That's the way it seems to this liberal/progressive. First (in the early part of the decade) it was impossible for this lifelong Dem to be a registered Democrat anymore. Then there was a series of shocks as televised hearings showed liberals sitting back -- giving up -- as the worst of the worst were confirmed to top posts.
A stunned Patrick Leahy sinks back in his chair -- mute, gormless -- as Albert Gonzales testifies in a confirmation hearing; the confirmations of Roberts and Alito; a steady sound of complaint but little action. An inexplicablydisorganized liberal majority in the Senate appears unable to act as a majority when the chips are down.
Now anger and denial have surfaced after a Democratic president, who has been astonishingly successful in pushing through legislation, fails to give his supporters every gift they wanted and expected. Those supporters seem unwilling or unable to recognize the high political cost of their cavils and whines. They move with childish ease from disappointment to resentment.
EJ Dionne catches the mood but appears to blame the White House.
What, then, can Obama and his intermittently discouraged allies do with this peculiar blend of triumphs and setbacks?
For starters, they must restore a functional relationship between the White House and its sometimes-friends, sometimes-critics on the left. Too often, the White House has been caught whining about its progressive critics. The president's aides act as if whatever Obama happens to decide is the only sensible and realistic thing to do. For the left to ask Obama to be bolder in testing the limits of the possible means it is doing its job of pushing the president to do more, and to do it faster. Conservatives have mastered this approach. Why can't liberals do the same?
Because, realistically, they can't unless they quit complaining and get going.
...Too often progressives have spent more time complaining about what wasn't done than in finding ways to build on what has been achieved. It took decades to complete the modern Social Security system and years to move from tepid to robust civil rights laws and from modest to comprehensive environmental regulation. Impatience is indispensable to getting reform started; patience is essential to seeing its promise fulfilled.
That bears repeating: "Impatience is indispensable to getting reform started; patience is essential to seeing its promise fulfilled."