Activism vs Arrogance

I have to admit that I've had a bad day, so please take this as you will. But, I've read a number of diaries in the last twenty four hours that I have to ask .... are we being activists or are we being arrogant - please follow me below the fold:

In the last twenty four hours I've seen diaries that tell Senator Obama how he must act including:

he should: Fire a staff member
he should: Adopt a dog (versus buying one)
he should: Give a speech on Peace
he should: Get the VP Thing right
and how he should respond to New Yorker Cover
I've also seen another set of diaries that say he should attack Senator McCain (versus responding to RW attacks as they come up).

Is this merely activism or do you think it's arrogance?  In my humble opinion it's arrogance.

I respect everyone's right to their opinion so please don't flame me for that .... But let's talk about just these things up here and turn the tables a little bit. Instead of a diary that is headed "Senator Obama Should... (fill in the blank) what if:

The Diary was "Should Senator Obama.....(fill in the blank)....

Seems to me that this type of a dairy would promote ACTIVISM.

Let's highlight only one of the items I have on the list: this one he should: Adopt a dog (versus buying one) I was critical of a diarist who actually stirred up a petition to send to the Obama campaign so that the Obamas would consider adopting a dog from a shelter versus buying a dog from a breeder or pet store or whatever.

Don't get me wrong: I am 100% behind pet adoption - I've adopted many of them in the course of my life.  But you'll forgive me if I find it arrogant to stir up a petition to a nominee for POTUS to encourage him to adopt an animal if that's not what they intended. Would you do this if the Obama's were 'ordinary' citizens? Of course you wouldn't.    

Now I'm not suggesting that the diarist was wrong attempting to bring the issue to the attention of Senator Obama (i.e. that hundreds of animals are waiting for good homes), but I think my approach might have been different ... here's how:

A)  I'd create a diary talking about the various rescue programs
B)  I'd create petition to bring THE ISSUE to the attention of not only Senator Obama but every single elected official in every single state.

Seems to me that's activism.

Let's talk about another one.  he should: Fire a staff member

Pray tell - what in the world makes any one of us think that we should have a say in how Senator Obama manages his staff?  Who he hires/who he fires?  What if instead we had an honest discussion about the things that his staff has done RIGHT instead of jumping on a staff member who we think has blundered (the message WE think should be out there?)....If Senator Obama wasn't comfortable with the direction of his campaign don't you think he's wise enough and smart enough to deal with it internally?

I firmly believe that we should be involved as an overall electorate. I believe our task lies in being involved IN THE ISSUES that we feel strongly about, not in telling Senator Obama HOW he should run his campaign or HOW he should deal with what should be a personal decision (i.e. his dog).

Is it me?? Am I out of touch??