"Dear President Obama"

ImpeccableLiberalCredentials's diary on Kos:

I am saddened to hear that the White House resorted to threats against freshman members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus in your efforts to pass the 105.9 billion dollar war funding supplemental.

I am glad that my Representative Keith Ellison voted against additional funding for the war in Iraq. I hope that you will not block the reasonable requests of the Congressional Progressive Caucus to require the Pentagon to create plans to exit Afghanistan, such as Rep. McGovern's HR 2404, which should have been allowed as an amendment to your war funding request.

I worked hard on your campaign in the general election. Please make those months of effort worthwhile by demonstrating moral leadership and good conduct in office, not by resorting to tactics made famous by Republicans like 'The Hammer' Tom Delay.

All of your Open Government Initiatives are a farce if you are threatening to shut out members of Congress in your own party over this important issue of conscience. We elected Rep. Keith Ellison on his promise to end war funding. We expect that he and other progressives will continue to have access to the White House.

Please end these wars, and please end these threats towards your fellow Democrats.

Thank you!

Howie P.S.: I have no doubt that Rhambo and others are "working" Congress on health care reform, I'm just not sure if the intensity is equal to what they are applying to the war funding bill. I found this comment by Mad Kossack to the post particularly incisive, if a bit overwrought. :

Why isn't President Obama threatening members of Congress who aren't supporting health care reform?

It's very interesting to me that President Obama is throwing his weight around when it comes to getting money to continue the ill-conceived foreign wars of his predecessor, but when it comes to passing a strong public health care reform plan, I don't see any arm twisting going on. I don't get the feeling that anyone is going to much have their feelings hurt by President Obama if they go off and support Tom Daschle and Bob Dole's Sell-Out Initiative to Subvert Health Care Reform.

I'd like to see some tough talk on issues that those of us who supported the president's campaign care deeply about. Alas, my breath will not be held while I wait for that glorious moment to arrive.

Barack Obama