ELECTABLOG: Preemptive whinging is the new norm for the "professional left

[dennis4868]

I'll say right off the bat that I absolutely hate the term "professional left". But it will suffice as a descriptor for those on the liberal side of the coin that seem to be able to find pretty much nothing about the Obama administration that they can approve of.

And when they don't have anything to get upset about, that's no problem. They just invent something. Here's the playbook for your reference:

1.Read the day's headlines.
2.Determine a spin that characterizes the President and his administration in the worst possible light.
3.If such a spin does not exist, postulate what the President and his administration's response will be. Make sure that it is as negative as possible, even if it contradicts his past behavior.
4.Write endless blogs on how the President has once again sold his "base" down the river and kicked hippies in the teeth (after punching them, of course.) It is not necessary for him to actually have done this. Your prediction that he WILL do this is sufficient.
5.When what you predicted turns out to be quite wrong, ignore that and focus on the next day's news item. No point in issuing a mea culpa. Just raise a fuss about something new and nobody will notice.
6.Lather, rinse and repeat.
This has been the way it's done for nigh on two years now and this week is no exception.

The entire article is here....http://www.eclectablog.com/2011/04/preemptive-whinging-is-new-norm-for.html

[SidDithers]

1. K&R and bookmarking for future use...

:thumbsup:

Sid

[Kelvin Mace]

2. Well, I don't quite know who the "professional left is"

But i have been a major critic of Obama and I have watched him drift further right each month. My views that he sold out "his base" hinge on the times he did precisely that:

1) Torture policy
2) Military tribunals
3) Domestic spying
4) DOMA
5) His inviting insurance companies to craft the health care plan
6) His refusal to prosecute/reform Wall Street
7) The cat food commission
8) Allowing BP to use the USCG as its personal goon squad
9) The continued erosion of the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th Amendments
10) His persecution of whistle blowers.

Add to this his constant caving to the Right when there is absolutely no reason for him to cave, and you can see that some of us, professional or not, cannot in good conscience vote for him in 2012.

Will he cave in SS, Medicare/Medicaid? We'll see, but my money says he will. I'd love to be wrong and am perfectly willing to admit error if I am.

[villager]

3. "Professional Left" is the new Beltway term for "people who voted for us that we've sold out"

n/t

[dennis4868]

4. Most of the items on your list....

is simply not true....it's the narrative here but that's it...

[Kelvin Mace]

11. You'll have to tell me where they are false

I have yet to see a single prosecution for torture.

The only people being prosecuted at high levels for misconduct in the military and on Wall Street are the people who brought the crimes to light.

This administration has not only defended DOMA up until recently, it used completely discredited and offensive arguments doing so.

DADT is still the law of the land, and still being enforced.

The government continues to do business with Blackwater (see war crimes, unprosecuted).

I can go on, but please offer me examples where I am wrong.

[dennis4868]

5. This post would be...

#6 in the article posted in the original post....rinse and repeat! hahahaha!

[JuniperLea]

6. Fair enough... what has he done that you do like? eom

[dennis4868]

7. but much of what post #2 says is not true or not fair....

for example, DOMA....is he saying Obama sold out on DOMA? NO WAY....prosecuting whistleblowers? Obama's job is to prosecute people who break the law whether or not he likes the law....you see, the PL plays games to make Obama look bad...

[JuniperLea]

8. I know... you know...

I'm betting this guy doesn't... and I thought perhaps an admission that there's nothing Obama has done that he'd agree with would be a hoot;)

[Kelvin Mace]

18. Except he's has done a few things I approve of

and I have enumerated them.

[Kelvin Mace]

17. Ah, the old

"he must obey the law whether he likes it or not" excuse.

OK then, why is he NOT investigating the vast legion of crimes committed by Bush over eight years, including war crimes, lying us into a war, Cheney's assassination squads, Cheney's collusion with Enron and Oil companies?

As to DOMA, he chose to "defend" the law using the most virulent homophobes left over from the Bush admin (people who should have been fired as soon as he took office).

Either he is enforcing the law and investigating crimes or he isn't. He is damned selective about who he goes after.

Wikileaks? Yes! John Yoo? No!

[Kelvin Mace]

13. Hmmmm...

Lily Leadbetter Pay Act
Pushed hard for better Vet care
Some aspects of the health care plan (SCHIP expansion), though mostly a disappointment
credit Card reform (though watered down dramatically)
Undoing Bush's restrictions on stem cells
Allowing FDA to regulate tobacco.

He started off good on a number of issues, then simply caved to the right negating or greatly reducing the good that was accomplished. i.e. the stimulus bill.

[JoePhilly]

14. Where were those huge SS cuts? Wasn't he supposed to announce those today?

And shouldn't DADT be on that list? Oh wait no.

[Kelvin Mace]

19. DADT still the law of the land

Show me where it was rescinded.

I am certainly heartened by his comments today, and will be REAL happy if he follows through. I just won't bet the farm on them. After all, he appointed the Cat Food commission and continues to treat their report as "official" despite the fact that no final report was EVER issued.

Not a single person on the Cat Food Commission was making less than a quarter million a year. Yeah, just the people who REALLY understand living a fraction of that income.

Obama is great at rhetoric, very poor at actions matching rhetoric.

[CrossChris]

9. You hate the term so much that you choose to perpetuate it in your subject line?

Doesn't make sense.

[Hawkowl]

10. It can be an effective strategy

If all our preemptive whining and bitching causes Obama to tilt away from disastrous right wing policies and results in him acting like his speech today, then you can look forward to more of the same!

I will beat up Obama worse than the right wing could ever dream of. I will make Obama sweat and lose sleep over losing enough left wing votes so he is out of a job-- just to get him to tilt left.

Get over it. It's politics and I don't worship personalities. Obama must do better.

[kjackson227]

12. Blah, blah, blah...

If Obama loses HIS job, he'll be okay. The rest of us... NOT SO MUCH. Make sure that the punch you throw at Obama doesn't end up coming back and knocking you on your ass...

[MercuryRepeater]

16. Obama would have cut SS if it weren't for you, right?

:sarcasm:

[eridani]

21. Him ajnd a few million other ARA and AARP members who flooded

So here’s the truth. Around two-thirds of our budget is spent on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and national security.

:hurts::spank:::banghead: Buuuullllllllssshhhiiiiiiiiittttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Social Security is not NOT NOT part of the general budget! If it is, could you kindly explain why that and Medicare withholding are listed separately on my W-2? Anyone?

But we must do it without putting at risk current retirees, the most vulnerable, or people with disabilities; without slashing benefits for future generations; and without subjecting Americans’ guaranteed retirement income to the whims of the stock market.

Starting to get scary. No "cuts" for current retirees, and no "slashing" for future beneficiaries. Meaning that you will seek the middle ground between Repuke "slashing" and the ZERO cuts that all people deserve to get because they've been paying in all their lives? To a fucking SPARATE FUND? Why not even a single reference to raising the FICA cap, which would totally eliminate the need for any "cuts" at all, not to mention "slashings"? And no, since not even Bush with both houses of Congress was able to get privatization, you don't get any points for opposing it.

[MercuryRepeater]

15. for some reason, they never learn from there repeated mistakes

They just convince themselves that they were right despite all the evidence.

[eridani]

20. Right. Please point out where Obama asid he would rais the FICA cap n/t

[JoeyT]

22. Meh.

The people that do nothing but gripe about people who do nothing but gripe about Obama are even more tiresome. Especially since they don't seem to be able to separate valid criticism (Of which there is much.) from the people that outright dislike him(Of which there are few.).

If he sticks to his guns on today's speech, it will win a lot of the people that just ran completely out of hope back to him.