Criticizing the President

Again on NPR this morning, I heard a story that got me thinking. It seems that the attendees at the Progressive-laden America's Future Now Conference are disappointed in where the Obama Administration is going, but are still not willing to criticize the President himself.

This is the money quote:

But Bob Kuttner, the editor of the liberal magazine American Prospect, had a different answer. "We criticize [Timothy] Geithner; we criticize [Lawrence] Summers; we criticize [Rahm] Emanuel; we criticize the oil companies; we criticize Wall Street; we criticize everybody but Obama," he said. "Because we feel a little bit goosey about criticizing Obama." Kuttner said progressives must hold Obama accountable. Piecemeal accomplishments are not enough, he said, to keep the movement going. "If he doesn't do more on jobs, and on mortgage relief, and on a handful of things that affect regular people where they live, it all goes down the drain in the midterm," he said. "And then the moment is lost and the crazies take over."

Now call me nuts, but I think I've said plenty that would count as criticism of the President. So does Glenn Greenwald (who has been a guest repeatedly on NPR). For that matter, so does Dan Froomkin. But finding that out must be tough. Unless you know how to Google . . .