After listening to President Barack Obama’s remarks at the recent Congressional Black Caucus Dinner, I couldn’t help but compare some of the responses to what we’ve been hearing from the Tea Party and their master party – the Republicans in Congress – and a few disgruntled Democrats, who with few exceptions, were very latecomers to the team of supporters of the President.

When we were trudging through the ice, snow, cold and rain of Iowa, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and other states, they just weren’t with us. Even after candidate Obama won the primary, some reluctantly came on board – and some have been his worst critics since.

Obama can’t win

I tried to explain to myself how some members of my own party, despite the president’s best efforts, seem comfortable blasting him no matter what he says or does. Well, Frederick Douglass had already explained it on September 25, 1833 when he said, "Though the colored man is no longer subject to barter and sale, he is surrounded by an adverse settlement which fetters all his movements. In his downward course he meets with no resistance, but his course upward is resented and resisted at every step of his progress.

"If he comes in ignorance, rags and wretchedness he conforms to the popular belief of his character, and in that character he is welcome; but if he shall come as a gentleman, a scholar and a statesman, he is hailed as a contradiction to the national faith concerning his race, and his coming is resented as impudence. In one case he may provoke contempt and derision, but in the other he is an affront to pride and provokes malice."

Did you ever see a person, against the greatest of odds, who worked as hard as President Barack Obama – even before he was sworn into office? Former President George W. Bush, in the closing days of his presidency, pretty much said, "Hey man, I’ve pretty much screwed up everything during my eight years, so I’m going to walk away and let you fix it."

To President Bush’s credit, he has not been in the news all the time commenting on what this president is doing to try to fix the mess. Yet, even former presidents, campaign managers, members of Congress and others who’ve had their share of screw-ups just can’t seem to get enough of jumping on President Obama’s every move.

Private message

When I have the audacity to have an idea for the president, I send a private message to the president – not to the press. If he uses my ideas, that’s fine. If he doesn’t, I just press on, knowing that I can’t get everything I want – especially when those who want him to fail have put up every roadblock possible.

I understand that what he has not yet accomplished is not because he is just sitting around playing checkers! President Obama has stayed the course while too many people in my party have behaved like spoiled kids who didn’t get what they wanted, so they refuse to allow anybody else in need to get something of value before they do.

Come on, critics! Do you see another candidate who fights harder for what we want than this president? Isn’t it time then to cut out the harsh criticism and put on your walking shoes to strengthen this president instead of kicking him around as the opposition has been doing for nearly three years now?

Dr. E. Faye Williams is national chair of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. Contact her via www.nationalcongressbw.org.