Jimmy Carter was the best US president ever, imo, but he’s not above criticism. Biden, though he was probably the best president of my lifetime, is also not above criticism. Talking about ways he could have done better now, with hindsight, several years after he’s out of power is a very different thing from doing it in late October 2024.
If we’re just never allowed to criticize democratic politicians from the left, that makes it difficult for people to realize that there are options outside of neoliberalism. I graduated from high school and college during Obama’s presidency and I rejected even the reasonable criticism I heard of him from right wingers, because they poisoned the well with things like the Dijon mustard drama (and because I was a dumbass adolescent/young adult and politically illiterate, but an unfortunately large number of voters are politically illiterate dumbasses).
It wasn’t until I was ranting about my (at the time) tea party dad’s constant Obama criticism to an anarchist friend that I realized there were actually reasons to criticize him not grounded in either racism or Neomccarthyism. He was the first person I knew who wasn’t a bigot, a conservative, or a tankie and didn’t support Obama, and after our conversation I went home and looked up how he handled Guantanamo Bay, drones, and the Wall Street bailout, etc.
Without that input, I don’t know how long it would have taken for me to become politically aware and active, but I definitely wouldn’t have begun moving left as early.
There’s always reason to criticize leaders even good ones.
It’s when you do things like relentlessly talk shit about people like Harris who would have been fantastic you end up convincing people not to vote and we end up with Trump as president again.
Jimmy Carter was the best US president ever, imo, but he’s not above criticism. Biden, though he was probably the best president of my lifetime, is also not above criticism. Talking about ways he could have done better now, with hindsight, several years after he’s out of power is a very different thing from doing it in late October 2024.
If we’re just never allowed to criticize democratic politicians from the left, that makes it difficult for people to realize that there are options outside of neoliberalism. I graduated from high school and college during Obama’s presidency and I rejected even the reasonable criticism I heard of him from right wingers, because they poisoned the well with things like the Dijon mustard drama (and because I was a dumbass adolescent/young adult and politically illiterate, but an unfortunately large number of voters are politically illiterate dumbasses).
It wasn’t until I was ranting about my (at the time) tea party dad’s constant Obama criticism to an anarchist friend that I realized there were actually reasons to criticize him not grounded in either racism or Neomccarthyism. He was the first person I knew who wasn’t a bigot, a conservative, or a tankie and didn’t support Obama, and after our conversation I went home and looked up how he handled Guantanamo Bay, drones, and the Wall Street bailout, etc.
Without that input, I don’t know how long it would have taken for me to become politically aware and active, but I definitely wouldn’t have begun moving left as early.
There’s always reason to criticize leaders even good ones.
It’s when you do things like relentlessly talk shit about people like Harris who would have been fantastic you end up convincing people not to vote and we end up with Trump as president again.