http://www.dailykos.com/storyo.....-coal-mine

Last time we had a Democrat in the White House, progressives waited, and waited, and waited for Bill Clinton to get his shit together and do something for the left wing base. We ate every spoonfull of bullshit that Rahm Emanuel fed us. We were patient. We believed. We hoped. And then we got Nafta and Monica Lewinsky. Not again. Not this. I won’t take it again.

Self-identifying as a Democrat means fuck-all. It means whatever you want it to mean at the moment that you say it. Sure, the Democrats have a policy platform and a beatific creed, but no serious person believes that Democrats as a party are uniformly committed to anything at all. We tend not to be cogs, but rather an anonymous piece in a bizarre, 12 dimensional jigsaw puzzle with no solution.

Our downfall, such as it is, is that we are easily roused to romantic heights by glittering rhetoric. We want to believe in some higher calling, a better purpose, and when the man that we elected as our leader proves time and time again to be nothing more than a charlatan who conned his way into the White House, we no longer have any interest in self-identifying as “with” him.

You want Democrats to become Republicans. That’s not going to happen. In the meantime, have fun trying to convince people that Democrats should have continued their mindless negotiations with Snowe. If you really believe that, then you should probably consider re-changing allegiances.

This is the post-Kennedy Democratic establishment on Capitol Hill getting voted out. Kennedy worked hard to keep liberal and Left support for it and himself. The last two elections brought in a lot of additional centrist and center Right Democrats, which made his job harder. And now he’s gone and no one currently in it has bothered to do that job- if anything, it’s all contempt and taking liberal and Left support for granted. The place has run off to center Right.

The ideal sort of Republicans to vote in, if one has to, from a liberal Democratic point of view, are a crowd who are totally incoherent on policy but united and utterly hostile to conservative Democrats and the now Reid-centered Democratic establishment. These can be easily voted out as soon as Democrats shape up again post-Reid and post-LieberNelsincoln.

And that’s exactly the sort of Republicans we have now.

Yeah, funny how all of a sudden, Kos doesn’t have that much pull after all. Oh well, guess I don’t have to follow what he says if he doesn’t have any influence.

I’m all powerful and influential—until the shit hits the fan and then I hide behind “But I’m just a widdle guy wit’ a blog!”

Apparently, GOS forgot the credit they took for taking control of Congress. Can’t have it both ways, kidz. You take credit for that, you take credit for the damage you’ve done while screaming for your perfection.

If this bill tanks, GOS can pat themselves on the back for a job well-done. Aren’t they glad they crashed those gates?

Awww, some idiot that can’t read says I am “scum” because they think I am a conservative. No, it’s more likely that some fuckwit on the internet who I know absolutely nothing about thinks I am “scum” because I don’t agree with them. Either way, does it matter one whit and do I really care?

No and not one fucking bit.

I am still waiting for somebody to explain all the benefits the liberal base got for helping obama?

I do know that one benefit of your helping Obama is that by voting for him you kept McCain and Palin out of the White House. Now you can go do something else since you don’t have to wait around for an answer anymore. Might I suggest a long walk off of a short pier?

The weather is perfect for it.

Gee, what do you suppose motivates Obama to go from Huge Bank Corp Apologist and Back Slapper, to throwing around words like “populist” as if he’s got such a bone in his body?

That’s right. For the street cred.

You’re right. I realize now that President Obama is as helpless as a newborn and he can’t get anything even remotely liberal or progressive done because of the big bad Republicans and the big bad Blue Dogs and therefore he shouldn’t even try because if he does Evan Bayh and Claire McCaskill will go on TV and say that he’s going too far and that will give him a case of the sadz.

Pretty much. Explain how “trying” accomplishes fuck-all. It doesn’t. Those are the choices: “try,” lose, and somehow convert the resulting outrage (?) into more votes later; or water things down to the point where you get the 60 votes you need. Everything else is just wishful thinking. Bush could get things through the Senate because Senate Democrats actually worry about being portrayed as obstructionists. Senate Republicans don’t give a fuck. That’s not fixable until you find a way to give Mitch McConnell a shame transplant.

Specter registered his opposition the first time. He needs Obama’s support to get re-elected. But Obama didn’t bother to do any politicking on Johnsen’s part to convince Specter to vote yes.

Specter registered his opposition while he was still a Republican. It’s pretty interesting how you keep forgetting that minor little detail and claiming that Obama has magical powers to make Republicans do what he wants.

Obama sucks because of who he appointed and his lack of leadership. I am still waiting for somebody to explain all the benefits the liberal base got for helping obama?

As I have said ad nauseam, there’s nothing wrong with constructive criticism of the President, but I start to tune out when there are ad homimens and strawmen being used to complain about the Obama Administration.

As Nick stated upthread,

He also rode to town with the warning that change would be a difficult, lengthy process that would require compromise, but in the midst of your delusional rapture, you must’ve missed that part.

When time and time again, polls come out and prove how popular Obama is. I also love how people ask about his accomplishments, regardless of how many times I have listed the information from Politifact. But maybe Politifact is a paid consultant for the administration, so why even bother to pay attention. They would just rather excessive wank on and on, without any experience in holding an office or knowing how policy works.

But keeping banging on your keyboards if it makes you feel better and yelling about how the President should be canned or that he’s a corporate tool and a hack. Or that he spineless and weak. That’s helps with reassuring the President and his administration that you have his back. Keep it up.

@DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal): THIS.