A few months ago, I posted a tweet that read, "Because if I don't, I shouldn't complain. And I love to complain. #WhyIVote". And the eight years of the Bush Administration gave me plenty to complain about. That's not to say the current administration is perfect - what administration is? - but Obama has given me fewer reasons to complain.
Unfortunately, too many pundits on the left seem to look for reasons to criticize Obama. For instance, when the President gave his post-Gulf oil spill speech, not only did Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews (among others) engage in senseless nit-picking, but the following night Rachel Maddow actually gave the speech she wished Obama had given. Can you imagine what Olbermann's Special Comment would have sounded like if Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity had pulled that kind of stunt?
And just last Friday, when Cenk Uygar (while guest-hosting The Dylan Ratigan Show) and Jane Hamsher took issue with a paragraph from remarks Obama gave at a Greenwich fundraiser (they said nothing about the rest of the speech, mind you), Armstrong Williams - Armstrong Fucking Williams! - was forced to defend the President. If that doesn't prove that the Professional Left (yeah, I said it!) has gone completely batshit, I don't know what does.
(By the way, I think Obama was talking about certain congressional Democrats and pundits, not his voters, as Cenk and the others would have you believe.)
But maybe there's a reason for all of this hackery, and there's only one that makes any sense to me: The Prefessional Left secretly - perhaps subconsciously - misses George W. Bush.
Allow me to explain. For eight years the Bush Administration gave the pundits (and quite honestly, most of the country) more than a few reasons to complain: A record deficit, an unjust war, torture, the outing of a C.I.A. agent, the botched response to Katrina - there's not a lot to like here, folks. And I think the Professional Left had grown so accustomed to an incompetent Commander-In-Chief, they haven't quite learned how to adjust to a competent one. Hence the constant bitching.
Look, I'm not saying the President shouldn't be criticized at all (I've already said that this administration wasn't perfect), but if you're going to do so, make sure your criticisms are warranted. Otherwise you run the risk of looking about as competent as a Fox News commentator. And seriously, who the fuck wants that?
(Special thanks to Humanity Critic for the sending me those last three links. Follow him on Twitter.)
