"2L4O: Too Liberal for Obama" – a fashion statement for a disappointed Left

Obama's liberal critics don "2L4O" T-shirts, signaling readiness to challenge administration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Release – Feb 15, 2010 – Whether they were early skeptics of Barack Obama's post-partisan rhetoric or one-time true-believers in the "Obama Movement," liberals increasingly see his presidency delivering little of the promised change.

This message is expressed in shirts imprinted "2L4O: Too Liberal for Obama," available at http://www.2L4O.com and promoted by several liberal blogs.

Though right-wingers find it advantageous to label Obama as a Socialist, his actual record is better described as "same-as-the-old-boss":

• Ratifying George W. Bush's assaults on civil liberties. As Glenn Greenwald noted at Salon: "many of the policies once widely declared by Democrats to be a grave threat to the Constitution are now explicitly adopted by the Obama administration."
• Surges in Afghanistan, expanded missions in Pakistan, and saber-rattling at Iran
• Hoover-style economic policy – bailouts administered by and for Wall Street bankers and focus on "entitlement reform," tax cuts, and a spending freeze
• Seeking to force citizens to buy overpriced, under-delivering, for-profit health insurance. Despite his promises of openness and transparency, single-payer advocates (including Obama's own family doctor) were locked out of the healthcare-reform debate, while a secret deal with Big Pharma protected corporate interests.
• Belittling the Democratic Party's liberal base with terms such as "liberal bleeding hearts" and "latte-sipping, New York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effete, politically correct, arrogant liberal." In The Audacity of Hope, Obama wrote that Ronald Reagan "spoke to the failures of liberal government," adding that "a lot of liberal rhetoric did seem to value rights and entitlements over duties and responsibilities."

"Though a leftward political wave carried him to office," says 2L4O-founder and blogger Vastleft, "Obama rejects the word 'liberal' and the ideology it represents. He decries 'partisanship' and 'gridlock,' but not conservatism, the agenda that's brought America to the brink. To paraphrase Stephen Colbert, the solutions to our greatest problems have a well-known liberal bias. And since most us voted for progressive change that's not forthcoming, perhaps quite a lot of us are really '2L4O.'"

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About 2L4O

2L4O was founded by the liberal blogger "Vastleft," who writes at http://www.vastleft.com and http://www.correntewire.com

For the list of 2L4O-supporting blogs and other information, please visit http://www.2L4O.com or contact vastleft@vastleft.com

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Today is the Day of Shame

Seven years ago today, Colin Powell gave his "compelling" UN pitch for the Iraq War.

Commemorated here and here.