Surprised by the atmosphere here....

[ClarkJonathanKent]

102. Let me first say thank you to the mostly polite responses so far..

Most of the people that disagreed with my post were still very polite about it, and I appreciate that. With respect to what some people observed, I would like to apologize if my choice of the word "cheerleaders" was inappropriate. If I may clarify, I would like to agree with another poster that saying positive things about Obama doesn't make one a cheerleader. I was referring to the people that seem to dogmatically praise the president without ever acknowledging that he does have faults.

I would like to thank all the people that agreed with me because that feeling of solidarity is much appreciated. The last time I posted on this forum, I was basically ridiculed. One should be prepared for that when posting in a forum, but it still surprised me.

Back on topic, I would like to make an observation for the people that disagreed with my post, and ask a question. As far as "Obama bashing" making the most popular threads, I would simply like to point out that this is not a bad thing. For example:

Let's say you know a dude from work and become friends. You know each other for a few years and think he is a great guy. Then one day, you find out that he sometimes hits his wife. 99.9% of the time, he is a great guy. But the act of beating his wife is so significant that it becomes the dominant piece of information in your assessment of him, regardless of whether it is .01% of his actions. Similarly, I can guarantee you that all the people that post or participate in "Obama bashing" threads probably have 50 things they like about the President, whether it be his actions or a personality trait. I am sure they would acknowledge it if you asked them. But the things they don't like about him are often prominent in our thoughts because (and this is a huge assumption) most of the people here participate because they want to discuss the things that need to CHANGE and be fixed, and not necessarily the things that need to stay the same. Have you ever worked for a person that was mostly a good boss, but sometimes really screwed things up? Did you ever point that out to your boss? Ever point it out to your co-workers? Were you "bashing" your boss? Were you ignoring all his good points? Or were you making thoughtful observations about things at your job that could be improved? I think it was the latter. Which brings me to the question I wanted to ask....

What constitutes bashing? Are the people complaining about the chained CPI proposals "bashing?" Are people complaining about lack of action on Climate Change merely thoughtless Obama bashers? Are any complaints against Obama valid? If so, which ones? If not, why not? Should every Obama failing be blamed on Republican obstructionism of Congress? Democrats are only responsible for the good, and bear no responsibility for the bad? Should any person's complaint or observation of Obama or the Democrats be immediately reduced to bashing?

I seem to recall a prominent Catholic official respond to one of Bill Maher's rants on Catholicism, and instead of actually addressing the points that Maher made, he simply denounced him for "bashing" the Catholic Church. It felt like a pretty cheap trick, meant only to distract and belittle, and to be honest, it feels the same way when I see it here.