The Hill: White House Unloads Anger Over Criticism By 'Professional Left'

[Hissyspit]

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/113431-white-house-unloads-on-professional-left

White House unloads anger over criticism by ‘professional left’

By Sam Youngman - 08/10/10 06:00 AM ET

The White House is simmering with anger at criticism from liberals who say President Obama is more concerned with deal-making than ideological purity.

During an interview with The Hill in his West Wing office, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs blasted liberal naysayers, whom he said would never regard anything the president did as good enough.

“I hear these people saying he’s like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested,” Gibbs said. “I mean, it’s crazy.” The press secretary dismissed the “professional left” in terms very similar to those used by their opponents on the ideological right, saying, “They will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not reality.”

Of those who complain that Obama caved to centrists on issues such as healthcare reform, Gibbs said: “They wouldn’t be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president.”

The White House, constantly under fire from expected enemies on the right, has been frustrated by nightly attacks on cable news shows catering to the left, where Obama and top lieutenants like Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel have been excoriated for abandoning the public option in healthcare reform; for not moving faster to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay; and for failing, so far, to end the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

- snip -

“There’s 101 things we’ve done,” said Gibbs, who then mentioned both Iraq and healthcare. Gibbs said the professional left is not representative of the progressives who organized, campaigned, raised money and ultimately voted for Obama.

Progressives, Gibbs said, are the liberals outside of Washington “in America,” and they are grateful for what Obama has accomplished in a shattered economy with uniform Republican opposition and a short amount of time.

MORE

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. "Professional"? You can get paid for this?

Who knew.

[BeFree]

29. You're not getting paid?

All the activists I know are making a killing. <grin>

Especially some of the radio guys, and that ex-governor that is running her mouth from sea-to-sea.

And obviously Gibbs should stay focused on those high-rollers.

But I like this reaction from the WH.... it means they hear us in the WH halls.
They hear an earthquake arising from the foundation.
And whenever their hearts warm a bit, they KNOW we are the future.

[Smarmie Doofus]

40. Plus it's all so Jimmy Carter: "They are very hard to please."

Spoken of liberals in the party sometime in 77-78 if I recall.

So what happens next: do they force a primary challenge that weakens the nominee and makes a Reagan/Hoover/Bush/ Romney look good by comparison?



>>>>Those people ought to be drug tested,” >>>>>>

Right . As if anyone had money in this economy to buy anything stronger than milk of magnesia.



>>>But I like this reaction from the WH.... it means they hear us in the WH halls.
They hear an earthquake arising from the foundation. >>>>

Perhaps. But more likely they're triangulating again. Now that's worked REAL well over the last twenty years. We've solved so many societal problems using this approach.

The RW of the DEM party is a one-trick pony.

Harrummmppphhhh.

[BeFree]

44. RW Dems

I fear them more than the RW pubbs.

They are like a virus in the body. Here I see them reacting to us, the anti-RW-virus that is causing them problems.

In a positive sense, from Gibb's reaction, I see us as having an effect.

I see us as free-radicals attacking the cancer eating away at democracy.
And they see us as costing them money.

[Divernan]

53. Next Gibbs will be channeling Senator Joe McCarthy (McCarthyism-red-baiting)

“I have here in my hand a list of two hundred and five (people) that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party (Gibbs will change that to Professional Leftists) and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department.”

In the 1950s, Senator Joe McCarthy waged a vicious campaign to expose Communist spies in the U.S. government. He never found one, but he fueled a national hysteria called the Red Scare.

On February 9, 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin made one of the most explosive speeches in U.S. history. Addressing a Women's Republican Club meeting in Wheeling, West Virginia, he waved some papers in the air and shouted, "I have here in my hand a list of 205--a list of names that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party, and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy of the State Department."

McCarthy claimed to have uncovered a dangerous spy ring. When he was questioned by reporters in the next few days, the number of Communists on his list shifted to 207, then 57, then 81. IT TURNED OUT THAT MCCARTHY HAD NO REAL LIST (my emphasis added)It turned out that McCarthy had no real list. But his anti-Communist campaign escalated until it came to dominate American politics, wrecking innocent lives and fueling a period of national hysteria called the Red Scare.

Well, here's the deal, Gibbsy. We're not professional, but we ARE too smart to have the wool pulled over our eyes. We ARE very experienced campaigners and have more established contacts and influence with out Democratic neighbors than the party hacks you may control. And we will not stop working to shape and humanize the policies of the Democratic Party.

[Radical Activist]

69. Full time media pundits and staffers for DC-based political groups.

Yes, there are people who get paid for this, and they often make more money with sensationalism than by writing anything that might actually advance a progressive cause.

[girl gone mad]

2. Well, that'll win 'em over.

:eyes:

[woo me with science]

3. Oh boy....

I just got that feeling you have when the rollercoaster is going over the very top of the first hill.

[another saigon]

4. "uniform Republican opposition"? oh really?

Then why in the world has obama wasted time and money trying to engage them. I don't remember any repukes doing that for a Democratic prez.

Keep it up Gibbs, you are not doing your boss any favours.

[zipplewrath]

5. I'd "Alert" this

But I don't think skinner can do anything about Gibbs.

There's an old saying in the military. Complaining is an enlisted mans right, and an officers problem.

Gibbs needs to realize that at best the left is a bent mirror, that merely distorts what you see. It is still you in the mirror. At worst, they mirror isn't all that distorted, just imperfect. But there's never been a perfect mirror.

[meow mix]

6. well theyve just reached a new plateu of asshole-behavior

guess they really dont want liberal votes.

[Sheepshank]

86. I'm pretty sure

they already don't have the vote of those the interview is describing. Huge loss you think?

There's an empty threat if ever I read one!

[JVS]

7. Boo fucking hoo.

:nopity:

[IDemo]

8. He's wrong

I'd be quite satisfied if Dennis Kucinich were president.

Then again, I'm not a member of the so called "professional left".

[woo me with science]

9. Gibbs, get back to me when my relatives have jobs and health insurance

they can actually use.

[me b zola]

48. Isn't that something? We are supposed to be happy with "insurance reform"

Meanwhile I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and cardiovascular disease, am poor, and in need of decent health care.

[Poboy]

10. Nothing but contempt for us 'professional left' -ers, (whatever the hell that means)

And nothing but sweet talk for the 'professional right'.

[donco6]

15. What is "professional left"?

I had a friend who used to refer to "professional gays" - he was gay himself, but from an older generation that didn't approve of gays being - well, GAY. I wonder if that's what Gibbs means? Maybe we lefties are just too vocal these days - too proud of who we are and what we believe. We're just making way too much noise under that bus.

[meow mix]

11. and the woodchucks rise.... so infuriated!! lmao

fucking hilarious.
a righty attacks, and the woodchucks suddenly find thier bravery to join in!

best laugh ive had all week, thanks blanche-lovers.
btw cant wait to see her go down for good bahahaha who wasted thier money and credibility on that trainwreck?

[snot]

12. Where's that paid gig you can get in U.S. media where you can be left of Kucinich?

[Erose999]

39. Replacing Gibbs as Kucinich's press secretary when us "professional leftists" vote Obama out?

[Donnachaidh]

13. hey Gibbs!

:rofl:

[LaurenG]

14. Inside the beltway there is a void

and most people there are myopic. If they can't feel the pulse of their base and they want to call us out and say we all need drug testing the push to have the president do more in line with our ideals is useless, I'll go ahead and call the relationship over.

Btw, how dare Gibbs try and define what a progessive is when he himself is more conservative than Richard Nixon, how would he know a progessive if one bit him in the butt. He is so defensive that he's not even listening to us. :eyes:

[Selatius]

16. Most people SUPPORTED the PUBLIC OPTION according to polls.

By abandoning it, are we to think that the final health care bill is "centrist" if the majority of the people were to the left of the bill itself?

[Sparkly]

17. How'd that bus get over me?

:eyes:

[Divernan]

23. Good one, Sparkly! Thanks for the laugh!

[Doctor_J]

34. The "centrists" will tell you you jumped in front of it

How dare you ask for less war and more health care

[woo me with science]

45. LOL! +100000 nt

[gkhouston]

62. It was due for its election-year tune-up.

It will magically disappear when they want money from you.

[Poboy]

18. If you wanted what 70% of Americans wanted, universal healthcare,

then you must be on DOPE?

Fuck YOU.

[myrna minx]

19. Wow. Just wow.

Find someone else to door knock and give contributions since my 'fucking retarded' 'professional leftism' isn't wanted . :puke:

Hope and Change indeed.

[depakid]

36. It's beyond tome deafness and group think at this point

this is sheer incompetence.

[marmar]

20. This illustrates how out-of-touch official Washington is.....That insularity makes them clueless.

nt

[disillusioned73]

21. I got a question, because I seriously don't remember...

did the GWB 2 administration attack their base (far right) in the first term as much as the current administration has it's own base?? I really didn't know I was this far left - although I haven't called the Prez. GWB lite... so maybe I don't need a drug test....... yet

[unhappycamper]

24. Nope.

Dubya let the religious fundies lead the 'Onward Christian Soldiers' movement and the crazies in Congress lead the 'Death Tax', bu$h tax cuts and 'Victory Uber Alles' movements.

And in the process they managed to bankrupt this country.

[LooseWilly]

92. Apparently the base is now upper middle class comfortable suburbanites...

The Left is just taken for granted. Left-lite for the easy-listening-liberalism of the suburbanites is administration policy... schlacked over with Left-esque rhetoric.

:shrug:

[JerseygirlCT]

98. I don't think so

I don't think they apologize, I don't think they indicated any interest whatsoever in accommodating the other party or its ideals. It was my way or the highway all the way through.

[Divernan]

22. We don't need no stinking "Ideological purity"

"The White House is simmering with anger at criticism from liberals who say President Obama is more concerned with deal-making than ideological purity." This appears to have been a paraphrase from The Hill reporter.

I reply,"ideological purity" my A**! We progressives are the brightest segment of the voting public. We well understand that no one could repair the damage of the Bush/GOP years in one fell swoop. We are not demanding some pie-in -the-sky ideological purity. We would appreciate and welcome improvement in increments. First, stop the downward slide. Second, BEGIN to improve the respective situation. Third, don't insult us with Big Lies.

Healthcare "reform" which INCREASES profits for Big Insurance is not reform in any way, shape or form. It is not even a baby step forward. And it is worse than a blatant step backward, because it has been presented by Gibbs, Emanuel, et al as a benefit to Americans, instead of what it really is, a benefit to Big Insurance.

Bush, et al corrupted government agencies by falsifying scientific reports, such as EPA's report on air quality at Ground Zero. Currently we have administration spokesmen lying about Coast Guard actions in response to the Gulf Oil Debacle, as well as the absolutely preposterous, and scientifically undocumented claim that 75% of the oil is magically "gone" and it's safe to eat crabs/shrimp/fish from the Gulf.

I didn't donate my time and hard-earned dollars, not to mention suffer the pain of my arthritic knees climbing local hills in door-to-door canvassing in both the primary AND general elections to benefit Big Insurance, Big Oil and be insulted by the likes of Gibbs. The same holds true for the terrific people - all progressive Democrats, with whom it was my distinct pleasure to work with on the campaign.

[Canuckistanian]

37. I bristled at that, too

That was purely some editorializing from the Hill reporter.

[TBF]

25. Gibbs is wrong -

"Gibbs said the professional left is not representative of the progressives who organized, campaigned, raised money and ultimately voted for Obama."

I did all those things, and I'm completely disgusted with Obama. Gibbs, you really need to get outside of the beltway and talk to your supporters.

[GOTV]

26. If people are so "grateful" why is there a chance the Dems will lose their historic majority?

maybe Gibbs/Obama should do less complaining and more listening.

[KansasVoter]

27. LOL....I am done with you Gibbs. Call me an idiot and then want my support??

[Poboy]

30. To be accurate, he didn't accuse you of being an idiot.

He called you insane, or 'crazy', then proceeded to accuse you of being on a mind altering narcotic.

[KansasVoter]

42. LOL.....true! I stand corrected!

[nuxvomica]

28. It's not the deal-making so much as the weak position they assume

We want Obama and the Democrats in Congress to succeed but they can't continue to negotiate from a position of perceived weakness. Most of the dilution they have allowed on their agenda has been the result of fear that they will be tagged as going to far left, not bipartisan enough, and that that will hurt them electorally. I suspect Gibbs' bizarre reaction may be borne of his own frustration with a conciliatory approach that has blown up in their faces -- not only have they not gotten what they wanted, they still haven't shaken the partisanship slur from the Right. I think everyone knows they should've taken a harder line, either steamroll their agenda and hope that a grateful nation thanks them for it (I think that could've been done) or become Republicans. There was never any middle ground.

[Eyerish]

31. Kiss my ass Gibbs...

If he doesn't think the "professional left" are the ones who helped organize and coordinate the GOTV effort, his head is further up his ass than I originally though...

[rucky]

32. WTF is the "Professional Left"?

so it's not all the left, just a certain, vaguely labeled portion of the left we've never heard of. What kind of straw are they made of?

[Doctor_J]

33. Amateur lefty against rendition checking in

:hi:

[hobbit709]

35. This leftist is "simmering with anger" at your constant caving to the right.

so FUCK YOU Gibbs.

[killbotfactory]

38. you guys are right, Obama is just like Bush, and fuck Gibbs for saying otherwise!

You're relentless and unreasonable criticism of the Obama administration has opened my eyes, and I will be voting GOP this next election if I can every climb down off of my mountain of betrayal and resentment.

[Name removed]

50. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Radical Activist]

67. And you know its only crumbs because a professional pundit told you so.

:eyes:

[tomp]

73. that's right, you think totally for yourself and i don't think for myself at all.

fail.

[Raineyb]

94. Only people who are too stupid to see for themselves need someone to

tell them the difference between crumbs and something substantial. And damn fools constantly mistake crumbs for something substantial because someone told them so.

[Radical Activist]

99. I see the difference with my own eyes in my community.

Banks and credit cards aren't allowed to continue the scams they used to pull on me and millions of others.
I know people put to work on vital energy efficiency projects.
I see many more put to work with other stimulus projects.
I'm thinking about going back to college for another degree and I see what he has done to make that more affordable. He already did much more than Clinton who only focused on the first two years of college.

I'm into real change that I see impacting people's lives. I realize compromises were made that people have every reason to be angry about, but I'm not going to ignore what I see with my own eyes just because the Senate is full of conservatives.

[Raineyb]

102. Did we pass usury laws?

No we didn't. So how exactly is it better for the banks to TELL you how they're ripping you off rather than stopping them from actually ripping you off.

I know people who are out of work, have been for nearly 2 years, can't find a job. Nothing for them. Health care? They can pay for health insurance that won't cover a hell of a lot. IF they can scrape together the funds to do so. That'll be a bit difficult since they're unemployed. I know people who went back to school, are on unemployment and STILL can't get financial aid. Is more debt is going to help them? I don't think so. But they know it'll take 20 years to pay off their credit card at the exorbitant interest rates that the credit card company charges them because it was too much trouble to bother to stop the banks from ripping them off in the first place by regulating interest rates which brings me right back to where I started.

That's not even going into the wars plural. Guantanamo, those "national security letters", No Child left behind which leaves lots of children behind and Obama wants to ratchet it up. I'm not seeing the improvement in my neck of the woods and these wins just to say they won doesn't do shit for people on the ground which is where these battles matter.

I know fucking crumbs when I see them and I can't make a meal out of them. And I am tired of people telling me I'm not seeing what the fuck I'm seeing because what I think I'm seeing is the result of what I'm being fed while trying to feed me their line of bull.

[Divernan]

52. We'll be working to replace the BlueDog Democrats with liberal Democrats

As I tell the DNC fundraisers who keep calling and crying about how important it is to keep the Dem. majority. "You're exactly right that we DO have the Dem. majority now, and Dem.Congressional Leadership cannot control it. I'll control my own political donations and direct them to progressive liberals."

It's not about betrayal and resentment; it's about effecting LIBERAL CHANGE - not funding Goldman-Sachs bonuses with taxpayers money, or lying about the situation in the Gulf to protect Big Oil, or pimping for Big Insurance and calling it health care reform, or appointing yet another elite Ivy Leaguer to the Supreme Court and saying oh, look, I appointed a woman.

[Radical Activist]

74. I tell the DCCC and DSCC the same thing every time I get a call.

I only donate to individual candidates. Party committees have always given too much money to conservatives. The DNC even did it under Dean. We need to replace blue dogs in Congress with liberals.

[spoony]

41. What's his name here?

I have a few guesses.

[City Lights]

43. LOL!

:thumbsup:

[Starry Messenger]

54. LOL!

:thumbsup: Me too!

[tomp]

46. they're not making any bones about it, are they?

they're just asking to be punished.

[piratefish08]

47. and they STILL expect your vote.

fuck them.

[tomp]

49. can any of you obamaphiliacs possibly think this is helpful somehow?

you realize, of course, don't you, that this is a signal that obama is going to use this "professional left"
as an excuse to justify their prior actions and move further right?

you realize, of course, that this tactic borders on red-baiting?

you realize , of course, that this paints the left in the same nutty colors as the far right, while making at least
some approach to the far right?

even if you don't agree with "the left", why don't you tell obama/gibbs/emmanuel to cut out the crap
before this gets really ugly. it's in everyone's best interest.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

51. "Professional Left"? What's next? "Pinkos"? "Commies"? "Paid by the Kremlin"?

They seem to be getting desperate.

[MisterP]

104. over 1947-55 the Dems and many libs (NAACP) dumped actual and suspected Reds

and fled headlong into McCarthy's arms

recall that Eleanor Roosevelt embarrassed herself by disagreeing with Joe--because he was giving anticommunism a bad name

let alone LBJ's mixed record of both Vietnam and the Great Society

[BzaDem]

55. Thank you Gibbs for articulating my thoughts.

Many people will never be satisfied with anything in the realm of reality. Thank you for saying the obvious.

[Doctor_J]

57. Ther reality is that Don Siegelman could have been PARDONED on 1/21/09

that would have been one tiny crumb to us who feel that Rove belongs in prison.

[Forkboy]

59. Then their votes aren't needed and won't be missed.

I hope to see no more threads reminding us of the evils of not voting, or voting third party. You don't need those people, so I'll hope you'll point that out to any one who starts such OPs.

[emilyg]

70. Correct. Hi love.

[Forkboy]

78. Hello!!!

:hi:

:hug:

[BzaDem]

71. The truth is that these third party voters need Obama far more than he needs them.

Even if they don't realize it at the moment.

That might not be politically correct to say, but it is the cold hard truth.

If Obama loses to a Republican, he has millions in the bank and will live quite comfortably. He won't have any problems.

The people who will have problems will be the people FARTHEST away from the political views of the Republican that wins. That's right -- the so called "third party voter."

[Forkboy]

77. Let us know how that works out for you.

[BzaDem]

79. It's not really about me now, is it?

You are the one claiming you are more progressive than me. Let's assume for a minute that it is true (just for the sake of argument).

In that case, wouldn't a Republican presidency hurt you more than it would hurt me by definition? Wouldn't it also hurt you more than it would hurt Obama, again simply by definition?

[Forkboy]

81. Where did I say I was more progressive than you?

In that case, wouldn't a Republican presidency hurt you more than it would hurt me by definition?

To be honest, my life has always been the same regardless of who is in office. My life today is exactly the same as it was under Bush, Clinton, Bush and Reagan. No better or no worse. I'll survive no matter what. I vote the way I do for other people's sake, and to be blunt, I no longer really give a fuck about these other people, especially the ones who are more interested in playing patty cake with the Right. If 5 billion people died today I'd call it a nice start.

So tell me, how will you do under a Republican? You say it wouldn't hurt you much, so what's the worry here?

[BzaDem]

82. Well, there is a reason why you come and post

saying that Obama is too far to the right for you.

If Obama is too far to the right for you, then Jeb Bush would be EVEN WORSE for you.

This is not rocket science.

[Forkboy]

83. Which is why I wouldn't vote for a Repub.

:shrug:

[BzaDem]

84. You would be aiding and abetting a Repub though. Whether you do that through voting for a Repub

or voting for a third party (or staying home) doesn't really matter.

[Forkboy]

85. "aiding and abetting a Repub"

:rofl:

Our party is already doing that.

[BzaDem]

87. Not really. People who don't vote for Democrats are aiding and abetting Republicans. Not people who

vote for Democrats.

[Forkboy]

89. Perhaps you should urge the Party to stop aiding and abetting Repubs before scolding others on it?

You know, it's funny. We crazy lefties say that Dems shouldn't do what the Republicans have done (wiretapping comes instantly to mind). When we do so we're told we're purists, or not part of the "reality-based" community, a tactic you use yourself. I don't see many centrist too bothered by these policies that continue, so I find it a little hypocritical to be told by them that I shouldn't help the Repubs, because they sure don't seem to mind helping Repubs when it suits them. And which, by the way, is a Hell of a lot more often than the Left wants to help them.

Your whole argument boils down to, "Don't help Repubs by not voting, vote for someone who helps Repubs instead!"

Do you not see the massive disconnect there?

[BzaDem]

93. Even if it is true that electing Democrats help Repubs (which it isn't), helping Repubs into power

obviously helps Republicans MORE than having Democrats that merely "help" them.

So your argument fails even on your own terms.

[Forkboy]

103. And your argument failed in 2000.

I wish we had been smart enough to learn from that, but we went the opposite direction.

[Raineyb]

97. Democrats who vote for Republican wants aid and abet Republicans.

No surprise that you have it ass backward since you also seem to be under the impression that the party is entitled to our votes rather than earning them. Fuck the party's sense of entitlement and fuck anyone who enables it. I'll vote for whomever the hell I deem fit and you temper tantrum demanding fealty for nothing won't sway me one whit. I'll vote with a clear conscience and no amount of breast beating will make me feel guilty for it either. And if your nasty attitude represents the party at large then I can't wait until I can move somewhere where I can register as an independent without adversely affecting my ability to attempt to choose my representative and I won't look back because I don't have the time nor the inclination to deal with feckless wankers who lack spines.

[Raineyb]

95. Yes, obvious that Gibbs has his head shoved up his ass. What's your excuse for such inanity?

[Starry Messenger]

56. omfg

I can't believe he didn't also wave around "the list"! I guess now we have confirmation of where all these memes come down from. It's the whole tenor of the Administration, IMO. I guess they'll find out in a few years if they are right about the money. I think they are playing a dangerous game of "chicken".

[Forkboy]

58. What a douchebag.

:crazy:

Anyways, at least it's clear that they don't want or need the vote of people like this....

[Doctor_J]

60. Are they ever going to fire on the DINOs?

For one example, when is the WH going to impale Dodd for saying Liz Warren isn't worth fighting for?

[LooseWilly]

100. Uhhm, no?

I think we should now acknowledge that that "INO" portion of the DINO has been misapplied by many of us. Apparently the Left are the new DINOs, we're allowed to use the name, do the GOTV work, and donate money... but: No Policy for You...

Hope? :rofl:

[WinkyDink]

61. Let me know when the ire is directed at the enemy.

[gulliver]

63. Gibbs is right, and he's probably playing it right.

Our "professional left" deals in sensationalism. It is really just demagogy for the sake of Google Ad clicks and page hits. Liberalism suffers.

Some disappointment is very understandable, but people who are actually outraged with the Obama Administration need to take a chill pill or be written off. They get way too much attention, and both the right and the professional left are tempted to use them as pawns. A tiny disgruntled minority can't be allowed to ruin liberal morale or reduce the attractiveness of liberal positions to independents.

[Doctor_J]

64. So Rachel and Greenwald are more sensationalist that Beck and Hannity?

:rofl:

Thanks I needed the laugh.

[gulliver]

65. Rachel's great. Greenwald I can get enough of.

I'm more Conason than Greenwald. I'll take any laugh I can get, though. Thanks.

[WinkyDink]

68. Who do you think is going to ring doorbells for Obama, Independents??

[gulliver]

80. I don't want our emotional, semi-informed folks ringing doorbells.

I don't want them making calls either. They probably cost a lot more votes than they pick up. We need people who keep their heads and understand that this is a marathon, not a sprint.

[WinkyDink]

91. Well, aren't you just the Encyclopaedia Britannica!

At least you seem to be right about the "marathon" metaphor. Afghanistan comes to mind.

[Sheepshank]

88. Are you saying that those who have equated Obama with Bush

would have gone door knocking for Obama? They are likely to vote Obama? Do you really think there is going to be a huge loss there amongst that group?

[WinkyDink]

90. The POINT to which I responded was: Being attractive to Independents. IMO, those who are most dis-

appointed in Obama ARE the very ones who put in the leg-work.

If you want to keep using Gibbs' locution and not mine, that's up to you.

[Spike from MN]

66. I have three words for Gibbs.

Go fuck yourself.

[happy_liberal]

72. hard to please?!

They could try just a little harder to pretend they are doing anything that the left elected them to do.

WE don't believe that we are really leaving Iraq because WE ARE NOT STUPID!

Is that what they are upset about?

We don't believe ramping up the war in Afghanistan is promoting peace?

No one believes the gulf food is safe to eat and the oil is all gone?

No one believes the bailouts were necessary and it appears our government is swarming with former Gold Mansachs employees.

Then the health care bill...


I think they are upset because we are not buying their bullshit.

But jaysus throw us a bone, a real improvement or CHANGE and we will be ecstatic!!

[SOS]

75. The "professionals" got a similar message in 1980 and 1994

Just sayin'.

[russspeakeasy]

76. I think it's professional like "professional wrestling"...

[JerseygirlCT]

96. They have done a lot

It's true. And it's also true that there's a shitload to be done, thanks to 8 years of Bush and the huge mess he left behind.

But most of what got done got done in half measures, after far too much striving to appear "bipartisan". Bipartisanship has been greatly overrated. And it was and is far too naive to suppose that gutting any of the measures that needed to be taken would win any friends in the GOP. They're simply saying NO. And that won't change.

So let's start saying yes to the left. Commit to our ideals and get things done. Let the GOP sputter and scream. Rush and Beck will make a few more fortunes, but the country will be in better shape for it.

[WilliamPitt]

101. (facepalm)

[LWolf]

105. Let 'em simmer. I've been boiling for almost 2 years. nt