The Left's Whining about Obama is Misplaced

A quick browse through some of the more leftish blogs and websites, or a half-hour on MSNBC in prime time, will show that some of President Obama's most strident critics these days are not Tea Party wing-nuts, but people from his party's left. No single-payer healthcare, a continuing war in Afghanistan, bailouts for Wall Street and not Main Street, their list goes on and on. One would think that Mr. Obama ran as a Republican. The truth is that these critics are still in campaign mode, not governing mode. Mr. Obama made that shift on inauguration day.

In defending the administration yesterday, Obama senior adviser David Axelrod said Sunday on CNN's State of the Union, "My admonition would be: Don't make the perfect the enemy of the good. We've achieved more in these two years [18 months actually] -- in terms of advancing a solid progressive agenda for this country that will help working families and make this a better, more balanced economy -- than anyone has done in you know, in our generation." Amen.

But what about all the corporatists who have been given jobs of late? For example, the Chairman of Verizon, Ivan Seidenberg, said in June that the government was "injecting uncertainty into the marketplace." Last week, he found himself appointed to a presidential panel on exports. He's not alone. Also on White House councils are Jim Owens of Caterpillar Inc., Glenn Tilton of UAL Corp. and Alan Mulally of Ford Motor Co.

The bleating from the left couldn't be clearer. "He's selling out! He's a secret fan of Wall Street!" The truth is far different. As Lyndon Johnson said of J. Edgar Hoover, "It's probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in." More elegantly, the word is "co-optation." It is much harder to criticize an administration to which one has some ties than one to which no ties exist.

Some of the discomfort on the left stems from their own misunderstanding of Barack Hussein Obama, lawyer and community organizer. They saw an eloquent, educated black man and decided he was a hard-left, anti-business, rabble rouser. In truth, community organizers and lawyers never fight to the death nor make a last stand. They cut deals. They get what they can out of a certain situation.

It is unfair to project one's hopes, dreams and ambitions onto another and then complain and fuss when that other person doesn't do as one wishes. Yet that is what the left has done. For example, the gay community is upset because his administration hasn't found a way to legalize same sex marriage. The explanation, of course, is simple; Mr. Obama ran opposing it. Their disappointment is their fault, not his.

© Copyright 2010 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.

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