"I am bound to disappoint some, if not all" Sen. Barack Obama

[FrenchieCat]

I am a Democrat....

.... after all; my views on most topics correspond more closely to the editorial pages of the New York Times than those of the Wall Street Journal. I am angry about policies that consistently favor the wealthy and powerful over average Americans, and insist that government has an important role in opening up opportunity to all. I believe in evolution, scientific inquiry, and global warming; I believe in free speech, whether politically correct or politically incorrect, and I am suspicious of using government to impose anybody’s religious beliefs–including my own–on nonbelievers. Furthermore, I am a prisoner of my own biography: I can’t help but view the American experience through the lens of a black man of mixed heritage, forever mindful of how generations of people who looked like me were subjugated and stigmatized, and the subtle and not so subtle ways that race and class continue to shape our lives.

But that is not all that I am. I also think my party can be smug, detached, and dogmatic at times. I believe in the free market, competition, and entrepreneurship, and think no small number of government programs don’t work as advertised. I wish the country had fewer lawyers and more engineers. I think America has more often been a force for good than for ill in the world; I carry few illusions about our enemies, and revere the courage and competence of our military. I reject a politics that is based solely on racial identity, gender identity, sexual orientation, or victimhood generally. I think much of what ails the inner city involves a breakdown in culture that will not be cured by money alone, and that our values and spiritual life matter at least as much as our GDP.

Undoubtedly, some of these views will get me in trouble. I am new enough on the national political scene that I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.

As such, I am bound to disappoint some, if not all, of them.

The Audacity of Hope
http://books.google.com/books?id=k1mVYHvsDpQC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=I+am+a+Democrat........+after+all%3B+my+views+on+most+topics+correspond+more+closely+to+the+editorial+pages+of+the+New+York+Times+than+those+of+the+Wall+Street+Journal.+I+am+angry+about+policies+that+consistently+favor+the+wealthy+and+powerful+over+average+Amer&source=bl&ots=kk-tn5bBWz&sig=t6wDWqu3W1Tpfhdo55ckwL1xJSs&hl=en&ei=_poATfWrLZGusAOAhN2vCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

[leveymg]

1. The blank screen and disappointment part resonate, but not the angry about favoring wealth

[lamp_shade]

2. Thanks for this, Frenchie. Reading this reminded me of why I voted for him.

[Pholus]

3. "I am angry about policies that consistently favor the wealthy and powerful over average Americans,"

Me too, but President Obama just called me "Smug" and "Sanctimonious" for talking about it.

[FrenchieCat]

5. I also think my party can be smug, detached, and dogmatic at times.

If the shoe fits, wear it.

You, just like Pres. Obama, are not above criticism.


If you can dish it out, you very damm well should take it.

[Pholus]

9. That's your right. Don't get so whiny when I exercise my rights.

And your incessant spamming on this topic is MORE than proof enough that dogma abounds.

[martymar64]

4. He is now a Republican AFAIAC

He is a closet Republican tasked with destroying the Democratic Party as a home for liberals and progressives.

Mission Accomplished

I'm done with that turncoat.

[bertman]

6. I agree with you, martymar64. nt

[Fearless]

7. So DADT isn't removed based on an -ism but because it's politically unfeasable?

DOMA isn't about orientation but about politicking and "compromising"? Makes me feel all warm and tingly.


:eyes:

[avaistheone1]

8. I am bound to disappoint you President Obama

and not re-elect you in 2012.

[dog_lovin_dem]

10. Just wanted you to

know that I recommended this. I am SO frustrated that every positive OP I have rec'd hasn't shown up recently. The negativity here toward our president is very disappointing to me. Keep the positive energy coming, FrenchieCat!