Gibbs shows poor judgment in criticizing the critics

While the Obama administration has been the recipient of countless unfair attacks from self-appointed right-wing pundits, tea-party activists and so-called “birthers� during its first year-and-a-half in office, the administration opened itself up to legitimate criticism from both the left and right this week.

Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs made the mistake of getting things going when he lashed out at “the professional left� — a terminology he apparently applies to any Democrat who dares to criticize the president.

Gibbs said these Democratic detractors are not representative of the “progressive� movement that elected Obama and that they will only be satisfied “when we have Canadian healthcare and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not reality.�

Gibbs went on to note that some have likened Obama’s policies to those of his predecessor, George W. Bush. “These people ought to be drug tested,� he said. “I mean, it’s crazy.�

In an article for the online publication, Salon, Glenn Greenwald said it best when he pointed out many legitimate issues liberals have with the Obama administration — “that they’ve done so little about crisis-level unemployment, foreclosures and widespread economic misery. Or because of the White House’s apparently endless devotion to Wall Street. Or because the President has escalated a miserable, pointless and unwinnable war that is entering its ninth year. Or because he has claimed the power to imprison people for life with no charges and to assassinate American citizens without due process, intensified the secrecy weapons and immunity instruments abused by his predecessor and found new ways of denying habeas corpus. Or because he granted full-scale legal immunity to those who committed serious crimes in the last administration. Or because he’s failed to fulfill — or affirmatively broken — promises ranging from transparency to gay rights.

“But Robert Gibbs — in one of the most petulant, self-pitying outbursts seen from a top political official in recent memory, half derived from a paranoid Richard Nixon rant and the other half from a Sean Hannity/Sarah Palin caricature of The Far Left — is here to tell you that the real reason you’re dissatisfied with the President is because you’re a fringe, ideological, Leftist extremist ingrate who needs drug counseling.�

Chiming in from the right this week, Americans for Limited Government Chairman Howard Rich opined that the Obama administration’s promises of change have indeed fallen short, specifically with regard to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Obama’s promises of greater openness and transparency have clearly fallen short of being fulfilled, as FOIA request denials have spiked significantly, a legitimate call for an audit of the Federal Reserve has been ignored and new financial regulations virtually exempt the Securities and Exchange Commission from Freedom of Information law. An Associated Press study of FOIA requests during Obama’s first year revealed that requests at 17 agencies were denied 466,872 times, representing a 50-percent increase over the prior year.

The above criticisms, whether they come from the left or the right, are legitimate concerns, and the Obama administration would be wise not to belittle the issues by attempting to brand them as coming from the lunatic fringe. The administration is having a hard enough time defending itself against outright lies to be making enemies of constituents who are seeking truth and justice.