--- In [email protected], "Rick Archer" <r...@...> wrote: > > Obama Will Triumph -- So Will America > By Frank Schaeffer > > Before he'd been in office one year President Obama lost the support of the > easily distracted left and engendered the white hot rage of the hate-filled > right. But some of us, from all walks of life and ideological backgrounds > -- including this white, straight, 57-year-old, former religious right wing > agitator, now progressive writer and (given my background as the son of a > famous evangelical leader) this unlikely Obama supporter -- are sticking > with our President. > Why? Because he's shown he will succeed by slow, calm and steady...staying > the course. > > We faithful Obama supporters still trust our initial impression of him as a > great, good and uniquely qualified leader. > > Obama's loyal supporters will be proven right. Obama's critics will be > remembered as easily panicked and prematurely discouraged at best and > shriveled hate mongers at worst. > > The Context of the Obama Presidency: > > Not since the rise of fascism in Europe , the Second > World War and the Depression has any president faced more > adversity. Not since the Civil War has any president led a more bitterly > divided country. Not since the introduction of racial integration has any > president faced a more consistently short-sighted and willfully ignorant > opposition -- from both the right and left. > > As the President's poll numbers have fallen so has his support from some on > the left who hailed him as a Messiah not long ago; those lefty web sites > and commentators that were falling over themselves on behalf of our first > black president during the 2008 election. > > The left's lack of faith has become a self-fulfilling "prophecy"-- snipe at > the President and then watch the poll numbers fall and then pretend you > didn't have anything to do with it! > > Here is what Obama faced when he took office-- none of which was his fault: > > # An ideologically divided country, to the point America is really two > countries > > # Two wars; one mishandled from the start, the other unnecessary and immoral > > # The worst economic crisis since the depression > > # America 's standing in the world at its lowest point in history > > # A country misled into accepting the use of torture on prisoners of war > > # A health care system in free fall > > # An educational system in free fall > > # A global environmental crisis of history-altering proportions (about > which the Bush/Cheney administration and Republicans had done nothing) > > # An impasse between culture warriors from the right and left > > # A huge financial deficit inherited from the terminally > irresponsible Bush administration. > > And these were just some of the problems left for Obama to deal with when he > came into office! > > "Help" from the Right? > > What did Republicans and the religious right, libertarians and half-baked > conspiracy theorists (what Republicans > were reduced to by the time Obama took office) do to "help" our new > president (and our country) succeed? They claimed he wasn't a real American, > didn't have an American birth certificate, wasn't born here, was secretly > a Muslim, was white-hating "racist", was a secret communist, was the > Anti-Christ, was the reincarnation of Hitler and wanted "death panels" to > kill the elderly! > > They called for his assassination through the not-so- > subtle use of signs held up at rallies and even a bumper > sticker quoting Psalm 109:8. They organized "tea parties" to sound off > against imagined insults and government in general. They gathered to howl at > the moon. They were led by insurance industry lobbyists and deranged (but > well-financed) "commentators" from Glenn Beck to Rush Limbaugh. > > Utterly discredited Roman Catholic bishops teamed up with > utterly discredited evangelical leaders to denounce a president who was > trying to improve conditions for the poor, the environment, to diminish the > number of abortions through compassionate programs to help women and to care > for the sick! But in Congress the Republican leadership knew only one word: > "No!" > > In other words the reactionary white, uneducated, crazy far > right, combined with educated neoconservative war mongers, religious right > big business shills, libertarian Fed Reserve-hating gold bugs, gun-toting > crazies, child-molesting acquiescent "bishops", frontier loons and > evangelical gay-hating flakes...they all found one thing to agree on and > rally around: their desire to stop a Black man from succeeding at all costs! > > "Help" from the Left? > > What did the left do to help their newly elected president? Some of them > blasted the President because they disagreed with the bad choices he was > being forced to make regarding a war in Afghanistan. Choices he'd inherited > from the worst president in U.S. history! > > Others stood up to proclaim the President's economic policies > "failed" before the President even instituted them! Others said since not > all gay rights battles had not been won, they'd been "betrayed"! (Never > mind Obama's support of the gay community is stronger than any American > President in history. Never mind that he signed new laws against hate > crimes!) > > Those who stood weeping with beatific emotion on election night 2008 turned > into an angry mob, declaring their "disappointment" the world didn't > change the moment Obama took the oath of office! > > And the legion of young new voters was too busy texting to pay attention to > how the media was making President Obama look like Hitler or Evil incarnate. > > The President's critics, left and right, had one thing in common: > impatience laced with no sense of history (let alone reality). > Then of course there were the snide, white, know-it-all commentators and > talking heads who just can't imagine that maybe, just maybe they aren't as > smart as they thought they were and certainly not as smart as a Black > President. He hadn't consulted them so he must be wrong! > > The ideological ideas of Obama critics' defined their idea of reality rather > than reality defining their ideas. Meanwhile back in the reality-based > community - in just 12 short months -- President Obama scored victories > that went unreported on the evening news: > > #Continued to wind down the misbegotten war in Iraq (But that wasn't good > enough for his critics) > > #Thoughtfully and decisively picked the best of several bad choices > regarding the war in Afghanistan (But that wasn't good enough for his > critics) > > #Gave a major precedent-setting speech supporting gay rights > (But that wasn't good enough for his critics) > > #Restored America's image around the globe (But that wasn't good enough for > his critics) > > #Banned torture of American prisoners (But that wasn't good enough for his > critics) > > #Stopped the free fall of the American economy (But that wasn't good enough > for his critics) > > #Put the USA squarely back in the bilateral international community (But > that wasn't good enough for his critics) > > #Put the USA squarely into the middle of the international effort to halt > global warming (But that wasn't good enough for his critics) > > #Stood up for educational reform (No, that wasn't good enough for his > critics) > > #Won a Nobel Peace Prize (Not even that was good enough for his critics, who > lambasted him for the honor) > > #Moved the trial of terrorists back into the American judicial > system of checks and balances (But that wasn't good enough for his critics) > > #Did what he'd promised to do to start the slow, torturous and almost > impossible process of health care reform that 7 presidents had failed to > even touch (But that wasn't good enough for his critics) > > #Responded to hatred from the right and left with measured good humor and > patience (not good enough for his critics) > > #Stopped the free fall of job losses (Not even that was good enough for his > critics) > > #Showed immense personal courage in the face of an armed, > dangerous far right opposition that included people who showed up at public > meetings carrying loaded weapons and carrying Timothy McVeigh-inspired signs > about the "blood of tyrants" needing to "water the tree of liberty". (That > got no praise from his critics) > > #Showed that he could not only make tough military choices but explain and > defend them brilliantly (Not even that was good enough for his critics) > > Are these what you would call "disappointing" accomplishments -- IN ONE > YEAR! I think not. > > Who has actually failed are Americans who can't see the beginning of a > miracle, right under their noses. Who failed are the ideologues of the left > and right who began hoping this President would fail so they could be > proven correct in their dire and morbid predictions. > Who failed are the movers and shakers behind our obscenely dumb news cycles > who have turned "news" into more stupid entertainment for an > entertainment-besotted, gossip crazed society. > > But here's the good news: President Obama is succeeding without the help of > his "supporters" on the left and despite his hate-filled Republican > detractors on the right! > > The Future Looks Good > > After Obama has served two full terms (and he will), after his wisdom in > moving deliberately and cautiously with great subtlety on all fronts -- with > a uncanny and calculating eye to achieving success (and he will), after the > economy is booming and new industries are burgeoning (and they will), after > the naysayers are proved wrong: let the record show that not all Americans > panicked and jumped ship at the first sign of a storm. > > Just because we didn't get everything we wanted in the health care bill, > and his first year in office...not all of us are giving up! Some of us are > staying the course. And we will be proved right. > > PS. if you agree that Obama is shaping up to be a great president, please > pass this on and hang in there! Pass it on anyway to ensure that his > "report card" gets the attention it deserves. >
Excellent essay!
