Silence on the left is consent

Firedoglake cites the four reasons progressives don't criticize President Obama: perceived improvement over Dubya, his own authentic moderation, post-election denial, and low expectations.

And then add one more having to do with a tight leash:

liberal “validators” were corralled early and easily by the White House, and were silent when Obama started breaking his progressive campaign promises.

The moment that became clear to me was during the AIG bonus fight. The banks went to the White House and said they wanted the rhetoric ratcheted down, and the White House made the liberal groups comply. I remember being out there in the rain in front of the White House with David Swanson, Bill Greider, and 10 Code Pink people the day before the first teabag rally, and thinking “this is a disaster.” All of the populist rage that should have been channeled by the unions and the progressive interest groups was lost to the right at that moment. And the groups stayed silent at the behest of the White House.

It’s going to kill us in 2010.

Liberals have once again upheld their reputation for selling out and ceding some important moral ground to conservatives. I believe it's called lacking a backbone.