Dear Mr. President...

[kpete]

Published on Tuesday, August 17, 2010 by CommonDreams.org
Dear Mr. President...

by Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

August 14, 2010

Dear Mr. President:

Your Press Secretary has recently been quoted as strongly criticizing those of us Democratic Party activists who feel that you have failed in some of the most important promises you made, stated or implied, during your campaign and that you are not steering our country in the right direction. He dismisses us as the "professional left" as if we were the ones making a living from politics. We worked very hard for your election as we do for all candidates who seem able and willing to work for progressive social change, and to make a better life for our citizens and for the world. Your rhetoric often suggests that you share this goal, but your actions frequently prove otherwise. We do not simply disagree with you on a single small issue. Unfortunately our unhappiness and disappointment has a broad scope. To name a few examples:

You promised to work for meaningful health care reform - we got a woeful compromise. You committed to seek to rein in an out-of-control financial sector - we got third best. You seemed to be in favor of winding down unnecessary and increasingly inept and unwinnable foreign adventures - we got an escalation of an untenable and unending war. You promised to close Guantanamo and end don't ask, don't tell - neither has seen much of your efforts. You campaigned against the Bush imperial presidency, and then you expanded it. We could go on.

In our opinion you have failed, in whole or in part, to deliver on many of your commitments. Instead, you have continued and supported some of the Bush policies that many hoped and believed, based on your utterances, you would quickly terminate. At best, the many who supported you and believed that you were going to bring about great change are confused and disappointed; at worst, they find themselves less motivated to continue their support for you.

The Republican policy of lock-step unthinking resistance to any meaningful change is, of course, in large measure to blame for our disappointment. But when we see you capitulate in advance of negotiations by submitting far less than the public needs and deserves (health care, financial regulation, public education, women's reproductive rights) or affirmatively go in the other direction (civil liberties, the war in Afghanistan, to name a few instances), we are deeply offended. Then, to add insult to injury, your Press Secretary, Mr. Gibbs, publicly castigates and belittles us as the "professional left", whatever that means, and suggests that we need to be "drug tested".

But we are not a "professional left." On the contrary, we are among those volunteers from around the country who campaigned, raised and contributed money, and voted for you. We were, and are, active in your Democratic Party; indeed, many of us were active in it long before you arrived on the scene.

We take issue with the fact that apparently Mr. Gibbs has no qualms about insulting us and diminishing our hard work and years of faithful support. We resent being vilified and dismissed by your Press Secretary as if our opinions were not representative of a large number of your voters and supporters and as if we were as truly hostile to your program as the "just say no" Republicans.

We don't, however, make the mistake of seeking to shoot the messenger. Mr. Gibbs (and even Emanuel) is not the real problem, Mr. President. We fear you are. We demand that you do a better job of exercising your powers as President; that you represent us better; that you cleave to your promises to us with more fidelity; and that you refrain from sending forth your minions to attack our right to disagree. Our country is in grave danger on many fronts and we respectfully reserve the right to continue to insist that you adhere to your promises to the American people, and your supporters without being told that we are your real problem.

Indeed Mr. President, you have enemies that wish to see you fail but we would hope that your administration has the clarity of vision to recognize that we are not the enemy.

Respectfully,

The Officers of the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party:

Karen Bernal, Chair
Mal Burnstein, Vice-Chair
Dotty LeMieux, Secretary
Ralph Miller, Treasurer
Jeffrey Killeen, Parliamentarian
Mayme Hubert, Officer-at-Large
Dr. Bill Honigman, Officer-at-Large
J Brian Washman, Officer-at-Large

[e-mail]

Karen Bernal, Chair Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/08/17-8

[Lucky 13]

1. K&R

:applause:

[steve2470]

2. k and r nt

[spanone]

3. k&r..

[asdjrocky]

4. Hell yes!

Hit the nail on the head.

[RKP5637]

5. Excellent!!! n/t

[ProSense]

6. How ridiculous.

We don't, however, make the mistake of seeking to shoot the messenger. Mr. Gibbs (and even Emanuel) is not the real problem, Mr. President. We fear you are. We demand that you do a better job of exercising your powers as President; that you represent us better; that you cleave to your promises to us with more fidelity; and that you refrain from sending forth your minions to attack our right to disagree. Our country is in grave danger on many fronts and we respectfully reserve the right to continue to insist that you adhere to your promises to the American people, and your supporters without being told that we are your real problem.

Indeed Mr. President, you have enemies that wish to see you fail but we would hope that your administration has the clarity of vision to recognize that we are not the enemy.

When did Gibbs say the California Progressive Caucus was the "professional left"?

What powers do they think he's not exercising as President?

[asdjrocky]

9. Blame the people!

It's the American way.

[ProSense]

11. No one is blaming the people

Gibbs made a specific statement, and others since then.

This smacks of grandstanding to play victim to something not directed at you, an excuse to denounce the President. Fine, denounce away, but don't pretend that this has anything to do with Gibbs' comment.

In fact, the tone of this letter is disingenuous:

"We demand that you do a better job of exercising your powers as President; that you represent us better; that you cleave to your promises to us with more fidelity; and that you refrain from sending forth your minions to attack our right to disagree."

[asdjrocky]

14. Yawn.

[Winterblues]

18. Well we certainly can recognize disingenuous

:shrug:

[walldude]

15. Um the powers of LEADERSHIP.

Look around you, are the Dems united? Are they a force to be reckoned with? They have the majority in all three branches, yet for some strange reason the Republicans are controlling the policy decisions. The Dems look like cowards with no moral compass. They refuse to give concessions to the people in their own party but they are happy to be "bi-partisan" with the Republicans. The Democrats have turned into a joke.

To top it all off the Dems are just plain dumb. The Republicans in their infinite wisdom chose to not fund health care for 9/11 first responders because they didn't want foreign companies doing business in America to lose their offshore tax avoidance shelters. This was a gift to the Democrats. The election handed to them on a silver platter. Are they using it? I'm still waiting. This one issue is a weapon to be used against anything the Republicans have, they want to complain about the deficit? Well they should have voted to get rid of those foreign tax shelters. They want to talk about health care? Throw the first responders right in their faces. They did something which has no defense, they cannot go to the American people and tell them that they care more for foreign tax shelters than they do for 9/11 first responders.
The Dems could walk away from this election with a filibuster proof majority... if they want it. It would only take the production of one ad and that ad could be used against every Republican running. Even the goddamn freepers would have a hard time reconciling their party as the one that threw 9/11 hero's under the bus.

[ProSense]

16. "yet for some strange reason the Republicans are controlling the policy decisions."

Republicans are not controlling the policy decisions. If they were, they'd be supporting them en masse. People need to come to grips with reality and learn the lessons of history.

Then again, they try to distort even that, pretending that perfect and smooth sailing once was.

[walldude]

17. That's a great post... problem is it's not me who needs to learn

history it's the Democrats. I'm biting back as hard as possible against right wing republican policies. Too bad the Dems aren't following suit.

[elocs]

7. The notion that Obama is not Bush or is not as bad as Bush is unacceptable.

The expected bar was far, far higher than that. Our foreign military misadventures are like the Vietnam war going from LBJ to Nixon who escalated and continued the war, which was to be expected. As a Boomer who lived through that war and those days I expect more of a president than to be Republican-lite.

"The Republican policy of lock-step unthinking resistance to any meaningful change" exists because it works and works well for the Republicans. Why would they ever change their tactics? May as well stick with what works.

It's time to get greased and ready to kick ass and take names along the way. If Obama turns out to be a one term president, then let him go out with a bang rather than a whimper and let him be forever known as a Democratic president who stood up for Democratic principles no matter what the cost. A president who did not forever have his finger to the wind, seeking the middle ground with no limits to the compromise needed to get there.

There must be a line in the sand that says "this is it, no more".

[RKP5637]

10. Agree!!! I would think at this time the dems would be trying to unite the dem base. Gibbs

statements were out of line, dumb and unwarranted. If he can't take the heat he should leave the job.

IMO Nov. and 2012 are going to be tough elections for the dems. Statements like Gibbs are not helpful and just reinforce the republican machine of no no no.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. help, help, we're being oppressed!

Minions? What is he? Gargamel?

[me b zola]

12. K&R

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[NJmaverick]

19. A key indicator of doing something wrong

when you need to clarify to your allies that "we are not the enemy"