# President Obama warns of progressive "purity" and "circular firing squads" **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 17, 2019, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662 "2019-04-17T06:04:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/21 "2019-04-17T19:25:10Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Obama is about to learn that if there’s anything the left cares about least, it’s an ex-president who can no longer change the world. Obama is old news - just another privileged, male middle of the roader compared to the left’s new loves like Ilhan Omar, Bernie, AOC, Rashida Tlaib and the rest of the far left wingnut caucus. One of the advantages/disadvantages Hilary had was that she and Bill had the Democratic party by the balls - not because Bill was so prestigious, but because he had raised so much money that they couldn’t afford to say No to Hilary. Now [Trump has raised $30 million, much of it from small donors](https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/04/small-donor-support-helps-trump-campaign-pull-in-unprecedented-q1-haul/). That’s something like three times as much as Sanders, and Trump won’t have to spend nearly as much in the primaries. Also more than Obama raised in the first quarter of 2007. Of course, Hilary spent a billion dollars on her campaign and lost. But that was to Trump, and now he is the incumbent. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/22 "2019-04-17T19:25:27Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Bernie Sanders himself [attacked ThinkProgress the other day](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bernie-sanders-blasts-liberal-think-tank-cap-in-scathing-letter-this-counterproductive-negative-campaigning-needs-to-stop) for reasons that seemed pretty trivial to me. > Seems like a reasonable thing to point out, yet thin-skinned Bernie called it a bad-faith smear. I haven’t been Bernie’s biggest supporter (though I’m starting to come around) but I get what he’s complaining about. Look, the fact is that he’s a political megastar now and I think he’s accepted that. His success and wealth don’t fundamentally change his message. And I don’t think people with simply 1 or 2 million in the bank were really ever his target. It’s the billionaire class, the plutocrats, the ones who have disproportionate influence that he’s after. And it’s not as though he hates them, he just wants them to pay more for things that the rest of us could and should have in a nation that’s this wealthy. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/23 "2019-04-17T19:28:31Z")
I remember making fun of the far-right (I thought at the time) Trump factionists, and his seemingly poor fundraising at times, and his supposedly tiny chances in 2016… I’m amazed that anyone still thinks they have any right to confidence as to which candidates in a large and diverse field are likely to win, and stronger in the general election. Cheers to your confidence, and I’ll treat it in the same way I should have treated my own confidence in 2016! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/24 "2019-04-17T19:35:58Z")
No, you make a good point, and I just said the same thing in another thread. Alberta just got over its four year nightmare because four years ago the right splintered and split all its votes in the belief that the NDP could never be elected in Alberta. We paid a heavy price for that, to the tune of over 100,000 jobs and 60 billion dollars of debt. Three years ago, the media gave Trump huge coverage because he looked to be about the worst face of the Republican Party, and it backfired. In the age of social media, it seems anyone can be elected if the stars align just right. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/25 "2019-04-17T20:15:08Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Obama is about to learn that if there’s anything the left cares about least, it’s an ex-president who can no longer change the world. > [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Of course the Democratic idol worship of Obama would do him in. Or would it? We don’t care at all about Obama. We idol worship Obama. Talk amongst yourselves. Meanwhile, in the real world where we actually live, there is a robust argument among the center-left and the left. Both sides generally credit Obama with intelligence, more honesty than yer average politician, and personal decency. The left criticizes him on issues ranging from immigration policy to drone strikes to timidity on health care reform, while the center-left sees all these positions as pragmatic. If there’s a circular firing squad, people like Nancy Pelosi need to quit firing on the left, need to come together with us to take action. She needs to quit dividing the left by denigrating our policies as unfeasible and denigrating our politicians’ wins by saying a glass of water could’ve won their districts. But of course I don’t expect her to do so, because she holds her beliefs sincerely, and she is of course doing her job by expressing those sincere beliefs. I might think she’s wrong, but I don’t in any way begrudge her from holding up her end of the debate. > [@Chimera](#): > > To me the biggest turn-off to Bernie Sanders has been his followers. They seem to think that insulting and attacking every other Democrat and their supporters will gain them support. But you’re not going to insult me into voting for Bernie. #notallBerniesupporters ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/26 "2019-04-17T21:15:40Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Oh, I see plenty of Bernie Sanders followers with their knives out for Beto. Sanders followers are accusing Biden of being a creepy pedophile. We need to keep this Issue based and Sanders needs to keep a leash on his supporters. All he needs to do is make a public statement to that effect. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/27 "2019-04-17T22:10:17Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Sanders followers are accusing Biden of being a creepy pedophile. > > We need to keep this Issue based and Sanders needs to keep a leash on his supporters. > > **All he needs to do is make a public statement to that effect**. My opinion of Sanders would certainly go up if he were to do that. I’d be surprised if he did, though. Doesn’t seem to be his style. (my emphasis) ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/28 "2019-04-17T23:21:29Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > My opinion of Sanders would certainly go up if he were to do that. > > I’d be surprised if he did, though. Doesn’t seem to be his style. > (my emphasis) Something like [this](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/03/sanders-promised-civility-hired-twitter-attack-dog/585259/)? > [@](#): > > Shortly before he gave speeches launching his 2020 campaign earlier this month, Bernie Sanders emailed his supporters, urging them to “do our very best to engage respectfully with our Democratic opponents—talking about the issues we are fighting for, not about personalities or past grievances. I want to be clear that I condemn bullying and harassment of any kind and in any space.” ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/29 "2019-04-17T23:38:13Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > Something like [this](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/03/sanders-promised-civility-hired-twitter-attack-dog/585259/)? With you I’m never sure but you did read the title of your article, right? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/30 "2019-04-17T23:53:13Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Obama is about to learn that if there’s anything the left cares about least, it’s an ex-president who can no longer change the world. Meh, the declining influence of ex-presidents is in no way specific to “the left”. It’s not like Republicans these days give any shits about what the ex-Presidents Bush have to say. In fact, Obama arguably remains far more influential and listened-to among progressives in general—including European progressives, who tend to be considerably to the left of American ones—than either President Bush is among today’s conservatives. Look at the rock-star reception he got at the Berlin event mentioned in the OP, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/31 "2019-04-17T23:55:56Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > With you I’m never sure but you did read the title of your article, right? Seriously. And the attack dog Sanders hired, David Sirota, deserves his nickname: > [@](#): > > When people have questioned his tactics, Sirota has called them “mentally incapacitated.” Responding in mid-January to those who criticized him online for preemptively railing against the record of O’Rourke, who had not yet entered the race but had been a huge source of concern for Sanders allies since talk of O’Rourke’s potential presidential run picked up last year, Sirota tweeted, “The screaming temper tantrums by Democratic Party operatives whenever reporters scrutinize a lawmaker’s voting record is something to behold. These people quite literally hate democracy.” > > At another point, he said his critics “are deranged and/or running a deliberate disinfo campaign.” “Positively unhinged,” he wrote about them a separate time. > > …None of those comments can be found online anymore. On Monday night, after being contacted for a second time by The Atlantic with a list of specific questions about his undisclosed work for Sanders, Sirota did not respond to the email but deleted more than 20,000 tweets. He left fewer than 200 online. (from your link) Nice that Sanders sent a ‘be civil’ email one time. But his choice to hire Sirota tells the real story. I wish Bernie Sanders would reconsider his decision to proceed with his campaign this way. I suspect he loses more adherents than he gains, when he empowers a genuine bully like Sirota. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/32 "2019-04-17T23:57:49Z")
Republicans have this philosophy (started by Reagan and Bush) that ex-presidents should stay out of politics as a form of noblesse oblige to the next president, who they felt should not be burdened by being second-guessed by ex presidents. The Bush family in particular felt strongly about this. The Democrats have not felt the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/33 "2019-04-17T23:59:30Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > But of course I don’t expect her to do so, because she holds her beliefs sincerely, and she is of course doing her job by expressing those sincere beliefs. I might think she’s wrong, but I don’t in any way begrudge her from holding up her end of the debate. This. I think it would be a great mistake for Democrats in general to abandon a robust willingness to disagree with and criticize one another. I don’t say that some Democrats don’t sometimes carry their combativeness too far, but even that is better than trying to impose a rigid ideological conformism where intra-party dissension is viewed as some form of treason. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/34 "2019-04-18T00:02:50Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > This. I think it would be a great mistake for Democrats in general to abandon a robust willingness to disagree with and criticize one another. I don’t say that some Democrats don’t sometimes carry their combativeness too far, but even that is better than trying to impose a rigid ideological conformism where intra-party dissension is viewed as some form of treason. We shall see. I’m just hoping you guys can hold it together for one freaking election before you fly apart into a civil war for control of the establishment. Don’t, for the sake of the gods, allow this thing to spin out of control wrt progressives verse the establishment. I don’t want to be sitting here after the next election stunned and talking about the Dems, once again snatching defeat from the slavering jaws of victory… ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/35 "2019-04-18T00:12:03Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Republicans have this philosophy (started by Reagan and Bush) that ex-presidents should stay out of politics as a form of noblesse oblige to the next president Not really. Reagan, for example, was [quite politically active and vocal as an ex-president until the progression of his Alzheimer’s made public life impossible](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan#Post-presidency_(1989%E2%80%932004)): > [@](#): > > Reagan continued to speak publicly in favor of a line-item veto; the Brady Bill; a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget; and the repeal of the 22nd Amendment, which prohibits anyone from serving more than two terms as president. In 1992 Reagan established the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award with the newly formed Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. The elder Bush [also remained politically active for years as an ex-president](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._W._Bush#Post-presidency_(1993%E2%80%932018)): > [@](#): > > On September 28, 1994, Bush said he was opposed to sending American troops to Haiti, citing his loss of confidence in President of Haiti Jean-Bertrand Aristide while speaking to business and civic leaders in Houston. > > In an October 22, 1994 speech in Cancún, Mexico, Bush said history would vindicate him for not attempting to force Saddam Hussein out of power while in office […] > > In September 1995, Bush met with President of Vietnam Lê Đức Anh and party secretary Đỗ Mười in Vietnam. On September 2, Bush and his son George W. participated in a parade commemorating World War II in Fredericksburg, Texas, where the elder Bush reasoned the United States had become united in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor and stressed America would have to stay involved in world affairs to continue its unity. > > On July 26, 1996, Bush met with Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole and pledged he would do everything in his power to aid in securing a victory for Dole in the upcoming presidential election. […] > > In February 1997, Bush endorsed the chemical weapon banning treaty supported by United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, saying the United States would need to approve the treaty ahead of the April deadline. The younger Bush has stayed pretty quiet since leaving office, but by that time he was pretty universally regarded as an embarrassment to his party, in addition to not having anything very interesting to say anyway. So nah, the idea that Republican ex-presidents have been “staying out of politics” out of some ideal of decorum is basically conservative spin. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/36 "2019-04-18T00:12:59Z")
> [@XT](#): > > We shall see. I’m just hoping you guys can hold it together for one freaking election before you fly apart into a civil war for control of the establishment. But that’s not what’s happening. People are having the disagreement, and then when it counts, progressives are giving in to the demands of moderates. We’re not flying apart. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/37 "2019-04-18T00:15:35Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Seriously. And the attack dog Sanders hired, David Sirota, deserves his nickname: > > (from your link) > > Nice that Sanders sent a ‘be civil’ email one time. But his choice to hire Sirota tells the real story. > > I wish Bernie Sanders would reconsider his decision to proceed with his campaign this way. I suspect he loses more adherents than he gains, when he empowers a genuine bully like Sirota. I didn’t think it would change your mind. But since you posted that it would change your opinion, I thought I’d post it. That whole issue with David Sirota was long and played out elsewhere. It’s another instance of Bernie Sanders being unable to control things people do. Bernie Sanders broadcast to everyone publicly that he’d like people to be civil. If that’s all it took for people to behave the way other people want them to, then it was done. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/38 "2019-04-18T00:16:30Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > But that’s not what’s happening. People are having the disagreement, and then when it counts, progressives are giving in to the demands of moderates. We’re not flying apart. Well, they can be pretty heated disagreements, but no, you aren’t flying apart…yet. I worry that you might, with so crucial an election coming up. I’m not a Democrat, so I have very little to say about it (I can’t even vote in the primaries in my state). I don’t want progressives to give into the moderates, or moderates to give into the progressives…it’s healthy for debate in a political party. I just don’t want a civil war for the soul of the Democratic party when we all need you guys to present a united front and take back the presidency. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/39 "2019-04-18T00:29:53Z")
> [@XT](#): > > I’m just hoping you guys can hold it together for one freaking election before you fly apart into a civil war for control of the establishment. Don’t, for the sake of the gods, allow this thing to spin out of control wrt progressives verse the establishment. Well, it’s not up to me personally. But this attitude is, once again, an example of the massive imbalance in expectations of rationality and integrity applied to the two sides of the political spectrum. Republicans melt down into a toxic rat-king of cynical greed and cognitive dissonance, deliberately destabilizing the functioning of government as a self-serving power play under the banner of an ignorant malevolent buffoon, and you just shrug. Democrats engage in genuine principle- and policy-based intraparty disagreements that risk impairing liberal voter unity to even the slightest extent, and you scold vigorously about how irresponsible it would be for us not to “hold it together”. It is about time that non-Trumpist non-liberals stopped assuming that it’s the unquestioned responsibility of the nation’s concerned, rational, reality-based, public-service-minded Democratic “Mom” to protect the family from being destroyed by the delusional rampages of sociopathic looter Republican “Dad”. Go straighten out the folks on your own side before you come bleating to us about how badly you need us to save you from the party that you allowed to lapse into such pathological dysfunction. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662/40 "2019-04-18T00:40:01Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > That whole issue with David Sirota was long and played out elsewhere. It’s another instance of Bernie Sanders being unable to control things people do. And then hiring them? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-obama-warns-of-progressive-purity-and-circular-firing-squads/832662.md?page=3)