The fine line of criticizing Obama on DU

[Lorax7844]

I think that it is our job to push him to the left and call him out when we see flaws in his arguments, too many people here automatically assume that means you are a troll republican hater. It's not true and calling me that doesn't make it true.

I want Obama to do the right thing.

We have a fine line to walk here, making criticism constructive and not destructive. Pointing out problems with Obama's arguments but not aiding republican talking points. Considering my thread just got shit-canned, I guess I fucked up. Better luck next time. I crossed a line, I shouldn't have, guess I found that boundary quick.

My apologies to Redqueen and the others from that thread. I don't hold grudges BTW, I hope just as much as you do that OBama will be the next FDR.

Cheers.

[Lorax7844]

1. Also some may think that I am suffering from split personality disorder

I am not, I delight in the things that Obama has done that I like, and I scream at the top of my lungs at the things I don't. As long as the good out weighs the bad, I feel like he is a success.

[shellgame26]

18. I don't have a problem with

constructive critcism of the president. I despise the way he capitulated to the banks. It is the all or nothing attitude that I find infantile. There are folks here calling him Bush, even a king! And insisting that being a little progressive is just not good enough for them because he isn't 100% what they would like him to be right now and therefore they want nothing more to do with him. This is the kind of thinking that helped Bush come to power in 2000. Progressives saying that Al Gore just was not good enough for them at the time. We all know America would have been a very very different place today.

[NYC_SKP]

2. Constructive cricizm is fine, it's encouraged, especially if accompanied by...

...accompanied by suggestions for actions we can take, or alternatives.

What I find unacceptable are uses of RW talking points and slogans:

"Obama = Bush"

"Meet the New Boss"

Etcetera.

These are neither constructive nor instructive, they are divisive and they are flamebait.

:patriot:

[firedupdem]

3. +1 n/t

[Lorax7844]

4. agreed

I didn't say any of those things but I obviously crossed the line.

[NYC_SKP]

15. You rock.

:yourock:

I didn't see the other thread, but you are clearly contemplative enough to have thought this over and to post something about an issue that's been important lately.

Many members wouldn't have stepped up like that.

Welcome to DU!

[Phx_Dem]

5. So you want Obama to "do the right thing," as long as

you get to decide what the "right thing is." Uh huh. Yeah, that sounds about right here on DU.

[Terran]

7. Oh good god

How the fuck did you come up with such a negative take on a perfectly reasonable OP? Get a life.

[iamthebandfanman]

8. maybe he didnt get that pony

i keep hearing about from the centrists. haha.

seriously tho, sounds like he has a lil anger and hatred in his heart clawin to get out... at anyone or anything.

[Lorax7844]

9. yes I have things I believe in shocking I know

[last_texas_dem]

16. Why not?

If the point isn't to have elected officials one feels closely aligned with (at least, as closely as possible) regarding what is "the right thing," why even vote in the first place?

[iamthebandfanman]

6. you dont have anything to apologise about.

but thanks for being a bigger person and showing how adults act.

[Lorax7844]

10. I had a very inflammatory headline

I just wanted to draw attention to what I saw was potential for abuse. I went to far, trust me I do that all the time.

However, when I do it I admit it. When I'm wrong I say I'm wrong.

[iamthebandfanman]

13. no you didnt.

trust me, on the scale of controversial things in a DU headline... that one ranks pretty low.

by the way, i personally feel it doesnt matter where 'talking points' come from... so long as they are factual...

[Hanse]

11. It'd be nice without all the maudlin crap.

Like the Obama hater are some sort of American hero for making up shit about him and carrying the RW's water for them. "He told us to do it," as if he meant to compare him to Bush and other dishonest bullshit.

[dionysus]

27. da-ding ding ding.

[Buzz Clik]

12. Excellent post.

The line drawn between rational, constructive criticism and raw hysteria is not all that fine.

[Lorax7844]

14. sometimes for me it is

[dionysus]

17. obviously it's a pretty damn broad line because all kinds of whack shit doesn't get locked...

:shrug:

but, nice OP :)

[Cha]

20. But, some do with

a little help from my mouse to the alert button.:)

[dionysus]

22. ha!

:hi:

[ZombieHorde]

19. "OBama will be the next FDR"

Damn, I hope not. Scary thought.

[dionysus]

23. care to elaborate?

[ZombieHorde]

25. FDR rounded up U.S. citizens and placed them into camps because they were the wrong race.

In my view, that is extremely disturbing behavior.

--------------

p.s. My wife and I named our son Dionysus.

[dionysus]

26. did you really?! thats cool. I'm not a fan of the detention camps, but on the whole FDR was a great

man.

[salguine]

21. I posted this on another thread, but since it's relevant to this, I

may just post it here too, with some alteration.

I get so tired of any criticism of the President's actions or policies being met with the overly indignant assertion that anyone who raises an issue "expects Obama to have everything fixed immediately."

Nobody expects Obama to fix everything immediately.

But we do expect him to move in the right direction. And thus far he seems to me—and a LOT of others—to be moving in a decidedly WRONG direction on a whole raft of issues, even going to far as to unabashedly embrace some of the most appalling policies of his predecessor. THIS is what we object to.

We do NOT expect Obama to "fix" everything right away, and I'm sick and tired of all criticisms—very serious and substantive criticisms—being characterized as juvenile "poutrage" that we didn't "get a pony". Get over yourselves.

We DO expect him to put The People first and do the right thing.

[dionysus]

24. see what happens is, if you make a DU career of daily, constantly posting complaints...

and even in your post you're equating him with fucking W.. go figure. i guess you must be wiser and smarter than he is.

and by the way, negative OPs equal if not surpass the "cheerleading" posts here.