Thursday, January 21, 2010

Being the Change We Want To See

Andrew T, I can add nothing.

How To Get Obama To Be the President We Voted For

3 comments:

ArtSparker said...

You know, I'm to the left of Obama. But he is not only the President of the Left, and I question if it makes sense to expect him to follow the agenda of the fifteen to twenty percent of the population that agrees with you and me in every particular about what should be done . I'm going to have to go with Andrew Sullivan on this one. Here's a link if you'd like to see his take:

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/01/now-fight.html

Susan said...

This a tough one, ArtSparker, and a really interesting point of discussion. Maybe even a blog entry.

What both articles have in common is a call to action - whether it's to demand the progressive agenda many Obama supporters hoped for, or to push for some form of health care reform legislation, even if it's not very good.

Bottom line is the Independents are moving Right, seeing the Left they supported appearing ineffectual and lame.

I'm heartened that finally Glass Steagall is back on the front burner where it should have been from day one of this administration.

I'm encouraged that the president is ending his blind endorsement of his advisors' recommendations. Their interests are completely aligned with the banking industry and Wall Street and everyone seemed to 'get' it but him.

I think what I'm most advocating is a re-energizing of the Left, rather than a Chicken Little dance because Massachusetts is a little more red. (And am I the only one who sees the humor in the use of "red" to denote the GOP? Guess we couldn't use that color for the liberals, could we?)

That euphoric and unrealistically optimistic wave that swept out of DC on inaugeration day is gone and we've been on the low end of a manic depressive swing.

He's human. He's trying. And he's learning.

What I want to see is a lot more noise from the Left, a lot more encouragement and a lot more guidance. Let's cheer so loudly we can be heard all over the country when this administration moves toward those changes we hoped for.

What I don't want to see is a nation of whiners. If we want change, let's make it.

ArtSparker said...

I'm looking forward to the State of the Union Address. Have been wondering if Obama, like Jimmy Carter, is just too decent for the job.