In a pointed essay about how wrong some libertarian bloggers masquerading as progressives can be, Booman Tribune (@booMan23) outlines a very good summary of just  some of the major progressive achievements of the Obama adminstration.  Despite the incessant and destructive doom and gloom whining of a professional left that profits from all the hysteria they manufacture, and the general ineffectualness of a progressive movement that now seems to have been far more interested in bumper sticker slogans that made them feel good,rather than in the long,hard slog we needed to make real political change, the Obama administration has gotten far more accomplished than any of these do-nothing idealogues really want you to know about.  

Why it that? Because the more you know, the more likely you are to vote.  And that means Obama would easily win reelection, and that's just something they cannot stomach because he's not "just not progressive enough" to suit their suspiciously juvenile expectations or tastes.

Whether they actually feel that way, as so many irrelevant socialists, anarchists, and nihlists have always felt in our nation's history, or they are being well-paid by the right wing to appear as if they feel that way, is really irrelevant in the current shadow of an impending Right wing takeover of the White House and Senate. Their glum, disappointed, despiriting voices and screeds deface the pages of countless newspaper, broadcast, and blogging  accounts so often, the apathy and despair in the electorate is palpable, and probably far greater than is being reflected in Obama's low approval numbers.  

Those numbers always take a plunge after the latest "Caver in Chief" memes get planted by the Hamshers, Greenwalds, Uygurs, Schultzes, Moores, Ratigans, Daous, and the rest of the perpetually petulant rich people gambling with America's future so they can look important to the 7% of democrats who will never be happy with any Democratic president.  These memes get traction not because they are true, but because these people get more traction in the main stream media than do all the other voices who actually lay out the facts without all the ruinously simplistic distortions and polemical firebombs designed to get them high-fives from their friends and sympathetic media hosts, and generally advance their career profiles and products, no matter how much they posture otherwise. Whether they really want to destroy the Obama presidency is secondary to the fact that they actually are.  So why are they so culturally suicidal with so much at risk for our society?  Ask them. They will spin you up a nice lie, replete with just enough pseudo-progressive blither blather that you might actually confuse them with sincere progressives.  They're not.

But enough preamble. Here is Booman's list, mostly reformatted and marginally reworded to suit this purpose, and with just enough of his lead-in retained to provide some context:

On many of the issues that most concern [Glenn] Greenwald, the two parties are frighteningly alike. How do we get these assholes to stop the insane War on Drugs? How can we ever shrink the Pentagon down to a reasonable size? Is there any end to the expansion of the surveillance state? It seems like neither party has any interest in budging on any of these questions, and it's appalling.

But how about the areas where they do differ?

  • Obama has overhauled the food safety system
  • Advanced women's rights in the work place
  • Ended Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) in our military
  • Stopped defending DOMA in court.
  • Passed the Hate Crimes bill.
  • Appointed two pro-choice women to the Supreme Court.
  • Expanded access to medical care and provided subsidies for people who can't afford it.
  • Expanded the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
  • Fixed the preexisting conditions travesty [and rescissions] in health insurance.
  • Invested in clean energy.
  • Overhauled the credit card industry, making it much more consumer-friendly.
  • While Dodd-Frank bill was weak in many respects, it was still an extremely worthwhile start at re-regulating the financial sector.
  • He created a Elizabeth Warren's dream agency: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
  • He's done a lot for veterans
  • He got help for people whose health was injured during the clean-up after the 9/11 attacks. 

None of these things were priorities for Republicans. They actively opposed, directly or indirectly through obstruction, every single item on this list. In fact, they succeeded in killing a Cap & Trade bill in the Senate after it had passed through the House.

All of these things are improvements that would not have occurred under a McCain-Palin administration. Moreover, a McCain-Palin administration would have moved in the other direction on most of these issues, or come up with even worse compromises.

Booman then concludes with:

The president has achieved a tremendous amount under the circumstances. And it matters greatly that he not be replaced by Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, or Michele Bachmann. Or even Ron Paul.

Thank you, Boo. It needed to be said. 

Moreover, it needs to be repeated to everyone. Please use the Retweet button below and help do that. Thanks.

Note:  :Last  year, a team I assembled produced a far more extensive list and published it at ObamaAchievements.org.  We are about to start updating it to include some of what can be found above, and certainly all of what is found in Milt Shook's much later effort, which you can read here:

TO THOSE WHO CONSIDER PRESIDENT OBAMA A DISAPPOINTMENT; YOU'RE JUST NOT PAYING ATTENTION!


Related

There is a lot of misinformation going around the social media space about whether President Obama (who resisted being pulled into this Libyan conflict), is legally allowed to commit U.S. Military forces to the conflict without the authorization of the United States Congress. 

While I would welcome any input that corrects my understanding, it is currently that he is absolutely and unambiguously allowed to do so.  Why? Because of our well over half-century old agreement with the United Nations which requires such a commitment of armed forces from its Member nations when requested by the Security Council under Chapter XVII of its charter. While a number of pertinent Articles exist in that chapter, the meat and potatoes of the chapter, insofar as Member's armed forces are concerned, is this one:

Chapter VII, Article 42 reads (in its entirety):

Should the Security Council consider that measures provided for in Article 41 would be inadequate or have proved to be inadequate, it may take such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security. Such action may include demonstrations, blockade, and other operations by air, sea, or land forces of Members of the United Nations.

Source: United Nations Charter

Basically, this says that if the non-military efforts of the previous Article (41) are ineffective or not viable, the Security Council may ask its members for additional armed forces to perform whatever military actions or operations its commanders deem necessary to secure peace and security or restore order under the dictates of the resolution.

Now the UN charter's Article 43 also requires that each Member nation ratify this mandate according to their constitutional processes. This has been done by an action of U.S. Congress, and is reflected in:

US CODE > TITLE 22 > CHAPTER 7 > SUBCHAPTER XVI >  287d

The current edition of the U.S. code was published in 2006.

Use of armed forces; limitations — The President is authorized to negotiate a special agreement or agreements with the Security Council which shall be subject to the approval of the Congress by appropriate Act or joint resolution, providing for the numbers and types of armed forces, their degree of readiness and general location, and the nature of facilities and assistance, including rights of passage, to be made available to the Security Council on its call for the purpose of maintaining international peace and security in accordance with article 43 of said Charter.

The President shall not be deemed to require the authorization of the Congress to make available to the Security Council on its call in order to take action under article 42 of said Charter and pursuant to such special agreement or agreements the armed forces, facilities, or assistance provided for therein: Provided, That, except as authorized in section 287d–1 of this title, nothing herein contained shall be construed as an authorization to the President by the Congress to make available to the Security Council for such purpose armed forces, facilities, or assistance in addition to the forces, facilities, and assistance provided for in such special agreement or agreements.

Source: Cornell School of Law

In Conclusion

You can argue about how far the United States might or should go in complying with United Nations' resolutions, and that's a valid argument to have.  Conservatives, isolationists and libertarians have been making it for years. 

You might also argue that the U.S. Constitution, under Article 1, Section 8 grants congress the exclusive right to make war. But subsequent law, embodied in Title 22 above, obviously override this with respect to treaties and agreements already signed into law (i.e. the UN charter).  And even if that were not so, the complexities of the modern era, International Law, the War Powers Resolution of 1973, all suggest that we've had to push the working definitions of "war" and "authorization" a bit. 

It might behoove us—after we dispatch the right wing coup that currently threatens our nation—to amend the constitution, or otherwise clarify these murky issues so that future generations are not constantly preoccupied with their complex and arcane legalities, each and every time the use of military force should arise.

Related

  • United Nations' Persian Gulf Resolution, which did NOT specifically stipulate call its members under UN Chapter VII (above), and thus, Congressional approval WAS required for U.S. Military action
  • United Nations'_Security_Council_Resolution_1441, authorizing the disarmament of Iraq, where again, Chapter VII (above) was not invoked, and thus, U.S. Congressional approval once again, WAS required.  (This was the famous "Use of Force" resolution that so many Democrats joined Republicans in signing, which was and remains a massive disappointment to the left (and this author) to this very day.

Here it is…

A brilliant and important, five month old column by Mark Morford, written just after the disastrous midterms, which closely resembles a post I have written again and again in my own head.  But as my Twitter followers know, I’ve only been able to tweet (ok, rant) about it in 140 character bursts. I’m just too fucking ADHD to write this well. So shoot me. Fortunately, Morford is not. You simply must read and understand it.

Oh, now you’ve done it. See? You see what happens when you young, liberal voters get so disgruntled and disillusioned that you drop all your party’s newborn, hard-won ideas about Hope and Change, without really giving them sufficient time to mature, without understanding that hugely foreign concept known as “the long view”?

And like me, he doesn’t just chide the dreamy-eyed idealists for neglecting a long view, but also for not realizing a threat to their well being that is more terrifying—and potentially more deadly—than anything this nation has never faced. Worse than the Civil War, Dred Scott, Pearl Harbor, or 9/11. (Yeah, Teaparty, chow down, motherfuckers. I consider you a greater threat to America than terrorism. Deal with it.)

Check it out, kiddo: This is not just any Republican party you allowed back into power; these mealy folks are not anything like the war-hungry, Bush-tainted army of flying monkeys and Dick Cheney moose knuckles you so wonderfully helped bury in the history books last election.

No, the GOP of 2010-2011 is even weirder, dumber, less interested in anything you even remotely care about; this GOP is infused like a sour cocktail with the most cartoonish, climate change-denying Tea Party dingbats imaginable — most of whom think you’re an elitist, terrorist-loving, gay-supporting threat to “real” American values, btw — all led by a tearful glad-hander named Boehner who wears a shellacked tan so creepy and surreal it makes Nancy Pelosi looks healthy.

Read Full Article


When you finish, take stock of these sad and terrifying facts. If it all comes to pass, as is far more likely than not, the gloom and doom of the last midterms will seem like a day at the beach:

Thanks to @raindrops_SF for this bit of perfect prose. Pass it to everyone you know—before it’s not too late.

Related

I was just given this by a reader of this post. It is equally brilliant and a must read: