There has never been harmony among progressives and leftists, however, ever since Barack Obama began running for the presidency and was elected, it appears to me that discord on the left has reached an all time high.

Back when the civil rights and black power movements were active, there was serious disagreement about strategy. I do not recall, however, nor have I read accounts of members of one particular group expressing anything approaching the hatred for the leaders of organizations or factions that comes close to what I see today.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not trying to pull a Rodney King and wonder why we can’t “all get along”. I think it’s time to call a halt to the use of humiliation as a form of criticism. A better approach would be to determine what position of your opponent may be their strongest and then go after it in a logical and detailed fashion.

I fully understand the disappointment many of us feel about Obama’s taking us for granted and telling us to be quiet. There’s been a little less of that since the official re-election announcement was made as the 2012 campaign strategists “make nice” to its 2008 supporters hoping to pull them back in.

The disappointment I feel today was explained by me and BC Executive Editor David A. Love in the introduction commentary of this series:

Progressives emerged from the 2008 election daring to “hope” and believing in the possibility of “change,” but have been disappointed and underwhelmed over the past two-and-a-half years by this new administration. They “hoped” that by volunteering for the Obama campaign and casting their vote at the ballot box, the nation’s problems would be approached from the Left, by a president who, if not firmly on the Left, at least leaned toward their beliefs of peace and social and economic justice for all.

Yet, on a host of issues, from ditching universal, single-payer health care, followed by conceding the public option, to keeping Guantanamo open and extraordinary rendition alive, to extending the Bush tax cuts for the richest Americans, Progressives are left scratching their heads and asking themselves what happened to the Obama they thought they had elected?

I was an Obama volunteer during his campaign. I worked many hours manning a campaign headquarters, registering voters and making phone calls. I also worked to get voters to the polls and worked on Election Day outside the polls. The Obama administration has not convinced me to do this again.

The folks who fought for a repeal of DADT have shown us the way. There was disagreement in the LGBTQ community about how to get the job done and exactly what form the ultimate goal should be. But the struggle continued until DADT was repealed, and it continues during the “implementation” period.

We must stop the character assassination and personal attacks against anyone who does not think exactly as we do. Following the example of the so-called “liberals” in the corporate media, who spend a vast amount of time showing how silly or evil those on the hard right are, is a complete waste of time.

What would not be a waste of time for the media and for us would be an examination of serious issues with an aim to educate ourselves and demand solutions. For example, the news media should take a close look at the greed behind the increase in fuel prices and find out exactly what the justice department investigation is doing, rather than sending a reporter to a gas station to interview people at the pump.

Today I feel we are being ignored. I also feel it is substantially our own fault. I am tired of hearing the story bout FDR telling A. Philip Randolph “make me do it”. Obama apparently has no inner FDR. He has said nothing even close to telling us to make him “do it”. We must do more.

It’s time to protest using our feet, tweets, phones, email and economic and political power. We have to re-learn the meaning of solidarity. Anyone reading BC knows how to use the WWW to communicate.

It’s good to be angry, militant and impatient, but not with each other. When there is a protest for social justice, economic justice or peace and one million people show up, rather than a few hundred, Obama and members of congress will get the message.

Click here to read any commentary in this BC series.

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BlackCommentator.com Publisher and Chief Technical Officer, Peter Gamble, is the recipient of a national Sigma Delta Chi award for public service in journalism and numerous other honors for excellence in reporting and investigative reporting. The “beats” he covered as a broadcast journalist ranged from activism in the streets to the State Department and White House. The lure of a personal computer on his desk inspired a career change in 1985 and an immersion into what he saw as the future of communications. The acquisition of computer programming skills made it possible for Peter to achieve an important level of self-reliance in the technology of the 21st century and to develop BlackCommentator.com. Click here to contact Peter.