Reply #76: I agree with almost every part of what you wrote, but ... [View All]

[Martin Eden]

... on the whole you didn't address perhaps Obama's biggest failure that has led to the distressing level of disappointment and rage evident here at DU:

It is this president's failure of leadership.

Barack Obama was elected president largely on his ability to articulate our values and to inspire us, and yes -- this included a large measure of the spirit of bipartisanship or at least reaching out to all Americans regardless of Red state/Blue state. He demonstrated leadership ... at least oratorically.

President Obama entered the White House under the most dire economic circumstances since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. FDR's greatness was due in part to his New Deal policies, but more than that he reached out to the people of this country and gave them confidence that better times were ahead and that their government was working hard for them to make things better -- and FDR took no guff or bullshit from the Republican opposition. He threw it back in their face. The bullshit repeatedly flung at President Obama is orders of magnitude more odious, yet by comparison he has turned the other cheek.

When the people who turned out in droves to put Barack Obama into the White House feel betrayed and bereft of hope, does the fault lie with them, with the Rethuglicans, or with the man we all look to for leadership? This goes beyond mere oratory; it also involves the policies this White House has and has not championed ... but at its core and the very heart of the matter is the bully pulpit of the presidency and how the perception that translates into political reality can be and needs to be shaped by someone who knows how to lead our country out of the wilderness we now find ourselves in. This includes firmly proclaiming in unmistakable language what is true and what is not; what is right and what is wrong; and what needs to be done.

But that has not been done. Far from it. I hesitate to accuse this president of not being on our side, but at the very least I assess he is not up to the task.


bigtree,
I do not mean to be harshly critical of you. I replied to your post because I think it was heartfelt & sincere, very well written, and made sense on a lot of levels. I think much of the vitriol in DU against this president is hyperbole borne of severe disappointment and unrealistic expectations after 8 years of Orwellian horror. I have come to the point where I have little in terms of expectations, but I continue to be engaged and do what little I can to speak my mind and support our causes.