The Top 7 Critiques of Obama from a Reality-Based Perspective

LJWorld.com weblogs On the Transition to a Sustainable Paradigm

Posted by Tim Hjersted November 2, 2012 at 10:38 p.m.

Barack Obama has been called everything from a gun-hating, closet-Muslim hiding socialist to a big-government loving, deficit exploding, tax increasing, class-warfare waging liberal elitist. He's been compared to Hitler and denounced for wanting to destroy capitalism and/or America. He pals around with terrorists. They say he wasn't born in America and secretly hates white people.

For partisan Democrats, the Right's diluge of attacks on Obama over the years might be seen as a great gift, as it has understandably painted conservatives who echo these sentiments as laughably crazy (or brilliant propagandists adept at appealing to the fears of their base). But for those that get their news from outside the right-wing echo chamber, the truth of these smears is well understood. Criticism from MSNBC or the mainstream left on the other hand has been largely shallow or non-existent (although I confess I rarely watch any mainstream TV to keep score).

But from what I have seen, I've observed a great tragedy, as this partisan jockeying has given the mainstream debate about Obama's successes and failures a false illusion of depth. On one hand you have all the lies and myths of the Republicans representing Obama's fiercest critique, and on the other hand you have all the defenders of Obama singing his accomplishments and virtues while debunking all the myths constructed by the Right.

What this left/right positioning of the debate has accomplished is to shut out and marginalize legitimate, reality-based, deeply meaningful and truly damning critiques of the Obama presidency and his administration.

Moderates, independents, and casual progressives not tuned in to alternative media are left to wonder, "If Republicans hate him so much, and the baseless attacks from Republicans is all they have to complain about, he must be doing something right... right?"

The following 5 articles and two videos challenges this falsely constructed spectrum of opinion and offers a true (reality-based) critique of Obama. Just imagine if these perspectives were allowed to enter the mainstream debate.

7. Daniel Ellsberg: Defeat Romney, Without Illusions about Obama

It is urgently important to prevent a Republican administration under Romney/Ryan from taking office in January 2013.The election is now just weeks away, and I want to urge those whose values are generally in line with mine -- progressives, especially activists -- to make this goal one of your priorities during this period.Romney and Obama exchange fingers in Tuesday night's debate. (Reuters)An...

6. The Obama Deception: Why Cornel West Went Ballistic

The moral philosopher Cornel West, if Barack Obama’s ascent to power was a morality play, would be the voice of conscience. Rahm Emanuel, a cynical product of the Chicago political machine, would be Satan. Emanuel in the first scene of the play would dangle power, privilege, fame and money before Obama. West would warn Obama that the quality of a life is defined by its moral...

5. The Case Against Voting for Obama -- Even if you Think He's Better than Mitt Romney

Tell certain liberals and progressives that you can't bring yourself to vote for a candidate who opposes gay rights, or who doesn't believe in Darwinian evolution, and they'll nod along. Say that you'd never vote for a politician caught using the 'n'-word, even if you agreed with him on more policy issues than his opponent, and the vast majority of left-leaning Americans would understand. But...

4. The Case for Voting Green in a Swing State

I live in a purple part of the country (Virginia) and move in academic circles, so of course I know many, many people who will be voting for Obama. It is impossible to know, but if I sodomized the Easter Bunny in front of their children the look on my Obama-voter friends’ faces could scarcely be much different than the look they get when I say I am voting for Jill Stein.“But this is a...

3. Barack Obama VS Those Craaaazy Republicans: Is He the Lesser Evil, or the More Effective Evil?

The last refuge of Obamaphiles is that no matter how many times the First Black President double-crosses us by cutting Medicare and Medicaid, no matter how completely be betrays his voters by ignoring black unemployment, by deporting one million Latinos, by protecting the banksters responsible for the foreclosure crisis and by invading, bombing, occupying and subverting even more countries than...

2. John Pilger - Obama is a Corporate Marketing Creation (video)

Renowned author, journalist, and film maker John Pilger speaks at Socialism 2009. Filmed by Paul Hubbard at the Women's Building in San Francisco 7-4-09. Pilger offers a stinging critique of Obama and his administration's policies in his first six months of office, as well as the recent silence of the left and anti-war movement.

1. Lifting the Veil: Obama and the Failure of Capitalist Democracy (2011) (Documentary) This film explores the historical role of the Democratic Party as the "graveyard of social movements", the massive influence of corporate finance in elections, the absurd disparities of wealth in the United States, the continuity and escalation of neocon policies under Obama, the insufficiency of mere voting as a path to reform, and differing conceptions of democracy itself. Original interview...

Did I miss something really good? Post your suggestions and/or comments below.
Original source: Films For Action

Delicious
Digg
Tumblr
Wordpress
Reddit
Copy and paste the link:

DougCounty 6 months, 2 weeks ago

Number 4: The Case for Voting Green in a Swing State is just an example of muddled thinking. This column tries but fails to obscure some basic facts:

-the determined opposition and awareness that a Romney Administration would assemble is exactly what we had during the BushII Administration. That wasn't a very nice time, nor did it ensure real change, as evidenced by what followed. Furthermore, it enshrined a more conservative Supreme Court that led to the Citizen's United decision that made the situation infinitely worse. Why not have the determined opposition and awareness work with a second Obama term instead?

-despite there being any number of other subgroups which could have tipped the tide toward Gore winning Florida and the election, the numbers of Floridians voting for Nader were enough to put Bush in the White House. Furthermore, the backlash killed the momentum for building an alternative. If the third party movement was really serious about mounting a national alternative, they should focus on the many, many non-swing states, building their numbers there until they have enough of a base to mount a serious challenge to the two party system. Getting a bunch of votes in Florida at the cost of the election going to Bush was a Pyrrhic victory if there ever was one.

tribalzendancer 6 months, 2 weeks ago

Well said. And good debate. That's what I was hoping to see. My personal opinions are probably closest to Daniel Ellsergs. I presented a range of opinion for the sake of the article's completeness.

DougCounty 6 months, 2 weeks ago

You must be delusional if you think that we'll get rid of heavy-handed government if Romney is elected. Where's your proof?

verity 6 months, 2 weeks ago

You lie, just like Romney.

DougCounty 6 months, 2 weeks ago

For someone with a moniker of "verity," you are sure pretty useless in your critique. If you have something more to say than calling me names, by all means do so. Otherwise, I'd change your name.

verity 6 months, 2 weeks ago

Sorry, DougCounty, I was NOT referring to you. I was answering a post by Armstrong, who must have gotten disappeared. Actually I gave you a thumbs up.

Your second comment was a reply to that same post.

DougCounty 6 months, 2 weeks ago

Thanks for the clarification, and since it was the LJW's fault apparently, no apology needed. And thanks for the thumbs up!

snap_pop_no_crackle 6 months, 2 weeks ago

LJW is cool with you promoting your own website on these pages?

Agnostick 6 months, 2 weeks ago

Well, they're cool with extremist trolls running rampant-- what's wrong with a little common sense to balance it out?

snap_pop_no_crackle 6 months, 2 weeks ago

Come on, ag. bozo's not that bad,

tribalzendancer 6 months, 2 weeks ago

Oh snap_pop, I know you love me too much to see me not commenting on the now buried community section. :)

snap_pop_no_crackle 6 months, 2 weeks ago

More self-promotion than McLucas. More turgid than Clark Coan.

bearded_gnome 6 months, 2 weeks ago

I didn't bother reading this. Is this like Reason McLucas' posts?

---uh, sorta worse. I think this poor confused shrumhead might be tryin to say Mr. Obama isn't liberal enough! lol! that's a real winner!

no, apparently this dude is some kinda dailykos minor player tryin to get street cred. desperately trying to get street cred. just not making it.
crowds for obama are so so very small these days compared to four years ago. obama is negative and Romney is positive "vote for love of country!"
obama will turn out to be a collective delusion of the left. when he is voted out, they will all be in such a hurry to sweep him to the curb and deny that leftist ideas failed/were rejected, will instead just blame obama himself: oh he just wasn't a good candidate; did poorly on the first debate; etc.

the left's ideas alwaysfail. government is not the solution.

tribalzendancer 6 months, 2 weeks ago

I thought it would be hilarious to post this article on this website, and I was right. Thanks for the laughs. Though sadly I was hoping for a few more.

Also I don't buy this fake hatred of progressives, liberals and other people you're spewing (same for the rest of this peanut gallery). This false/left right paradigm that the right and moderate left so blindly buys into is part of what this article was about. And I firmly believe that conservatives are smart enough to see through the BS of their own dualistic knee-jerk partisanship.

Commenting has been disabled for this item.