Are You Kidding Me, Mr. President?!

President Obama is going out of his way this week derail his own plan for real health care reform. The president told reporters this week that "he didn't like to see 'left wing' groups attacking fellow Democrats.'"

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

All we're doing Mr. President, is fighting for the real reform that you campaigned on! You asked me to vote for you because a vote for you would be a vote for healthcare, and now that we're calling out Blue Dogs for dragging their feet, you stand up for them? If real meaningful healthcare reform fails this year, it will not be because of liberal progressives asking The President and Congress to keep to their word when it comes to the most important issues facing our country. Forget blaming birthers, screamers, and the GOP, It will be because conservative democrats in name only either aren't sticking to their guns or weren't serious about reform in the first place. All we're asking for is for you to keep your promises. ~46,000,000 Americans cannot wait for diplomacy on this issue. We need real reform now. I don't understand why the President is asking all the people who voted for real reform to calm down and sit the bench at this crucial stage in the debate. The radical right is sending the dogs on every front, and our leader is telling us to hold steady. Mr. President, I hope you haven't forgotten that you found success in the primaries on the backs of liberals who didn't just wait for the issue to come to them, they attacked and won. You owe us.

Keeping Them Honest, or Trying To

Look, I'm as much a fan of President Obama as any one who worked so tirelessly to get him elected. I have enough Obama T-shirts (and not tacky ones either) to wear every day for a week and a half and not have to repeat any of them. Hell, I even wept tears of joy on election night, and the inauguration. The reason I reacted so emotionally is because I was sure that this was the guy who was seriously going to change the world, and our nation radically. But now, in the cold light of day, almost a full seven months since his inauguration, (and yes, I really am about to criticize the President, take note!) he seems to be governing timidly. For me, this is one of the worst possible ways to govern. For all his soaring talk about real change, we haven't gotten what we paid for. Of course I realize it's better than any of the other options, but we hold the best to a higher standard. Never have we had a man so intelligent, and so appreciative of our country's diversity in a position where they could use these traits to effect real good on America. And now that we do, President Obama seems to be shying away from exercising his real potential. He's dragging his feet on gay rights and the environment. He's shown no desire to fight for meaningful gun laws and he supports the death penalty. On the healthcare front, his plan doesn't go far enough in ensuring that insurance companies aren't still in control when we get "reform".

My point is that from the standpoint of a hardline Liberal, President Obama is a step in the right direction, with the potential but maybe not desire to be our "messiah". At this point if someone like a Howard Dean or someone more liberal were to challenge the President in the primaries in 2012 I would certainly pause for thought about voting for them, and it's going to take some work on the President's end to change my mind.