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• Sunday, November 30, 2008 07:56 AM

  All those complaining and criticizing

  before the man has even taken the oath of office are tipping their hand:

  For them, it's all about dissenting for appearances and inflating their miserable egos by telling everyone that they've been 'fooled.'

  Of course, their self-righteous rants are not based in anything substantive and mostly take their cues from the innuendo of the right-wing media (indeed, ego-driven blogging makes strange bedfellows).

  As other letter writers have noted, Obama's platform was always centrist and his post-partisan persona left little ambiguity about how he would govern. He is also, however, a progressive, despite efforts by the far-left to appropriate a word that has ALWAYS referred to a moderate-left, pragmatic ideology. Those ranting and raving and calling themselves 'true progressives' simply don't know what the word means or its historical basis beyond its status as a buzzword for leftists afraid of being labeled 'liberals' or 'socialists.' Progressivism, however, is not socialism. The premature complainers have a word. It's 'socialism.' That's fine. There's nothing inherently wrong with being a socialist, but Obama ran on a platform of pragmatic progressivism which is a distinct approach to policy and governing.

  With that said, don't suggest that progressives were fooled because you either:

  (a) failed to do your research

  (b) can't handle minor disagreements over policy

  It's childish, ignorant, and reflects poorly on you.

  —FinFangFoom Read FinFangFoom's other letters
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