The Watcher Cat

The Watcher Cat

Monday, July 11, 2011

On Purity Trolls of the Left

From DKos:
I hate to accuse President Obama of being an Uncle Tom, but like Uncle Tom he counsels accepting our system of enslavement to the rich and powerful. I mean this literally, based on the book that, as Lincoln said, started the War to Free the Slaves. Obama began his Presidency being compared to Lincoln, because he supposedly appointed rivals to his cabinet. If he wanted real rivals, he would have appointed Krugman, Stiglitz, Trumka and Warren, not Summers, Geithner, Donovan, and Clinton. Obama has not shown the determination of Lincoln to restore the union, whatever the cost. If Obama had been president in 1861, he would have negotiated an end to war based on a promise from the slavers to treat their slaves better.
This framing is simply racist. Period. It's also deeply stupid, and smug to boot. And plug-ignorant, as well. (Did the author even read Stowe?)

But more to the point, this sort of thing helps explain why the "professional Left" doesn't find a lot of love in the Obama Administration. Because this is just today's example of this sort of insane nonsense--and check out the comments. Or check out Firedoglake . Or any post by Glenn Greenwald (seriously, I don't even have to pick a specific post; they're all over the top Obama bashing--and in comments and on Twitter GG consistently refers to Obama as "Dear Leader" and his supporters as "cultists").

And then compare this unfortunately named but understandably frustrated response.

Even when they have a point, who can hear them through the hate?