Today I'm angry at Obama because ...

[struggle4progress]

[Adelante]

1. I liked the cream pie one nt

[phantom power]

2. I'm still pretty pissed that he hasn't fired Geithner.

[struggle4progress]

25. Me too, actually

[Sebastian Doyle]

3. Well, now that you mention it....

The idea of alligator infested reeducation camps for Freepers really does sound like a great idea. :evilgrin:

[struggle4progress]

36. Maybe they're having trouble getting the alligators

:shrug:

[merh]

4. He isn't perfect

or as your poll provides "he's not exactly mustard's gift to a grilled cheese sandwich".

[Pirate Smile]

5. He mentioned his Christianity in a speech to a Catholic School - that pisses some people off here.

[damonm]

6. Other - I WANT MY DAMN UNICORN!

:spray:

[Perky]

8. and your 40 acres?

[damonm]

15. Nope,

With unicorns, we get 100 - they need more space...

[Perky]

7. Other....It the nature of liberal to be oppositional in spite of ourselves

We would rather have an argument than govern.

[redqueen]

10. Or even fight back!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8410017&mesg_id=8410224

[LaPera]

9. He won't consider single payer Universal Health Care for ALL - The insurance corporations will

be in total control and continue to throw sick people off their outrageously high paid policies because it's hurts the insurance companies profits....

Health care for profit will continue and we are fucked...it's our workers tax dollars the corporations want (and have been stealing _ bailout, wars, subsidies) they certainly don't want our tax dollars to go back to the people in the form of single payer health care for ALL....Nor apparently does Obama!

[Cha]

11. Well, I just home from work

and even though I'm in a good mood your "poll" makes it even better:D

I was talking to a friend at work about Pres Obama's Commencement Speech, yesterday, at Notre Dame(she saw parts of it and loved it). She hadn't heard one of the good parts about the students yelling down the disruptors with "YES WE CAN", though.

I hope that got out on the "news"?

I told her..there's so much negative stuff going on around him lately that feel I want to be positive to help with the balance..not that it's too hard for me, concerning the president.

[bdamomma]

12. He backed tracked on his promises to the Armenian people.

cut aid to Armenia and didn't confirm genocide in front of turkish parliament, other than that I give a B+.

[FrenchieCat]

13. Pissed because he's not just like Dennis Kucinich!

The disappointment at this site each time that thought
is made to sink in is like torture!

[omega minimo]

14. he gives some an excuse for the endless inhouse brawling

[MisterK]

16. Hes doing great

I love this guy.

[grantcart]

28. welcome to DU

[GreenTea]

17. Hey struggle4progress, your health care must be the best & a secure income, good for you!

But it seems you are being a bit mocking to some who have legitimate concerns & needs and really truly do see the bullshit that's being thrown at them, for whatever reason...Oh yes, that damn republican minority.

Sincerely, many caring progressive liberals see much is not being done....addressed, yes, occasionally - However, if indeed you're one of the lucky ones....and life is going smoothly for you, again, CHEERS to you!

But lest not forget about others needs & concerns, or one too will become nothing more than a greedy, selfish, arrogant, elitist republican....that's how it happens, how it evolves, and why I'm so clearly sensitive about it.

I know that could never be you...and it just a fun thread and I know you acknowledge others justified concerns....So, take it as just a thought.

[struggle4progress]

18. If you want single-payer health care, I'm on board. My actual view of such issues is this:

the course of US politics is determined by organized interests groups, and if we're only organized at election time then the only time we can expect results is once every few years. The President is one person, the Congress is five hundred and some people -- and there are forty thousand lobbyists in DC working day and night for good pay pushing particular corporate interests

If we want to win, we have to be just as serious and organized in pushing our agenda, as corporate America is when it pushes its agenda. We won't get the results we want from the President and Congress until we all look in the mirror and take personal responsibility for obtaining those results -- and "taking personal responsibility" has got to mean much more than "I complained anonymously on an internet chat board"

[HamdenRice]

23. "much is not being done" -- yeah, only the largest Keynesian stimulus since the New Deal

This is why I find I can't have a rational discussion on DU anymore. So much of the criticism is based on facts from some alternative universe.

[GreenTea]

33. Right, Fact;: only 6% of the stimulus has even seen the light of day...

Get real...Obama is NOT god, or a better or super-human being...you want to see things ONLY through rose colored glasses....and choose only the facts you want to believe....come back down to earth.

[redqueen]

34. And? Was there a commitment that it was all supposed to happen at once?

[HamdenRice]

46. Res ipsa loquitur

Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

The silliness of your argument speaks for itself.

That's your argument? That the trillion plus dollar bill was passed a few weeks ago and it hasn't been disbursed yet?

Do you have any clue how clueless you sound?

[Arkana]

19. He killed my dog and erased all my Madden 09 saves.

That bastard.

[Yukari Yakumo]

20. Other: WHERE'S MY PONY?!? {nt}

[damonm]

21. See post #6,

ya damn copycat...:P

[Ikonoklast]

40. You can have mine.

I was promised a pink pony that pooped ice cream, but the one I got only gives out frozen non-fat yogurt.

What a gyp.

[HamdenRice]

22. My dog vomited and there's a pothole on my street! Impeach Obama already !!1! nt

[azmouse]

24. I ate too much for lunch. It's Pres Obama's fault

because of all those incredibly yummy looking burgers he's always shown eating.
The nerve of the man... :mad: He makes me angry!... and hungry!

[ZombieHorde]

26. Because...

http://www.365gay.com/news/study-obama-doesnt-need-congress-to-halt-gay-discharges/">of this.

[grantcart]

27. Last night he keyed my car.

[stevenleser]

29. Please see all of these

http://ithoughtobamawouldgetmelaid.com/

keep clicking the reasons I am mad.

[struggle4progress]

35. !

I thought Obama would pick me up from the airport :rofl:

[vaberella]

30. Other: All of the Above! n/t

[ThatsMyBarack]

31. I picked the Braille thing.

:rofl:

[Clio the Leo]

32. He didn't broadcast the Netanyahu meeting via webcam.

I thought all the money I sent last year would afford me the "Premium Package."

[cherokeeprogressive]

37. Wow... This STFU shit is soooo tiresome.

I support the President in his effort to remove the shitstain Bush left in the collective American underwear. I support him. That's about as far as my feelings for him go. That said, I read every day that Obama hasn't had enough time to fix the things we think are broken as a response to someone who's disappointed and says so publicly. Well, would you like to know something? Neither has he had enough time to make me really respect the Office of the President of the United States again. I don't respect the White House just because Barack Obama resides there. He is, first and foremost, a POLITICIAN. Politicians have fucked up this country to the point that it's not recognizable as the country whose military uniform I volunteered to wear as a very young man. I sincerely hope that the rallying cry of his first five months: "He hasn't had enough time!" doesn't slowly morph into "The country was so fucked up that he COULDN'T fix it in eight years!" should he fail.

I don't give a fuck about Portugese Water Dogs, "date nights", The White House garden (I'd LOVE to know who tends it and how much they're paid. Gardens need DAILY care), Presidential Basketball, what school Sasha and Malia attend, or how cute the First Family is on film. THOSE are the shiny distractions foisted on us by the M$M. I DO care about DADT, DOMA, budget deficits, outsourcing, unemployment, The ILLEGAL OCCUPATION of Iraq, an escalating war in Afghanistan, and a host of other things that have yet to show signs of changing. Until they do, I'll remain a neutral supporter of President Obama's efforts, and nothing more. I will not be a cheerleader, or blind sycophant. I will debate those who disagree with his policies rather than denigrate them with insults.

What am I angry at Obama for? Nothing. Neither am I overly impressed. But, I'll give it time, and remain a supporter.

[struggle4progress]

39. It would be nice to see more legislative and regulatory material posted at DU

We know the corporate media won't cover such issues

[cherokeeprogressive]

41. Total agreement. n/t

[dgibby]

53. Bravo!

[sniffa]

38. Interesting what gets locked as flame bait and what doesn't.

[struggle4progress]

42. Back in the glory days of DU, sniffa, that would have been written as

Interesting what gets Locked as fLame bait and what doesn't

[sniffa]

49. Interesting what gets locked as flame bait and what doesn't

[struggle4progress]

50. If you consider it flame bait, you should alert on it

[ibegurpard]

43. aren't you precious

[struggle4progress]

44. In my uncritical self-serving way, I prefer to think that I am making cogent political points

in a humorous way, of course. But if you wish to disabuse me of my delusions, feel free

[proud2BlibKansan]

45. Great! I'll tell my friend whose son leaves for Afghanistan next week

:eyes:

[struggle4progress]

47. Maybe we should look in the mirror. Getting out of wars has always required

substantially more effort than getting into them. Nixon was elected on an "out of Vietnam" platform in 68 and we didn't actually bag out until his second term -- despite the fact that the country had a very active antiwar movement. We don't really have a large organized antiwar effort today, and Afghanistan isn't getting regular nightly news coverage, so the political pressure to leave is weak -- whereas industrial-economic interests contribute to political inertia. If we want Obama to lead on this issue, we need to give him a power-base from which to bargain

[proud2BlibKansan]

48. Until it affects people personally they don't care

That's why the economic issues are getting so much attention now. Everyone is affected by a bad economy. We could put hundreds of thousands of anti-war folks in the streets and in the halls of Congress and the war would still not get the attention the economy does.

Regardless, I am disappointed in Obama for what is happening in Afghanistan. It's time to admit that Osama is dead and we don't belong there and we should work to bring our troops home.

[struggle4progress]

52. People are concerned with their own lives -- until confronted with larger issues

Do you understand what happened with the anti-apartheid struggle here in the US? There were a few people working here in solidarity with South Africans in the 1960s and 1970s. I remember a little group in the early 1980s that showed films and brought in speakers for small group discussions -- week after week, year after year, a really hopeless effort: Free Nelson Mandela! Who the hell in America was going to want Nelson Mandela freed? The Cold War was on; President Reagan was lying that there was no segregation in South Africa, and Nelson Mandela had friends who were commies. And then one day in 1984, instead of ten people at a discussion, there were a hundred; and the next time there were a hundred and fifty. People knew it didn't affect them directly, but it began matter to them at a moral level

Talking to the streets or the halls of Congress is good -- but if you really want to win, you get people talking about the issue at their dinner tables

There are lots of issues we can win this way: it just takes work and time

[noamnety]

57. What I've found is two conflicting points of view -

often from the same source.

One view: We need to firmly hold politicians accountable - give them a power base and force them to make the right decisions.

And then the opposing view is that when people do speak strongly and try to force leaders to do what's right, those people are mocked and belittled, and basically told to STFU, stop being so "critical" of Obama.

I see a disconnect between the OP, in other words, and your post here that I'm responding to.

[struggle4progress]

58. Yeah, I'm a lying sociopathic SOB -- but I have a big heart and good intentions

:D That might actually be true

Politics involves a dialectic of constantly shifting alliances: it may be essential to hold multiple and contradictory views, so some tolerance for cognitive dissonance helps -- especially if one has several different ideals and objectives, which might not be simultaneously realizable

I doubt you can find any post of mine where I've suggested anyone should STFU. We know that Obama will be a disappointment: he told us that explicitly, even before he was elected, but even if he had not said so, we should expect to be disappointed, simply by examining the political and economic forces that control "debate" in DC and in the media

Our inevitable disappointment being a given, the question arises How to respond?

American popular understanding of civic processes seems to be rather limited: many people apparently believe that opinion drives politics -- but it doesn't. The simple fact is nobody really gives a rat's ass what you or I think: decision makers don't much care (for example) whether I say "I support Obama on this" or "I don't support Obama on that." What matters is effective organization and the ability to mobilize sectors of the public for specific aims. Corporate interests buy such mobilization with their broadcast propaganda or by directly hiring people: if we don't have matching financial resources, we need to adopt different response tactics

It's hardball. Anyone, who can't take some friendly ribbing, is going to wither under the onslaught of professional attacks that the paid PR consultants devise

[noamnety]

59. My point is not that I personally object to "friendly ribbing"

but rather that the OP's purpose reads to me like it's intended to discourage people from speaking out against Obama's policies and to encourage others to marginalize those who do criticize, even on the serious issues.

I can't for the life of me find a benefit in that, especially if you believe Obama will take the wrong path unless people force him to do the right thing. (I also don't understand the concept of a politician telling the public he's gonna do the wrong thing unless we force him not to, but that's a whole other issue).

[Wednesdays]

51. K&R

:kick:

[Helga Scow Stern]

54. He is allowing brutal torture teams to continue at Guantanamo -- J. Scahill. n/t

[loyalkydem]

55. I voted

for the cream pie one too

[noamnety]

56. I'm torn between McChrystal's appointment and Clinton's

McChrystal being one of the chief torture enablers and author of fraudulent awards for the army has no business being in charge of operations in Afghanistan. It's a signal to the world that we condone torture and torturers.

Clinton's appointment to Haiti demonstrates a shocking disregard for the reality of what happened during Clinton's invasion of Haiti in 94. It's appalling.

[uponit7771]

60. k&R