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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI Feel Like I Was Punched In The Gut By Obama.
I feel so let down, lied to, laughed at, and marginalized after all the high hopes I had for a better future when Obama was elected president in 2008. One thing's for sure, Obama has the gift of gab.
All the whopping and hollering we did was for naught.
In other words, he lied and is lying to us straight to our faces without blinking his eyes and almost imploring us to believe him when he tells us the TPP is good for us.
WTF happened? How could we be fooled so easily? The signs were all there from the beginning when he hired Geithner, Holder, Rahm, and asked Gates to remain as SoD. And then he packed his administration with lobbyist he vowed not to hire.
You get the gist of my rant because there's so much more.
Eleventh dimensional chess my ass.
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malthaussen
(17,183 posts)When you think of politics as damage control, rather than as a positive, you see that Mr Obama was better than the alternatives on offer, as are the Dems now.
Little exchange from a book to cheer you up:
"You always trust beyond reason."
"Of course. That's how I get results beyond expectation."
-- Mal
NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)It's really very simple when you break it down.
Sure, he is not Robin Hood, or whomever you expected, but I dare say he's better than the alternative.
Note: Keep this in mind when voting in 2016. Is the Dem on the ticket better than the Repub on the ticket? Do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)to do that this time, thankfully. We HAVE a candidate who has a long record to show that he is the real deal.
So no, we won't forget in 2016 in the GE nor before that in the Primary. Is the Dem who actually represents the people and is funded by the people, better than the Dem who is funded by Wall St?
That's an easy one now for all of us who went with the 'he was better than the known bad guy' routine for so long.
We have a chance now to change all that. if we don't take it, we are to blame for the continued deterioration of the country.
I'm going to take it, how about you?
JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)
Octafish
(55,745 posts)There's the progressive and reform movements begun by Teddy Roosevelt. A Liberal Republican.
There's the New Deal begun by Franklin Roosevelt and continued by the great Liberal Democratic presidents, including JFK's New Frontier and LBJ's Great Society.
But you are right, apart from them, the bar's been pretty low on the whole.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)malthaussen
(17,183 posts)Had McCain or Romney been elected, how much worse would things be? The difference is one of emphasis. There were those who turned no somersaults when Mr Obama won, but simply heaved a sigh of relief that the worse alternative didn't happen.
-- Mal
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)2008.
The Republicans wanted to make it worse.
Much, much, much worse. So much so they still haven't forgiven Bernanke for not cooperating with them.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/krugman/2015/04/03/john-galt-hates-ben-bernanke/?referrer=
They wanted a Mellon-esque liquidation:
Mellon became unpopular with the onset of the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover, in memoirs published decades later, wrote that Mellon advised him as President to "liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate farmers, liquidate real estate... it will purge the rottenness out of the system. High costs of living and high living will come down. People will work harder, live a more moral life. Values will be adjusted, and enterprising people will pick up from less competent people."
Also, no ACA which has saved thousands of lives, a decimated clean energy industry, and a war with Iran.
LiberalElite
(14,691 posts)to the same place. The fkg bottom. The only difference is how fast we'll get there. 
Trajan
(19,089 posts)'Vote for the empty suit with the big D printed on the front - because he doesn't hurt as much'
Hell ... Color me inspired beyond measure ...
Just because Obama hasn't hurt him too bad doesn't make him the best option ...
Furthermore, this is about being dishonest ...no account of hemming, hawing or other offered apologia can change the fact that a man told us one thing and did another ....
TransitJohn
(6,932 posts)I'm also better than I would have been under Kang and Kodos. What the fuck has that got to do with anything?
Exilednight
(9,359 posts)Horse and not to have high expectations. I'll keep that in mind.
RedCappedBandit
(5,514 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)By both Clinton and especially Obama. And I was one of the suckers. Both consistently worked on behalf of the plutocracy to the detriment of ordinary people. Saying "well the Repukes would have been even worse" is cold comfort. The difference between being up to your armpits and your chin in a swine manure lagoon is a distinction with precious little difference.
Won't get fooled again.
malthaussen
(17,183 posts)If Mr Sanders wins the primary and the general, then perhaps there will be better than cold comfort. Although I think we should keep in mind that with the best will in the world, a President can do very little with a hostile legislature. There has to be a revolution at the national and local levels to create the kind of world we'd like to see, or even to start overturning the damage already done.
-- Mal
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)and voter suppression being the new normal, that seems like an insurmountable obstacle.
malthaussen
(17,183 posts)Colonel comes to SecAirForce (I think it was LeMay) and says "Sir! We have an insurmountable problem!"
LeMay replies, "Son, in this organization, we don't have problems, we have opportunities!"
Colonel thinks for awhile, then replies: "Sir! We have an insurmountable opportunity!"
Of course, the opportunity apparently was surmountable, because the Air Force still exists.
Agreed, the road ahead is rough (and I don't expect to see the end of it). But we unfortunately have to pay the price for 40 years of Mourning in America. Or, to put a finer point on it, the rising generation has to pay the price.
-- Mal
TheKentuckian
(25,023 posts),stop the dragnet surveillance, cease to measure dicks with Putin, not grant drilling leases to sensitive areas, avoid offering cuts to Social Security, and drop Jamie Dimon, Lloyd Blankfein, the insurance cartel, and pharma from speed dial.
The real life power of the Presidency greatly exceeds the impression one might get from School House Rock.
malthaussen
(17,183 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Couldn't agree more.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)Bernie winning would be that voters choosing Bernie would also choose the most Progressive Dems.
It would mean that the PEOPLE, not the Party leadership, has stepped up and taken on their role as citizens and will ignore the Corporate Dems generally supported by the Party leadership and vote for the Progressives.
sendero
(28,552 posts)Because I don't think death by a thousand cuts from your "friends" is better than sudden death by your enemies.
If the country is going to hell I'd sooner just get it over with so we can do something about it. The frog-in-boiling-water routine is not working for me.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)
polichick
(37,152 posts)GummyBearz
(2,931 posts)he had to obfuscate the fact that the 10'th and 11'th dimensions were plays against the best interests of the 99%.
He sure is a chess master.
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)Don't try and change anything for the better, just go along to get along. When a Democrat does something deplorable, just stop caring - there's always a hypothetical alternative that is worse.
Besides, what's important is that we never question Our Dear Leader.
FSogol
(45,466 posts)Do you think any of the results are different?
File under: "Not Everything is the End of the World."
Marr
(20,317 posts)A recalcitrant Republican majority could block whatever they wanted, yes-- but a president who was truly devoted to, say, economic justice and reigning in the banks-- as dedicated as Obama is to passing the TPP, for instance-- would've made that Republican majority pay for their recalcitrance every day. Blocking very popular things comes with a price.
FSogol
(45,466 posts)not getting single payer or for bailing out the banks along with car companies, and everything else. Look at how much the majority of the nation hated Carter at the end of his career. Same thing would have happened.
Dragonfli
(10,622 posts)Marr
(20,317 posts)If the President were seen to be sincerely pushing hard for something like breaking up the banks, and the Congress stolidly blocked him/her, week after week after week, it would wear the opposition's popular support down.
We've seen what coddling bankers and the 1% brings-- a lost Congressional majority and a whole lot of corporate policy. I think it's time to actually fight for something.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)Hekate
(90,617 posts)Marr
(20,317 posts)You can see why I hold your opinion in such high regard.
Duppers
(28,117 posts)JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)
Unknown Beatle
(2,672 posts)from the beginning? Or that you didn't get fooled? Or that you're for the TPP so don't include you? What part of we are you referring to?
KoKo
(84,711 posts)New Cold War with Russia,Wall Street Banker Crooks Go Free, Drones Killing Innocents, Whistleblowers in Jail, Attacks on Progressive Dems, Loss of House & Senate to Repubs ....on and on.
AND NOW THIS LATEST:
White House Gives Conditional Approval for Shell to Drill in Arctic
Source: New York Times
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141090419
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration gave conditional approval on Monday to allow Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc. to start drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean this summer.
The approval is a major victory for Shell and the rest of the petroleum industry, which has sought for years to drill in the remote waters of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, which are believed to hold vast reserves of oil and gas.
“We have taken a thoughtful approach to carefully considering potential exploration in the Chukchi Sea, recognizing the significant environmental, social and ecological resources in the region and establishing high standards for the protection of this critical ecosystem, our Arctic communities, and the subsistence needs and cultural traditions of Alaska Natives,” Abigail Ross Hopper, director of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said in a statement. “As we move forward, any offshore exploratory activities will continue to be subject to rigorous safety standards.”
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141090419
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Meanwhile, Gov. Don Siegelman is in prison and the person who helped keep him there is now on the Supreme Court.
CharlotteVale
(2,717 posts)Not for long, though.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Putting one of the primary arsonists in charge of "fighting the fire" was a dead giveaway that he was not working for the people.
Skittles
(153,138 posts)he did not fool anyone who paid attention
Adrahil
(13,340 posts)And I'm proud of him.
Unknown Beatle
(2,672 posts)He even went so far as to say those that oppose the TPP don't know what we're talking about. He marginalized Elizabeth Warren, a champion of transparency in politics.
He even gave a speech at Nike, ferchristsake. A freaking corporation that has a multitude of human rights violations.
So if he manages to pass the TPP, will you still feel the same about him?
Adrahil
(13,340 posts)Nite Owl
(11,303 posts)We can't know what is in it unless it is fast tracked and then it can't be changed.
It's strange to keep this so secret and we are supposed to "believe".
immoderate
(20,885 posts)In the primaries, he was my last ditch 'block Hillary' vote as I felt Edwards was faltering. But I didn't think he would be this -- well, bad.
OK on social issues, but slow on economic advancement.
--imm
Response to Unknown Beatle (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)I saw Obama for who he was right away, which is why I did not support him during the primaries. I voted for him in 2008, simply because I thought the election would be close. I did not vote for him in 2012.
AZ Progressive
(3,411 posts)Being gullible is dangerous, especially in America or any third world nation. People's lives have been destroyed because they fell for con-artists (and some even committed suicide.) You have to learn how to smell when something is bullshit and be able to sort the truth from the lies. If you don't, its to your own peril.
Jamastiene
(38,187 posts)He could sell saltwater to a dehydrated man in the desert and that man would gladly drink it, because Obama is a master salesman.
Dragonfli
(10,622 posts)and he was proud to have purchased it. 
Skittles
(153,138 posts)they will twist themselves into pretzels declaring him the greatest
Skidmore
(37,364 posts)
onecaliberal
(32,812 posts)They know is a disaster because they don't think it will affect them. We. Are. Fucked.
99Forever
(14,524 posts)Never again. Ever.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)Progressive talking candidate while campaigning became centrist/Third Way Geithner-appointing, NSA spying, massive drone killing, citigroup rider-whipping, nonunion-loving, fracking president.
And now, NAFTA on steroids.
I only wish he'd also had a 'War Room' to fight for minimum wage, or maybe for incentivizing corporations to make products in the USA.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)Dont you remember his red states blue states speech and his favorite book was Team of Rivals?
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)trade deals, transparency, universal healthcare, end the endless wars in the ME, union-building, reigning in wall street, the list is endless & its all ON VIDEO.
And also preserved in transcipts.
Here's one of my favorites~
June 14, 2006
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: Take Back America
Complete Text
Thank you. Thank you Roger Hickey and Bob Borosage for bringing us all together today and thank you for your leadership in the cause of a more progressive America.
My friends, we meet here today at a time where we find ourselves at a crossroads in America's history.
It's a time where you can go to any town hall or street corner or coffee shop and hear people express the same anxiety about the future; hear them convey the same uncertainty about the direction we're headed as a country. Whether it's the war or Katrina or their health care or their jobs, you hear people say that we've finally arrived at a moment where something must change.
...Snip...No longer can we assume that a high-school education is enough to compete for a job that could easily go to a college-educated student in Bangalore or Beijing. No more can we count on employers to provide health care and pensions and job training when their bottom-lines know no borders. Never again can we expect the oceans that surround America to keep us safe from attacks on our own soil.
The world has changed. And as a result, we've seen families work harder for less and our jobs go overseas. We've seen the cost of health care and child care and gasoline skyrocket. We've seen our children leave for Iraq and terrorists threaten to finish the job they started on 9/11.
But while the world has changed around us, too often our government has stood still. Our faith has been shaken, but the people running Washington aren't willing to make us believe again.
It's the timidity - the smallness - of our politics that's holding us back right now. The idea that some problems are just too big to handle, and if you just ignore them, sooner or later, they'll go away.
That if you give a speech where you rattle off statistics about the stock market being up and orders for durable goods being on the rise, no one will notice the single mom whose two jobs won't pay the bills or the student who can't afford his college dreams.
That if you say the words "plan for victory" and point to the number of schools painted and roads paved and cell phones used in Iraq, no one will notice the nearly 2,500 flag-draped coffins that have arrived at Dover Air Force base.
Well it's time we finally said we notice, and we care, and we're not gonna settle anymore.
You know, you probably never thought you'd hear this at a Take Back America conference, but Newt Gingrich made a great point a few weeks ago. He was talking about what an awful job his own party has done governing this country, and he said that with all the mistakes and misjudgments the Republicans have made over the last six years, the slogan for the Democrats should come down to just two words:
Had enough?
I don't know about you, but I think old Newt is onto something here. Because I think we've all had enough. Enough of the broken promises. Enough of the failed leadership. Enough of the can't-do, won't-do, won't-even-try style of governance.
Four years after 9/11, I've had enough of being told that we can find the money to give Paris Hilton more tax cuts, but we can't find enough to protect our ports or our railroads or our chemical plants or our borders.
I've had enough of the closed-door deals that give billions to the HMOs when we're told that we can't do a thing for the 45 million uninsured or the millions more who can't pay their medical bills.
I've had enough of being told that we can't afford body armor for our troops and health care for our veterans and benefits for the wounded heroes who've risked their lives for this country. I've had enough of that.
I've had enough of giving billions away to the oil companies when we're told that we can't invest in the renewable energy that will create jobs and lower gas prices and finally free us from our dependence on the oil wells of Saudi Arabia.
I've had enough of our kids going to schools where the rats outnumber the computers. I've had enough of Katrina survivors living out of their cars and begging FEMA for trailers. And I've had enough of being told that all we can do about this is sit and wait and hope that the good fortune of a few trickles on down to everyone else in this country.
You know, we all remember that George Bush said in 2000 campaign that he was against nation-building. We just didn't know he was talking about this one.
Now, let me say this - I don't think that George Bush is a bad man. I think he loves his country. I don't think this administration is full of stupid people - I think there are a lot of smart folks in there. The problem isn't that their philosophy isn't working the way it's supposed to - it's that it is. It's that it's doing exactly what it's supposed to do.
The reason they don't believe government has a role in solving national problems is because they think government is the problem. That we're better off if we dismantle it - if we divvy it up into individual tax breaks, hand 'em out, and encourage everyone to go buy your own health care, your own retirement security, your own child care, their own schools, your own private security force, your own roads, their own levees...
It's called the Ownership Society in Washington. But in our past there has been another term for it - Social Darwinism - every man or women for him or herself.
It allows us to say to those whose health care or tuition may rise faster than they can afford - life isn't fair. It allows us to say to the child who didn't have the foresight to choose the right parents or be born in the right suburb - pick yourself up by your bootstraps. It lets us say to the guy who worked twenty or thirty years in the factory and then watched his plant move out to Mexico or China - we're sorry, but you're on your own.
It's a bracing idea. It's a tempting idea. And it's the easiest thing in the world.
But there's just one problem. It doesn't work. It ignores our history. Yes, our greatness as a nation has depended on individual initiative, on a belief in the free market. But it has also depended on our sense of mutual regard for each other, of mutual responsibility. The idea that everybody has a stake in the country, that we're all in it together and everybody's got a shot at opportunity.
Americans know this. We know that government can't solve all our problems - and we don't want it to.
But we also know that there are some things we can't do on our own. We know that there are some things we do better together.
We know that we've been called in churches and mosques, synagogues and Sunday schools to love our neighbors as ourselves; to be our brother's keeper; to be our sister's keeper. That we have individual responsibility, but we also have collective responsibility to each other.
That's what America is.
And so I am eager to have this argument not just with the President, but the entire Republican Party over what this country is about.
Because I think that this is our moment to lead.
The time for our party's identity crisis is over. Don't let anyone tell you we don't know what we stand for and don't doubt it yourselves. We know who we are. And in the end, we know that it isn't enough to just say that you've had enough.
So let it be said that we are the party of opportunity. That in a global economy that's more connected and more competitive - we are the party that will guarantee every American an affordable, world-class, top-notch, life-long education - from early childhood to high school, from college to on-the-job training.
Let it be said that we are the party of affordable, accessible health care for all Americans. The party that won't make Americans choose between a health care plan that bankrupts the government and one that bankrupts families. The party that won't just throw a few tax breaks at families who can't afford their insurance, but modernizes our health care system and gives every family a chance to buy insurance at a price they can afford.
Let it be said that we are the party of an energy independent America. The party that's not bought and paid for by the oil companies. The party that will harness homegrown, alternative fuels and spur the production of fuel-efficient, hybrid cars to break our dependence on the world's most dangerous regimes.
Let it be said that we will conduct a smart foreign policy that battles the forces of terrorism and fundamentalism wherever they may exist by matching the might of our military with the power of our diplomacy and the strength of our alliances. And when we do go to war, let us always be honest with the American people about why we are there and how we will win.
And let it be said that we are the party of open, honest government that doesn't peddle the agenda of whichever lobbyist or special interest can write the biggest check. The party who believes that in this democracy, influence and access should begin and end with the power of the ballot.
If we do all this, if we can be trusted to lead, this will not be a Democratic Agenda, it will be an American agenda. Because in the end, we may be proud Democrats, but we are prouder Americans. We're tired of being divided, tired of running into ideological walls and partisan roadblocks, tired of appeals to our worst instincts and greatest fears.
Americans everywhere are desperate for leadership. They are longing for direction. And they want to believe again. A while ago, I was reading through Jonathan Kozol's new book, Shame of a Nation, which tells of his travels to underprivileged schools across America.
...Snip...
http://obamaspeeches.com/077-Take-Back-America-Obama-Speech.htm
God, how I wish this man had existed.
Yet here we are, more privatization than ever before, still shipping our jobs overseas, still giving away welfare to oil companies, still governing for lobbyists & special interests, & on & on.
And hell yeah I remember his red states blue states speech. 2004. It was a great speech, in support of John Kerry. I voted for the man who ran for president.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)I wonder what happened to that guy
whatchamacallit
(15,558 posts)Duppers
(28,117 posts)Thank you.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)And I suspect if you showed him that now he would say he has tried his best to make progress on all of those issues but he has had tremendous headwinds to deal with. The biggest one being the economic crisis. That issue trumped all else. The other was the Republicans who essentially blocked every attempt to do anything progressive. I think he has done amazing things given the incredible difficult circumstances.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)
BainsBane
(53,026 posts)and that he is getting better terms than a Republican would. I expect that is his view rather than an intent to lie.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)are now rending their garments over TPP as if they just lost their political virginity, acting like they've been personally victimized because a politician disagrees with them.
Zzzzzz.
AZ Progressive
(3,411 posts)...attacking liberals, public option with the ACA, etc...
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)He sucks if you make a point to ignore all the good stuff as well as ignoring the political and economic environment.
AZ Progressive
(3,411 posts)"Oh, at least he's like a more socially liberal version of Bill Clinton..." when we needed a fuckin FDR, damnit!
redstateblues
(10,565 posts)And a divided government, we are not going to get everything we want. I think Obama has done a good job considering the resistance he has experienced.
AZ Progressive
(3,411 posts)The resistance is in part because of his weak leadership. Imagine if we had a Lyndon Johnson type leader instead.
Unknown Beatle
(2,672 posts)It's more than the TPP, it's just that the TPP was the straw that broke the camels back. My tax dollars are going to the wrong causes. My tax dollars are making Wall St. richer. My tax dollars are subsidizing already rich oil companies and a host of other multibillion-dollar companies. Law breakers are going free and whistleblowers that expose them are going to jail..and the list goes on and on.
So mr. third-way geek, you're for the TPP I gather, otherwise you wouldn't have commented in that manner. Political novices are usually that way. Instead of having honest political discourse, they act like they know it all.
ETA: I'm also pissed off that my tax dollars are killing innocent civilians in other countries through the use of drones.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)mvd
(65,169 posts)He is fighting for TPP much harder than the public option, not cutting spending, raising the minimum wage, protecting Social Security from bad changes, etc. Though I never had super high hopes and those hopes faded shortly after President Obama was first elected. The problem is Hillary would likely be the same way. She would probably be the third disappointing Democratic President in a row - fourth if you count Carter. But I was an infant when Carter was elected, so I won't include him. I do feel he was unfairly maligned. I feel Bermie Sanders would fight this hard for all the right things.
Hekate
(90,617 posts)
Vinca
(50,250 posts)There will never be a politician you agree with 100%. Given the fact the AFA gave me my life back, I'll be indebted to the man forever.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Smarmie Doofus
(14,498 posts)Or... as it was previously known... "Bushamacation". ( i.e. privatization, bureaucratization, hare-brained free market strategies misapplied to public ed., RTTP, NCLB, "teachers suck", "unions suck" ( That's why we have poverty, btw. Did you know that?).
Blah blah blah blah blah. etc. etc. etc.
Too tired to agree but hope you're satisfied w. a kick and a rec.
And.... how 'bout we elect an actual DEMOCRAT this time? You'll have to admit: it'll be a novelty.
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)You speak for me as well. I feel exactly the same. And when TPP passes, and Hillary is ordained, I'm too tired to fight anymore for Democrats to be Democrats. The party will have officially left me.