Predictably enough, I see that many commenters reacted to my column today with accusations (!) of 'Obamadolatry.'
Whatever. Look. American liberals have had precious little to be excited about in the last 28 years -- roughly my adult lifetime. Even Clinton was double-edged. It was good to have a Democratic president, but he governed during a basically conservative era and so governed accordingly in many ways.
Now, the conservative era is over. Democrats -- surprisingly liberal Democrats in most cases -- are running the White House, Congress and many of the major committees. Why shouldn't American liberals be excited about this?
The criticism has less to do with politics and ideology than with some people's emotional and psychological need to be ever on the outside, fighting power rather than shaping or influencing -- or, yes, applauding -- it. Because if you're always fighting it, you remain pure. But there's a price to purity. Pure people who consider themselves above the fray never accomplish anything. Even King and Gandhi cut deals.
It's an exciting time. That doesn't mean anyone is perfect, Obama included. But he's shown that he's a pretty remarkable fellow, beating the Clintons and then winning 365 electoral votes, flipping nine states from red to blue, and doing all that on the basis of the most openly liberal platform a Democrat has run on since probably 1972. And, all the while, being a black man.
So it's certainly a moment of possibility (who can argue with that, really?). I see it as my job to describe that and, to the extent possible, help shape it. When he goes wrong, I'll say so. The guy's been in office for six days.
