Democratic Underground - Is claiming Obama isn't a "progressive" exclusionary?

I consider myself a liberal. I'm not as big a fan of the word "progressive," but regardless of which word you choose, there are a lot of people - both on DU and other parts of the left blogosphere - who insist that Obama isn't a liberal or isn't a progressive.

Personally, I think that's a dangerous sign. This is exactly the same thing as right-wing Republicans declaring that everyone to the right of Mike Pence isn't a "real conservative." It's an exclusionary, purist mode of thinking that, if it were applied, would just result in a smaller and smaller party.

That isn't to say that I agree with everything Obama has done. I'm not a fan of Larry Summers as his chief economic advisor, and I think Geithner is in over his head. I think they ought to nationalize the banks and break them up. (Although I realize it isn't a clear cut case: nationalization may well prove more expensive, there's no will in Congress to appropriate that money, nor is it clear they have the legal authority; moreover, the FDIC has never taken into receivership a bank whose assets were greater than 2% of the overall banking system - taking over the 4 largest banks would be well over a majority.)

I also think they need to move quicker on gay rights and should have pushed harder for bankruptcy cram-down. And I think the stimulus should have featured fewer tax cuts and more infrastructure spending.

You're never going to agree with a politician 100% of the time. Moreover, the nature of politics is such that compromises are going to be made. It doesn't matter how personally liberal a political figure is - when they're in a leadership position, even the best-intentioned have to pick and choose their battles and work within the political constraints they're granted.

This isn't an argument for complacency - by all means, be an activist, push from the outside, apply pressure over your pet issues. But spare me the "Obama=Bush" rants. Like this one:

> http://www.openleft.com/showQuickHit.do?quickHitId=8818

There wasn't evenv a hick-up from one administration toi the next ...
.. despite the changing of parties. If anything it accelerated as the new adminsitration came in and paid off favors to their wall street campaign supporters. They'll never lose until the people rise up and make them pay in some other way ... if they ever do ... becoz the sytem they've created and their government will not do it.
Z
by: Z @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 19:59
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...

and this -- even Cap and Trade is Summer's market-creating idea --
Black Agenda Report's 100 days report card -- excellent overall -- http://blackagendareport.com/?...

... The so-called "Cap And Trade" scheme favored by the Obama adminstration enacts the reprehensible suggestion of Obama advisor Larry Summers' that African and other less developed countries are I"underpolluted" by establishing a corporate "right" to pollute, along with a financial market to buy, sell, trade and speculate on the value of these imaginary pollution "rights." It doesn't appear to have reduced carbon emissions in Europe, according to Dartmouth's Dr. Michael Dorsey, but it has made a lot of traders and speculators rich. , and is a product of the same market-as-solution-to-everything exhibited during the Bush years. A tax on carbon emission s would be more straightforward. ...

by: amberglow @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 20:40
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but he's so smart ...
... but he's so wrong about almost every goddman thing that he's zealously promoted/enacted; policies that have led us to this situation: free trade, deregulation, derivatives not being regulated, taking down the depression era legislation that split up the banks and brokerages (glass-steagal act), etc.. One can only come to the conclusion that summers is either very stupid or extremely immoral, yet obama hires him and puts him into power again and allows him to serve wall street at the expense of the american people again. It's dispciable and disgraceful and he'll pay a price for this at some pioint I believe.
And supposedly the jackass wants to appoint summers as federal reserve chairman next ... that's fucking criminal.

Z
by: Z @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 20:51
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these are their priorities and the only ones who matter to all of them -- Congress too --
here's another great one from BAR -- http://blackagendareport.com/?...

-- Status QuObama: A Hundred Days of Fake-Progressive BS and Liberal-Left Surrender
by: amberglow @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 21:22
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I hope that the blacks stop supporting him en masse becoz his polices harm them ...
.. more than most. If he does not change his policies and keeps selling us out, the blacks going against him would be a very good sign in my opinion and would signal a miscalculation by the establishment that the group of people most likely to riot have not fallen for the changeling bullshit and won't be pacified by putting another corporate sell-out in as president just becoz he happens to be black. Don't be surprised oif that happens becoz, again, they will most likely be most harmed by his policies.
Z
by: Z @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 21:35
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This is a good line from this article ...
... and a conclusion that I have also independently ... and disappointedly ... come to as well:
"The absence of spine and intelligence on the part of what passes for a Left in the U.S. is quite remarkable. By demanding nothing of Obama and the Democrats except that they not technically be Republicans, our so-called "progressive" organizations effectively grant advance approval to whatever corporate and imperial policies the new president and the Democrats execute."

Not all progressives belong under this umbrella but there are plenty that do ... the majority I'd say ... and they throw around accusations of anti-semetism, divisiveness and prejudice at anyone that looks objectively at the situation. Hence you are anti-semitic for pointing out that the vast majority of obama's economic team is comprised of rubinites, and is essentially a jewish mafia. You are anti-Mexican for pointing out that we have double-digit unemployment and decreasing wages when we are on the eve of a large amount of inflation entering this country and therefore further immigration would not be in the best interests of this country. And of course you are anti-African American for pointing out that obama is a fucking corporate/wall street whore sell-out.

But the fact of the matter is is that the majority of this country is very stupid ... how can that be argued at this point ... and that stupidity ranges from the right all the way to the left. It's very discouraging, but it is ...

Z
by: Z @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 22:23
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MI blew its primary - just to be heard, so they say.
Now, we are in meltdown. The Car Czar is saying tell us what you need, and to my knowledge MI great Democratic leadership is saying nothing about renegotiating trade and passing healthcare, two of the most important things that need to be done to build a real American economy and create American jobs. Instead they are asking for more money for unemployment and welfare to take care of the millions of new poor Obama is making in our state.
The Gov. is talking about some PR scheme to "buy American". Somebody needs to remind her that all the cars are being made in Mexico and everything else is being made in China. 90% of all of our employment dislocations are being certified "as a result of foreign competition".

This administration has sealed the deal. I am fucking done with Democrats - all of them.

They're asking for another four years -- in a just world, they'd get 10 to 20. ~~ Dennis Kucinich

by: dkmich @ Sat May 02, 2009 at 06:27
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I'm done with them too
And I'm done giving them any money. Basically, they are running an extortion ring: if you don't support us, you know what you are going to get ... and that's all you get: a non-republican. And admittedly, often ... almost always ... the democrat is not as bad as the republican, but not better enough to effectuate a change of course in this country ... by design.
We now have a democrat president, senate and house and not enough has changed and we are being played for fools by obama, and rahm and the rest of the crew. There simply is no excuse for appointing emanuel and giving summers and geithner full run of the treasury unless you plan on serving wall street and other big money interests while deceiving the american people about it ... that's where emanuel comes in.

And notice on a quick hits post today that emanuel is doing the pr for treasury now after the aig bonus scandal. And notice how obama was sent out on tour to all those tv shows to flash his smile and do his elegant oratoricals to absorb the heat and deflect it. And notice that obama did not do a goddamn thing that he promised in order to deflect the citizen's heat. the bonuses are still going out, the tax that he initially supported to seize the bonuses back he does not back anymore and was not passed. but how many of the dumbass public know this? Probably about 10%, the rest of them go to bed thinking that obama took care of it for them when he did the exact opposite.

But that's what this administration is all about: serving the establishment while doing the absolute minimum to keep the public occupied during the heist.

Again, barak obama: head pr man for the establishment ... that's all he is, despite what my dumbass democrat friends choose to believe which is all based upon the administration's semantics and visuals starring barak obama.

oh well, rant over ... hope was over when obama sold out on the fisa retroactive immunity bill. it was clear then that he had little principles.

Z
by: Z @ Sat May 02, 2009 at 12:07
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Like I said, I don't agree with everything the Administration is doing, and I think liberals/progressives need to push back and apply pressure on several issues. But if you can't see how this administration is different from BushCo, I don't have a lot of sympathy.

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