Robert Gibbs caused a bit of a kerfluffle last week when he went on TV to disparage the administrations left-leaning critics. Obama, as you probably know, has come under a lot of pressure from the left, who have felt he has not been sufficiently confrontational in the face of Republican obstructionism, or who feel every compromise has been one too many. And so Robert Gibbs took on the unhappy responsibility of telling them all off. Predictably, there was an internet uproar for a few days, then everyone went back to arguing about the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque.” It was pretty much scored an embarrassment for Obama and Gibbs.
Now that the dust has cleared, I thought I’d throw my 2 cents in. After all, there’s no question that I am one of the “Left,” and if I could, I would be thrilled to get paid for it. So I guess you could call me part of the “Amateur Left.” Basically, I should be pissed. After all, I haven’t been thrilled with a lot of the compromises and half-cooked schemes to grab the bipartisan mantle. No one has said Obama has made a mistake dealing with Republicans more than I have. And yet, when I read the comments, I thought it was pretty accurate. I wasn’t angry at all.
It’s actually kind of hard to explain. I understand how one could be upset. The left has offered a number of substantive criticisms of the administration, and provides the the financial and ideological base of the Democratic party. To be brushed off in such a dismissive manner seems like a slap in the face. So on one level, I understood the anger. But sometimes it’s important to take a step back and ask what the alternative is. Where would we be if someone else were in the White House? I don’t mean a Republican. I’m not going to set that strawman alight. Obama didn’t run on being simply better than the Republicans. An infected, scabby wound could have done that. No, Obama ran on a platform of change. He wanted us to believe that the world was going to be different. The myriad crises we were facing were not a hurdle, but an opportunity to reshape the world and make it a better place. He wasn’t running on stewardship.
Unfortunately, all he’s really been able to do is take control of a bad situation and make the most of it. He’s faced a disastrously inept congress and an almost comically unhelpful opposition. He’s had to deal with a zillion ridiculous issues arising from his race and background. And through it all, he’s been exactly the calm hand we’ve needed. There is literally no other politician I would rather have in power. And yet, he can’t buy a break from us on the left. We haven’t gotten everything we’ve wanted, so fuck him.
The shocking thing is we are not yet halfway through his first term. No, Obama didn’t quite enter the office with the same whirlwind of activity FDR did. But let’s be honest, we had a more functional democracy then. The minority party was willing to work with the majority party. Conspiracy theories riled up the masses, but the respectable newpapers, the opinion-drivers, didn’t pay them any heed. Obama has inherited perhaps the worst crisis of government in this country since Lincoln. And those who agree with him ideologically, those who share his goals and ideals, will not even give him half a term to prove himself.
To be honest, that’s not even the point. Obama has done a very good job so far, and he deserves better than he’s getting from the left. I was disappointed with the final health care bill, and the demise of the energy bill, and the ongoing overseas commitments, and a bunch of other things. We can all second guess the strategy and the messaging. But maybe for once we should let our guard down. When Obama was campaigning, he never said it would be easy. There’s a generation’s worth of corruption and faulty ideology to fight against. There’s the last gasp of the old political order to stamp out. Maybe we should step back and ask, “what, realistically, is the absolute best we could have hoped for from this administration?” And if I’m being honest – and if David Sirota and Maureen Dowd and Jane Hamsher are being honest – it’s not a heck of a lot better than we’ve gotten. Maybe it sounds nihilistic. Maybe it sounds like I’m just saying, hey, maybe this country is bleeped in the bleep. But I think it’s a lot more positive than that. The world is already changing. In 6 years, much less 60, I have a feeling the left will wonder what their ideological ancestors were thinking.
