What will it take for Koolaid drinkers to finally accept reality?

Some still refuse to see the truth

The Obama administration’s betrayals of liberalism are ubiquitous. Has he ever kept a single one of his campaign promises? They could hardly be called promises anyway, since Obama had such a long history of voting “present” before he ran for President. Way back in January, 2008, I was asking Obama supporters to name an issue that he really cared about enough to stand and fight.

I never got a clear answer–because Obama never made those kinds of commitments. He was always wishy-washy and all over the place when it came to important issues. Yet we are still seeing passionate Obama supporters who fail to deal with this reality. Here are three examples of Obama administration betrayals that I found today in about 10 minutes of ‘net surfing.

Outrage #1

Long-time Obama stooge and Huffpo columnist Sam Stein reports today that unnamed “Hill aides” have complained to him that the votes for the public option would be there in the Senate if only President Obama would step up and fight for its inclusion in the health care reform bill.

“There is a clear sense that it would be helpful,” said one senior Democratic aide. “Throughout this entire debate the White House line has been ‘We will weigh in when it is necessary’…. Well now we need 60 votes. So if it’s not necessary now, then when will it be?”

“I think folks in general in Congress were looking to the president to clearly define his feeling on the issue,” another aide said. “And I don’t think he has done that on the public option from the get-go… With a lot of senators nervous because of elections or other political dynamics, it would be helpful for the president to send a strong signal that this is what he wants in the final bill.”

Let me get this straight. There are still people working for U.S. Senators who actually believe that Obama supports the inclusion of a public option in the bill?! And these morons are helping to run our government? No wonder things are so f**ked up! These “Hill aides” need to put down the Koolaid glass and step away from the punch bowl. Time for a reality check. Obama doesn’t care about the public option. He will only accept one if it is either completely neutered or forced on him. Pull up your britches and fight for it yourself!

Outrage #2

Bob Herbert, who has permanently destroyed his own credibility with his servile sucking up to Obama, both as candidate and as President, is horrified that the rich are getting richer quicker now than they did under George W. Bush.

I wrote a column that ran three days before Christmas in 2007 that focused on the deeply disturbing disconnect between Wall Streeters harvesting a record crop of bonuses — billions on top of billions — while working families were having a very hard time making ends meet.

We would later learn that December 2007 was the very month that the Great Recession began. I wrote in that column: “Even as the Wall Streeters are high-fiving and ordering up record shipments of Champagne and caviar, the American dream is on life support.”

So we had an orgy of bonuses just as the recession was taking hold and now another orgy (with taxpayers as the enablers) that is nothing short of an arrogantly pointed finger in the eye of everyone who suffered, and continues to suffer, in this downturn.

Whether P.T. Barnum actually said it or not, there is a sucker born every minute. American taxpayers might want to take a look in the mirror. If the epithet fits…

Time for you to look in the mirror, Bob. You helped foist this nightmarish presidency on the rest of us. Now you’re complaining that Obama helped out the investment bankers who gave him the money to run his campaign and celebrate his inauguration? Give me a break. You’re the sucker–and you used your powerful position in the media to ensure that the rich would get richer, the poor would get poorer, and the middle class would disappear. Well, to be honest, Herbert still isn’t blaming Obama. He has all kinds of complaints and suggestions, but he doesn’t deal with the fact that, as President, Obama is responsible for what’s happening. The government could have provided money to put people to work instead of handing the U.S. Treasury over to the banks. The government could institute regulations to prevent the bankers from using taxpayer money to fund their gambling habits and their obscene bonuses. But he didn’t. It was a choice.

Outrage #3

Remember that amendment that Al Franken pushed for? The amendment to prevent military contractors from getting away with rape? It turns out that the Defense Department opposed that amendment–with the support of the White House.

A message sent to senators Oct. 6, discovered by reporter Ryan Grimm, shows that Obama’s Pentagon opposed the measure.

“The DoD opposes the proposed amendment,” a message from the administration said.

A White House spokesman told Grimm they supported the amendment’s “intent.”

“We support the intent of the amendment, and we’re working with the conferees to make sure that it is enforceable,” spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

The intent? The White House supports the “intent” of the amendent (which is to allow victims of rape like gang-rape survivor Jamie Leigh Jones)? So what’s the problem?

“The Department of Defense, the prime contractor, and higher tier subcontractors may not be in a position to know about such things. Enforcement would be problematic, especially in cases where privity of contract does not exist between parties within the supply chain that supports a contract,” the Pentagon’s remarks added. “It may be more effective to seek a statutory prohibition of all such arrangements in any business transaction entered into within the jurisdiction of the United States, if these arrangements are deemed to pose an unacceptable method of recourse.”

Oh, I see. No. I don’t. WTF?! That sounds like stalling to me. It’s nothing but goblety-gook! It seems to me that simply making sure that rape victims can sue the employers who made their rapes possible ought to solve the problem. Honestly!

Obamaphiles have been painting the Republicans who voted against the amendment as pro-rape. What will they do now that it’s clear that White House was on the side of the pro-rape Repubs?

Here is what Ryam Grim had to say about this at Huffpo today:

The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), is intended to address the type of Kafka-esque treatment Jamie Leigh Jones received from the U.S. justice system after she was gang-raped by fellow KBR workers. The defense contractor argued that her employment contract required that her claim be heard in private arbitration rather than in open court.

When thirty Republicans lined up against an amendment that would have required defense contractors to allow their employees access to U.S. courts in cases of rape or sexual assault, Jon Stewart ripped them to pieces.

“I understand we’re a divided country, some disagreements on health care. How is ANYONE against this?” he wondered.

It’s a question, it turns out, best addressed to the White House.

It’s time some of the Koolaid drinkers went into detox and recovered the use of their frontal cortexes. Stop blaming everyone else but yourselves and Obama for the way things are going. Those of us who saw Obama for what he was and stayed true to our liberal beliefs could use a little help.

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