CUT THE CRAP! Your Month in Review from the most "progressive" administration ever.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

406. We are still reaping the effects of those horrible Bush-Clinton-Bush policies, but I

don't see many here, on the "professional left" or in Democratic Party establishment circles hold Bill Clinton accountable for any of it.

You say many were naive and once deceived. Fine. I can agree with that.

However, now that we are all aware of those policies. Now that we're all attuned to what happened, (for example, the complete corporate takeover of our media, thanks to the Telecommunications Act of 1996) we can no longer use naivete as the excuse. We continue to feel the pain of NAFTA policies and yet President Obama is blamed for the state of the economy. Presidents that come after this president will endure that legacy while millions of Americans continue to suffer, and yet few people blame Bush-Clinton-Bush. Instead, they point the finger squarely at Obama. Now, I realize that the economy was in much better shape when Clinton was in office, but it is absolutely and especially unfair to lay the blame at this president's feet when he *inherited* this economy which took 2 decades to destroy--the impact of NAFTA and deregulation unabated for that time.

Yes, President Obama deserves much blame for any pro-supply side policy he pushes that has failed.
Yes, President Obama deserves much blame for TPP or any NAFTA/CAFTA-like or "lite" free trade policies.
Yes, President Obama deserves much blame for giving up on the public option too soon.

However, President Obama DOES NOT deserve much of the blame for those policies set in place 20 years ago that are finally beginning to exert long-term negative impacts on this economy. He doesn't deserve blame for the lack of jobs, as we know that Republicans (aided by some cowardly conservative Democrats) have obstructed every single jobs-producing measure put forth. No, President Obama doesn't deserve the blame for the lack of a stronger Dodd-Frank bill, as we know that it is the Congress that sets the agenda, and the moderate and conservative Democrats joined with Republicans in weakening that bill. Same with the Stimulus Bill (ARRA), the ACA, and so forth.

I come on this forum and I see these threads blaming this man for everything from not closing Gitmo to the rain pouring down when the weather forecasters promised a sunny day. Really, it's fucking ridiculous around here.

Note regarding Gitmo: Some people on the Left are so angry at Obama that they can't even remember (or, they refused to remember) him proposing that each of the 50 states should accept Gitmo detainees and hold them until arrangements could be made to have a proper hearing. They don't remember that Congress kicked and screamed and didn't want to provide any money to fund the closing and/or relocation of the detainees. Now, inevitably some people will come in here yelling and screaming at me, suggesting that Obama could have closed Gitmo with a stroke of a pen via Executive Order. But through all that yelling and crying, they wouldn't be able to tell me how the prison would close, whether there would be enough funding to close and relocate the detainees (Congress controls the purse), or how we would manage and WHERE we would hold suitable hearings for these detainees. Their anger and resentment, (and some of them downright hate this man), simply won't allow them to think reasonably and be fair when it comes to this particular president. I've never seen anything like it in all my years and I do not recall ever witnessing the same level of disdain and hate for the last successful Democratic president. The level of vitriol, all the moral double standards--Bill Clinton did far worse and deserved far worse.