again and again on DU, are the 'coveted middle' politicians who want to be elected MUST grab) like to see, more than anything else- and I know this because I personally know quite a few who are either Indie or are completely disinterested in politics as a whole- is an exposed and obvious spine, and that's the one thing Obama has not shown them.

Strength. Obama lacks it. Badly. People want a leader, not a weathervane. He who grabs the brass ring gets the prize, and Obama isn't even reaching for it (I cynically expect this to change now that the 2012 campaign is gearing up). Thus far, Obama's Presidency has been like to an Imperial dynasty known for paving roads. We need more than that, and we need it now, not in the next term.

I wanted this President to succeed. I truly did. But quite literally within the first five minutes of his administration, he slapped every GLBTStarStarStar who supported his campaign directly in the face. I knew, right then, pretty much instantly, that Obama would disappoint, and the only question was to degree. How did I know? Because many of us GLBTs are hyperfuckingsensitive to the attitudes of anyone who 'doesn't like fags' or 'hates fags' or 'wants to kill fags' (our lives sometimes depend on that), and we know, through experience, that people who feel that way toward us aren't often the most enlightened of specimens in other areas.

We were shouted down, loudly and publicly. "PONY!" people cried. "POUTRAGE! PRESIDENT PALIN!" And then Obama caved to Republicans on this, and that, and the other thing, and all of a sudden, more and more people started getting angry. This isn't the result of whining, or poutrage, or people working against Obama- this is the result of Obama working against Obama, and he damned well better shape his ass up, or he's going to be in trouble during the election.

I don't have any doubt he'll win, which is why I feel safe in withholding my vote for President for the first time in my life. Maybe I'm totally wrong and he'll sail right on through the campaign to the greatest landslide win we've seen since Carter/Reagan. Maybe he'll be trounced by a wave of discontent he didn't see coming; the 2012 election is still quite some time off. I really do wish the man the best, but he'll have to attain his goal without me, because he gave up on me years ago and I really don't expect much from another four years with him at the helm. I gave him all the chance I could until about a month or so ago, but he just didn't deliver.

That's not the fault of anyone on DU. The blame for that lies squarely with Barack Obama.