Obama Escalates the War... With the Left
Posted by Joe Rivett on 12.03.2009
Obama is now fighting a two front war. On his Right he has to fend of Republicans on health care, on his Left, he will have to ward off the doves of the Daily Kos...
Not surprisingly, the group most opposed to Obama's Afghanistan war plan is the Left. For the last couple years I diligently tried to warn you Lefties that Obama isn't all that liberal just as I tried to reassure you Righties that he's no Socialist either. In December of 2008 I wrote:
Obama's cabinet is a centrist bunch with leftover Bushies and pro-war Democrats. Clearly, Obama does not want to get all the troops out of Iraq too quickly and he wants to expand the war in Afghanistan. This is not the behavior of an anti-war dove.
Obama never promised to deescalate Afghanistan when he ran for president. In fact, he ran to the Right of McCain and Hilary on the issue of Afghanistan so don't say you are disappointed in the fact that he is doing what he merely promised.
Some on the Left are upset that Obama hasn't brought about major change. Memo to the Left: Obama isn't a dictator, change takes time and happens slow in a country that is well off. In January of 08 I had this to say about the change that will never happen under Obama:
My final problem with Obama's change message is that he will not bring the most change. I think Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, and John McCain would all bring even more change to America than Obama. Kucinich is the only Dem actually offering Universal Health Care. Paul wants the US out of Iraq NOW. Mike Huckabee wants to eliminate the freakin income tax. Now that is change! McCain is promising to veto any bill filled with pork and I believe him. Nothing on Obama's platform is anything dramatically different than Hillary or Edwards.
I've just never understood the Left's fascination with Obama. He had little to no record in supporting Leftist causes. His entire campaign was not based on changing America but rather on attempting to work with the other side. Obama is and will always be a centrist. He never betrayed the Left because he never was the Left. If you want to hate his policies for not being liberal enough that's fine but stop acting like you had the highest hopes for him or that you really thought he was going to govern like Denis Kucinich.
A lot of people liked Obama because it seemed like he was intellectually curious and had an open mind. It was refreshing after 8 years of George W Bush. Well, maybe his curiosity and open mind led him to believe that maybe Afghanistan is still worth fighting for. Maybe the facts on the ground and the advice of his staff led him to believe a troop surge could stabilize the nation. I'm happy Obama made a definitive decision and it appears he weighed all possible options which is all we can ask for from our commander in chief.
You seriously think Kucinich, Huckabee or Paul's proposed changes would have even stood a chance of passing were they elected? Come on now, they too would have had to cajole and bargain with their own party members, whose necessary political self-interests are in varying degrees interlocked with the special interests of numerous groups who fund them. Politics, baby.
Posted By: Chungles (Guest) on December 03, 2009 at 11:15 AM
Sometimes I think eliminating the House and Senate would work wonders for this country's progress.
Posted By: Guest#8129 (Guest) on December 03, 2009 at 01:56 PM
Obama's change was that he IS a centrist. He was appealing to people's annoyance at partisan bickering. Both he and McCain ran campaigns saying that they would work across the aisle. I believe Obama is genuinely trying, it's just that the problem is finding someone to work with him. Republicans don't want to work with him and compromise but would rather go out of their way to make him fail (see health care reform) and Democrats don't want to work with him if he's working with Republicans. He can try all he wants to, but the fact is he can't bring both to the table because neither wants to be there.
And you're right about him on Afghanistan. His campaign was based on a 16-month timetable for withdrawal in Iraq, and stepping up in Afghanistan which was, at the time, in much worse shape. He's just following through on what he said he would all along.
Posted By: General Sandoval (Guest) on December 03, 2009 at 02:43 PM
Largley, Obama's strength has been building bipartisan consensus-just ask republican legislators in Illinois who endorsed him.
I feel that Obama's "leftist" credentials were fabricated by republicans who wanted to label him the most liberal candidate since John Kerry, who was the most liberal since Al Gore, etc, etc.
Although they shouldn't get all the credit. The fact that he was against the Iraq invasion from the beginning made him the left wing darling while the occupation was the biggest issue in the election. They willfully overlooked his more centrist policy positions because he was going to be the great blue hope. Its a little hypocritical of those on the left to feel betrayed when they helped manufacture his lefty image in the first place.
Additionally, his primary opponents tried to paint him as unreasonably liberal, so that they would look reasonably moderate by comparison.
Anyone who was convinced that Obama was that liberal or that left wing was probably listening to what other people were saying about him, as opposed to listening to the man himself.
Posted By: black hole of charisma (Guest) on December 03, 2009 at 07:32 PM
Sometimes I think eliminating the House and Senate would work wonders for this country's progress.
Posted By: Guest#8129 (Guest) on December 03, 2009 at 01:56 PM
So then, who writes the laws under this system of governance? Governors and the President? Would you really prefer to have no representation other than your vote?
Posted By: Guest#4191 (Guest) on December 03, 2009 at 08:00 PM
Large scale change doesn't happen in 10 months. But it WILL happen, because eventually, there will be that 60% of the country and its legislators in the center who will fuel it. I would even venture that Obama picked Joe Biden mainly to bring in someone who understood exactly how to make thigns like this get through the house and senate.
That said, thank you Rivett for actually having a brain, and actually paying attention to the things the man said.
Posted By: AdamS (Guest) on December 03, 2009 at 11:56 PM
"Not surprisingly, the group most opposed to Obama's Afghanistan war plan is the Left. For the last couple years I diligently tried to warn you Lefties that Obama isn't all that liberal just as I tried to reassure you Righties that he's no Socialist either."
I know he is a centrist. I'm a Democrat, and I would do the same things as him, except I would turn all forms of marriage into civil unions in the eyes of the government. So, I beg you not to lump all of us (liberals) together.
Posted By: David (Guest) on December 04, 2009 at 12:05 AM
Considering he is pushing two of the largest tax increases and government intrusions into economic life in our nation's history, calling him a centrist is laughable.
And Joe Biden has never accomplished anything important in his legislative career.
Posted By: Chris Connolly (Guest) on December 04, 2009 at 04:59 PM
I'm a Democrat, and I would do the same things as him, except I would turn all forms of marriage into civil unions in the eyes of the government.
Posted By: David (Guest) on December 04, 2009 at 12:05 AM
I'm a Righty and support this message.
Posted By: Guest#1400 (Guest) on December 05, 2009 at 03:23 PM
Making one common sense military decision almost a year after it was heavily recomended does not a centrist make. The reasoning behind this fluff piece is specious at best, blinded at worst.
Posted By: gbh1978 (Guest) on December 05, 2009 at 04:12 PM
I think it's a simply a matter of common sense. You throw stones at a glass building for 2 years, it's pretty easy, all of the sudden you get in office and see the reports every single day about how there really are evil people out there that want to kill us, and are color blind. This is why I've been REALLY wanting to give Obama the benefit of the doubt on foreign policy. Domestically, he's hardly been a centrist.
Posted By: gwpbrian (Guest) on December 08, 2009 at 11:38 AM
Sometimes I think eliminating the House and Senate would work wonders for this country's progress.
Posted By: Guest#8129 (Guest) on December 03, 2009 at 01:56 PM
That will not solve a thing. The reason for us having them is so that the people feel like they have a voice. Even though the represtives do not always follow through. The person that is elected from each state usually has the same thoughts of most of the people that state. Which you do not get with having a President.
Posted By: pmoore (Registered) on December 08, 2009 at 12:24 PM
Large scale change doesn't happen in 10 months. But it WILL happen, because eventually, there will be that 60% of the country and its legislators in the center who will fuel it. I would even venture that Obama picked Joe Biden mainly to bring in someone who understood exactly how to make thigns like this get through the house and senate.
That said, thank you Rivett for actually having a brain, and actually paying attention to the things the man said.
Posted By: AdamS (Guest) on December 03, 2009 at 11:56 PM
The only problem with your argument is that Joe Biden makes George W. Bush look like a Rhodes Scholar.
Posted By: Guest#5670 (Guest) on February 19, 2010 at 03:29 AM
STAY CURRENT