I don't even know anymore. I usually don't get disillusioned by politics because they are complicated, but I admit this one stung. I don't like to be proven wrong in my beliefs about people.
He wants things done in a very specific, idealized way that's never going to happen. I get the overall of how he views the situation, but it puts him and the rest of the gay servicemen/women in a terrible position. I just don't understand how he can be so adamant about getting it done through Congress when the Congress he has now won't take on the issue and the GOP Congress he will have come November won't either. It's like... he has to know this is the last chance.
I am very upset, not because I believed the president was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but because I did believe he genuinely wanted this policy overturned, and he is willing to risk losing the one solid chance like that for the sake of his ideal version of it.
I make further and further 8| face every time someone tries to convince me this man is actually on the side of GLBT people. So far I have not seen any evidence of this.
Yeah, idk. He just... frustrates me so much. I wanted to believe--
but I get so tired of his administration talking down to his base -- especially then younger voters -- like they're misbehaving children whenever he does something that is not what he promised when he was running.
His defensiveness can be very frustrating at times. I understand it partially because so many people wanted him to right all the wrongs of the world and wanted him to be a super-progressive or a super-liberal and make all their policies a reality, and that just wasn't going to happen. For all his speeches about it, the man's not Superman. I won't say that he's not to blame for encouraging the unrealistic hype, but I saw his frustration at having his accomplishments ignored in favor of what he didn't do. But at the same time, this was something where he didn't have to do anything. He could have just let it go. And even if he appealed the decision, even that could have been somewhat understandable since he wants it done through Congressional action because it will give it a smidgen more authenticity in the eyes of the public or so the general opinion goes. But pushing for an emergency stay on top of it, an emergency stay, as if the military was likely to implode if this action was immediately stopped... that is just mrrrrr.
Yeah, definitely that. And just... I feel like he's trying so hard to please people who are never going to be pleased with him -- and in the process really hurting a lot of people, and losing credibility with people who liked him in the first place.
This is definitely he's greatest flaw since he took office, the attempt to please everyone, which anyone will tell you almost always results in pleasing nobody. And yes, he is shattering his base, which is especially dangerous given the mood of this country right now.
Yeah, honestly the upcoming elections scare me and have me pretty depressed -- there are some really extreme people out there running right now, and while I'd like to believe they don't have a chance in hell of getting elected, given the level of disillusionment on one side and the fervor on the other, I can't be sure of that.
And I'd really like to be able to vote for someone based on more than "because the other option would be so much worse"
Well, as my friend reminded me, the problem is that policies are what matter. And even if a person doesn't know what's in the Constitution, if someone believes they will vote for their policies, they would rather have that champion of 5th Grade Government than vote for the opposite party. The system sucks.
Also, yes, if my choices are "possibly crazy" vs. "semi-decent grasp on reality" that's pretty sad.
It really, really does. But it's one of those things that so entrenched that I'm not sure how we'd change it at this point.
The thing that makes me so regretful about Obama is that I really felt like for once the system was changing, if even in little ways -- not necessarily because he's our first black president or anything, but because of those policies he campaigned on. I mean, my partner and I watched our home states (Montana and Virgina, respectively) going blue, when they've been consistently red for our entire lives. So there was clearly something there that really motivated people. And... now I'm afraid we've backslid into "meh what's the point" of politicking.
Which is not solely his fault or anything -- because yeah, one person can't change things all by themselves -- but I felt like the system and the people were ready for things to change... and now the window has well and truly been missed.
Yes, there was a general feeling that people wanted something better and beyond the usual shtick. Then all the anger swelled up and it basically turned into a hissing and biting partisan mess, where nobody knows what they're doing again and people are convinced it's easier to revert back to the old than actually strive for true change. Meh, I hate being down about all this, but it's just horrible timing on top of everything else.
Well, I did see it coming from the moment it was announced and I saw that it was a possibility. I just chose to hang onto my magical pipedream that maaaaaaaybe he would sit it out. Just this once. Clearly, I forgot we're living in a time of MUST PLEASE THE CONSERVATIVES.
Okay I want to disclaim this by saying I didn't read all the comments in this entry >.> sorry. Also I'm not trying to be an apologist, and I don't necessarily agree with these choices, but this is the rationalization I heard:
If he lets it die in lower court, that sets a precedent for future presidents to allow challenges of acts of Congress to die in lower court, which is generally Not A Good Thing.
If we got another president in 2012–Let's say that Madame Palin made a deal with the Devil and won the presidency–and a court case was brought against the Health Care Reform bill, then she could let the lower courts decide what to do with that. And if they found the HCRB to be unconstitutional, she would have precedence for deferring to the courts and not challenging it.
Granted, I don't know that much about legal matters, but it's a rationalization that makes sense. It sucks very, very much.
Honestly, though, the Justice Department's appeal of the stay is more :|a-worthy. I guess I still naïvely trust that they're doing things the right way, even though it's the long way.
Oh, I know his rationalization. I just think that he's gambling in a major way here, and really judicial and legislative have the same degree of power since both can be overturned by various means. Also, I think the fear about challenges of other acts of Congress dying in lower courts is more iffy because most of those acts have more weight and better arguments to protect them. Whereas DADT is, by its nature, iffy constitutionally.
That said, I get the appeal. I don't like it but I get it for the reasons you've mentioned and others. What makes this a super large thorn in people's side is the emergency stay, and that I cannot defend in any way, shape or form. This is not an emergency. Appeal fine. But do not act like this is some MAJOR threat to the stability of the military in the meanwhile. We have real emergencies. Thus lies my full disappointment with the administration.
I just want it over so I can stop lamenting the suckiness of our political system and just focus on what they're actually going to put forth in Congress. Candidates make me sadface. :(
I just wish everyone would sit the fuck down and think about anything for half a second. Political campaigns make me despair in humanity because we get shit like, "show me where [separation of church and state] is in the constitution" and "you (hispanics) look asian to me".
And people still support them.
Also gender issues in politics give me a coronary. Just. MAKE IT STOP PLS.
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tempestuously) wrote2010-10-22 05:48 pm
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They explain it better than me.
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but I get so tired of his administration talking down to his base -- especially then younger voters -- like they're misbehaving children whenever he does something that is not what he promised when he was running.
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And I'd really like to be able to vote for someone based on more than "because the other option would be so much worse"
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Also, yes, if my choices are "possibly crazy" vs. "semi-decent grasp on reality" that's pretty sad.
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The thing that makes me so regretful about Obama is that I really felt like for once the system was changing, if even in little ways -- not necessarily because he's our first black president or anything, but because of those policies he campaigned on. I mean, my partner and I watched our home states (Montana and Virgina, respectively) going blue, when they've been consistently red for our entire lives. So there was clearly something there that really motivated people. And... now I'm afraid we've backslid into "meh what's the point" of politicking.
Which is not solely his fault or anything -- because yeah, one person can't change things all by themselves -- but I felt like the system and the people were ready for things to change... and now the window has well and truly been missed.
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I really wish we had a legitimate multi-party system. I want to show both the Democrats and the Republicans the door.
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If he lets it die in lower court, that sets a precedent for future presidents to allow challenges of acts of Congress to die in lower court, which is generally Not A Good Thing.
If we got another president in 2012–Let's say that Madame Palin made a deal with the Devil and won the presidency–and a court case was brought against the Health Care Reform bill, then she could let the lower courts decide what to do with that. And if they found the HCRB to be unconstitutional, she would have precedence for deferring to the courts and not challenging it.
Granted, I don't know that much about legal matters, but it's a rationalization that makes sense. It sucks very, very much.
Honestly, though, the Justice Department's appeal of the stay is more :|a-worthy. I guess I still naïvely trust that they're doing things the right way, even though it's the long way.
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That said, I get the appeal. I don't like it but I get it for the reasons you've mentioned and others. What makes this a super large thorn in people's side is the emergency stay, and that I cannot defend in any way, shape or form. This is not an emergency. Appeal fine. But do not act like this is some MAJOR threat to the stability of the military in the meanwhile. We have real emergencies. Thus lies my full disappointment with the administration.
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And people still support them.
Also gender issues in politics give me a coronary. Just. MAKE IT STOP PLS.
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