Are those who defend President Obama's every single move, sincere?

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98. I have stayed out of these discussions

Afraid of having "newbie" status thrown at me (I'm not - been here for years, just don't post often), or being accused of being an Obama apologist, because if a line in the sand has to be drawn, with the supporters on one side and the critics on the other, I'm on the supporter side.

But I, and no one I know, defends his every move.

1) I was opposed to the Patriot Act when it was introduced, and the NSA revelations don't surprise me at all. And Obama's defense of the NSA doesn't surprise me either. To me, here's the situation. Because of the out-of-proportion fear of terrorists in this country, I can't imagine any President taking any chances that a major terrorist attack will take place on his/her watch. I think it's crazy, I hate the whole idea of a surveillance state, but it's what we've got.

2) I support single-payer health care. Again, it's not going to happen soon (I think that, inevitably, it will eventually). While folks here decry this Obama gift to the health insurance industry, more than half the country think the incremental steps of Obamacare are the start of a communist society. I don't like the way he negotiated, but at the same time, in the current political climate, I think this is the best we could have gotten.

3) I despise the drone policy; it's the biggest terrorist recruitment policy of all - but see number 1.

4) I wanted to see those responsible for the economic collapse punished. It hasn't happened, I wasn't surprised. Half this country voted for Romney. Half this country, in some weird alternate reality, honestly believes that the only way to fix the economy is to give these criminals even more freedom. The very minimal reforms Obama has helped put into effect are way too little, but, to half the country, they are the moves of an anti-capitalist who wants to redistribute the wealth from the earners to the takers. I don't get it - but this is how way too many feel.

The political center has moved so far to the right that it is going to take a very long time to move it back. I am not surprised that Obama has done so little to move it back; I think he has done about as much as anyone could. What I am disappointed by is that this caution seems to be a characteristic of Obama. It's not like he wants more progressive policies and isn't able to get them - this is his nature. But, with the current climate, and the current Congress, would a more progressive president been able to do more? This is where I probably respectfully disagree with many here. I think this is about as good as we could have gotten. A small step in the right (left) direction, but about what is possible right now.

Whenever I read posts here, and find myself thinking - yeah. what a disappointment Obama has been - I take a little trip outside the bubble and read the comments in response to mainstream newspaper articles about the issues in question. And I realize what reality is. The same President that we see as far too cautious, or as a Democrat in name only, as the NSA defending Wall Street sympathizer - half the country sees him as the most liberal President in history, as a leftist radical, some see him, literally, as the Anti-Christ.

The country is not going to accept the Obama we would like to see, even if he had it in him. It's going to be a very slow swing back to a center that almost anyone at DU could accept as reasonable. Obama frustrates me, disappoints me, but here in the polarized climate of DU, I would be called an Obama apologist, or, supporting everything he does, as far from the truth as that is.