this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2025
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“I think it’s going to require a little bit less navel-gazing and a little less whining and being in fetal positions. And it’s going to require Democrats to just toughen up,” Obama said at the fundraiser

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[–] Balerion@piefed.blahaj.zone 123 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

Jesus. You know it's bad when even a spineless centrist like Obama is calling them on their shit.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 65 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

"Stop whining and Vote Blue No Matter Who"

"Great, I'm voting for Mamdani for Mayor"

"WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! Not like that!"

[–] Serinus@lemmy.world 6 points 7 hours ago

Exactly like that. Quit your bitching and vote for Mamdani.

[–] Doom@ttrpg.network 10 points 12 hours ago (17 children)

I don't really remember Obama as spineless lol what is he spineless about?

Look he's a politician they suck but acting like Obama wasn't one of the best presidents we had in like 40 years is silly.

[–] Balerion@piefed.blahaj.zone 33 points 12 hours ago (4 children)

Remember how he ran on hope and change? How he presented himself as a progressive? Then how he failed to close Guantanamo, never even tried to codify abortion rights, didn't bother prosecuting the Bush administration for their war crimes, did a bunch of war crimes himself, and expanded the surveillance state? Because I do.

And like the other commenter said, he completely capitulated to the Republicans when they invented some bullshit about how outgoing presidents aren't supposed to appoint justices or whatever.

[–] zeroday@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Obama personally promised me that he'd close Guantanamo, when I was a kid at one of his campaign rallies. He straight-up lied to me and didn't close Gitmo.

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[–] Doom@ttrpg.network 9 points 11 hours ago (9 children)

I think what you call spineless I'd consider being a decent politician in an indecent politician sphere

Obama isn't without criticism but calling him a war criminal is a bit of an eye roll in my opinion. It's usually about the drone warfare stuff and it is a drum the Republicans banged his entire presidency claiming he was drone striking everything possible. The truth is drone tech advanced in his presidency that allowed different missions to take place that removed soldiers from harms way, you'd probably make the same choice. It wasn't even his war, say we should've pulled out sure but look how poorly things are going now that we have. The war crimes he's accused of are dogpoop compared to the human rights issue that exists now. I'm sorry, I don't think it is the greatest things anyone has done but I just find the Obama is a war criminal argument so silly. Our entire government is a war criminal, this dude was not a warmonger nor did he do anything to escalate fighting. How you gonna dump it all on him?

Prosecuting Bush. For what? War crimes again? Our government has been doing war crimes forever. Every single person in that federal government should be charged. But Obama isn't going to arrest Bush because nothing would've come of it and again, on what exactly? Every judge, lawyer and politician wouldn't support that or respect whatever exactly the war crime was. So why pursue that? So redditors and Facebook dads have less shit to throw?

I'm not saying Obama is the best. Absolutely do not try to act like I have to be completely black or white about very complex issues. You will not put that on me.

But acting like Obama is the boogie man is literally because Republicans and the like have sold that messaging. Obama is a mid politician, I don't think he relishes in human suffering but he seems okay with a degree of it. But he was easily better than Trump, Biden, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, the Nixon baboons, Kennedy and Eisenhower. Carter is the only one who is a better man by a landslide but still not the best politician because he was also "spineless". People only liked Kennedy because he was a liberal who was assassinated. You wanna talk about war crimes? Look up Nixon/Kennedy era.

So yes. Obama is easily without contest best president of my lifetime and over the last 60 or 70 years.

Be real about this stuff.

[–] timbuck2themoon@sh.itjust.works 4 points 11 hours ago (4 children)

A lot of these people would call Jesus a centrist. Their mythical ideal progressive will never exist.

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[–] Professorozone@lemmy.world 5 points 10 hours ago

And he accepted an award for transparency in a "closed" meeting so attendees wouldn't have to sign in.

Killed two Americans in Pakistan with no due process.

Expanded the wars to six nations.

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[–] Seleni@lemmy.world 8 points 12 hours ago (3 children)

Supreme Court Justices among other things.

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[–] InternetRando@lemmy.myserv.one 4 points 8 hours ago

Bailouts, not ending the wars, gave up his SCOTUS pick without even the slightest hint of a fight.

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[–] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 95 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (2 children)

This is one of those platitudes that is too vague to be of any real value.

It's like telling someone to be confident. "Just figure out what you need to do and do that thing!"

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 40 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah - the centrists and neoliberals will take this to mean “do more centrist and neoliberal things”; progressives will take this to mean “do more progressive things”; the DNC will take this to mean “give more money to centrist and neoliberal consultants and ignore what people are actually saying”. Not helpful in any sense.

So, in an unironic, but still very sarcastic and disappointed sense: thanks Obama 😒

Seriously, maybe tell the Democratic leadership to pull their head out of their ass and listen to people - as you did back in 07-08, which carried you to victory. And then gasp follow through on what they say, up to and including taking a page out of the GOP playbook - just do things that are helpful to normal people and say “fuck you, make me” when centrists and republicans try to stop you. We now have an imperial presidency, after all, so why not try to use it to do some good when (or if 😓) non-fascists get into power again.

[–] BertramDitore@lemmy.zip 13 points 15 hours ago

This is exactly it. Unless we get really specific, this shit is more of the same middling platitudes, and different audiences will only hear what they want to hear. Seriously disappointing, and not at all helpful.

Ex-politicians like Obama (but not just him) need to shut the hell up unless they have PRACTICAL ideas that we can use. Someone like Obama should understand that his words have gravitas (love your username btw, fellow Banks fan I presume?), but his rhetoric goes straight in the garbage unless it’s backed by actionable ideas.

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[–] MountingSuspicion@reddthat.com 40 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

"You have great candidates running races right now. Support those candidates,”

So he called out Cuomo by name? No? Who's the coward really? He's out there telling Dems/lefties to get shot in the face by "riot gear" his and his VPs admins put in the hands of police, and he can't even grow enough of a spine to tell Dems to honor their own primaries. What a disgrace. Apparently the protesters and activists are the ones he thinks need to toughen up, because he clearly doesn't think any specific politicians need to.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 19 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

I noticed that, and that it's a private fundraiser. Ok. When will the DNC actually stop shutting out the voices of the ones who miss needed working hours to vote for your candidate--or not.

[–] MountingSuspicion@reddthat.com 7 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Honestly, I don't care too much about this kind of private fundraising. Do I wish we had a system that was different, yes, but he's not actually running for anything. He's getting money for the party in general. If people wanna pay X to have dinner with Obama, I'm pretty indifferent about it. It's like a rent party for people who have no community, no solidarity, and no sense. I wish they would donate directly to candidates that need the support because I don't trust the DNC to make any decisions, but they probably would not be donating to the people I want anyway.

I think town halls are important though and if a candidate only has time for fundraising and not to listen to their constituents then that's a problem. Unfortunately these kind of fundraising events are the way a lot of Dems get funding since they don't actually inspire people with their platform.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 6 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I guess I'm remembering leaked tapes from HRC's private banker fundraiser.

[–] MountingSuspicion@reddthat.com 5 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Yea, it helps if they're not two faced or scummy to begin with so that their private events aren't them admitting to lying about their beliefs etc too. See Romney for a great example of exactly the issue, but honestly it's just a quiet part out loud thing. We all know these are the conversations they're having regardless of how much they pay for the plate.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 5 points 15 hours ago

Yes and I hope people are waking up to the fact that liberal isn't left, nor neoliberal, and socially left neo/lib also isn't left.

[–] triptrapper@lemmy.world 5 points 12 hours ago

He's pleading with people to fund the DNC, when DNC-backed candidates are often the most useless losers on the ticket.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 8 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

As Democrats debate who should lead the party, Obama encouraged them to channel their energy into the governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia, saying the off-year elections could be “a big jumpstart for where we need to go.”

“Stop looking for the quick fix. Stop looking for the messiah. You have great candidates running races right now. Support those candidates,” Obama said, calling out the New Jersey and Virginia elections, according to the excerpts of his remarks.

RTFA

[–] MountingSuspicion@reddthat.com 17 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

I did read the article. I even quoted it. That absolutely does not address the fact that pouring money into races (which he said needs to be done in the article) is useless if the candidates don't actually help people. The NJ race features a 53 year old who's been an office holder since 2018. She's part of the "New Democrat" caucus who are pro business centrists.

He's calling for more of the same. He's not asking for "hope" or "change". I mentioned NY because that is an example of what the future of the party should actually look like.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (4 children)

Hope and change was always a lie to just get into office and then hand it all to businesses. I mean fuck the ACA insurance mandate was basically holding citizens hostage and forcing them to pay healthcare insurance providers whether the insurance actually left them with enough money leftover to use their "access" to healthcare or not.

Fuck all the navel gazing about how it would bring insurance costs down. A public option would have done more.

[–] MountingSuspicion@reddthat.com 5 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I was definitely using them mockingly here, but I think he actually did want universal healthcare. Congress fucked us over bad. The ACA is unfortunately a huge step up from what a lot of people had. Plenty still fall through the cracks, but the ACA was largely an improvement for people, especially after the federal penalty was removed so people were no longer fined.

[–] SaltySalamander@fedia.io 5 points 15 hours ago

He absolutely did want universal healthcare. Bill Clinton did too. They both tried. They were both shut down.

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[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 4 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

You deliberately took his words out of context so you could lambast him with an imaginary dis of Mamdani.

The NJ race is a former Navy pilot who already beat five other candidates for this race. You want to say no one else had a chance?She won four terms in the US Congress. It’s her or the republiQan now; you had four years to get someone “who would help people” and once again there’s nothing.

This is bullshit “leftist” whingeing that mean old Obama and the mean old DNC are keeping the socialists down with their cheatin’ ways and it’s bullshit.

Socialists, communists, and whatever ist you wanna ist still have to run, still have to raise and spend large amounts of money, and still have to put up with mindless attacks from the right and, now, “left” to get into a position to help people and that’s before they do a single thing in office. It’s really difficult and mostly boring so if you can’t be bothered to find someone to support, try not to cast us down the well of fascist incompetence again.

[–] MountingSuspicion@reddthat.com 11 points 15 hours ago

I didn't take them out of context. He admitted he thinks there are some great candidates that we should support but doesn't have the courage to back the one needing it most, or alternatively he doesn't support him. I didn't imply he dissed mamdani, just that he's a coward for not talking about one of the most watched races in the country at the moment. The DNC is actively not supporting the winner of a dem primary. Pointing that out is not "whingeing". I'm also not saying he's mean. He's either a coward or doesn't care. Possibly both.

I also didn't say she didn't have a chance, I'm saying to a certain extent it doesn't matter (though I always tell people to vote at the bare minimum). What are the dems in congress doing to stop Trump right now? Oh, that's right, at best nothing, and at worst voting for his policies. The same old Dems with the same old policies are not going to stop Trump.

You are clearly having a different conversation than anyone else here because no one was attacking you unless your name is Obama. If you want to be indignant, be so at your faves who apparently can't get anyone to like their policies enough to start a grassroots movement, or better yet at the people pushing this country to the right. Leftist are running candidates and raising money and supporting them getting things done, and if you actually cared about that you'd have something to say about the fact that Dems aren't supporting mamdani instead of acting like pointing this out is somehow a dis.

[–] Gates9@sh.itjust.works 31 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

This motherfucker is half the reason we’re in the position we’re in. How many whistleblowers and journalists did he prosecute?

We see you

[–] AppleTea@lemmy.zip 5 points 8 hours ago

Dubba's third and fourth term.

It's kinda ironic, I don't know whether this reflects how the guy actually thought about his presidency, but when he was in office there was a lot of chatter about the kind of "legacy" his administration would have. I'm fairly certain now that he's gonna be one of those overlooked presidents, seen as a caretaker-administration to all the shit started by GW Bush and a preamble to a lot of what Trump has ran wild with.

Maybe the history books also mention he passed a healthcare bill inspired by the Heritage Foundation and insurance lobbyists.

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[–] roguetrick@lemmy.world 30 points 17 hours ago

Yeah, that'll get the neoliberals fired up. Jesus Christ.

[–] ileftreddit@piefed.social 28 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Bring back the Bull Moose party. We need FIGHTING progressives. I’ll do it if no one else will

[–] doublebatterypack@piefed.social 8 points 11 hours ago

Post the website when you're done.

[–] fodor@lemmy.zip 20 points 8 hours ago

Mr. Obama, you caved on all of the major issues. You were a great candidate, an amazing speech giver, and a mediocre president. And that's OK -- we would be happy with mediocre today -- but you don't get to tell us what's good for the party when you are the perfect example of its biggest problem.

[–] droopy4096@lemmy.ca 20 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

coming from the guy who helped to pay the way into trumpism... yeah they should "toughen up" but it should've come already in his tenure.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 26 points 16 hours ago

Literally the guy who said "we need to look forward, not backward" when it came to prosecuting the Bush admin for fucking war crimes of all things and then expanded, codified, and legalized the mass surveillance and the drone wars... Which are now all being used against US citizens.

[–] Glifted@lemmy.world 10 points 16 hours ago

I don't think we need to hear from the Signature Strike, Surveilance State, and gross expansion of executive power guy right now

[–] InternetRando@lemmy.myserv.one 10 points 8 hours ago

That is rich coming from him.

[–] devolution@lemmy.world 7 points 8 hours ago

Obama, just like the Republican Party is no more under Trump, the Democratic party is no more under Pelosi and Schumer.

There is no true two party anymore. There’s simply the fascists and the enablers.

[–] RabbitBBQ@lemmy.world 5 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Is the Hope and Change guy back again?

[–] TheCleric@lemmy.org 6 points 10 hours ago

Haven’t seen him since Jan 21, 2009

[–] oppy1984@lemdro.id 5 points 9 hours ago (4 children)

I'm sure Chuck Schumer will have a strongly worded letter for this. Wait what am I thinking, Obama is on their side, they'll completely destroy him for this.

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