Robert Gibbs Was Right

Remember a few months ago when Press Secretary Robert Gibbs made a comment about there being a professional left? After he said that, he came under some pretty heavy fire. He and the White House took a good deal of criticism from the comment. Well, he is right. There is a professional left, and it is causing problems.

Over the past several months, dating back to President Obama's first year in office, there has been a constant presence of this professional left. And it has not been helping Obama or the Democrats in congress. They have become an even larger problem during the 2010 campaign season, and they need to calm down.

The biggest problem that they are responsible for is their refusal to recognize all the goals President Obama has accomplished since taking office. Rather than support everything the president and congress has passed since January 20th, 2009, they have instead criticized Obama and the Democrats for not doing enough.

Here is a list of just some of the things they have accomplished:

• Health care reform
• Financial reform
• Prevented a 2nd depression
• Lowered taxes for 95% of Americans
• Restarted stem cell research
• Pulled out of Iraq
• Signed a nuclear treaty with Russia

And yet all the Democratic base can talk about is how Obama and the Democrats in congress have not done enough. Have they seen that list? It looks to be quite a lot. Granted, more could have been done in some cases (there was a chance that the public option could have been part of health care reform), but the professional left has to understand that something is better than nothing. And the something, even without things such as the public option, is still a lot.

Change through the American political process comes slowly. The Democratic base has to understand that grand, sweeping legislation does not come through and pass every day. Change often happens bit by bit, piece by piece. Think about how long it took for some form of health care reform to finally pass. The last major piece of health care reform legislation that was passed took place in the 1970s. Let us celebrate the fact that we finally got some legislation passed, even if it was not perfect.

Health care reform is just one example of what the professional left is unhappy about. The financial reform that passed, while not great, was a step in the right direction. We are fighting one less war. Taxes have been lowered for most people. One would think that President Obama has had a rather successful year and a half in office. And yet there is still a feeling amongst liberals that he has not done enough.

Yes, the economy is still poor, but the situation would be quite a lot worse if it were not for what steps the Obama administration took. He could also do more for gay rights, such as taking a greater role in the process of repealing DADT. He has, for the most part, continued the Bush policies of how to deal with terror suspects and detainees.

But he has got the country moving in the right direction. So why are liberals still unhappy with Obama's performance? I think the answer is two-fold: high unemployment is generating a feeling that not enough is being done in Washington and it is representative of how Washington often appears stagnant towards people's needs, and also that liberals need to realize that they are expecting too much out of what the president can do.

And then there is the media, but that is a whole other matter. There is so much misinformation out there that it can be hard for people to get the correct story and what is really going on in Washington. Sadly, there is no way to remedy this situation unless the various news outlets (either on TV, in print or online) actually begin to tell the news in an honest fashion (except, of course, for The Daily Show).

Until next time, Orange Hat Guy