Yeah, Well I’m More Disillusioned Than You, Pal!

Fat and happy from a wonderful family gathering over the holiday weekend, I returned to check my Facebook account this morning and was greeted with a liberal friend’s usual in-your-face Obama infatuation. This time, in the form of a supposed George Clooney quote basically putting down anyone who isn’t satisfied with Obama by making the point that Republicans could be made happy voting for him. I have pictured it for you here (click for enlarged indignation):

I’m disillusioned by the people who are disillusioned by Obama, quite honestly, I am. Democrats eat their own. Democrats find singular issues and go, ‘Well, I didn’t get everything I wanted.’ I’m a firm believer in sticking by and sticking up for people whom you’ve elected. If [Obama] was a Republican running, because Republicans are better at this, they’d be selling him as the guy who stopped 400,000 jobs a month from leaving the country. They’d be selling him as the guy who saved the auto-industry. If they had the beliefs, they’d be selling him as the guy who got rid of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ who got Osama bin Laden. You could be selling this as a very successful three years.
-George Clooney

First of all, it’s a pet peeve of mine anytime I hear some fucking celebrity tell me anything about politics, whether I agree with them or not. I don’t need some mega-rich asshole, who pretends for a living, to tell me what my best interests are. However, since I suspect that this election year we will be seeing a lot of attacks on people who are sick of Obama – let’s indulge Mr. Clooney.

The first sentence is where are I start to have problems. What is he trying to say? Is he saying he doesn’t think Obama will win because too many people don’t want to vote for him again? Or is it a simple, “Yeah, well right back at ya.” Whatever. I really couldn’t give less of a shit about what is disillusioning this unfortunate millionaire celebrity.

However, then he goes on to say that “Democrats eat their own.” I think this is part of an inability (or a refusal) to separate those in power and those who are not. When talking about the actions of our government, people often say “we” because they subconsciously join country and government as one (“We invaded Iraq.”), I’ve done this before but try and stop myself. I think that has to be what Mr. Clooney means when he says that “Democrats eat their own.” The Democratic voters may (and rightfully so) destroy politicians who exploit them beyond distraction, but Democrats (as in the Party’s infrastructure) go above and beyond to protect their own. We see time and again that primary challengers to vilely corrupt Democrats have to fight not only their opponent, but the full power of the Democratic party. Democrats, just like any power structure, do not eat their own.

The whole tired “singular issue” and whiney “‘I didn’t get everything I wanted’” bit is so transparent that it’s insulting if he actually believes this. If Obama had done anything I wanted, I’d be impressed. Hell, If he’d closed Guantanamo, created even a weak public option in healthcare, or prosecuted anyone for the financial collapse – I’d be impressed. I still wouldn’t vote for him, but impressed nonetheless. However to characterize unsatisfied voters as whiney children not happy because their fairy-tale wish list wasn’t fulfilled is insulting.

“I’m a firm believer in sticking by and sticking up for the people whom you’ve elected.” This is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever read in my whole life. Period. Good luck with that, George. You think those politicians will stick up for the people who voted for them?

Then he just starts rambling off weird selling points for why I need to vote for Obama, including somehow jobs (how dare those millions of unemployed not be over-joyed with this), saving the auto-industry (because I should be happy about more bailouts), the killing of bin Laden (hooray death!), and inexplicably the repeal of DADT. Obama could have repealed that his first day in office with an executive order, but he didn’t do anything. In fact, he waited for years for congress to do it for him. All the while stringing along the LGBT community as if he actually cared.

To top it all off, it is watermarked by a group called Anti-Republican Crusaders. Crusaders? Classy.

So yeah, if you’re not an enemy of the good, you could totally sell this as a very successful three years – to Republicans? Thanks, George!