Not So Courageous

Trey Smith

For the past week or so, President Obama has been basking in the progressive limelight for coming out in support of gay marriage. Mind you, he has in no way lent his support to ANY federal legislation that would promote or safeguard gay marriage; he merely stated that he personally supports the idea and, not surprisingly, liberal gay groups now are contributing big bucks to his reelection campaign. (Hmmm.)

But when it comes to a certain issue in Wisconsin...

in the massive Recall Governor Walker campaign, following FDR’s betrayal scenario almost exactly to the letter, President Obama is back-stabbing progressive Democrats by refusing to say a single word against the ultra-reactionary, union-busting, social-services-slashing Walker, a way far out Republican financed by the sinister billionaires the Koch brothers.

Obama is afraid or unwilling to come to Wisconsin to back up his most fervent supporters. With only a little more time to go, in a finely balanced contest, with the Republicans outspending progressives 20-to-one, Obama’s Democratic National Committee stubbornly refuses to invest a penny in the battle to unseat Walker.

If Obama was truly as liberal as his opponents claim, he would be speaking out against Gov. Walker at every turn. But since the beginning of Walker's reign, Obama has said hardly anything on the subject. When labor unions and progressives held their massive rallies in Madison, Obama was a complete no-show. He wouldn't even let his Vice President go to lend support.

Governor Scott Walker has been applying the shock doctrine to the citizens of his state for over one year. He has served himself up on a platter for a genuinely progressive president to skewer. Walker has turned himself into the poster child of the machinations of conservatives like the Koch brothers. Through all of this, Obama basically has remained silent.

It's sad to say, but Obama's tepid support for gay marriage is not that courageous. It looks more like a calculated political move to shore up liberal support and to tap into some big campaign contributions. Supporting progressive Democrats in the fight against a corporatist Republican certainly WOULD qualify as courageous. In this regard, however, Obama is AWOL!