It’s Time For “Don’t Talk, Just Do”

There is something a good portion of liberals and conservatives can agree on: Obama does a lot of talking but not quite enough following through.

At the Human Rights Campaign 13th Annual Dinner, Obama reiterated his campaign promise to abolish “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”  The reaction by some seemed to suggest that people thought Obama was repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which is not the case, it’s just more talk.

Andrew Sullivan took the President to task, saying:

The sad truth is: he is refusing to take any responsibility for his clear refusal to fulfill clear campaign pledges on the core matter of civil rights and has given no substantive, verifiable pledges or deadlines by which he can be held accountable. What that means, I’m afraid, is that this speech was highfalutin bullshit. There were no meaningful commitments within a time certain, not even a commitment to fulfilling them in his first term; just meaningless, feel-good commitments that we have no way of holding him to.

Obama can’t repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” alone anyway, he needs to convince Congress to do so. He has control of both the House and the Senate, but he’s done little to wield that power to push forward the things a majority of Americans elected him to do.

Sullivan isn’t the only one annoyed by Obama’s tough talk and no action. Paul Krugman wants to know when he plans to address the culprits behind our economic crisis.

In response to an unprecedented economic crisis — or, more accurately, a crisis whose only real precedent is the Great Depression — Mr. Obama did what people in Washington do when they want to sound serious: he spoke, more or less in the abstract, of the need to make hard choices and stand up to special interests.

Obama’s stalling on health care reform is well documented. He’s finally came around to releasing his own plan for reform, and up until that point made high level declarations for what he wanted Congress to develop. The ensuing food fight between Republicans and Democrats has failed to result in a bill and we’re still waiting with nearly no end in sight for one to be put to a vote.

Obama would be better off if he stopped worrying about trying to compromise and make the right leaning portion of the country happy. He can’t, and by not pushing forward, he’s simultaneously pleasing the right by not putting forth policies they oppose and giving them more fodder to say he’s done nothing. All the while he’s leaving the left frustrated and annoyed. It’s a lose/lose position he’s taking. He’s wasting the political capital he earned during his campaign by not being more aggressive about fulfilling his promises.

The Nobel committee gave him the Peace Prize because they believed he would be a transformative figure on the world stage. We elected him based on his policies for both home and abroad. He has the support of the majority of Congress and of his citizens, how long do we have to wait for him to act?

It’s time for  “Don’t Talk, Just Do” and that goes for a lot more than just “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.