It is no secret that dissatisfaction with the Obama administration has been growing on the left. We knew he was no progressive, but some of us still held out hope that he would deliver on his many promises of change. While the administration has earned our praise on some issues, many of us have been disappointed on others. His fixation with bipartisanship has repeatedly placed him in a position from which negotiation was all but impossible (e.g., health care reform). And many of the issues on which we have been most frustrated are the same ones on which Obama campaigned (e.g., closing Gitmo, ending the war in Iraq, etc.). So yes, progressives have many valid reasons to be disappointed in the administration. Unfortunately, we now have another.

According to The Hill, the White House has tired of the criticism coming from the left and has decided to hit back. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in an interview that we will never be satisfied with anything Obama does. He suggests that we are hopelessly naive:

They will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not reality.

I don't know about getting rid of the Pentagon, but Canadian healthcare would be great. Is Gibbs saying we shouldn't work for that goal simply because it might be difficult? That seems like a defeatist attitude to me.

In a particularly odd statement, Gibbs was quoted as saying that we would not be satisfied even if Dennis Kucinich had been elected president. I cannot say whether I would be completely satisfied, but I certainly would be far more happy with Kucinich than I am with Obama. Sadly, the mainstream media did not allow Kucinich to be a serious contender. But Gibbs' point here seems to be that there is no way to satisfy us. I suppose that may be Obama's rationale for not even trying.

The most baffling part of the article for me was the suggestion that the administration somehow expected to be immune from criticism from the left.

The White House, constantly under fire from expected enemies on the right, has been frustrated by nightly attacks on cable news shows catering to the left, where Obama and top lieutenants like Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel have been excoriated for abandoning the public option in healthcare reform; for not moving faster to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay; and for failing, so far, to end the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

That is a big difference between the left and the right. We expect our elected representatives to make good on their promises and will hold them accountable when they do not. When the president does not deliver on his promises, he is going to be called out. I would expect the administration to realize this.

It is clear that the administration believes it has done much for the left. But when we look at the major accomplishments on which they want to sell us (e.g., healthcare reform, financial reform, etc.), a pattern emerges. They pass something they call reform which bears little resemblance to real reform and then expect us to be grateful. President Obama is not acting like the leader who once said that he'd rather be a one-term president who accomplishes a great deal than making sacrifices just to be re-elected.

The good news for Obama and all who defend him is that it is not too late to win over progressives. But we are going to want to see something far more meaningful than token lunches with Rachel Maddow. We want to see someone fighting for real progressive change. Attacking us probably isn't the way to go.

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