Image from http://www.acus.org/content/obama-thinking-about-afghanistan-plan
The Earth Is Flat, Bloodletting Heals and Obama Is A Republican: An Opinion Can Be Wrong.
Yes, indeed it can.
I had this conversation with someone recently. We were disputing the idea that a person could express the opinion that MC Hammer is/was a greater artist than Prince. I pointed out that this was not only incorrect, but ridiculous. My opponent’s argument was that “an opinion can’t be wrong.” Now, setting aside the relatively frivolous argument over the ranking of those two pop culture icons and their place in musical history (although I am completely, totally, and undeniably correct), it got me to thinking about other opinions that are more than a little wrong.
Like the following:
For about 2000 years it was the opinion of physicians that the cure for what ailed the sick was to cut them open and drain the “bad blood.” That would be wrong.
Until nearly 1500, most people held the opinion that the world was flat and if you sailed to the edge you would fall over the side. That would be wrong.
It was Hitler’s considered opinion that the eradication of all Jews from the face of the Earth was the key to the advancement of German society. That would be wrong.
Throughout the south until the late 60′s, white southerners were attached to the opinion that “separate but equal” was, well, equal. That would be wrong.
I suppose I could do this all day, but I would prefer to focus now on a current opinion being forwarded by many liberals and progressives that Barack Obama is no better than his Republican counterparts. This would also be wrong.
It’s not that I consider any of the previous opinions insignificant. Many of them were in the mainstream of their regions and countries, if not the whole planet. However, there is this one important thing that those opinions neglect that proves their fault. It’s called evidence. You see, an opinion is essentially worthless and even dangerous if not backed by facts and proof. You can believe the Martians are coming. you can tell everyone you know that it’s true. Hell, many of them might believe you. That don’t make it so.
Which is exactly my point about Barack Obama. Has he been as progressive as we hoped? Probably not. I do believe that in his heart he believes in truly progressive policies. However, considering the often vile and irresponsible intransigence of Tea Party Republicans and the fact that some Democrats are not really worthy of the name (I’m looking at you Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson, Joe Manchin, Mary Landrieu), he has accomplished more than I would have expected. Actually, I would argue that he has accomplished more in 2 1/2 years than the last 3 Presidents (Bush I, Clinton, Bush II) did combined.
Oh sure, I disagree with him on Afghanistan, oil leases, gay marriage (although I’m betting he’s coming around on that one), and drug policy, just to name a few. That being said, if we are going to be keeping score, we should do so correctly.
So, please if you will, name me the Republican that would have done all–hell, any–of the following:
1) Passed any sort of stimulus.
2) Signed Lily Ledbetter into law.
3) Passed any sort of Health Care Reform.
4) Passed any sort of Financial Reform.
5) Invested in Green Energy.
6) Expanded environmental protections.
7) Repealed DADT and refused to defend DOMA.
8) Presided over any sort of draw down in Iraq.
9) Extended the START Treaty.
10) Extended unemployment benefits.
11) Signed a Food Safety bill into law.
12) Saved the auto industry.
13) Appointed two liberal justices to the Supreme Court.
14) Increased fuel economy standards.
15) Issued an executive order repealing the Bush Stem Cell Research restrictions.
16) Implemented the largest middle class tax break in the history of this country.
17) Expanded hate crime law.
18) Sued the states of Arizona and Alabama for their horrendous immigration laws.
19) Repaired the reputations of both the CIA and FEMA.
20) Got Bin Laden.
I could do this all day too, but seeing how 20 is a nice round number, I’ll stop there. It’s also worth remembering that he has done all these things at significant political (and perhaps physical–I mean, have you seen his hair lately?) cost. Depending on who you ask, he is an illegal alien, Islamic, Bolshevik anti-Christ, or a dithering, weak kneed, faux Democrat, Republican in sheep’s clothing. How could both thoughts be correct? The truth is they can’t.
Now, that doesn’t mean you don’t have the right to your opinion. You may be able to find a way to reconcile all of the above and still claim he is either Bush-lite or the Manchurian Candidate. Hell, maybe you can do both. It’s a free country and you can believe whatever you like. You can shout it from the rooftops, scrawl it all over Facebook, record it on Youtube. In the modern age you can spread your opinion far and wide.
You can do that, but you and your opinion would be wrong.
Originally posted at The Pragmatic Progressive Forum
Don’t confuse “republican” with “neocon”. No, neocons wouldn’t do most of those things. Real Republicans would have done many of them.
“Re-elect Obama or get a crazy Republican.” Really? That’s the best you can do? Fine, I’ll take the crazy Republican. I’ll even VOTE for the crazy Republican, because there are a lot of people who will not listen to reason until they have lost everything. If some people need to starve before they start to think that maybe illegal immigrants, Muslims, and gays weren’t causing their problems after all, and perhaps getting their political ideas from a group of DJs and bloggers with no credentials, so be it. Sometimes people have to learn the hard way.
Obama is a corporate shill, through and through, and he is not so much a failure as he is simply doing his job. It does not matter whether the puppet is on the right hand or the left hand.
Please do NOT dare tell us about “healthcare” reform. That bill was written according to the insurance companies and their lobbyists. It hasn’t even taken effect, may never take effect, and let’s hope it never does. Forcing Americans to purchase something from private companies; that’s lovely. Even Russia has a better social healthcare system than that. It’s quality is bad but it exists, and its free.
And incidentally, Democrats have started more wars than Republicans.
http://www.obamatheconservative.com/
You clearly haven’t a clue. Have you actually experienced the Russian’ health care system? Nope, thought not. You and Putin are singing praises. As to the forced choice issue: do you drive? If yes, do you have insurance? If you drive and don’t have insurance you are breaking the law. Have you written your congressperson about that?
Or hopefully, the American people will once again will realize that the power resides within us. Evil perpetuates because we all collectively ignore its existence and try to go about our lives as we see fit. The wars, the corruption, the lies can all be ended if every sane human stood together and said no. The extinction of the deluded parasites rests on the very finger tips of every man woman and child that believes in a better, safer, more just world. And they know it too, and that is why they fear us. Condone no form of inhumanity, even it wears a face that may suggest that it is on our side. Actions speak far louder than words and believe me, I wanted to believe in the ideal. But the ideal has let us down and shown us its true colors, and we are held by the illusion of commitment to the lesser of two evils. We are human. I believe we are capable of more.
So much more.
Our good intentions must not be held tangled up in the myth any longer, or it will mean our figurative end at the hands of of our worst natures.
1) Passed any sort of stimulus
Bush and the real President, Cheney, are the guys who bailed out the banks.
5) Invested in Green Energy.
Has ignored natural gas to the point of raising suspicion that he is on the take from the oil industry.
3) Passed any sort of Health Care Reform.
In a negotiated form that will unquestionably cause it to be declared unconstitutional long before it every becomes effective, thereby fooling the unthinking in the base into believing that something was accomplished when it was not. The root cause of the poor Health Act was the loss of Kennedy’s seat in a district in Massachusetts that had been liberal for decades. Much of the cause of that loss can be laid at the doorstep of the President completely ignoring the election and failing to point out its importance to the Mass voters.
.
4) Passed any sort of Financial Reform.
With delayed implementation sufficient to allow the banks raise interest rates and cancel credit lines to an extent that negated much of the benefit of the new bill, all while failing to do anything at all about the banks being exempt from the usury laws and failing to force the banks to issue credit in exchange for the bail out money.
8) Presided over any sort of draw down in Iraq
While drawing up wars in two other countries, continuing incarcerations without trial in Guantanimo, and having the Justice Department prosecute almost twice as many whistle blowers as any other President. By the way, you haven’t heard of Bradley Manning being released from solitary confinement and given a trial yet, have you? The Obama administration is still holding him without trial under conditions that are worse than Guantanimo. Any Republican would have done any of this.
13) Appointed two liberal justices to the Supreme Court.
Liberal? Conservative? What you mean is a biased judge. We don’t need biased lawyers in black robes to prejudge cases based on their own agenda. We need fair and impartial judges. What Republican would have appointed a biased judge? Every Republican. By the way, Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren.
14) Increased fuel economy standards.
See the comments above on natural gas.
15) Issued an executive order repealing the Bush Stem Cell Research restrictions
Any Ayn Rand conservative or non-evangelical Republican with a set of balls or a good strap on.
20) Got Bin Laden
All Republicans with sufficient brains (although I grant those are few and far between) except George W. Bush, who not only did not have the brains, but, more importantly, is a close friend of the Bin Laden family. In fact, there is some reason to believe that Bin Laden was buried at sea to avoid placing George in the embarrassing position of being required to attend the funeral and pay his respects.
But you have asked me to name THE Republican who would have done ANY of the above. I’ll go you one better and name THE Republican who would have done ALL the things on your list. He’s the #1 Republican in the land and the Grand Old Party’s chief negotiator – Barack Hussein Obama.
So now that I’ve won the contest, what’s my prize?
“19) Repaired the reputation[] of [...] the CIA…”
By whitewashing torture? WTF?
The Clintons tried to get health care passed, wouldn’t compromise – voila – no health care for 10 years or so. If you don’t vote for him and a crazy Republican gets into office, the only person to blame is you. Because people were told to stay home and don’t vote in the 2010 elections by people upset that the entire progressive agenda hadn’t been enacted to their satisfaction within the first two years of Obama’s presidency, we now have the House controlled by the Tea Party. Thanks a lot, by the way. Boy that sure showed Pres. Obama and the Democrats what’s what. It also showed the rest of us and we don’t like what we’re seeing. Great changes are often my in incremental steps. If you refuse to support anything but ‘perfect’ legislation you are the one who is caving on progressive principles. President Obama has taken every opportunity to advance progressive principles as far as he can despite stonewalling by the opposition and people in his own party who insist on swallowing the Republican talking point and spitting them out whole.
“What’s interesting is your holier-than-thou attitude and disdain for people who refuse to hero worship your little Messiah”
The thing that you people do not understand is that we only have one Messiah, and he was born over 2,000 years ago.
Stop deifying Obama. It only makes you look stupid.
Nowhere in this blog did the author refer to Obama as a messiah. Nor did he deify Obama. Weak, weak, weak emotion-laded attempt at argument. A Junior High debate student could do better.
I too am sick of the lie about Obama, the “messiah” almost as sick of Obama’s talk talk talk talk talk without action.
I do think there are those that will bend over backwards defending Obama’s worst decisions on the war and the economy just because he has a D after his name.
Peace,
Tex Shelters
1) Passed any sort of stimulus.
Bush did this, too.
8) Presided over any sort of draw down in Iraq.
Bush is the one that came up with the drawn plan for Iraq. Obama is following it.
18) Sued the states of Arizona and Alabama for their horrendous immigration laws.
No, he didn’t. He sued those states because they were attempting to usurp Federal powers. That’s a very big difference.
20) Got Bin Laden.
This is a big one.
I am sorry but, it is my considered opinion that Obama is a spineless political hack and that your achievement list is dwarfed a few straightforward failings:
1. Employing Orwellian doublespeak to justify violating his oath to uphold the constitution, enforce the law to punish the criminals who preceded him in office. His failure to do so not only institutionalizes their offenses, but makes him complicit in them.
2. Not doing anything to end U.S. imperial misadventures that are both financially and morally bankrupting the country.
3. Obsessing about bi-partisanship, as if it is an end and not a means. I agree that that the GOP constitute a treasonous fifth column, does it not behoove him to say something to that effect out loud?
Those are just three that particularly gall me but I could go on and on. It is obviously your opinion that he is, “progressive in his heart.” I beg to differ. And frankly, that is clearly an opinion and not a demonstrable fact! When do the facts of his craven shortcomings compel us to throw him overboard? When I vote for a presidential candidate, I am expected to support him no what he does or doesn’t do once in office? Sorry, but Obama’s toast. If Rick Perry or Michelle Bachmann wind up in the White House because people like myself will not, under any circumstances, vote to reward him with reelection, he was no one but himself (and perhaps his Wall Street johns, or the evidently smarter but clearly unscrupulous advisers his chooses to surround himself with).
Scott, I sadly agree with just about all you have said. I truly want to believe he is on our side, but it appears he just wants to make it easier on us as we lose. There IS no win/win scenario here, bi-anything implies BOTH sides move toward the common center, but all this man does is cave on the core issues, pointing to the peripheral stuff as progress. He wants so badly to be seen as ‘playing fair’ that he destroys his effectiveness.
And in (non)fact, if one wanted to make the conspiracy case – hius election has turned the traditionally Democratic South into Tea Party Republicans. Given that every important decision has been toward capitulation, that he has increased taxes on the billionaire boys’ club not ONE DIME, that he has NOT withdrawn from ANYWHERE, and has INCREASED the number of simultaneous battlefronts by adding Libya to the expense list, why shouldn’t I suspect a one-party-behind-the-scenes conspiracy?
Robert Ludlum couldn’t have scripted it better.
The author is, of course, correct – it is only my opinion. But it is also only yours, David. I’m glad you want to support the President in his time of stress, I would prefer to see someone with the balls to stand up to the bullies. I believe the important thing is, in the end, we both want the same thing, or close enough as to make no difference. The problem comes when we have to decide who to support, and until I see signs that the bullies have been neutralized (not appeased) and that the tax rate on the wealthy goes back to pre-Bush levels I have to assume that he is just not doing the job I voted him in to do. (And don’t get me started about Bush/Cheney war criminal prosecution…)
“1. Employing Orwellian doublespeak to justify violating his oath to uphold the constitution, enforce the law to punish the criminals who preceded him in office. His failure to do so not only institutionalizes their offenses, but makes him complicit in them.”
Double speak? In what way?
“2. Not doing anything to end U.S. imperial misadventures that are both financially and morally bankrupting the country.”
He is following the draw-down plan for Iraq that Bush made. And he is making draw-down plans now that bin Laden is gone. That, BTW, is the reason we were in Afghanistan in the first place.
“3. Obsessing about bi-partisanship, as if it is an end and not a means. I agree that that the GOP constitute a treasonous fifth column, does it not behoove him to say something to that effect out loud?”
I agree that he has been overdoing the bi-partisanship. AND that it’s getting very, very grating. He, and the Dem’s, need to start explaining to the public just what is going on. And why, or why not, they think that certain things should be done.
I have yet to see ANYONE ask the GOP how putting millions of people out of work, with their budget cuts, is going to HELP this country? The fact is that the more people who are working, the better off our country is. And the easier it is to pay our legal debts.
“It is obviously your opinion that he is, “progressive in his heart.””
He is a Democrat. And a middle of the road Democrat at that. He always has been, even when he was campaigning. The fact that people were getting very strange idea’s of what he would do as President, doesn’t mean that their perceptions were correct. It just means that they were projecting what THEIR wants were. Not what he actually said.
The “doublespeak” I was referring to was his “we want to look forward, not backward” justification for not prosecuting torturers and their enablers. It is his responsibility to enforce the law. How do you prosecute people for crimes they commit in the future?
I voted for Obama because I believed he would end our involvement in the middle east. I believed he would stand up for organized labor and protect the social safety net. I believed he would stand up to the Tea party and the corporate owned GOP.
You are right. Opinions can be wrong. You get new information and you change your mind. It’s called learning.
Will I vote for him again? What other choice do I have? That doesn’t mean I won’t hold his feet to the fire when He gets so far off track. I won’t lie to myself because I want him to be the magic bullet, when he’s clearly not.
Let me just echo the first four comments, and say, I am extremely disappointed in Obama.
The fact is, he’s siding with the right on economic matters in a time for financial crisis, and we are worse off for it.
Read my take, and how it will lead to riots if nothing is done:
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/08/13/let-the-riots-in-britain-be-a-warning-to-america/
Peace,
Tex Shelters
What’s interesting is your holier-than-thou attitude and disdain for people who refuse to hero worship your little Messiah. A true Progressive would never put Medicare on the cutting table while at the same time giving tax breaks to billionaires. PERIOD. Those actions alone put him squarely in the Conservative camp. His political weakness, his running from confrontation, even when he has the American people AND the facts on his side, his disdain for the “F’ing retarded” Progressives that got him elected in the first place are all good reasons to put his feet to the fire.
What’s sad is this desperate cheer leading by Obamas faithful. Your opinion isn’t based on fact, it’s based on faith. Now I’m all for religious freedom, but religion has no place in politics.
Yeah, that’s what I meant to say.
How long do we keep choosing between the lesser of two evils before we come up for air and demand a more reasonable choice? If you step back for the long view, you’ll notice that both parties have been trending toward the right for about five decades. If you read their campaign disclosures, you’ll see why. The same people are paying both major parties.
Vote Green Party. It won’t solve our problems, but it won’t make them any worse. At least you can say you voted your conscience.
I have in every election I have voted in. Its not that many because I am only twenty-two, but can honestly I have always voted for who most closely matches my views and never the “lesser of two evils.” I will continue to, as well as help others find something other than the conventional choices. I live my life by the idea that things that are conventional tend to be wrong in my experience. Just because everyone else is doing something is the least valid reason to do something.
Echoing what pkohan said, being a little to the left of today’s republicans doesn’t make you a liberal. It doesn’t even make you a centrist. Were this 30 or even 20 years ago, Obama’s actions (I find actions more umportant than beliefs) would land him firmly in the moderate republican camp.
These are not the actions he campaigned on.
So instead of being a Republican, he’s just a shitty excuse for a Democrat. Got it. Thanks for clearing that up for us, it was so important that we address that before moving on to less important issues, like how we’re going to create jobs for our millions of unemployed, or how we’re going to insure the millions of people that Obama’s health care “reform” leaves out in the cold.
By the way, I love how you “pragmatists” have found a way to blame Congress for everything that doesn’t get done, and give Obama credit for everything that does. Like DADT, for example, which Obama left on the shelf until he needed a sop for his progressive base, who were pissed off at him in droves for needlessly extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich. Or health care reform. Obama gets credit for the fact that it passed, but Congress gets all the blame for the fact that his three big promises about HCR — that it would include a public option, and that it wouldn’t include mandates or excise taxes — went unfulfilled.
Obama only got PART of what he wanted with HCR. He’s President not king, Congress writes the legislation and if congress wouldn’t pass the provisions he wanted, how would they have gotten in the bill?
You are familiar with how our Government works, correct?
Apparently there are a LOT of people who do not know how our system of Government works.
Apparently there are people that forget how FDR and GW Bush got their agenda passed despite opposition by getting public support, manipulation, and other devices.
We know how our Government works, and the accusation that we don’t is insulting at best.
We also know that some president’s get things done and use executive authority to do things like end torture of prisoners, which Obama cares little about doing.
If you like drone attacks and torture and rendition, then quietly defend Obama on everything and stay quiet about issues where he is completely in the wrong.
Bush would not have given a damn about Congressional permission and neither would have Reagan. They would have ordered Gitmo shut. Unfortunately, all our presidents seem to think this torture is okay, including Obama.
So don’t give me the crap about how we “don’t know about how the government works.” Get your heads out or what the Constitution says and read a little history and them read about the executive powers again.
Peace,
Tex Shelters
Open your eyes, Matthew! He never intended to include a public option just like he never intends to prosecute Bush torturers and Wall Street swindlers.
“Obama gets credit for the fact that it passed, but Congress gets all the blame for the fact that his three big promises about HCR — that it would include a public option, and that it wouldn’t include mandates or excise taxes — went unfulfilled.”
That’s because the President doesn’t write the bills. Congress does. And they took the public option out of the bills because the GOP demanded it. The GOP refused to even talk to them until they took it out.
BTW, the HCR bills were online, as it was being worked on, for over 9 months. The GOP made over 100 changes to them. At the same time they were telling the public that the Dem’s weren’t letting them have a say in them.
thomas.loc.gov
His problem is that on most issues, he starts from the middle, and concedes towards the right.
That means a serious can of whoop ass for the dems, as their opposition starts from far far right.
“1) Passed any sort of stimulus”
Seriously? Republicans believed in stimulus in Jan 2008. The only reason they opposed it was because of the democrat in the White House. Had the GOP controlled the White House we’d have had a bi-partisan agreement on stimulus and I’m guessing that Fox would be running a lot of stories on how successful it was.
Just being marginally better than a Republican doesn’t mean you can’t be disappointed in Barack Obama. Sometimes true pragmatism requires standing up to an opposition instead of coddling them. Or telling the opposition they are completely wrong. Or stating a firm position or belief.
After all, what are you being pragmatic about if there’s no end game WHERE YOUR SIDE WINS.