America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, ’cause it’s gonna put up a fight. It’s gonna say: You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can’t just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the “land of the free”.

That quote comes from the movie The American President, starring Michael Douglas and Annette Bening. I like the movie because it’s a great date movie and because President Andrew Shepard is the kind of person that most Democrats were yearning to have in the Oval Office from 2000 to 2008. It’s a sort of coming of age in the White House flick where the President picks the safe moves, advocates for the legislation that his Party backs and worries a great deal about his appearance so much that it ends up slowly eroding his efficacy as Commander In Chief in the public eye. Not to spoil it for you, but like all Hollywood movies this one ends with the President realizing that he has to stand up for what he really believes in and challenges all opposition to fight him on the merits of his arguments rather than mud-slinging rhetoric. In particular, his nemesis in the film is Senator Bob Rumson who routinely ends his speeches by saying “I’m Bob Rumson and I’m running for President!” More pointedly there is a fictitious crime bill in the movie that is so diluted with deals made in congress to make its passage possible that the actual spirit of the original bill is all but gone. Sound familiar?

Here is how President Shepard ends this impromptu press conference:

Tomorrow morning, the White House is sending a bill to Congress for its consideration. It’s White House Resolution 455, an energy bill requiring a 20 percent reduction of the emission of fossil fuels over the next ten years. It is by far the most aggressive stride ever taken in the fight to reverse the effects of global warming. The other piece of legislation is the crime bill. As of today, it no longer exists. I’m throwing it out. I’m throwing it out writing a law that makes sense. You cannot address crime prevention without getting rid of assault weapons and handguns. I consider them a threat to national security, and I will go door to door if I have to, but I’m gonna convince Americans that I’m right, and I’m gonna get the guns. We’ve got serious problems, and we need serious people, and if you want to talk about character, Bob, you’d better come at me with more than a burning flag and a membership card. If you want to talk about character and American values, fine. Just tell me where and when, and I’ll show up. This is a time for serious people, Bob, and your fifteen minutes are up. My name is Andrew Shepherd, and I *am* the President.

Okay, granted, if your a 2nd Amendment nut, than I’m sure that this really rubbed you the wrong way. But think for a moment that he was talking about a piece of legislation that you did support. Because the point I’m trying to make is that the American people, for better or worse, respect leadership.

And all I’ve seen coming from the White House and the Democrats in Congress is a great deal of back scratching, deal making, and compromises that add up to nothing. Specifically when it comes to the piece of legislation they’ve now officially wasted the past year working out not only with downright recalcitrant and borderline combative Republicans, but also with their ass-covering fellow Democrats: Health Care Reform.

I’ve been relatively silent on the matter in writing because, if for no other reason, the actual meat and potatoes of the bill itself kept changing. Sometimes on a daily basis. I wasn’t particularly pleased with the House version of the bill, but it had its merits. But by the time the Senate finished their own version, the result was downright embarrassing in form and mortifying in its construction. Senator Baucus of Montana eviscerated any chance of including a public option in his committee and Senator Nelson of Nebraska held out until he had the political equivalent of bread crumbs thrown to the people of Nebraska to finally get on board. Don’t even get me started about Joe LIEberman, the two-timing backstabbing son-of-a-bitch.

But I was assured by fellow progressives and Dems that having the Senate bill merged with the House bill would give us a great foundation to work on and get immediate relief to a good portion of the American people. I wasn’t happy with the prospect, but I’m willing to go along.

Then came the Massachusetts Special Election. One in which both parties fielded an idiot for a candidate and the lesser of the two evils was chosen. (Sweet fucking CHRIST, she called Curt Schilling a Yankee fan?!) This was mostly due to the fact that campaigning in the General Election was obviously several levels below janitor work for one Martha Coakley. But what also became impossible to ignore was that populist anger over perceived inaction for the people who were suffering because of a lopsided economy and a +10% unemployment…and a health care bill that was getting more unpopular by the minute from folks of all political persuasions.

The hurried debate over what to do with the House/Senate reconciliation of the health care reform bill started just days before the Massachusetts Special Election when it became clear that Coakley couldn’t just phone in this election. What most generally agreed to was that the House should be prepared to vote for the Senate version of the bill verbatim, thereby avoiding the filibuster promised by the soon-to-be-anointed 41st Republican Senator. But to the shock of many, after he was declared the winner of the election, more than a few Democratic members of congress came forward to declare Health Care Reform dead. Most notably liberal Anthony Weiner of New York and Barney Frank of Massachusetts.

Just this morning, the biggest ray of hope for any of this legislation to see Obama’s desk went dark when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi stated, “I just dont’ see the votes for it at this time.”

So now I’m pissed. And the funny thing is that I’m pissed about something I shouldn’t be that pissed about. I didn’t even like the Senate bill. Yet with the blessing of every single Democrat on the Hill, they gave up on even that hunk of crap. It’s apparently implausible for Democrats to muster the votes to pass legislation that has been compromised into oblivion. They threw multiple bones at both Republicans and conservative Democrats and they didn’t even vote for it after they got what they wanted.

Republicans win elections by making all kinds of promises that appeal to conservative voters and then run things into walls with a stunning lack of long term vision. Democrats win elections only to then try to legislate by trying to get a consensus they can never get and think so far into the future that they neglect the present.

I’ve fucking had it with both of them.

President Barack Obama had better start leading this country. Or he’ll go down in history as the most popular and yet ineffectual Presidents ever. He needs to take a firm stand for his beliefs, come through on even the simplest of campaign promises or be the man who tried to govern by consensus and wound up being a one-term lame duck.

Sorry Dems, that’s the truth. I know it’s hard to hear, but it doesn’t make it any less true. It’s time to demand more from our elected officials, be they Democrats or Republicans. Get loud and get obnoxious. Apparently it’s the only way to get through to these people.