This thread began with People's World linking Randy Shaw's article "Doom andGloom on the Left" which lambasted criticisms from the US Left of aspects of theObama presidential policies: http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=7483with this PW header:"Excellent article. It's a class thing. New slogan? Don't give in to doom andgloom, organize. There's a world to win!:John Bachtell:I think the author makes an important point. Our estimate of the Obamaadministration has to start from a partisan point of view and what he/weaccomplish is determined by the current political balance of forces. For some onthe left, the Obama administration does nothing positive, and what it does dopositive is never enough. The broad left is a part of this coalition which findsitself both in government and on the streets. But some on the left act as if theyare now in the opposition. This calls for much more thoughtful tactics. ***************************Andy Taylor:John, while this may be true of some on the left it is not true of Communists Iknow in your neighbouring northern party. What many here seem to see in Obama'spresidency is a judiciously pragmatic imperialist presidency that wishes to manageand (yes) extend US global domination with less needless exasperation of alliesand others. We also ... Read morewelcome and support a people's bailout andregulation of Finance.But while the loss of George Bush and Dick Cheney's crudecontempt for the globe is a great gain we see an escalation of the Afghanistan waropening into a viciously destructive whirlpool that will not only kill and molestin Afghanistan but bring down all progressive initiatives proposed by progressivegroups in all NATO countries. I know the US from inside as a longtime resident andam not unaware of the contradictions in class forces in Obama's victory that offerpromise. I think the question of strategy and tactics is acutely important, but Ido not think the virtual shut-down of the anti-war movement was principled. Isn'tthe question, 'to what degree do the progressive as well as the anti-monopolyforces have an ally in the Obama presidency'? If you judge all those outside thecircles of undissenting support for Obama as unthoughtful, many careful thinkersin my acquaintance see the depth of the identification of your thinkers ascredulous.In part this is a question of where one is within the imperialist Bloc, many leftCanadians have a positive personal impression of Obama's tone but feel that Fidelis right to say Obama does not wish to - and cannot - fundamentally change the USstate's political system or political economy.It is about imperialism. Andy Taylor:(sorry - last sentence) So from where we stand the question arises if there hasbeen a strategic and tactical over-estimation of the reach of the newadministration. ******************************John Bachtell:We have an independent labor and people's movement which is interacting with thisadministration. By and large it agrees with the direction the administration isheaded and is in fact helping to shape it, has since the before the election. Onissue after issue, the labor and people's movement has a friend here. Thechallenge comes when you disagree with a friend, how you handle that disagreementso you don't break the alliance. That's the kind of tactics we need to bediscussing. And to paint Obama as an imperialist presidency is not helpful inunderstanding what we are dealing with and how to develop the tactics necessary toadvance the struggle.