Every week on the lecture trail, I meet progressives who are demoralized and/or infuriated by Barack Obama’s performance as president. They insist that they will not work for him again or even vote for him. Many have signed petitions saying as much. They are finished with President Obama.
I have criticized many of Obama’s policies. But my progressive friends and allies are overlooking three things: (1) Many of them played a disastrous role in the 2000 election, preventing the Gore administration that should have been; (2) Their charge of betrayal is exaggerated; (3) Obama, for all his temporizing and capitulation, is America’s most progressive president since FDR, and electing a more compelling human being to the White House is probably impossible in this country.
America and the world would be better off today had there been a Gore administration. President Al Gore would not have invaded Iraq, showered the rich with tax cuts, doubled the federal debt or let corporate lobbyists devise America’s energy policies.
As for betrayal, Obama has governed in the very manner of liberal-leaning moderation that he espoused in the 2008 campaign. He never promised to get out of Afghanistan, scale back the military empire or break the banking oligarchy. Too many progressives and others imagined they were electing Martin Luther King Jr., which set them up for a mighty disillusionment.
To be sure, Obama has made brutal concessions, mostly in hostage situations. He cut Medicaid to get a budget deal, carrying on the Beltway tradition of bashing poor people first. He offered to increase the entry age for Medicare. He cut an atrocious deal in the debt ceiling fiasco, giving Republicans 98 percent of what they wanted.
Nevertheless, Obama is still a figure of singular promise in American politics, and he has important accomplishments to build upon.
Obama abolished the United States’ use of torture and the CIA’s secret prisons. He restored the liberal internationalist approach to foreign policy and made a historic outreach to the Muslim world. He stabilized an economy that was spiraling into a depression. He expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit and made major investments in job training, education, infrastructure, clean energy, housing and scientific research. He saved the automobile industry.
He forced the health insurance companies to stop excluding people with preexisting conditions and to stop dropping people when they got sick. He made an enormous and historic gain toward universal health care. He signed a financial reform bill that established a consumer protection agency and put most derivative trading on an open exchange under the regulatory umbrella.
He ended the war in Iraq exactly as he promised.
He ended “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” He blocked Republicans from eliminating federal funding for Planned Parenthood. He suspended deportation proceedings against illegal immigrants lacking a criminal record. He has supported family unity in immigration policy. He stood up to the oil lobby on the Keystone XL pipeline. And he has represented the United States with consummate dignity.
Somehow, all of this is routinely discounted or forgotten. If Obama does not win a second term, a Republican administration will savage Medicare and Medicaid, enact yet another massive tax cut for the 1 percent, and try to privatize Social Security. Obama, for all his shortcomings, is still indispensable to the cause of ending the Reagan era, and of preventing something even worse than the administration he succeeded.
• Dorrien is Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and professor of religion at Columbia University.
Comments (15)
Add commentYes, please stand with the
Yes, please stand with the President who has continued and even enhanced nearly every Bush era policy in addition to throwing in his own damaging policies. The President who has continued war-mongering, bank bailouts, crony capitalism, and has violated the Constitution in numerous ways, including the recent egregious violations known as the NDAA and claiming he can kill American citizens without trial.
I could go on, but there is not enough space in this comments section to adequately cover the disaster known as President Obama. Not that Romney, Santorum, or Gingrich would be any better either. It's so wonderful to have a "choice."
Too bad we missed out on
Too bad we missed out on seeing Gore in action.....that carbon tax on C-4 would've really put a hurt on the goat herders.....
Debunking the Funk I
“America and the world would be better off today had there been a Gore administration.” Would’ves dont count. Get over it. We had 8 yrs of GWB and then a reactionary swing to the left.
“Obama abolished the United States’ use of torture...” Pantywaist. I’ve been water-boarded – it’s effective and compelling; but more importantly, it is not torture. We still soak our own troops to give them a taste of what can happen under duress. We dont torture our own troops.
“He restored the liberal internationalist approach to foreign policy and made a historic outreach to the Muslim world.” Which was at the time taken as a sign of weakness by the “Muslim World” we talk about (as if they’re all so like-minded they can be grouped? They are tribal, clannish, and have very good memories). Otherwise, he surrendered leadership to the UN world body.
“He stabilized an economy that was spiraling into a depression.” That was called OJT. The economy stabilized in spite of his administration throwing billions, trillions, at shovel-ready notions.
He...made major investments in job training, education, infrastructure, clean energy, housing and scientific research.” With the exception of the clean energy boondoggle, I think this stuff would’ve happened regardless.
“He saved the automobile industry.” He saved the UAW (read: constituent supporters). Chevy Volt anyone?
“He made an enormous and historic gain toward universal health care.” So how come he no longer wants to talk about this? [State of the Union, 2012] Almost like he’s trying to distance himself from the where the rounds are going to fall.
“He ended the war in Iraq exactly as he promised.” Ye Gods – he did the equivalent of fogging a mirror here. The drawdown and turn-over was already in play. What he did was crumble our advantage by making every concession imaginable to a fledgling Iraqi govt that will likely descend into civil war and emerge with another dictatorship. If Iraq fails, we failed.
“He suspended deportation proceedings against illegal immigrants lacking a criminal record.” This is an achievement? Did I imagine it, or is ILLEGAL in that sentence?
“He stood up to the oil lobby on the Keystone XL pipeline.” Where to start? We need jobs Mr President; these were jobs in hand, and now the Canadians are being courted by the Red Chinese.
“And he has represented the United States with consummate dignity.” REWRITE this one: ‘He has represented the United States at formal engagements, head of state affairs, and in major policy meetings.’ Meanwhile his policies have left our friends befuddled and our adversaries eager to exploit these chinks in the armor.
Derp
Grendel, your above post is a mixture of ridiculous spin statements (the economy recovered DESPITE Obama--derp!), unsourced BS (Obama's foreign policy has [filtered word] off our allies and emboldened our enemies--derp!), and complete fabrications (waterboarding isn't torture--derp!).
You may want to look up the term "epistemic closure."
OBAMA
Obama has, and will continue to be a refreshing change form the era of GWB
1. I said "in spite of"
1. I said "in spite of" versus your "despite" -- minor inference, but then you are persnickety. Figure it out.
2. on ForPol: what happened to "reset" with Russia? why is the PRC making threats at Taiwan? why is Iran -- scratch that, those m-fers would be crazy anyway; the best litmus test out there is Pakistan, as they are receiving billions in aid, and they're ready and willing to stick us in the back (again, as if hiding UBL wasn't egregrious enough). Our "5 Eyes" buddies - GB, CA, NZ, and the Aussies are distancing themselves from us regarding M-E policy (really, anything that involves mediation with the muslims because it's closer to home for them -- they're within range). And Israel has flat out told the US it will go it alone if need be because we cannot be counted on.
3. You're out of your league on coercing information of a time-sensitive nature.
@Grendal
Israel is just as bad as their Arab neighbors. They DO NOT want peace, and will continue to be our friend as long as we give them $$$$, and war things
@Grendel: notice the lack of
@Grendel: notice the lack of quotations when I paraphrased you. Also, your post should read "minor DIFFERENCE," not inference. The inference is that you're willfully disregarding reality.
As for foreign policy, gee, I must not be hearing the same things as you are, because except for Israel getting belligerent over our decision to not be their lap dogs anymore, things are going pretty good. We have a handle on Iran, North Korea is quiet, and our allies are all feeling better about our dwindling enthusiasm for useless wars. China and Russia have always been silly. Obviously they will become more combative as their economies continue to grow (and in Russia's case, as Putin segues into "supreme-dictator-for-life"), but that's just how it has to be. The U.S. has to deal with losing its status as the bully of the schoolyard. Playing nice with others USED to be a good thing.
And torture: this isn't television, kiddo. Torture doesn't elicit accurate information, the "ticking time bomb" scenario is completely unrealistic, and it's just plain immoral. You can lower yourself to whatever the situation calls for if you want, but you cede your right to call yourself a virtuous person. Torture makes you a bad person, period.
@PP
1. we dont torture. Get it. Our president chose to apologize for a nothingburger.
2. as for foreign policy, perhaps you should consult sources of information besides Fox, MSNBC, or the third stall on the right.
3. you are a bit high strung today. Take a break, do some Kegels, it'll be Friday night soon, relax.
Waterboarding is torture.
Waterboarding is torture. Period. Even Chris Hitchens, the ineffable gasbag, changed his opinion on waterboarding once he allowed himself to be subjected to it. Telling yourself that it is not torture does NOT absolve you, morally, of committing torture. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," and a torture victim by any other name would suffer just as badly.
I don't watch TV, though. I get all my news on the internet. Perhaps you've heard of it?
@PP
sometimes -- I swear, it's got to be your delivery. You must chuckle to yourself incessantly, or share these little clever jabs with your cats. Have a great weekend
Yeah, there's the clincher:
"liberals" are supposed to rally around a president who is considerably to the right of Richard Nixon; all while "conservatives'" heads are spinning around as they vomit pea soup and accuse him of being everything from Karl Marx to the devil himself!
It'd be funny if it weren't really happening---A complete manipulation of the polity in which actual liberal voices are systematically excluded from the conversation; where center-right is "socialism," and right-wing Christianity dominating the public forum is "liberty"---Where our supposedly "liberal" president can kill people with impunity and without due process, while being accused by his opponents of not going far enough.
It's manipulation, and the right is playing along gleefully---But so are the democrats.
I think BO has made a
I think BO has made a conscious effort to keep his fascist tendency's under control. Believing that he will get a second term, he can go all out in his war on liberty.
Yeah, we know, Madison...
Yeah, we know, Madison...
Well said, Jamison
Word.
@madison89
Not if we can help it...
http://www.campaigntodefeatobama.com/
Get on board, people. Either we banish this n----r now, or it's Sodom and Gomorrah all over again.