There’s been a great deal of excitement about Barack Obama’s plans to reverse or do away with a good number of Bush’s executive orders and signing statements. This is a sign of his progressivism! some say. This is hope for the future! others say. Let’s just all move on and not question him anymore! still others say.
The idea, apparently, is that by signaling (not coming out and saying, mind, but signaling through surrogates) that he intends to reverse, say, the Global Gag Rule, Obama is showing his progressive bona fides, and that therefore any cynicism about him based on the way he conducted his campaign (you know, leveraging misogyny and homophobia and using a lot of right-wing anti-choice framing and god-talk) or on the way he’s conducting his transition (16 men and 4 women on his transition team, LARRY FREAKING SUMMERS as a serious choice for Treasury) is unwarranted. And not just unwarranted, but toxic; poisonous to Hope. Poisonous to Hope because it means that those who maintain such skepticism have simply not learned to let go of their cynicism from eight years of the Bush Administration. They’re sick, poor lambs, and have given up on the progressive cause. Clearly, they intend to spend four years in a hole with their toxic, poisonous-to-Hope cynicism, never venturing out to hold Obama’s feet to the fire. Because now! Now’s the time to hold his feet to the fire, AFTER he’s already won!
Bullshit.
Listen, if you think that reversing the Global Gag Rule is a sign of great progressivism, I have news for you: It’s not. It’s basically returning the country’s policy to where it was in 1984, 24 freakin’ years ago. It’s the bare fucking minimum I would expect of any goddamned Democrat worth the name in the Oval Office. Reversing it was Bill Clinton’s very first official act as President, and I don’t see too many people calling him a progressive.
Progressivism requires progress, and what Obama is proposing to do with the GGR and other executive orders and signing statements (though his position on the Gitmo trials and torture may not be as strong as originally reported) isn’t actually progress. It’s restoration. And not even full restoration, because he can’t, merely by reversing all of Bush’s executive orders, get us back to where we were in January 2001 because so much damage was done through Congress.
So while it’s great that Obama is reviewing all those orders, I remain skeptical. And I remain skeptical not because my tiny lady-brain has been warped by eight years under Bush, but because I still have great, truly great, expectations for a progressive administration, and I’m not going to settle for some crumbs.
See, for all the concern that cynicism may have become reflexive, few have questioned why something as simple as reversing the GGR should be hailed as a great progressive achievement. Maybe because our expectations of what is possible have been warped by eight years under Bush, who’s dragged us so far to the right we begin to see basic human rights as a bonus?
Does this mean I’m giving up? Hell, no. Obama has an opportunity that few presidents get — he’s going into office from a decisive victory with a potential filibuster-proof Democratic majority in the Senate (which could be made more secure by wooing the New England Republicans into pulling a Jeffords). He’s got power, he needs to use it. This is the time, as Paul Krugman says, to Go Big.
I’ll reserve my judgment about him until I see whether he intends to Go Big or to Go Home.
Woooooooo! Yeeeessssssss!!!!!
:::ahem:::
Sorry… Obviously, I wholeheartedly concur with this post.
I’m with Tricia, too!
BO hasn’t really signaled a lot of super-great stuff, IMO, and certainly not enough to forget about the terrible things he’s done. And certainly not to make up for Summers and 4/17. We’ll see.
I’m really curious about this cabinet — I have a bet with my boyfriend about it. If he appoints more republicans than women, my BF will buy me a hot dog. It’s win-win! Either I get a hot dog or I get a cabinet that doesn’t throw women totally under the bus.
Most definitely it is time to go big. And simply restoring normality isn’t it.
Beautifully said.
Yesssss. I couldn’t agree more.
Maybe because our expectations of what is possible have been warped by eight years under Bush, who’s dragged us so far to the right we begin to see basic human rights as a bonus?
Bingo. Hand-in-hand with my disgust with the Democrats this season is my absolute contempt for Bush, and how he’s created such desperation amongst so many (not just “the left” factions like women and LGBTIs and the anti-war folk, but the poor, even those poor who vote Republican). Desperation and destabilization open the door to populations swayed by demagoguery and scapegoatism, lowered expectations and blind fanaticism, all of which are incredibly disconcerting to me. I tend to be wary of “movements” of any stripe, especially vague ones.
Amen. I’m glad he’s speaking up early about rolling this stuff back, but honestly, it should go without SAYING that he’ll repeal most of these blatant infringements on our rights. I want to hear more about what he’s going to do beyond that.
Hell, yes. I’ve been dismayed to read about how anything less than adoration of Obama is a buzzkill and will utterly defeat the progressive cause. Of course it’s a good thing that he’s planning to right some of the fundamental wrongs created by the Bush administration–but you’re absolutely right that a return to square one doesn’t represent progress. Reimposition of the Clintonian status quo doesn’t suggest a big swing leftward.
And yes, Larry WTF Summers? How many times are we going to get called “sweetie” by this administration and expected not to trouble our empty little heads about it?
I’m capable of being simultaneously joyful about the barrier-breaking nature of Obama’s election and angry that the Reagan-Bush cabal has yanked the political discourse in this country so far to the right that if the Democrats govern “from the center,” the Republicans win. It’s no time for a honeymoon–there’s too fucking much work to do.
And Mussolini got the trains to run on time. BFD.
(P.S. I know what your site name means — I second that emotion!)
I couldn’t agree more. Thanks for opening a space of discussion for those of us as equally skeptical as hopeful. I love your writing!
“…(16 men and 4 women on his transition team, LARRY FREAKING SUMMERS as a serious choice for Treasury)…”
A basket of yesses (and the one sticking in my craw, making it very difficult for me to not expect more of the same down the road: Hillary being marginalized by Obama surrogates as any kind of real player within health care. I mean, jesus–just as a politically smart move, as a way to bind the party together & move forward {i.e., the kind of thing male politicians regularly extend to each other after an election} putting Sen Clinton–and other expert & gifted women–in the spotlight would ensure a shitload of support from her voting base.)
And since this isn’t happening, I keep–reluctantly–asking myself this: if sexism/misogyny were only a campaign tactic they (very skillfully) deployed, then wouldn’t Obama & Co be making much, much more of an effort to put *more* women out there right now?
It’s too soon to have a fair or informed answer to that–but that I even have to ask the question baffles, annoys and angers me.
“tiny lady-brain”
LOL
Well I hope he does surprise us, but a really progressive agenda would piss off a lot of those FBOs he kissed up to all through the primaries. That would probably jeopardize his chances for a second term.
I disagree slightly with the point that Bush II moved the U.S. so far to the right we don’t know what progressive is anymore. The U.S. hasn’t seen a liberal democratic administration since Jimmy Carter. People think Bill Clinton was a bleeding heart pinko and he was about as liberal as Eisenhower.
Great post, zuzu!
Any resorative work will do a lot of good from where we stand now, but all it makes him is a centrist. I do hope more from him, but I don’t expect it. I will however be demanding more with no apologies. And we’ll see what the Democratic Congress does–they had no need to roll over the way they did for Bush, so I don’t have a lot of expectations for what they’ll do now.
It’s such a huge friggin’ relief to read this post. Awesome.
I’ve got a lot of hope for Obama, but I’m reserving outright praise for some actual results. He would be smart to reverse the GGR, but like you said, it’s merely restoring rights that should have been there in the first place. What next? I’m still hopeful thanks to the overwhelming response to Democrats this election, in many ways thanks to Obama (and Bush, thanks Bush!), but I know better than to think we’re at the dawn of a new kind of politics.
You’re completely right about warped politics, IMO, because thinking about it, my standards for a “good” president include basics for things like transparency and honesty. If I step outside myself, that’s a pretty low bar. At the same time, after Bush, it’s still a standard.
I, for one, am ready for a president who acts like governing is more important than getting re-elected. (Also, given that the electorate was warned that Obama is a socialist, don’t we have some kind of overwhelming mandate for socialism? Which ought to take us someplace other than where we were in 1984, yeah?)
My hope is focus more on the American people, who maybe are energized enough to hold their government accountable rather than looking on it like a crash on the highway. I’m inclined to write a letter a week to our new President, giving props where they are earned but then applying pressure where it is needed to make progress.
Absolutely! I decline to be grateful for crumbs. I’m not going to applaud Obama for doing the least that’s expected of him.
I couldn’t agree more and I really appreciate it being said, so thanks, zuzu.
True, since the Republicans have been working 40 years to drag the country to the right, their ultimate goal being to dismantle the New Deal, and Clinton’s presidency came after Reagan and Bush I already laid a lot of groundwork. Bush II was the first one who was so overt about it, and along with the really freaky Congressional Republicans, made it so obvious what he was doing that people started to rebel.
They drag the country to the right, but they have to pretend they’re just going to the center. And then they want Democrats to rule from this new “center,” which is where Clinton had to govern (not saying he wasn’t a centrist, but he did try some more liberal stuff early on, but because he didn’t know how things worked in Washington, he got sandbagged by his own party and then had a Republican Congress who obstructed just about everything he tried to do).
The U.S. hasn’t seen a liberal democratic administration since Jimmy Carter.
I would disagree. We havent seen a liberal democratic administration since LBJ.
I appreciate this post. Some of my Obama-supporting friends have a hard time grasping the concept that not everyone likes him. I had lunch with an old friend today and she stressed how important it was that everyone support him. After much discussion, we agreed that there was room for a loyal opposition.
Another skeptic here. Suzie, I’m with you on the friend thing. Many of my friends are Obama supporters, and a number of IRL female friends seem to feel it’s critical to get me from skeptical-but-wanting-to-be-convinced to adoring. I’d like to get there too, but I’d rather get there based on his actions rather than being told “you need to be thinking _____” by friends. Hey, if he shows signs of awesomeness, I’ll be happy to jump on board.
Until then, I like megankay’s friend. I think I’ll have to steal that one. I have a few friends who might lay serious odds…
Correction — I mean “I like megankay’s bet”
*Cries*
Thank you. I mean, thank you.
I’m a non-American progressive and I’ve felt so alone these past few weeks, as all my friends think Obama is wonderful, and I’m still hurt over the way he used sexism in his campaign. And I’m skeptical. And I feel like such a bad person because of it, like some sort of Scrooge. The only other sites that are skeptical are republicans who think he’s going to be some scary socialist who will usher in a huge new wave of gay accepting abortion allowing health care providing progressiveness. I wish!
So, thank you. I now know I’m not alone.
Rachel, you may want to google Reclusive Leftist.
Yeah I don’t know so much about that Reclusive Leftist either. It’s refreshing to get a perspective other than ‘Rah Rah Obama,’ but just try suggesting over there that an organization whose main mission is to advocate for full citizenship rights for fetuses probably isn’t really a feminist one. Really, it’s getting ridiculous. If you’re not as enamored with Palin there as the ‘bots are with Obama, you must be pro-porn.
Oh that sucks. I saw a few of those posts but I haven’t been reading there too long. It was just nice to find somewhere where the Obama-skeptical can hang out without being accused of being bad people, etc.
Or accused of holding a “personal grudge” if you happen to be upset that your human and civil rights have been subjugated over the last year for a candidate’s political gain.
A bit late to this party, but huz-fuckin’-zah.
Someone, in the Shakesville comments in recent weeks, pointed out that Richard Nixon was more liberal than the current incoming administration. Sad, but true. (Nixon signed the ADEA into law, among other things, although one could argue that it was in his own self-interest.) And yet there’s not been much scrutiny of the fact that Obama’s employment application policies make him seem more paranoid than Tricky Dick.
Not exactly. Violet has said in comments, several times in the past few days, that it’s not about “adoring” Palin, but about buying into memes about her that turned out to be untrue.
There was recently a post of a video there of Palin talking about feminism. She said, “I consider myself a feminist, whatever that means” and touted her membership with Feminists For Life. I commented that it sounds like Palin isn’t clear on what feminism is. A commenter chewed me out that she’d rather be a Palin-FLL-type feminist than a sex-pos third-wave type (like these are the only options) and now none of my comments there ever show up.
Ouch. I’m sorry that happened, wiggles. (FWIW, I think I have a fairly accurate idea which commenter it was.)
Jon Swift’s BB Post of 2008 led me here! Great post! Nice that there are others who feel this way! I voted for the guy, (of course-who else was there?!) but it was with some trepidation, as I know Obama is not a raving liberal. (which I think would be great-it would reverse a lot of the damage that has been done to this country!) It is so ironic that the far right of the Rep’s has demonized Obama as a “socialist” when he is actually (compared to Kucinich,Sanders, etc) pretty moderate or even a centrist to conservative Demo.
I think progressive people need to keep on Obama to do what’s right-he’s gonna do what he feels he needs to do but if the progressives in the Demos can influence him in any way, that would be great.I am holding out hope for some real Democrat-like decision making.
Ironically-the Rick Warren Inauguration thing is not a good sign.