Very amusing. But in all seriousness, there are some valid points here. To ignore the realities of Congressional politics and the real effects of election results, such as the 2010 midterms, is a greater denial than the supposedly weak excuses mocked in this video. The valid criticisms from the left evidently caused his support from 2008 to weaken. Yet on the Republican side the invalid and imaginary criticisms of Obama won out because of electoral discipline. This shifted the country to the right even further.

For the left to put pressure on Obama, they need to show up at the polls, which they failed to do in 2010. They sure showed Obama didn't they? Punishing him with the Tea Party Congress. Thanks a lot flaky left.

I love it. The film doesn't mention that these people have had lobotomies.

[r] thanks for this.

Obama apologists stuck in "bargaining" phase of 5 stages of grief. Watching Obama play Lucy and the football to Charlie Brown faux-progressives one more time as the USWarMachine destroys people and countries makes me want to puke. I think of the "Good Germans" letting genocide happen. Maybe the Repubs are reminiscent of full-out Nazis, but the Dems are the Good Germans looking the other way, though let's face it, Obama brought his sled from day one to the slippery slope of fascism. Pointing at the Republicans as the bad guys when the DEM awesome PASSIVITY and EMBRACING of the so-called lesser of two evils instead of demanding bottom line decency (the bar is not only not high, it is buried in the ground on the part of both legacy parties!) is dooming us all, a great legacy to pass on to future generations, if there manages to be future generations. "Whatever" obamabots! "Don't really commit. Be seduced by MSNBC gamesmanship talk and go Team Dem go." Bleccccchhhh. libby

FLAKEY LEFT? Jeff J. you are so part of the deadweight of the problem in America!!! libby

Jeff J. I think you missed the point of the video. My view has been the progressive movement needs to organize wholly independent of the Democratic Party, for some time now (and place demands upon it, instead always asking us to hold our nose and vote). The current disposition of the Democratic Party certainly won't drive me to the polls, and I'm sure a great many other folks.

Hilarious! This gives the word clueless a whole new meaning. Love your tags, right on the money. R

Oh sure, it's easy to ridicule supporters of the current President. Just make them look ignorant and talk stupid. Easy.

However, what I would like to know is why everyone expects Obama to perform miracles? How can he clean up a mess so great left by Bush (an idiot if there ever was one) in four years? It took Bush eight years to make this country go bust. On this note, I would like to know why Bush is NOT in jail? How is it possible he is enjoying life when he was the one sending troups to a country for no reason? For a lie, as a matter of fact? Someone explain this to me for I fail to connect the dots.

Also, how can Obama ever do something when congress acts like they are all in Kindergarden. When the reps say no, the dems say yes and vice versa. Hello politicians, are you five? Have you grown up? Do you even care about anything else but yourself? Do you even care that this country is going down the drain while you are living the high life? I think not.

Calling Obama a fascist is soooo immature. What on earth are you people afraid of? Healthcare for all? It works in Western Europe and none of these countries are reigned by fascists.

Furthermore, Obama has been critizised from day one and I suspect it wasn't because he has charisma. Where was that criticism when Bush junior was in office? How come that dummy got away with everything?

It's a joke to believe that anyone other then Obama should be elected in November. Come on, do you really think that the current candidates really will keep their promises? Let's get real. As soon as one is in office, the promises will be forgotten like they usually do. Sure, now they promise you to make everything better but it won't get better.

On a last note, how could anybody vote for Gingrich? Whoever did or considers to, may I just ask: Are you insane?

I suppose you think you're being funny? Nope. You're just being right some of the time. Obama has done a fabulous job in an impossible situation. Not everything I would want, but more than I expected. I loved his last two decisions...no tar sands, and no mining the Grand Canyon. Keep it up, Mr. Obama.

The Obama cheerleaders, I'm not going to bother to respond to anymore. You are just (further) validating message of the video... Unlike Obama some have principles, and consciences and beliefs. And some will not accept the "choices" offered by the two party dictatorship of the 1%.

Maria G,
Obama should be impeached for ignoring the Constitution when we (and NATO) intervened in Libya. The power to declare war clearly lies with the Congress -- and not the president -- in the United States Constitution. Obama did not even consult with the Congress in that instance...

I heard an interview with Legal Professor Francis Boyle on Cindy Sheehan's radio show recently, where he said that he was thrown off of the United for Peace and Justice email list over precisely this issue. UFPJ is not an anti-war group, but a front group for Obama/the Democratic Party.

I decided to stop voting Maria. I voted for Nader in '96, '00, and '04, and McKinney in '08. Third parties candidates (for the most part) present the only choices in our "democracy", and they are not covered by the media, and they are not allowed to debate -- thus the duopoly continually reigns supreme.

Link to interview with Prof. Francis Boyle:
http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/2011/04/hard-boyled-truth-prof-francis-boyle-on.html

libby wrote:
FLAKEY LEFT? Jeff J. you are so part of the deadweight of the problem in America!!! libby

My point is not that the goals and demands of the left are flaky. I agree with most of the criticism of Obama from the left (and none of it from the right).

But how do you influence politicians in political reality? By being an organized voting bloc that turns out at the polls reliably. Then you make demands that are publicly well articulated. They will be afraid that you won't show up if they don't follow you.

But the number of people who supported Obama in 2008 who simply didn't bother to vote in 2010 simply lacked political discipline. They were impatient that not everything was perfect, and that some things were terrible. They could not see how much improvement there was since Bush. And the result was to hand the Congress to the Tea Party/Republicans.

The effective thing to do would have been to not whine because the President is not a miracle worker, and to recognize the limitations because of the filibuster abuse by the party of NO. The effective thing to do would have been to redouble the efforts of the 2008 election and hold the House and increase the Senate majority to 65. To gain political leverage you need to get excited and out in record numbers election after election, and not just quit after two years. That would earn political capital for the left.

But what did they do? Cry about the public option. Whine about Guantanamo. Bitch about immigration and the environment. Moan about civil liberties.

The result? Tea Party Congress. So while I agree with the goals and concerns of the left, I still say "Grow up flaky left!".

A lot of good was done in the first two years, and if you don't believe me, check out this website and notice that the glass is at least half full:

http://obamaachievements.org/

I'm with Jeff J. on this one. Keeping truly horrible people out of office MATTERS.

For the most part the duopoly is truly horrible people. Occasionally people like Alan Grayson and Cynthia McKinney may appear, but they are usually run out of town after not all too long. :(

We saw Obama try to make a "grand bargain" with the Rethugs -- trading away SS and Medicare. Truly despicable behavior! And not to mention the unconstitutional war with Libya, bombing of innocent civilians/aka "collateral damage" with drones, and murdering American citizens with drones. A former constitutional scholar, rofl!

I happened to just listen to an interview with Cynthia actually, b/c I listen to a lot of past shows of the Progressive Radio News Hour w/ Stephen Lendman. Such an inspirational, strong person, she had to be run out of congress for her opposition to the Israeli lobby!
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/2011/12/2/the-progressive-radio-news-hour-120411.html

Obama fully and wholeheartedly supports the Israeli lobby and the Likudniks btw. This stuff from the Israeli right about Obama being "anti-Israel" is a bunch of horserubbish!

Unfortunately, the disgruntled extreme left wing of American politics are very likely going to get their wish.

They will "teach Barack Obama a lesson." He will not serve a second term.

They, and many generations of Americans to come, will regret that lesson, but there is absolutely no reasoning with these good people.

I am sure they mean well. I meant well when I abandoned Jimmy Carter in favor of Ronald Reagan, a man I knew to be a lightweight and a potential danger to our country and the world...

...and I came to regret that well-intentioned mistake more than I have regretted any others I can bring to mind.

They will regret their short-sightedness...of this I am certain.

I will not even get into the fantasy of a third party alternative here, because that is too weird for serious consideration.

Frank,
I thought the American people had wised up after George W. Bush. He took the country to depths unimaginable... I recommended voting for Nader/McKinney that Obama was a trojan horse during Obamamania. He was being advised by people like Zbig, William Daley, and Jason Furman at the time. I don't know what it will take for progressive change to actually occur, it won't come from a Rethug or a Democrat, though, unless pushed very strongly, by a well organized, vigorous and robust movement from the people/below.

Hopefully we've only seen the beginning of OWS. And it really won't matter which of the oligarchy's candidates is in power, b/c of the groundswell from the vast majority of the people will be so overwhelming to the powers that -- on both sides of the aisle -- currently rule the country...

I take no offense at being called "extreme left" Frank. Jesus and the Buddha were for peace, MLK Jr. was for racial and economic justice (died marching with garbage workers), FDR (the longest tenured president of this country) economics policies are probably considered "out of the mainstream" today -- he proposed an Economic Bill of Rights which should be pursued today. Thomas Jefferson didn't believe in having a military in peace time, and he was quoted as saying, "Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations — entangling alliances with none."

We are currently being running by arrogant megalomaniacs, who are infatuated, by their own visages in the mirror (and power). It's truly a sorry lot -- once again on both sides of the aisle -- that we see return to power again and again. The only option is to get rid of the rotten Republicrat/Democans system, that is despoiling the country (and in many ways the planet too with all of their senseless wars).

I take no offense at being called "extreme left" Frank. Jesus and the Buddha were for peace, MLK Jr. was for racial and economic justice

Sean…I don’t especially think of you as the “extreme left.” You see to me like a fairly moderate leftist voice in the cacophony of left wing voices here in OS.

But I do want to comment on the rest of that thought up above.

YES…DEFINITELY Jesus, the Buddha, MLK, Jr. were for peace, and racial and economic justice.

I am for all those things…and more. I am for most progressive initiatives.

But I disagree on how to achieve them.

I do not think they will come magically…and I most assuredly do not think they will come any time soon as the result of a third party uprising. We also disagree completely on the effectiveness of the Occupy movement, which I see more as a negative for progressive initiatives, mostly because the pettiness of the movement is doing more to foment anger among the right and moderates….and damn near nothing to energize the left.

In any case, it appears we both want our country to be a fairer, more reasonable country…albeit we disagree to a polar degree on what best will lead in that direction.

Defeating Obama…letting the Republicans gain political advantage because of the shortsightedness of “wanting to teach him a lesson”…is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen the left do. The left will regret what happens when the crop of what they have been sowing is reaped.

Thanks for giving me a chance to express my views in your blog.

This is pretty funny, but the joke's on us as long as we support a two-party system wherein the two parties are mirror images of each other.

[R] This made me smile. Thanks!

Continuing to support Obama just because you're afraid of the right wing is not a good reason to support any candidate nor will the democrats ever live up to their supposed values and principles if we continue to vote for them. Why have they become so similar to the right? Because we've allowed them to do so.

On the other hand, we can't ignore the fact that our elections are a sham. It's all about the money. Few candidates can raise enough funds to make themselves heard. Most are uninformed about true progressive candidates because they are shut out by the mainstream media and aren't allowed to participate in the televised debates.

Nana…a question for you…and for the professor also.

You both seem to think supporting Obama (or either of the two major parties) is “the wrong thing to do.” But there is an election coming up.

What do you suggest is “the right thing to do?”

In other words, what do you suggest will lead to the best outcome after the election results are counted?

Our political process is like a massive tug-o-war that goes on for years and decades. What is the one sure way to lose a tug-o-war? Let go of the rope. The Republicans have consistently and with discipline been steadily shifting the country rightward for the last 30 years. The abandonment of Obama (for what?) shows that the left lacks the discipline and the long-term vision to reverse this.

Those who can rightly find reasons to criticize Obama, but use that as a reason to call him a trojan-horse Republican are simply not realistically looking at how hard the job is, what the limits to his power are, what the political composition of the country as a whole is, how moderate and centrist Obama is compared to the far right reactionary Republicans, and how many really positive good things that have occurred during his Presidency.

Really take a good look at http://obamaachievements.org/ and then compare that with Bush.

The two party system is a struggle for the center because of the mathematics of first-past-the-post voting. This can be reformed. See CGP Grey on youtube on Alternative Vote, Multi-Member Proportional Representation, and Shortest Split-Line Districting. See fairvote.org.

There are two things that can be done. We can engage in the disciplined long term struggle to reform the election process, and we can engage in the long-term tug-o-war to try to shift the political debate gradually and incrementally back leftward. It won't happen easily or overnight, and you can't blame Obama for the kind of stiff resistance he has met every step of the way, and you have to participate. If the country had united behind Obama, as he tried to do, things would be different (but still not perfect).

JeffJ...that was a terrific post. You hit several nails squarely on their heads. Thanks.

I am hoping that Nana and ProfKeck do respond to my question of yesterday. I am interested to see what they see as the move that will result in the best interests of our country in the next election.

I'd certainly like to hear from anyone else here on that.

I think many people are unwilling to acknowledge what a chaotic nasty mess politics is. And it could not be different because the political hub of our nation represents a mosh-pit where wildly divergent interests and opinions tangle and tussle in a mad race to be front and center.

Most people, within the tidy freedom of their own minds, are able to develop some clear and beautiful notions of how the world ought to be. When a President is unable to fulfill these expectations, when the actuality of his words and deeds deviates from this abstract model of liberal perfection, their hearts break, and they give up hope.

We can't overlay our vision of what "ought" to be on what "is" and expect to be connected to reality. Instead we should see 40% or 50% agreement as a wonderful thing. We should small movement in the direction we prefer as progress, even though it does not match up to our ideal.

Apparently people don't remember the pain and misery of Bush, and what it is like to have a President who gets it wrong every step of the way. Remember the incredible stupidity, remember having a leader who is so entirely wrong headed that every moment he is in office is not only an embarrassment for the nation, but a deep and awful shame in the hearts of every decent and compassionate person.

Try to remember what that was like. It's what you will get again if you abandon Obama. Don't give up the game if you fail to achieve perfection in one go. Just keep trying to push in the right direction and be satisfied with slow steady gains.