I don't read orange regularly. It is an organ of the Democratic Party - and not surprisingly, it supports the democrat party. It likes to think of itself as left wing, and it actually is, but the bottom line is that it supports the democratic party. The democratic party is not left wing - except in relation to the republican party - and on a few issues it is not left of the Republican party either. As a coalition party, it does contain a massive political range - easily going far into the left wing. Occasionally it looks left wing. Perhaps that should be on rare occasions...

Obama is a victory for the left over more right wing contenders. (Scary thought that is. It was even kind of frightening at the time.)

I had originally pegged Obama as right wing. With his program of assassinations (http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/04/07/assassinations) of American citizens whom he does not like - I was wrong. Hell - if I was voting in US elections, I would have voted for him. Unfortunately, he crossed a line with his program on assassinations, and it looks like Orange is reluctantly willing to cross it too.

My gut feeling is that there is more loyalty than I would expect in other countries from those who are at the very edge politically of their chosen party.  I think that this is a "feature" of the US system. For a true test, perhaps a detailed comparison of Britain and the US would work - just how much opposition was there to Tony Blair within Labour.

The US political system seems to be truly messed up.  It is highly resilient to change, and it co-opts people - including presidents - a true melting pot. I cringe when I hear the word bipartisan, and think "one party state".

If I understand correctly, the bottom line for the difference in the US between Obama and others is domestic policy and the supreme court. I can't help but feel that it is only on point 8 that you manage to say something that directly criticizes Obama's policies , as opposed to the political system in general. It would be nice if Obama had what it takes to offer a different foreign policy than the republican party, and he did run on that platform... He even delivered - the western world is no longer slowly isolating the US. I'm not at all sure that this is a bonus for the western world, but it probably is a bonus for US establishment. Maybe it also makes members of Orange feel better.

The US is on the way down (along with a lot of other countries I suspect). Now is the time for the US to set the stage that it will in the future have to live and work in. Later will be too late. Unfortunately, Obama is not up to the task, and even Orange appears to be unwilling to confront the policies of their leader.

Orange seems to be following the maxim "My country right or wrong". "My party right or wrong". "My leader right or wrong."

I think you spoke at Orange instead of to Orange.

_{aspiring to genteel poverty}