With a month to go until the midterms, those who whine & walk around with hurt feelings. . .

[wndycty]

. . .are demonstrating that they are willing to bite their nose off just to spite their face.

There is too much at stake in these midterms for all this infighting.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

1. Doesn't infighting require two-sides?

[Aramchek]

6. sure, the side who support Obama and the Democratic Congress, and those who would rather bitch

all we're asking is that they hold off on bitching for a month or two and help get Democrats elected.

we promise they can go right on bitching afterwards.

[depakid]

50. That attitude plus two bucks gets you a cup of coffee

and millions of disaffected voters.

[DrDan]

2. so your approach to uniting the Dems is to cast insults

[bigwillq]

3. I guess so!

:P
Couldn't that be considered whining too?????!!!! :rofl:

[wndycty]

4. I can't unite those who don't want to be united. . .

. . .I can't unite those who are determined to be unhappy.

[kentuck]

5. Right.

You cannot be "bi-partisan" with those that chop off your hand each time you reach out...

[Aramchek]

7. you cannot pass a bill in the Senate without at least 1 Repuke

how would you go about enacting legislation?

[kentuck]

9. It is my understanding...

that if the Democrats maintain control of the Senate, they can change the 60-vote rule in Committee? Does anyone know the particulars of that?

[Raine1967]

24. I believe they can do that at the beginning of each new congress.

So I would have to say yes.

[Sherman A1]

8. Agreed

I will hold my nose and vote Democratic this election, but I can do without the lectures that my concerns with what I believe to be important should be cast aside for the greater good.

[treestar]

30. Odd philosophy

Usually it is Republicans who don't care about the greater good. Liberals and progressives are usually all about the greater good.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

52. Obama abandoned the greater good at Copenhagen.

Why should I support someone who ignored the issue of our age?

[DrDan]

18. so the point of the OP was just to offer an insult . . . I get it

[Sherman A1]

35. That's about it

We should just STFU and vote for the Democrats because they are the lesser of the............

:banghead:

[DrDan]

41. that sure seems to be the case

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

20. Isn't that the other side's too?

Unless you think being called a corporatist or saying that "Obama is no better than Bush" is really a unifying tactic, I'm pretty sure that's been the other side's MO right from the beginning.

It's not any fun when you get punched back though, is it?

[PVnRT]

25. True colors

The GOP are no long the "other side" to our resident centrists. The left wing is.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

26. Context of the discussion would help.

As far as I'm concerned, the Republicans should always be the target of our ire. That's our whole fucking point!

[treestar]

31. A-freakin'-MEN!!!

:toast:

[wndycty]

40. Exactly. . .

. . .:kick:

[niceypoo]

10. Yet you are engaging in infighting with this post

Funny how that works sometimes.

[treestar]

32. Mentioning infighting is infighting?

:silly:

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

11. AMEN!!! n/t

[Enrique]

12. they're also throwing the baby out with the bathwater

and putting the cart before the horse.

[HughMoran]

13. Agreed

I teach my children better.

[zipplewrath]

14. Complaining about the people you think you need is stupid

Don't complain about them. Attract them.

Acknowledge their frustration, and why it exists.

[kentuck]

15. Why do you think they are frustrated?

Because it definitely exists. It is real.

[zipplewrath]

16. Several reasons

1) Too many Bush policies still being enforced/extended
2) Too much deference to Wall Street and the bankers and not enough attention to the victims thereof.
3) Too much "inside baseball" such as the Nebraska compromise and the Big Pharma dealings.
4) Not enough fight. Caved on the public option with out a fight, never even tried on single payer, proposed too small of a stimulus instead of starting where it needed to be and working down from there.
5) Working too hard to accomodate the GOP all the while complaining about the left wing.
6) Too much power to the centrists/moderates/DLC inside the administration and not enough left leaners with the presidents ear.
7) Choosing to fight a very unpopular war, and dragging out another one.

[DrDan]

19. you forgot (8) Mocking and insulting the base that worked and contributed to take the WH, the HofR

and the Senate

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

21. I'm not the least bit insulted and I'm one of the 85% of liberal Democrats that approves of Obama.

I'm pretty sure I can call myself the base on this one. You... I'm not quite sure what to call you.

[DrDan]

23. a voter - a contributor - a campaign worker

[zipplewrath]

37. One of the people Obama is complaining about

Does that suffice?

And yes, I'm voting.

[treestar]

33. Why do you need to be attracted?

You seem to have no civic duty at all, sitting around waiting to be inspired or attracted, and ready to be insulted and throw everything away and let the Republicans take over. It's putting yourself above the people, frankly.

[zipplewrath]

36. Why do you need to be loved?

Why do you centrists so desperately what the love and attentions of the left? You keep complaining about not getting it.

[HughMoran]

43. someone needs a hug

awww :hug:

[treestar]

47. Again, why can you not vote or GOTV unless you are "attracted?"

Why do you require some dramatic inspiration for a basic civic duty?

How can you claim to care about progressive causes? You are willing to sit there and let them disappear.

[LAGC]

53. Enough of the strawmen!

I can't believe that ANYONE on this site for political junkies is going to just sit out and not vote, no matter how disappointed we are with the leadership.

Being motivated to GOTV is another thing. How can you really be "pumped" when you keep getting shit on by your party's leadership? If the Obama Administration wanted to motivate its base, they'd quit the blame game and give us some reasons TO vote FOR them. Just being afraid of the other guys isn't good enough.

During the campaign, Obama told us to "hold him accountable" and keep his feet to the fire. Why then, are we being criticized when we are doing exactly that?

[jeanpalmer]

54. If you vote for them/him

they'll take it as a sign of approval. They'll think you really do approve of the wars. And there will be no incentive to change. And the wars will go on, or even escalate.

If everyone were to take a dramatic stand against his war policies and threaten not to vote for him, he would have to change. Or end up like LBJ. People who are not demanding, who march in lockstep with him, are in fact undermining him. They're giving him a free pass, and in the process are letting him pursue policies that are going to destroy him and the Party.

[LoZoccolo]

17. K&R

:kick:

[Zenlitened]

22. Yet another installment of "Great Moments In Motivational Speaking"

I sure hope your "help" for Dems is limited to posting on DU.

Do the Democrats and Pres. Obama a favor, please, and DON'T step away from the keyboard to start engaging voters directly.

Thanks! :hi:

[wndycty]

39. Actually I engage voters directly everyday for more than a couple of Democratic candidates. . .

. . .and those voters are no where as bitter as some of the folks on DU.

They are asking how they can help.

They want to know what they can do to keep the Illinois State House Democratic.

They are not whining.

[Life Long Dem]

27. And who does it hurt?

Not President Obama. It hurts you and I, or the people.

[tavalon]

28. Maybe you might mention to the administration to stop

belittling and browbeating us.

[CakeGrrl]

29. Who is "us"? I'm a Dem and don't have a problem voting the straight Dem ticket.

I don't feel belittled and browbeaten, but then again, I'm not sitting around saying the administration hasn't done much.

I guess it comes down to whether you feel that they're speaking directly to you. And since I haven't been threatening to withhold my support for Dems in defiance of the concept of being a 'lockstepper', and since I haven't wondered or hoped if Obama should pack up and go home for 2012, and since I think I have a realistic perspective about Washington as a hellhole of obstructionist game-playing, I haven't felt like they're addressing me.

[DrDan]

34. perhaps you can provide a link to a post here where someone has

threatened to withhold support.

(on edit - I assume that means withholding a vote. But I suppose it could mean something else.)

[zipplewrath]

38. No, they can't

Because they want something else besides our vote. They want our money and our silence. And they're pissed their only gonna get 1 out of 3.

[HughMoran]

44. that sounds extremely paranoid

Just sayin'

[zipplewrath]

55. Actually fairly rational

It's really consistent with their political structure. They put OFA under the DNC so that they'd have top down control. They've discouraged outside political groups from acting independently. They don't want outside voices. They want votes and money.

[HughMoran]

56. lol

OK :crazy:

[CakeGrrl]

45. Seriously?

Just yesterday one poster said to another "I'm dedicating my non-vote for Obama in 2012 (if he runs again) to you."

I've seen several people say that they can't be manipulated by threats that Republicans are worse. Sounds to me like they're saying that that isn't enough to get them out to the polls.

I've seen several people say that they need the administration to give Progressives some reason to continue to support them. That sounds a lot to me as if they don't see that "reason", they won't bother.

Are you not believing that people are actually saying this, or do you just not interpret those as threats not to vote Dem?

[DrDan]

46. I have certainly read a lot of frustration - but have yet to see anyone actually

say they would not vote for a D.

I could see some of those comments as meaning they will not work on a campaign. Or not support financially.

I just have not seen a post saying they would withhold a vote.

Seriously

[ProSense]

42. It's whining and it's futile.

For example, Greenwald believes the President and his administration have a right to condemn their critics. So why harp on the fact that they exercize that right?

Greenwald also acknowledges that the criticisms signal that they believe "they're doing the right thing and that these criticisms are fundamentally unfair"?

You think? President Obama

<...>

One of the healthy things about the Democratic Party is that it is diverse and opinionated. We have big arguments within the party because we got a big tent, and that tent grew during my election and in the midterm election previously. So making everybody happy within the Democratic Party is always going to be tough.

Some of it, also, has to do with — and I joke about it — that there's a turn of mind among Democrats and progressives where a lot of times we see the glass as half-empty. It's like, "Well, gosh, we've got this historic health care legislation that we've been trying to get for 100 years, but it didn't have every bell and whistle that we wanted right now, so let's focus on what we didn't get instead of what we got." That self-critical element of the progressive mind is probably a healthy thing, but it can also be debilitating.

When I talk to Democrats around the country, I tell them, "Guys, wake up here. We have accomplished an incredible amount in the most adverse circumstances imaginable." I came in and had to prevent a Great Depression, restore the financial system so that it functions, and manage two wars. In the midst of all that, I ended one of those wars, at least in terms of combat operations. We passed historic health care legislation, historic financial regulatory reform and a huge number of legislative victories that people don't even notice. We wrestled away billions of dollars of profit that were going to the banks and middlemen through the student-loan program, and now we have tens of billions of dollars that are going directly to students to help them pay for college. We expanded national service more than we ever have before.

<...>

One closing remark that I want to make: It is inexcusable for any Democrat or progressive right now to stand on the sidelines in this midterm election. There may be complaints about us not having gotten certain things done, not fast enough, making certain legislative compromises. But right now, we've got a choice between a Republican Party that has moved to the right of George Bush and is looking to lock in the same policies that got us into these disasters in the first place, versus an administration that, with some admitted warts, has been the most successful administration in a generation in moving progressive agendas forward.

<...>

At that point, when you realize that the President believes he's doing the right thing, you focus on criticizing the policies and stop harping on the fact that the President is exercizing his right to condemn your criticism (that is whining), especially under the disingenuous frame that it's directed at the base. It's directed at the critics.

And that's where the futility come in.

Whining isn't going to change anything. Greenwald and Hamsher have spent a lot of energy whining, even digging into a campaign speech to spin their ridiculous meme.

Obama Mocks Public Option Supporters

They could have directed that energy to campaigning for Feingold, Boxer and any number of Democrats. Instead, they're just decided to jump into help Feingold after watching him falter for the entire summer.

See, effectively campaigning for Feingold or other Democrats would have meant to some extent acknowledging that Democrats did something right. Something that's impossible for them to do.

In Hamsher's case, her e-mail for Feingold, who participated in yesterday's rally with the President, highlighted his opposition to the President and referred to Ron Johnson as Lieberman lite. Who knew Lieberman was worse than a teabagger?

Maybe it's a good thing the whining distracted them.

[JoeyT]

48. I'm not willing to bite my nose off.

I may be willing to order it assassinated without the benefit of a trial in direct violation of the US constitution while claiming state secrets to prevent a court ruling on the legality of it.

I'm told there's a huge difference.

[ibegurpard]

49. this is new and exciting...

[Riley133]

51. Really? 30,000 McD's employees may lose insurance

I'll whine and pout all I want. The unintended consequences of the HCR seem to be large...including my social group of friends who won't be able to afford their health insurance (but I guess that's OK because they can't get denied if they could afford it?).

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-fi-mcdonalds-20100930,0,2664885.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fmostviewed+%28L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories%29