Newsflash: You can be an ardent supporter of president Obama without justifying everything he does!

[whatchamacallit]

This Al-Awlaki thing (among other issues) has made it clear that some will go to any length to shield the president from any and all criticism. Even the good presidents are not 100% right in every decision. Trying to make it so by taking extreme or unnatural positions (for democrats anyway) seems like a desperate desire to stand by your man, possibly at the expense of your own values. I have often read on DU that it's up to us to help him govern and reach his potential by making our desires clear, and when necessary, holding his feet to the fire. We can't accomplish that if we reflexively spring to his defense no matter what. Unlike Bush supporters, we democrats are independent thinkers and not prone to slavish devotion. We support Obama best by keeping him honest.

[TwilightGardener]

1. What if some of us happen to agree with what he does? Is that acceptable?

[whatchamacallit]

3. That's fine

but you can't deny there is a lot of wagon circling going on sometimes.

[cali]

4. and you can't deny that there are pile ons sometimes.

there are folks from both extremes here. there are a few people who don't seem to think that Obama can do any wrong and there are others who don't think he can do anything right.

[whatchamacallit]

5. Agreed. I've been guilty of that on occasion (n/t)

[Hansel]

8. And you can't deny that the media is not necessarily always

forthcoming with accuracy in their stories. How many times has this board blown up over something Obama supposedly said or did that later turned out to be a whole lot different than what the media painted it as? Hell many on this board bought that the highly edited tapes presented by a couple of punks posing as a pimp and whore should be taken at face value even when their 1st preview of it was on Faux News and it was against a progressive and minority organization that it was well known was targeted by the right wing.

Until I hear it come from someone official in his administration I'm not going to get worked up over it like some around here want us to. The media is nearly complete BS at this point so I'll reserve my judgment.

My take on it is that Obama said to bring him in, but if you can't get him alive, then it's okay to take him dead. I doubt very much that he said, "go assassinate him just for my own sh*ts and grins".

There is a knee jerk contingency on this board that is ALWAYS ready to paint everything Obama does in the worst light. They espouse in hyperbole and they accuse anyone who wants to hold off until they have the facts as engaging in circling the wagons and koolaide drinking.

I prefer to not trust the media instead of believing the worst in everything Obama does. Because the media has proven that they are inept and not exactly prone to report honestly when it comes to Democrats in general and Obama in particular. Obama has given me no reason not to trust him. If it was Bush I would believe the worst of him because I did not trust him because he gave me every reason not to. I gave him his chances and he quickly blew them and then over and over again.

The media sources on the left aren't necessarily any better because they aren't exactly immune from reporting with great bias. They hate this war and are too quick to paint Obama as Bush. It's absolutely ridiculous when they report in opinion too.

[arcane1]

2. I've never met anyone with whom I agree 100% of the time

including myself! :)

[uppityperson]

7. I'll agree with that. Sometimes. nt

[Whisp]

6. Yes I Can.

some things he is going along with I don't quite agree with, like ramping up Afghanistan and not getting out of Iraq quick enough for me.

but I don't agree with myself all the time so why would I expect it from another.

bottom line is I trust him, I trust him to do what is right under the conditions he has to play in (which none of us here really knows about). He does not have a dynasty of Obama names in past presidents and the like.

[madokie]

9. I voted for the man because I trust him

and I'll be voting for him again for the same reason and to hell with the naysayers and mainstream media

[Bluebear]

10. So you have blanket acceptance of everything he does including Al-Awlaki...

Just saying, but aren't you proving the OP?

[Crystal Clarity]

15. Amen to that

That's the bottom line with me too.

I don't agree with all of the positions he's taken thus far, but in voting for him, I knew this sooner or later would be the case. 15 months into his Presidency and my overall opinion of Obama remains the same...He's pretty much the kind of President I expected him to be.

[nashville_brook]

19. sounds like faith, which is a wonderful thing -- but it's often problematic in politics

i had faith in Clinton in 92. boatloads of faith -- it was intoxicating.

didn't end well, and i'm not talking about the blowjob.

[madokie]

20. You do as you must

I'll do as I may

If it had not been for the 8 years of President Clinton we wouldn't be here at all today. He threw a monkey wrench in the bfee works. Thats the big picture. Idiot son screwed the pooch bigtime for poppy and company.

[Toucano]

11. Link?

LOL!

[whatchamacallit]

14. Last time I provided a link to something like this it was deleted

presumably because it was considered a call-out. If you peruse some of the recent "assassination" threads you may notice what I'm referring to.

[patrice]

12. Yes. We are supposed to be his peers. To do that we must be as strong as he is.

And slavish acquiescence or contrary pigheadedness, neither one, are strength.

[zbdent]

13. cracks me up how the "liberal media" doesn't recognize the impossibility of

the "liberal base" being in lockstep with Obama, and, at the same time, outraged by what he does and deserting him ...

[stray cat]

16. And you can be a progressive and still be an ignorant fool

[whatchamacallit]

17. Ha, sure

no guarantees any way you slice it.

[one_voice]

18. Agreed...

I don't agree with everything Obama says/does, but I do support him 100%. If I waited to vote for someone that I agreed with 100% I'd never vote. No such person exists. I don't even agree with myself all the time...I change my mind on certain things too.

That being said....I still like Obama very much, and at this point intend to support and vote for him again in 2012. He'd have to do something totally off the wall to lose me.

I think there are a lot more good ideas to come from him. And I look forward to all of them.

[Texasgal]

21. I support Obama

100%...do I agree with him 100%? NO.

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. Ah tahnk you... and here is the truth on this

Theodore Roosevelt:

To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. (1918)

Barack Obama:

The true test of the American ideal is whether we're able to recognize our failings and then rise together to meet the challenges of our time. Whether we allow ourselves to be shaped by events and history, or whether we act to shape them.

Now read BOTH quotes. I don't think the President will mind if some of us don't sing hosanna with this decision. Oh and Mr. President, in this case, in my humble opinion, you are letting yourself be shaped by history. In this case, I will point over there --------------> with those who know that we are doing what is actually patriotic, and that is to criticize when you do something that actually betrays the most basic values of this country...

Of course feel free to disagree... but some of us take the adult position, and will not sing hosanna every time.