Obama is having a few too many "Sister Souljah Moments

From Wikipedia:

"In United States politics, a Sister Souljah moment is a politician's public repudiation of an allegedly extremist person or group, statement, or position perceived to have some association with the politician or their party. Such an act of repudiation is designed to signal to centrist voters that the politician is not beholden to traditional, and sometimes unpopular, interest groups associated with the party, although such a repudiation runs the risk of alienating some of the politician's allies and the party's base voters."

If you recall, that originally occurred when Bill Clinton blasted the rap singer,allegedly in an effort to distance himslf from "the left" during his presidential campaign.

IMO, Obama is having too many of these Sister Soljah Moments.

Okay, look. I'm not just being some whiney lefty complaining that Obama is not the reincarnation of Paul Wellstone (even though IMO that is what we need.) I'm not expecting everything he does to pass some politically-correct litmus test.

Maybe the selection of Rick Warren is merely symbolic. Pastor Rick is a nice enough guy -- But he really is a right wing fundamentalist. Not just on Prop 8, but if you have ever heard his interviews he is a master at giving right-wing Christian platitudes in an unthreatening way.

So why the hell did Obama choose him? Why not one of the many of the more liberal or moderate members of the Christian faith? How about Jim Wallace? Cornell West? Or even some non-political middle-of-the-road pastor?

Instead he chose Jerry Falwell Lite.

This poke in the eye was NOT NECESSARY.

Obama seems to be doing a lot more of this since his election.

Obama's attempts to "unify" and "reconcile" seems to be much more aimed in the direction of the right and in the direction of Business-As-Usual Centrists, while he seems to be engaging in a pattern of dissing liberals/progressives a little too consistently.

Rather than all of these Sister Soljah Moments, he needs a few more "Rick Warren Moments" and "DLC Moments" to even the scale.

opposite moments after he's sworn in. He's waiting for them to put their guard down first. Our guard was down and that's why some of his moves have been surprising.

Shouldn't you be overt in teh GLBT Forum telling us why it's a GOOD THING for us this happened?

I disagree with him on this one.

and wait until we see what happens in his actual governing but personally I feel like once again the left is put aside and told to shut up and take it because there's no where else to go anyway. The left has been left out for decades why can't one thing Obama does try to placate us. Instead we are always the ones left to bow down to some conservatives who are consistently wrong on a moral as well as a policy basis. I can see cooperating and trying to unify but why are we the ones who get left out of the unifying? Being correct on issues and working to elect these dems seems to mean absolutely nothing.

I understand that because the Obama administration hasn't begun yet that people only have the symbols and portents to get worked up over. However, I think Obama (or any politician for that matter) can say whatever they want, sway public opinion as wildly as possible, and it doesn't matter. What matters is what policies they push and what legislation they sign. In other words, I don't care if Obama is on TV every day tongue kissing the right, as long as he supports human rights. He can hug CEOs and it is fine by me, as long as he pursues fairness for unions and the working class while making sure we don't ignore the working and nonworking poor.
In other words, I don't care about political strategies as long as his core ideology results in progressive results. In politics, a full frontal assault isn't the only way to get things done. In fact, cozying up to the "enemy" and giving them a big bear hug is the best opportunity to slip the knife into their back.
Don't know if that is what Obama is doing, but I do know that he hasn't actually done anything as president yet and I refuse to freak out until I actually can see him in action.

I'm with you in hoping that once Obama is in office he will take the real actions that are necessary.

However, what he does to prepare for the transfer of power is acting. Those he appoints and what he expresses and the symbols do reflect what he plans to do.

I'm not freaking out yet, but I am getting worried.

I'm just hoping he really is disarming the enemy. I do understand that symbolism is hugely important, but with both sides of so many issues so firmly entrenched, I think we need to be looking for other ways to break the status quo and start making progress again.

Obama's not a lefty. He's not progressive. He's center-right.

Perhaps if you'd paid more attention to "whiney lefties" this wouldn't have come as such a bitter revelation to you.

These "moments" after which you yearn are just set decorations.

As I said above I didn;t expect Obama to be the reincarnation of Paul Wellstone or Bernie Sanders' soulmate.

But I did believe he is something new and somewhat of a change from the DLC.