The other working titles were: "Faster, Obamabots! Annoy! Annoy!", "Attack of the Obamabots", "The Obamabots Strike Back", "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of the Obamabots" and "Citizen Obamabot". But I don't know Harry and unlike Sirius, I remain a prisoner.
I've been debating whether or not to write this post. My views on now President-Elect Obama are well-known here, as well as my opinion on the large majority of his supporters, or at least their behavior during the campaign. Obnoxious is an obnoxious understatement. One Tenacious Baby Mama posted this The Onion News Network bit about said Obama supporters was so spot on, I needed to embed it here to continue on with my point.
Yes. Exactly.
[begin rant]
But let me tell you WHY this annoys me. Liberals and pseudo-liberals, that is Democrats, like to fashion themselves as independent thinkers. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It is some source of liberal pride that we even disagree with each other to a point because then our thinking is not some sort of Nazi-esque lock-step.
Except when it comes to Barack Obama.
YOU DON'T LUV HIM ZOMG!!!!1111ELEVEN111!!!!!! is what I hear implicitly when people ask who I voted for (or, before 11/04 intending to vote for). It is pathetic that liberals and their close Democrat kin have slipped into dichotomous thinking of, "What, did you vote Republican?!" simply because I didn't vote for superstar Barack. Yes, after spending ten minutes harshly criticizing the Democraps lateral move to right-of-center, I voted for the right-wing! Yes, that makes PERFECT SENSE! Or at least it does to someone under a spell. This is a classic example of a group of people not realizing the strength of their ideals. Independent thinking. This means that someone within your group may disgree with you one day! Deal. But I'm so fucking sick of folks trying to treat me like a pariah because I didn't go "baaah" and follow the herd (which I never do anyway). Again, the liberal hypocrisy rears its ugly head here because, didn't we show our disgust at the people we called Busheviks? The ones who had just as much enthusiasm, hope, love, and hero-worship as the Obamabots do now, only for the beady-eyed, hate-mongering, war-mongering George W. Bush?
It is even more amazing that liberals are excusing actions from Obama that they would not excuse from a Republican. This is not okay, y'all. One standard and every politician must be beholden to it. For example, making the Patriot Act even more of a dangerous tool thanks to expansion of the FISA bill. We, liberals and moderates and lovers of the Constitution, all rightly crowed when the Patriot Act was introduced. But Obama votes for a further trampling of our privacy rights as promised by the Constitution and it's okay? I'm sorry but I thought Democrats were supposed to set a HIGHER standard, not merely meet a Republican one. Just as baffling is the nonchalant way sex workers who have several causes for concern over the state and federal trampling of privacy rights, let this one slide. Because its Obama. Hey, guess what? He will not be a friend to our movement. Recognize that.
Then the Bailout. Once again, liberals are showing hypocricy accepting the "trickle down" economics here, because it's Obama, but what was your opinion on Reagan doing the same thing? Right. See, the problem is that on the FISA bill and Bailout Gift, Obama and McCain voted the same way. Doesn't this WORRY YOU PEOPLE?! These are supposed to be two issues on which Dems and the GOP disagree on. The Dems are supposed to be for helping out the people and making sure they aren't screwed over by the banks (according to their rhetoric, that is. anyone actually paying attention knows this to be false, but sometimes they try to do good). Rethuglicans are ALL FOR heartlessly screwing us over. They always like to point to Dems and say, "They'll raise your taxes!" That may be, but Rethuglicans make sure our wages drop or evaporate (source: the last eight years). Democraps are supposed to be for free speech and protecting the Constitution, especially privacy and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and all that. Repuglicans have empty cant on this because they jumped on subverting those rights as soon as 9/11 (their most precious gift. ugh.) occurred. Yet this election cycle we had an elderly war-monger and a Constitutional attorney agreeing to further reduce the privacy and liberty rights of Americans. And yet people ignored or worse, Apologized, for this. Sick.
A friend of mine claimed that my standards for President were too high and rigorous. Truly, I have heard this from every Obamabot I have been forced to have a political "conversation" (more them condescendingly demanding I vote for their Golden Boy) with. Is this country so fucked up, so programmed, so hopeless, so accustomed to a low bar that demanding that the FRAKIN' PRESIDENT defend our Constitutional rights and not play so unabashedly into corporate pockets is too high of a standard? Do you hear yourselves?
Then we have people, like my grandmother with whom I argued last night, praise the large youth voter turn out. I'm not impressed. Yes, they got out and voted but they didn't put any thought into it. As a woman who is in college courses with many of these voters I asked why they voted for him. Out of dozens, maybe one actually sounded as though they understood his platform outside of the "hope" and "change" rhetoric spewed forth like a rainbow shower every time Obama was on (or referenced to) television. The others? Because it was the popular thing to do. Because they approached it with all the thoughtful deliberation they do voting for the next American Idol. Pun intended. When the youth get out to vote based on doing actual research and seriously considering how to use their vote (yes, even if they decide to make an educated decision to abstain, which is a very subversive political act), then I'll be impressed.
But what is infuriating me the most is this race issue. Brace yourselves. OBAMA WINNING THE ELECTION WILL NOT END RACISM! Repeat this to yourself for every time your lord and master used the word "change" or "hope". It's a delightful little meme, isn't it? If I hear one more person make this inference, I am going to slap the shit out of them. This thought process is most popular among delusional white liberals, blacks and Latinos (note: not everyone who fits in that group. Don't confuse the two). Sorry, but a vote for Obama was not a "get out of racism, free!" card. That people of all races think ending racism is so easy trivializes it. This is not some grand social leap forward. Actually, it is a foot forward; another ten years we might even be able to shift the weight! But here's an idea that could start to put some of the weight onto that foot: stop promoting the one-drop rule!
This is a big concern for me. For all the idiots looking through rose-colored glasses at this Obama win, thinking racism is depowered, are going to make the situation worse. Because then incidents involving racism get whitewashed and obfuscated and ignored, the victims told that "they're just imagining" it or that they're making too much out of it. They become a "buzzkill" for the illusion of the racial utopia a vote for Obama supposedly instituted.
Finally, drop the notion that Obama is some sort of liberal revolutionary. He is not. Obama and this guy would not get along. At all (note the shading and portraiture. It's not accidental). He is better than McCain and Bush by comparison only. Like I said, this country is beyond fucked and people know it and were desperate. A one-eyed, three-legged jackass could've won against McCain. If a black man (and by that I mean someone who has parents, grandparents, great-grandparents who are noticeably of black African heritage) was elected President during American halcyon days, yes, I would be much happier. Give me a Taye Diggs, Denzel Washington, or (appropriately!) Dennis Haysbert looking president and I'll be happy. Especially since those are some damn gorgeous men. But a clearly biracial man (and don't act as though many, esp. whites who don't even socialize with minorities when given a chance, who voted for him didn't do so because he is knowingly half-white) was elected at America's breaking point. He is the piss to our personal fire.
So, yes, damned right I'm skeptical. It is dangerous for a liberal not to maintain skepticism, even if their preferred candidate got into office. Politicians have our best interests in mind until the minute the polls close. After that, all we can do is *ahem* hope they didn't play us. That is why we must hold their feet to the fire, exercise all of our rights as citizens in a popular sovereignty to keep them in line. Obama is not a Saint, Buddha, God, Allah, the Goddess in male wrapping or any other ideal you want to project onto him. Stop the beatification.
On that note, I want to end with a thought that should definitely turn into a meme:
"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty." - John Adams [1772].
[/end rant]
***Edit*** I'm sure it's already been said or connected elsewhere, but y'all realize Chicago is going to get the Olympics in 2016 now, right? Right?
10 comments:
**applaudes** That was a joy to read.
Having researched the candidates for that election some time ago, it seems to me it's not so much a case of 'Liberal versus Conservative' as it his 'How much do you want your conservative diluted?'.
People seem in their excitement to have forgotten that he IS still just a human being that makes mistakes and has views that we might disagree with, he's not the Perfect One. I'm certainly not impressed with Barack's attitude to gay marriage. All he needed to say was he didn't support Proposition 8, but he went further and said he personally didn't agree with gay marriage which some are saying had a huge influence over many black americans who were eligible to vote on that subject.
However, he's not George Bush and he seems like Clinton in that he will listen to other people, and there's always room to work with people like that.
I would just echo what one of my friends said in her blog...
'Congratulations.....now DON'T FUCK IT UP!'
haha
I don't know about how the democrat supporters conducted themselves but in the UK we got the impression that Barack conducted himself in a very mature and dignified way in the face of some downright nasty and childish mud-slinging from the republicans.
We have pretty much the same state of affairs in England - there's barely a hairs' breadth between the conservatives and labour (and boy have they screwed us over!) but I would hate for the conservatives to get back in simply because people are sick of labour. The Conservatives will chip away at women's reproductive freedom and many other things that make me deeply uncomfortable. I'm a liberal myself (though I think our liberals are more akin to what you call libertarian in America) but this time I might vote for the mildly conservative devil I know (labour) sooner than get saddled with right-wing bible bashers.
OK, Aspasia...I'll go ahead and ask the inevitable question:
Do you think that Hillary Clinton would have been that much better??
For all you accuse Obama of being the faux liberal (and he just might be), Hillary has done just as bad, if not worse. She actually still defends her votes for the Iraq war a lot stronger than Obama does; she openly pandered to the same racist elements that McCain did in attacking Obama during the primaries (remember, it was from her group that the "raised in a radical Muslim madrassa" meme started, and Sarah Palin only finished what Geraldine Ferraro started with the "dangerous Black man" comments). Plus, she is as much in the pocket of the neoliberal military-industrial complex as Obama is.
I mean, if you are going to diss Obama supporters as innate cultists, then why not look at the other side, too??
Now, I ended up voting against Obama anyway because I consider him too conservative for my political tastes.....I ultimately ended up voting for Cynthia McKinney and the Green Party. But, I would not even hesitate in saying that he is a 200% improvement over what has occupied the White House...and his victory is certainly a definite positive sign.
If you really want to kick on him for not being the liberal or Leftist you wish, then that's all good...but at the very least, allow him the chance to prove himself before you condemn him to hell. Or, at least, develop a strong popular Left anchor in Congress to hold his feet to the fire.
Anthony
Love this post and love that you didn't back down from writing it. You know I'm an Obama supporter, but I share your disdain for the obnoxious type portrayed oh-so-accurately in the Onion video. There definitely seemed to be some groupthink going on there. A political leader is not a saviour.
@Anthony: "OK, Aspasia...I'll go ahead and ask the inevitable question:
Do you think that Hillary Clinton would have been that much better??"
Please show me where in this post or any other political post, I endorsed Hillary Clinton. This is exactly the type of dichotomous Obamabot-esque (since you didn't vote for him) thinking I am referring to. I totally blanked on the other "either or" Obamabots say when they are confronted with the reality that not everyone voted for him. It's either, "OMG, you voted Republican didn't you?!?!?1111eleven111!" or "You're just mad because Hillary didn't get the nomination!"
I call your attention to my statement here: Yes, after spending ten minutes harshly criticizing the Democraps lateral move to right-of-center, I voted for the right-wing! Yes, that makes PERFECT SENSE! Or at least it does to someone under a spell.
HILLARY was one of said Democrats who showed a definite move to the right-of-center. She started flip-flopping on abortion and became disturbingly hawkish before announcing her intention to run. So WHY THE FUCK WOULD I WANT HER IN OFFICE? Granted I don't like how she was treated, as a woman, during this campaign and you know what? As much as I HATED Sarah Palin's politics (or lack thereof) I didn't like some ways she was treated either. And thanks for the implication that I'm ruled by my reproductive organs. If I wanted to vote for Hillary because of such superficial reasons, I have a better one: We share a name. Or very likely, I'm probably related to her husband. Nonetheless, wouldn't have voted for her. Our shared name consisted of the other 50% of assumptions as to who got or would have gotten my vote: "Oh your name is Hillary? You could've been President!" No. I couldn't have. Stop assuming that I vote based on my name, kthxbye.
The problem is, Anthony, those two votes Obama made during these last few months of his campaign tells me a lot about his politics. Do you really think he's going to a 180 on something like FISA or the Bailout? Really? Do you?
@Amber: Thank you! I know you're a huge Obama fan and we'll have to agree to disagree on that, but I never got that Obamabot vibe from you. Most of the Obamabots have been people I encounter IRL. Obnoxious is definitely a severe understatement.
@Gaina: Thank you. Yes, in US politics it is getting to be more and more diluted conservatives because the Democrats seemed to have been scared into abandoning their hard stance against Republicans. I blame it all on the whole Lewinsky bullshit. And it's sad and that is why I get so pissed at the Democrats. If we MUST only pay attention to two parties, I want a clear, unambiguous distinction between the two. It used to be there but it's getting very muddy. This muddiness is often called "bipartisanship" but really, I see more acquiescence from the Dems than from Republicans and it fucking kills me.
The only thing I quibble with is the idea that Barack had an influence over the black vote on gay marriage. Anthony, actually, did a very good post on the strong conservative element in the African-American and Latino communities. That connection is definitely media propaganda, but I don't fault you for not knowing about that nuance of US society. A lot of Americans barely accept the fact that blacks and Hispanics have their own, cultural and independent reasons for being very conservative and most of it stems from religion.
"I'm a liberal myself (though I think our liberals are more akin to what you call libertarian in America)"
Yes, that is my understanding as well, but we could both be wrong. Wrt Barack's behavior in the face of Republican mudslinging: it was very dignified. I will give him props on that. Democrats usually don't get too childish with the mudslinging. Although sometimes, they probably should.
I REALLY wanted to hear Obama explicitly say, "If one of my daughters was a teenager, pregnant and unwed, I would not have been considered a viable candidate." Because that? 100% true. Sure, even the marginally intelligent made that connection but considering how neo-cons and Repuglicans go on and on AND ON about "morals" and "abstinence" and making damn sure to restrict adult sexual expression for sake of "the children" and the "moral fabric of society", I just REALLY wanted the Dems to rub their faces in Bristol's pregnancy pouch. Hell, if Chelsea Clinton, as a very grown woman, was in that situation, Hillary would've been silenced as well.
Note: I also want to point out another cause for my cynicism over Barack's win: the Cycle. That is, Americans always elect a Democrat in overwhelming numbers after years of Republican excesses. Since Anthony brought up one Clinton, let me talk about the other: Bill. No doubt Bill was charismatic and smart and shiny, et. al. BUT he also followed 12 years of Republican excess, cruelty and bullshit stemming from two Regan terms and Bush I. Then there is the current 8 years of GOP crapaganza. Again, Americans don't have good long-term sight and are easily scared into conservatism. They ignored the writing on the wall with Bush II and now, thoroughly fucked without lube, they are desperate for a Democrat.
OK...some clarification on my part.
First off: Aspasia, I never assumed, and do not assume here, that you backed Hillary, and my sincere apology if it came out that way. It's just that so many of those who are dissing Obama now who aren't foaming-at-the-mouth right-wingers do in fact quote his supposed "misogynist" treatment of Hillary and his ultimate victory over her in the primaries as the main reason for their rage.
It is heartening to see that you do smack down Hillary for all the right reasons (her policies) and not because of her gender.
And I will acknowledge, too, that far too many Dems and Obama backers do have such a elevated sense of him; and that they are so quick on the trigger to condemn those to the Left of them who vote their principles as "spoilers" and "traitors" and hidden right-wingers. But, that would be true whether Obama, Hillary, Joe Biden, Al Gore, or any other Democrat was the nominee...Dems seem to have this notion that no one should have the right to be to the Left of them.
Having said all that, though, please pardon me if I, still being a Black man and a progressive, still feel at least some form of satisfaction that at least we managed to elect --by nearly landslide proportions -- a centrist Black politician to the White House. Better Barack Obama than Clarence Thomas or Alan Keyes in any day, I'd say. And having been through 8 years of absolute Hell with the Bush years, I will gladly take a centrist- to center-leftish President with a Dem-controlled Congress over having Dubya and a GOP-dominated Congress assault working and poor folk and sexual dissidents.
Of course, that doesn't mean that we sincere progressive/Left folk need to simply tuck in and hide; we must hold Obama to the same level of accountablilty as we do any other politician who speaks in our name. I'm not too thrilled with his pandering to the Right, either; and especially that he and far too many of my fellow and sister Black folk still have a long, long way to go regarding confronting homophobia and sexual conservatism. All that means is that those of us who do believe in an independent Left have to keep on organizing and developing an opposition movement that will do for Obama and the Dems what the Religious Right and right-wing media machine did for Bush 41, Bush 43,and Reagan: simply remind him that, paraphrasing the immortal words of Bill Cosby, "We brought you into this Presidency....and we can just as easily take you out, too."
Anthony
"Please show me where in this post or any other political post, I endorsed Hillary Clinton. This is exactly the type of dichotomous Obamabot-esque (since you didn't vote for him) thinking I am referring to. I totally blanked on the other 'either or' Obamabots say when they are confronted with the reality that not everyone voted for him. It's either, 'OMG, you voted Republican didn't you?!?!?1111eleven111!' or 'You're just mad because Hillary didn't get the nomination!'"
WORD, Aspasia.
'The only thing I quibble with is the idea that Barack had an influence over the black vote on gay marriage.'
Yes, I'm not entirely convinced of that point of view myself, it just seems to rather insult the intelligence of the voter and its akin to someone assuming I would be more likely vote for a woman or a disabled canditate because I fall into those two demographics.
Yes, I get what you're saying about voting cycles and that's what makes me nervous of a conservative government next time - that people will just vote for them because they're not labour without paying attention to the wider implications of a conservative government. Liberal Democrats are getting a louder voice now, thank goodness but it's still something of a two horse race here at the moment.
@Anthony: Okay. I'll take your apology because I like you.
"we must hold Obama to the same level of accountablilty as we do any other politician who speaks in our name."
Yes, but I see too many of said Obamabots who are already protecting him, even when others raise valid concerns about his voting record so far. I see this ESPECIALLY among African-Americans and Latinos because they're just so damned afraid that if they criticize he'll crumbled like a deck of cards or that if they criticize then that'll depower him. Well, most politicians need to be depowered but that's another argument for another time. But they can't truly give genuine support if they excuse any major blunders, just to protect 'one of their own' because it will negate whatever progress they think has been made.
Feminists make the same mistake and it drives me nuts. If these groups want to be treated like everyone else, they have to realize that the day will come when they will be CRITICIZED like everyone else too.
Aspasia -- this is great. While we have our points of disagreement -- I do agree Obama was not liberal enough on many social issues, but I also think he was too liberal on economic issues -- I find your straight-shooting really impressive. You mention the liberal pride in independent thinking (ha!), but I think you really exemplify that. Kudos.
@Octogalore: Thank you! I just felt the need to truly lay my feelings bare on this. I actually sent one of your postings on Obama as a link to certain friends and family members (said Obamabots) to elucidate on why I wasn't voting for him.
They got the point. So I've gotta commend you on your straight shooting too. Your post along with some others online encouraged me to go ahead and post it.
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