Thank you, Mr. President

[rjmacs]

Dakota wrote:
[quote=rjmacs]

There's a lot of mishmash in this thread, but i hope that something useful comes out of the exchange.

It may be hard to hear it here but I am actually praising Obama. The difference between resident partisans and I is that I did not have to change my way of thinking and become an interventionist hawk because of politics. The team who killed Osama used to be called Cheney assassination squad and smeared daily here and elsewhere. Now when Obama hires them they are heros. Obama did everything that liberals here have railed against all their lives. You want to smoke them out? Ask if we should go into Yemen now and snatch Zawahiri if he is there? They can't say yes, they can't say no. This is what happens when you paint yourself into a corner.
I hear you, Dakota, and recognize your praise. I'm not entirely convinced that everyone else here is a 'resident partisan,' (on the left or right) but i definitely see your point. Sometimes even folks who aren't ideologues can sound like it when they're hollering. All the same, you're correct: if i needed to justify every decision the President makes using my own arguments, i'd end up stuck in a corner. For me, i don't feel that i must always agree with the President to support him. Lots of President Bush's supporters disagreed with some of his initiatives but were still loyal to his presidency. I think it can get pretty complex, and discussing the complexities is useful.

You make some valuable points on the forum, Dakota. Sometimes i think that their value gets lost because when folks get painted with labels (liberal, conservative, right-wing, socialist, etc.) it makes it harder to engage in good conversation about the sticky spots. I'm trying to do that here by acknowledging that although i am a liberal, and i support the President, it doesn't mean that i am not troubled by some of his decisions. There aren't any politicians who completely represent my views, nor are there any who are so anathema to me that i won't discuss their merits.

We get a lot of black and white here on the forum (i don't just mean you, Dakota - we all participate in the barb-flinging). I'm trying very slowly to mix the pigments and get the conversation to be more interesting. Thanks for hearing me out, even though we don't always agree - i appreciate it.

Edited because i talk too much.