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Obama encourages Democrats to focus on winning back House, not "tactical differences"
(www.cbsnews.com)
this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2025
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politics
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Obama let every issue plaguing the country fester further with just some Band-Aids to kick the can down the road for some other poor sap to deal with.
Which is to say if he had done what he was elected to do (remember that Hope and Change platform?) and made modest economic reforms that are still desperately needed today, he could have single handledly pushed us in a direction that might have afforded us more opportunities for a fascism off ramp to happen.
Is it Obama's fault that Trump is a fascist? No. But is it his fault that imperial action remains a central part of our foreign policy? Yeah partially. Is it his fault that the necessary measures to uplift those left behind by society were turned into half measure stop gaps to prevent cedeing power from capital owners? Yeah partially.
Remember Obama had a trifecta for the first half of his first term. The only reason he didnt do what he said he would was lack of want and political will. He's an evil piece of shit.
Those are normal, nuanced issues to have with a leader. I agree with most of what you've said. "They didn't do enough to make things better," is a valid position that does not equate to "evil piece of shit." Trump, on the other hand... America knew what Trump was (insert appropriate Biff Tannen still) when they elected him. That's pathological.
The point is not that these are nuanced issues to have against a leader its that Obama campaigned on NOT being this guy, won, and then went back on everything he did paving the way for Trump by doing nothing to help divert us from the economic turmoil we are seeing today.
The comment I replied to was not about knowing who the person was before electing them it was about Obama's culpability in the political climate that birthed both Trump presidencies. And if it wasn't Trump there would have just been someone else. He is not an aberration to our system he is a product of it.
Unless you're saying Obama created that system, I don't see the point of the distinction. If your assertion is that Obama should have fixed what is fundamentally wrong with US culture, then I just plain disagree that this is a reasonable expectation. Considering the size of our population that identifies with the disease, I don't see "pathological" and "product of the system" as mutually exclusive. The manic person, for instance, does identify with the mania. Could Obama have done more? Definitely. I'm not disagreeing with that.
I'm not even sure what you're trying to say here. What do you think he campaigned on? Why do you think he won such an overwhelming mandate of support from the population? It is because he literally ran on addressing some of the fundamental issues plaguing American society. Obama failing to do all of led to further exacerbation of all of those issues. Did he create the heinous capital worshipping culture we have in the US? No, but what did he do to combat it?
Oh, I remember, and I also remember telling everyone to lower their expectations. Obama's campaign promises were off the charts optimistic, bordering on delusional, even for the time. And that's not where the bar is for us now. Simply not doing this (gestures at everything) is now what constitutes a "great leader" for us. I don't want it to sound like I'm okay with the bar being this low, but here we are.
Demand more from your electeds. This attitude is exactly how they've gotten away with fucking us for so long.
"...I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection." - MLK Jr, Letter from Birmingham Jail
He's talking about you, bub.
When you say 'demand', what do you imagine I haven't done? What power have I failed to wield in the history you've imagined for me?
When I say demand more I mean this attitude of "oh well at least they tried" needs to go. And I mean if the people who are running for these positions aren't working for us then we need to build people to run for those positions ourselves.
And sure I suppose I dont know what kind of work you do or what mutual aid/direct action organizations you're part of but typically I find people who are espousing what you are are liberals who don't believe we can do better than some modest reform in the systems we already have on an incredibly modest timeline.
What happened that our expectations for our elected officials is "they could be worse" on a good day? How is that an acceptable standard? Is that the kind of standard you hold yourself to in the things you care about?