How much frustration can we take out on the President? Could it simply be that hate crime legislation was done because the votes were there, but they just aren't/weren't for DADT, on this first vote, or ENDA? I don't know, do you? (And no, prosecutions-to-date are not the way to judge the 'local law enforcement' bill - here and here).
I'll give another reason why we are the change we seek.
This President is one of the most time-pressured ever, that I can think of. It's amazing that he and his team are even holding it together.
Just stop and THINK for a minute all that he has/had on his plate, even still. Israel-Iran; Iraq isn't "over"; Afghanistan is almost under constant re-evaluation and risks putting him at direct odds with his military brass (that's a huge conflict to open up); an economy brought to an historic precipice by a combination of Wall Street fraud and GOP fiscal arrogance in governance; a housing problem the US Senate got bought off not to deal with by the mortgage brokers association; the collapse of the mainstream media and the rise of sophisticated disinformation and propaganda machines; two Supreme Court nominees; the largest national ecological disaster in American history, ...
As long as he's getting the substance right, isn't it our jobs to take it to the electorate, just as much as his? I keep faulting his team for weak communications, which is true, but at some point, his responsibility ends, and ours picks up.
I know it is not just substance that matters, but still...
All the hand wringing, battered-wife, victim-stuff, if it goes on too long, is taking time from pressing the offensive.
Friday, September 24, 2010
We are the change we seek
