when Democrats agree to sacrifice what they claim their beliefs are and to show contempt for the "Left,"

yup.

the difference with Obama is that he is pretending to care about what everyone says and makes a show of "listening" and lies openly like Bush/Rove about the value of it -- as he did with LGBT folks just last week about appointments -- and with those bs "house parties" on health -- while not at all intending to act on anything he hears from those on the "left".

Bet Everything on The Bottom, Not the Top -- on a chart from Nate Silver --

... He uses it to prove that Obama is a progressive. I think the problem here isn't what Obama stands for its what he'll fight for. There's an old John Edwards video where he points that things aren't going to change much if you replace a bunch of corporate republicans with corporate democrats. He even used the example of how republicans, with the usual sell out Democratic Party members, stopped healthcare reform but managed to push through the Horrible "Let's Compete with Slave Labor" NAFTA. If we follow this theory, then everything at the bottom of that list is likely to pass, with very little at the very top, or more progressive laws ever getting a hearing ...