Response to Calling a strong Black Man Weak.....or why Maureen Dowd doesn't know shit!

[FrenchieCat]

I've been married to a Strong Black Man for 27 years,
and I ain't having it!

Misinterpreting a Man’s Strength is Our Weakness, Not His
9/11/11

“The strength of a man
isn’t in the weight he can lift.
It’s in the burdens
he can carry…“
<>
For the past few months, I have read and heard that our President is weak and doesn’t stand up, and has a habit of caving. This claim, in fact, has been a topic of political conversation for some time. I have reflexively rejected this judgement, but I hadn’t fully analyzed why until now.

I do ask myself how ironic it is that the strongest black man on the world stage today would be described as a weak man by his critics. But rather than denouncing the name-callers simply out of hand, I’m compelled to examine the meaning of this pronouncement and its intent. Are those critics correct in their assessment? What is weakness and what is strength? And who has it, and who doesn’t? What’s the measurement to arrive at such an adjective, one that is either a mean-spirited put-down or is the unfortunate truth? How do we judge?

In a society where George Bush was seen by many as forceful, strong and resolute for refusing to negotiate with his foes, and for treating his domestic opposition without respect or due conscience, I can understand why seeing the opposite behavior from the next President could be interpreted as mild, weak and caving. However, does that really make it true, or have we been conditioned to make such analysis without a full understanding of the seriousness of our indictment? What is true is that Mr. Bush and President Obama, although both have borne the title of President, are each as different from the other as night is to day.

George Bush grew up in privilege, while Barack Obama didn’t. George Bush was the product of a solid, long-lasting marital union; Barack Obama was not. One had a successful father to emulate; the other, a father who was vaguely distant. One grew up deeply rooted, with a feeling that he belonged, while the other continually adapted to situations of constant change. The fortunate son had everything that money could buy, and the less fortunate had to make do with being as resourceful as he could be. One could hail a cab just like that, while the other might just be made to wait. One man woke up each morning fully aware that the world was his oyster; the other went to sleep knowing that the world would not be surprised if he failed at life. These are some of the reasons that make these two men different, but they still don’t answer why one would be described as strong, while the other one would be called weak.

More...
http://www.democratsforprogress.com/2011/09/11/misinterpreting-a-man%E2%80%99s-strength-as-weakness-is-our-weakness-not-his/

[Hawkowl]

1. False dichotomy

They are both weak. Bush was just able to advance his agenda further. I can't tell how far Obama has advanced his agenda because he is a piss poor communicator.

[lumpy]

2. Obama is not weak or a poor communicator. Not too many men

could get as far as Obama has without having unusual strengths and talents. Bush is of weak character, perhaps, in apart, because he has had everything handed to him because of his father's position. Obama has done it on his own and he could be more successful in his presidency of he had full support and respect from his constituency, the American people and a Congress who would be interested in solving our tremendous problems.

[Name removed]

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[Exilednight]

11. By your own reasoning, then, Bush is as strong as Obama. n/t

[lumpy]

14. You will have to explain your statement if you expect it to make

any sense.

[Exilednight]

16. Okay

"Not too many men could get as far as Obama has without having unusual strengths and talents"

They both made it to the presidency. If you've read Obama's biography, you'll discover that he had many advantages that many children don't get thanks to his grandparents.

[FrenchieCat]

20. Like what advantages?

The one about not growing up knowing his father, or the part about his mother making the sacrifice that they would both have to bear by sending him back to the states for an education?

[Exilednight]

22. A private school education, followed by an Ivy League education. I've seen

kids grow up in conditions that were the same, or worse than Obama's and are probably just as smart if not smarter and fail to make it out of high school. Then again, none of those kids had grandparents that sent them to private school.

[FrenchieCat]

24. He got in because he and his mother got up at 4:00 in the morning......

and so you know...that's what can happen when people sacrifice and try really hard
to make things happen. That ain't the same as having everything handed
to you just cause you're there!

There are many kids who live with their grandparents, not because they want to,
but because they have to! This one apparently another one of those cases, where
the only answer to gaining a good education was to be smarter than most other kids,
and to have to live thousands of miles away from your mother. Yep...not biggie!

This will not be the first time that some ignoramus decides that when a disadvantaged kids gets into a good school, must mean all is peachy keen!

[Exilednight]

26. My argument is that he wasn't disadvantaged. Disadvantaged is when

you don't have someone to care for you. Disadvantaged is not having a middle-class upbringing. Disadvantaged is having your parents die while your still in grade school. Disadvantaged is wondering where your next meal comes from. Disadvantaged is wondering if you're going to make it to school without getting shot. Disadvantaged is having no else to depend on. Disadvantaged is having no one you can trust.

Next time you call someone an ignoramus, walk a half mile in another persons shoes who is really disadvantaged, but to be honest, by your condescending tone, I doubt you would make it a 100 yards.

[FrenchieCat]

29. Your argument stinks, and it is obvious that you don't know what the term disavantage means......

unless it pertains to you...., and I'm sure that you are fine with that!

If you think that being disadvantaged only means that you may be starving every night,
or your parents are dead, the word is more inclusive than just experiencing those things!
If that's what you went through, I'm very sorry to hear it, but it still doesn't mean that others who suffer differently somehow must have had a dandy time, and should be grateful and that's that. In fact, your attitude sounds like that of Republicans who think that most people can just pull their asses up by their bootstrap and need to stop complaining and just be grateful, could it could be a whole lot worse! That somehow they should consider themselves lucky, hell, just to be living in the United States and having a roof over their head!

Anyone growing up the majority of their life without seeing their mother or their father
for days on in is fucking disadvantaged! It doesn't matter that you believe otherwise,
because you are wrong.

[Exilednight]

31. Telling me that I sound like a republican says more about you than it does about me. n/t

[FrenchieCat]

34. Hey......when you want to believe that growing up without your parents

around is no biggie.....why should I think anything else? Just saying.

[Exilednight]

35. Considering what many kids go through in their childhood, it's not a biggie. He still had two

people who cared about him. And he did have his mom around throughout most of his childhood. He might not have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but at least he had a spoon and food to use it on.

[Name removed]

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[Hawkowl]

60. L'Anglais est tres difficile, non?

I don't think you are picking up the context of "disadvantaged". Obama was NOT disadvantaged. Private school, Harvard, etc. Study up

[Jakes Progress]

77. Now you leave facts out of this.

This is here fantasy land, and she gets to pretend anything she wants.

[mkultra]

79. That term refers to how one starts, not how one ends

If he makes hay, that's earned, not advantaged. Buy a dictionary.

[Exilednight]

92. Take your advice. Here are the two definitions I found.

1. Deprived of some of the basic necessities or advantages of life, such as adequate housing, medical care, or educational facilities.
2. Being at a disadvantage, especially with respect to competitive or opposing elements or forces:

[Name removed]

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[FrenchieCat]

6. False statement.......

on your part.

But go ahead, you and Maureen Dowd! Two peas in a pod.

[Supersedeas]

67. How does one agree with Dowd, when her initial premises are denied from the start?

Others may agree with Dowd in the way she sets up the juxtaposition (meaning they are closer to Dowd--because they accept her initial premise--they way that she sets up the Bush/Obama comparision), but then, after accepting her analysis, jump through rhetorical hopes to define how she is wrong in executing the juxtaposition.

But to deny that Dowd's initial premise is wrong, doesn't make someone a pea in the pod. If anything, by accepting the way Dowd sets up the discussion, one becomes a pea partially in Dowd's pod--a pea that fights to get out of the pod only after hopping in it in the first place. Grukking with Dowd, so that you can defy her.

On the other hand, to find a false dichotomy, means that ya never get with Dowd's analysis in the first place. Why even go there with her?

[Inuca]

72. He is not weak and

he most deinitely is not "a piss poor communicator". That's absurd, not to mention insulting. He just happens to be imperfect and most definitely not Superman. As soon as the opportunity arises, I will vote for Superman, until then, I still support Obama. Strongly.

[ThomCat]

87. He's a very strong communicator.

He has just chosen to insulate himself inside a bubble of corporate lobbyists and advisers since the day he got elected. He only acts strong when he's serving their interests. For example, when he's defending wall street, and when he's acting behind the scenes to create policies that open up trillions for wall street. That takes political strength.

But he's week whenever we need him to stand up for us. He's week when we need him to stand up for others who are week.

So if you are wealthy and politically strong, he'll be strong for you too. If you are poor and politically weak, he'll be weak for you.

That goes right along with the idea that he's a political chameleon.

[rug]

4. "The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance. "

- Thomas Paine

[OHdem10]

7. It has nothing to do with either of their backgrounds. It has to do

with style. Avoiding confrontation is considered
"weak" in America today.

Let us pretend we are discussing John Kerry v Bush.

Both from Privilege.

John Kerry permitted himself to be considered weak.

There is a disconnect it seems between Liberals
and America on what is seen as being weak.

Being cerebral and cool is not necessarily rewarded
as strength. I am not saying this is good, or right.
After all I am a Liberal.

When you turn on TV, what do you see??? People yelling
at each other and trying to best each other. This is
America as it is today.

It is unfair, but it is about the way the Right has
taught America to see strength. Us Liberals kept quiet.

[FrenchieCat]

9. Well then America is who is weak!

[CTyankee]

30. Yes, we are. We are weak because we have failed to rise to the challenge of

giving the country universal health care and assurances of well being in old age. We are deficient in lots of programs that would help poor children and in our public schools. This is a disgrace!

This is us, right now. I am ashamed of us. We ought to be better and we're not. It's a shame...

[laugle]

8. Each president is judged

based on accomplishments, and Obama's legacy will be no different.

I can't believe dems saw/see Bush as a strong leader; adjectives' more likely would be stubborn, stupid, egotistical, vengeful and just plain clueless. Even over time, I don't believe Bush's legacy overall will be a positive one!



There will always be defender's/detractor's of both Bush and Obama, only time will tell how either of them will be remembered in the history books........

BTW, part of Obama's appeal is that he was not part of the priviledged class, which represent only a small portion of this country. Personally, I see that as a plus not a minus.......

[FrenchieCat]

10. I see this President being judged on the accomplishments of

FDR and Truman.

Perhaps that will change.

When a President can let us be attacked and reaps the reward of being
at approval ratings of 91% to 71% for 16 straight months after 9/11,

and when President Obama kills Bin Laden, he gets a 3 point approval bump
for a week, that tells me all I need to know.

[laugle]

12. It makes me

cringe to see Bush and Obama in the same sentence. A better comparison would be Bill Clinton a dem.

What was done to Clinton was so vicious and unnecessary, i.e. impeachment, in my opinion pales in comparison to the treatment of Obama so far.

All I can say is, hang on to your hat, because you haven't seen anything yet until this election really gets rolling. I think it is going to be extremely vicious........

Get ready for the blood pressure meds......

[Fruittree]

64. In my opinion, the difference between

how Bill Clinton was treated and what makes Barack Obama's treatment worse is that Obama is the first president I've seen where it's not just a matter of disagreement or even of dislike...He's been treated as if he's not the legitimate president and with total disrespect...Just look at the whole birther thing - it's ridiculous yet was even addressed as if it were a legitimate issue on mainstream news. I agree that the election is going to be awful and frankly, if I were Obama, I'd say I don't need this...Let them have Rick Perry.

[woolldog]

78. You must not have been around when Clinton was president.

They accused him of murder and drug dealing and being a traitor to his country among other things... in between impeaching him!

It's the mo of the modern GOP.

[Fruittree]

95. I was around but I still think

the difference is that the attacks were - I don't know how to put this - but Clinton as he was being attacked was still treated as the president and as an equal whereas the treatment of Obama has a condescending quality to it..

[JoePhilly]

33. +1

[Exilednight]

19. Depends on how you define "priviliged class". He did go to Columbia and Harvard then

taught at University of Chicago. He's your typical egg head (and I mean that in a good way) Ivy Leaguer.

[Name removed]

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[Exilednight]

40. Actually, he got there because he was sent to a preparatory school.

[FrenchieCat]

47. Actually, not everyone that is "sent" to preparatory schools goes anywhere....

HE GOT THERE BECAUSE OF HIS HARD WORK.

[Exilednight]

48. I never said he didn't work hard, but he had the advantage of going to an

elite preparatory school.

[FrenchieCat]

51. You have to work hard to get in and stay in.

and to get out with a degree.....

People know what I'm talking about, even if you don't.

[Exilednight]

91. Just like Bush did? I've known plenty of people who have skated through school and earned degrees

and finished at the top of their class.

[laugle]

56. You have a point!

I would define it as the silver-spoon types, the one's that didn't have to work for there wealth and social status. The one's that were born to it!

But we could go on forever defining this. It's always better to work for your own success than to have it handed to you. Besides, it builds character..........

[Fruittree]

65. My son went to U. of Chicago and is

now at Harvard Law...I would not at all call him or us "privileged"..He's done what he's done, because he's smart but beyond that, he's a hard worker not unlike Obama. There's definitely luck involved and someone willing to give him a chance but I don't think you lose your background no matter where you go. There's a difference between moving into a situation like Harvard and growing up in that type of environment where you never have to really worry about survival..

[cali]

13. I don't know if weak is the right word, but his constant reaching out to republicans

and compromising with them, is hardly indicative of strength.

[Whisp]

17. it takes a strong man to take all those hits from every possible direction

and keep on plugging.

and not want to just bag it and say, fuck y'all.

considering the extraordinary circumstances of the nation when he took office, I think he's a friggen Iron Man.

[CakeGrrl]

32. +1000. Obama's most virulent critics couldn't last a week in his shoes. -nt

[FrenchieCat]

37. Of course it does......

but let's just keep telling us that this particular Black man is weak.
After all, the media temporarily has run out of other Black men to crucify and make an example of!

Message to Black men.....Don't get too uppity, and start thinking you're running anything,
cause by the time we're done with your ass, you'll be crying uncle. And tell your wife to
do the same....or she might be next!

[FrenchieCat]

18. Well, you can see it that way......if you so choose.

But it doesn't make you correct in your assessment, even if its the way that some choose to go.


Strengths of Temperance: strengths that protect against excess
16. Forgiveness and mercy: Forgiving those who have done wrong; accepting the shortcomings of others; giving people a second chance; not being vengeful.
17. Humility / Modesty: Letting one’s accomplishments speak for themselves; not regarding oneself as more special than one is.
18. Prudence: Being careful about one’s choices; not taking undue risks; not saying or doing things that might later be regretted.
19. Self-regulation : Regulating what one feels and does; being disciplined; controlling one’s appetites and emotions.
http://www.democratsforprogress.com/2011/09/11/misinterpreting-a-man%E2%80%99s-strength-as-weakness-is-our-weakness-not-his/#more-5471

[cali]

63. The facts support seeing it that way.

It's that simple and that's the reason so many liberal congressional dems are up in arms against him. Or are you going to say they're all racists?

[immoderate]

41. Doppleganger. It explains all of it.

He is accomplishing what he wants to do, which is not what we want him to do.

Democrats like him no matter what, and Republicans get their policies! It's a win-lose! :)

--imm

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[OwnedByFerrets]

23. I NEVER considered Monkeyboy a strong man

I did however consider Obama one. That has changed. It doesnt take strength to stand up to your foreign enemies when you have the strongest army borrowed money can buy. It DOES take courage/strength to stand up to your peers with your convictions of conscience. Maybe thats where I went wrong. Maybe being a progressive democrat NEVER was his conviction.

[FrenchieCat]

25. good for you........

First they came for him...
don't worry, just stand in line,
and your ass will be next. Guaranteed!

[OwnedByFerrets]

27. FAIL

[FrenchieCat]

28. You can pray on that.....

or whatever it is that you do for self actualization!

[Exilednight]

42. Isn't that the truth. Obama is coming for the 65 and 66 year olds' medicare. Oh wait, that's good

that they're coming for that Obama agrees to it.

[FrenchieCat]

44. You are so desperate.......

it ain't even funny!

Why don't you start your own thread with that bullshit,
now that you've pissed all over this one!

[Exilednight]

45. I'm not the one defending bad policy.

Why don't you start your own thread with that bullshit,
now that you've pissed all over this one!

[Name removed]

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[Supersedeas]

81. very thoughtful post

[Igel]

39. People keep trying to project the typical low SES African-American experience onto Obama.

It doesn't fit. The best similarity is that his nuclear family split up when his father moved and his mother didn't. Obama has no problem with people projecting their past on him because it increases empathy. It's sort of a persona he's even cultivated. But it doesn't fit until he was old enough to adopt the persona after moving to the homeland. Like Thatcher wanting to be upper middle class in style, temperament, and speech, so Obama wanted to be typical African-American male. Thatcher did a better job achieving her goal, then again Obama still has a decade to work on it.

The typical poor African-American male is seldom at least partly raised by a PhD anthropologist who chooses to live on site, working for US AID and other organizations.

When farmed out to relatives, the typical young black male relatively seldom to live with a bank vice-president and her gainfully employed (or retired) husband. The overwhelming majority, I'd wager, go to public schools, often poor, while Obama went to a prestigious private school.

Even in the '60s, while HI wasn't exactly a place that sang the wonders of multiculturalism from every bough and branch it was far more tolerant than such regressive backwaters like New York City or Baltimore.

Actually, by my white working class standards, Obama *did* have a pretty cushy upbringing. Apart from whatever he foisted on himself.

Now, * did grow up in one place. Midland and Houston (like they're just around the corner, so let's call it "Texas"). Like Obama, he went to a prestigious private school when he was an older child. Whereas Obama went to school abroad and then in HI, * went to a public school. The Bush family, like the Kerry family, had money; how much of it actually helped GWB I can't say (Kerry's branch was apparently far less well off than other parts of his family). These things aren't always predictable.

[FrenchieCat]

43. I'm just fascinated how others get to decide what's cushy and what's not.

Thanks for defending Mr. Silver spoon......
he needed that!


I'm just amazed.....that a mother thousands of miles away
and a father not there at all is considered fucking cushy.

Almost as good as the life of W!

What a Fucking load!

Thank God that Article ain't just getting responses here at fucking
DU land, otherwise, I say, just give this country to the Republicans,
and stop your moaning as it sounds that pretty much everybody has it pretty good!

[Jakes Progress]

50. Given who bush had as a mother

I would suggest that he was operating with a severe handicap. A childhood under those nasty, evil eyes cannot be a good thing.

A loving and sacrificing mother would be better, don't you think?

Either way, bush came out an asshole and Obama came as a good guy who just doesn't have the skills necessary for the job he is in.

[FrenchieCat]

52. Well, I'm sure you won't be voting for him, and you'll be working against him......

so good luck to the future of those you must sooo care about
as you turn the screws on them and turn them over a la Vichi
you and your "Compassionate" "liberal" self!

[Jakes Progress]

68. Well, I'm sure you don't know what you are talking about.

This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about. Your rabid attacks on Democrats who don't share your obsession doesn't do a thing to help Obama get elected. Alienating everyone you argue with is not the way to go.

Have you ever really taken part in a campaign program? Have you volunteered and attended working sessions on getting out the vote and studied the guidelines of how to generate support and how to talk to people about your candidate? Perhaps in the real world you aren't as strident and off-putting as you are here. If you do carry your DU personality over to the real world, please avoid any volunteer work for Democrats.

Do yourself and Obama a favor. Check with your local Democratic Campaign Headquarters and ask them if it is a good idea to attack all questioners with the racist label and accuse all disaffected Democrats of aiding the enemy. Just ask. For the party's sake and just to help keep republicans out of office, ask.

[Puglover]

84. +1 Jake!

I have told this poster numerous times that I will be voting for Obama in SPITE of her continued bullshit on this site.

[Beacool]

75. In some respects you are right.

The family thought of W as the family idiot and were shocked when he ended up becoming president. Jeb was the one who they expected to follow in daddy's footsteps.

:)

[Jakes Progress]

49. Why the need for extra modifiers?

Couldn't you just support a strong man? Tell me how Obama's race enters into this?

You said that you kept reading how the president is weak. Did you read where someone said that this "black president" is weak? Did you see someone write that bush or Clinton were strong "white men"?

You are the one bringing up race.

I can see you wanting to defend Obama a stronger than his critics suggest. As you say: "I’m compelled to examine the meaning of this pronouncement and its intent. Are those critics correct in their assessment? What is weakness and what is strength? And who has it, and who doesn’t? What’s the measurement to arrive at such an adjective, one that is either a mean-spirited put-down or is the unfortunate truth? How do we judge?"

So I have to ask if you are suggesting that those who call the president weak are doing so because they are racists?

[Name removed]

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[laugle]

58. Geez ...

give it a rest! This is so non-productive and doesn't help your main objective to win a 2nd term for Obama.

Save the vitriol!

[PurityOfEssence]

53. A simple question: would you take this shit from a white guy?

Since you constantly bring up race as an issue, let's talk about it. I know that many people of all races are thrilled to finally have a non-white president. Count me among that group, even though I am Caucasian.

The incessant use of race as an excuse why he can't be more forceful and as a line of attack against anyone who criticises him needs to stop. This is ALL of our futures. He is an appeaser. He is a corporatist. He is a campaigner, not a leader. Worst of all, the reactionaries have pegged him as someone who will buckle and give ground when met with resistance, so he's a marked man.

The only thing he's done of consequence is the Credit Card legislation. Health Care was a cowardly mess, and a legal disaster. Financial reform was a joke. Environmental actions have been deplorable. Dealing with Global Warming has been a deep, deep betrayal to us all. Libya is an illegal and morally repugnant bit of resource thievery. Making Social Security vulnerable is spinelessness itself.

Would you take this shit from a white guy? You have personally played the race card for five years now on this man's behalf, and now we are truly on the precipice of a worldwide financial disaster.

It's a fair question. I'd like some of the others who have been so freewheeling with accusations of racism when some of us question Barack Obama's actions and inactions to address this too.

[muffin1]

55. Thank you.

[laugle]

59. Sadly,

I have to agree. And if he loses the election, it will be for all the above and more......

[Psephos]

93. The emperor has no clothes.

And you have 20-20 vision.

Excellent post.

[mtnsnake]

94. Best post I've read on DU in quite some time

Thank you!

:thumbsup:

[Mimosa]

57. K&R an excellent commentary

Frenchiecat, that's an insightful commentary.

There's no basis in reality to label either President Obama or President bush as weak men. But we know those who have political axes to grind will descend to using any accusation.

We who aren't on the inside of government probably will never know why policy makers make controversial, even unpopular, decisions. I enthusiastically supported President Obama's candidacy with work and financial contributions. After over two years of his presidency I feel I know him less, not more. I only wish he'd tell us what he knows which has made him make certain decisions.

Only with more information and the distance of history will we ever learn what is really going on. By that time i'll be dead. ;)

[TheKentuckian]

61. He isn't weak, he is complicit.

"Weak" is what people tell themselves to avoid questioning motives.

[FrenchieCat]

62. Well, Ok then.....

Hell, he's satan reincarnated.
How's that? does that work for you?

[TheKentuckian]

69. You don't have to be the devil to be complicit or even objectively evil, just ideologically

comfortable with conservative policy and/or sympathetic to supportive of the status quo.

My point is he is doing almost exactly what he intends to do not because he is lilly livered but because these are his goals and this is his mode of operation.

Also, it isn't rational to desire to be "bipartisan" with the current incarnation of Republicans, their policies are wicked and absurd which means bipartisan means joining them in their wicked absurdity.

[boston bean]

66. The answer is simple.

One got almost everything he wanted, and asked for it, and fought for it, and politically forced it. ATE the Democrats LUNCH.

The other starts in the middle and capitulates rightward. Let's Republicans eat the DEMS LUNCH.

Not much more to it than that, imho.

[Cali_Democrat]

71. Absolutely correct

It's pretty simple.

[russspeakeasy]

70. Why would your headline read "black man" ?

his decisions are not any color, just more to the right than I would like.

[muffin1]

73. For fun - makes for better flame bait.

[russspeakeasy]

74. Got it....

:toast:

[Bobbie Jo]

85. Yet, here you are.

Right in the middle of it.

Go figure.

[mkultra]

80. If only that were true

In America, the decisions a black man make are black decisions. This is not the right, it is the reality.

[politicasista]

76. Bingo

She like them mean girl bullies on the playground. Why does this woman even have a job?

[creon]

82. Consider the source.

Exercise your own judgement and ask yourself, does Dowd make any sense?
If she does not, draw the appropriate conclusions.

[creon]

83. I agree

I agree with the post. I found it to be excellent.

I have no problem with Obama. He has turned out to be what I thought that he would be and is doing what I thought that he would.

I voted for him in 08 and will be glad to so in 2012.

[wndycty]

86. Kick

K&R

[mcgarry50]

88. obama

obama blew it. we had one of the worst of times under bush and
the country was ready for change. he could have put the
republicans to a point where they would be of insignificant.
instead he came out and tried to be moderator in chief and
that allowed the republicans to come back to the place where
they are now, with obama under their thumbs. if he tries to
come out now and acts like he is fired up mad, the republicans
will just call him a mad black man, sort of how they took care
of howard dean. he flat out blew the opportunity of a life
time.

[FrenchieCat]

89. Obama didn't blow it, WE did!

We just weren't there when we should have. We provided no political capital once we voted, because we decided to argue AGAINST his health care bill, and didn't make our voices heard loud enough during the stimulus debate to get the senate to do a better job. Hopefully we learned.


It is us that have acted like a bunch of babies looking for daddy. We are the weak link, not this President.

I would simply quote this -

By Chris Andersen

We as Democrats have apparently come to the conclusion that the Republican’s uncompromising attitude towards their opponents and a kill-or-be-killed approach to negotiations (politics as nothing BUT war) is the RIGHT way to govern. How could I conclude otherwise since we seem to spend so much time talking about how Republicans would do it differently (i.e., better)?

Obama promised a different model of governance. Not a left-wing version of the same right-wing intransigence that we have become used to, but a model that says that the best of our country is exemplified when finding ways to work together in order to solve our problems is more important than making the other side look “weak” and your side look “strong”. He campaigned on it, he has lived it and I admire him for it.

Now I can understand the frustration of many in light of what we have seen for the last three years and I don’t question anyone’s right to be upset that this country has had to put up with so much crap. But I refuse to let my frustration lead me to adopt a model for judging strength that is specifically designed to make the greatest of human values (kindness, intelligence, compassion, etc.) look like “weakness”.

I would hope that others would join me.
http://extremeliberal.wordpress.com/2011/09/11/misinterpreting-a-man%E2%80%99s-strength-is-our-weakness-not-his

[wndycty]

90. He didn't blow shit

:kick:

[Supersedeas]

96. well, the Repugs certainly aren't insignificant

[hulka38]

97. Obama stands strong for his own political agenda.