Squeeze Me, Love Me, Hold Me Accountable

In my post from yesterday I embedded the video of Obama talking to the folks out in Vegas for Netroots Nation.  In the video, President Obama, looking sternly into the camera, says, "Hold me accountable."

Talking Points Memo managed to catch another video moment involving Lt. Dan Choi, a soldier discharged under the egregious Don't Ask Don't Tell.  Lt. Choi gives his West Point ring to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is on the stage at Netroots Nation.  He tells Leader Reid, that he is going to hold him "accountable," a phrase he uses again in a follow-up podcast with a TPM blogger.

With respect to President Obama, and with respect to former Lt. Choi, what in the hell does that mean?

I'm going to get back to this ridiculous turn of phrase in just a second.  But first, let me give you a quick peek behind the curtain.  I belong to a progressive listserv, and I don't think I'm violating any confidentiality rules to say that sometimes the folks on that list have disagreements.  I won't identify who -- or even come close -- but you could classify them as far more liberal than I am.  I would classify them as far less pragmatic, but that's just me.

Many of these folks (there are more than one) are very disappointed in the Obama Administration. 

Maybe "angry" is a better word.  They are angry.  They are angry for a lot of reasons, but I think it would be fair to sum it up like this: the change we have is not the change they expected. 

Probably not surprising, I am of a different school of thought.  I'm happy with the Obama Team -- but not entirely won over.  I think they've done a good job, and are moving in the right direction.  But there have been a few capitulations and political miscalculations.  There was the call for off-shore drilling one month before the Deepwater Horizon disaster, for example.  Furthermore, I wasn't pleased at the public option being sacrificed, but we still got a great deal reformed in health care. 

So here's a trip to fantasy land, everybody.  President Obama calls me up.  He asks me how he's doing. 

I tell him, hey, great.  Good job, Mr. President.  Just a couple things.

Oh, he'd say.  Really?  Like what?

I'd mention the drilling thing.  I'd mention the public option thing.  I wouldn't understand his explanation of why, but I'd mention the Afghanistan build-up.  I'd mention that it's probably a shitty idea to fire people before you know what the full story is. 

He might interrupt here and say that one was Vilsack's fault.  Hey, I'd say, you wanted me to hold you accountable. 

He'd sigh, grumpily. 

My point is this.  The repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell is a legislative process and it's moving through the Senate.  It'll be law this year.  And on the off-off-chance it's not, what does Lt. Choi propose?  To vote for Senator Reid's perfectly insane opponent?  Lt. Choi can have an imperfect advocate in Senator Reid, or an enemy in Senator Angle.  The accountability, in a representative democracy, is not with the elected official.  It is with us. 

Obama is using a cool sounding phrase to give the appearance that he is ours.  Hold me accountable.  That sounds totally great!  I will, Mr. President.  And if you don't live up to my every whim, I will... vote for Sarah Palin? Or some Green Party candidate who will drag just enough of the vote from the Democrats to ensure a GOP electoral victory. 

This is our modus operandi, we Democrats.  Work, work, work to elect a Democrat, and then when he doesn't do every single thing we could ever hope for, we get despondent, start talking smack about supporting a "real progressive," like Ralph Nader!  And then George W. Bush is president and we're at war for a generation. 

Is that really accountability?

Comments

[Stogie]

Great Job!