Why Obama is “Failing” and the rise of the Nutcases

Like millions in America I too looked at the 2008 presidential elections as an opportunity to usher in “real change”. The prospects were encouraging for people like me. The protagonists were John McCain, whose 2000 campaign I supported and joined, and Barack Obama. With either as president we would certainly see some serious change in Washington.

McCain’s unexpected selection of Sarah Palin for vice-president unveiled for me a flaw in his character that I was not comfortable with: he seemed prepared to take a risk, a gamble, for risk sake, perhaps to cement his “maverick” credentials, but certainly not a quality we want in our president.

So I was one of the 8 or 9 million Republicans, Independents and conservative Democrats who cast a vote for Obama. Here was a man who envisioned himself a “transformational” president who would help remake our future as FDR once did or Abe Lincoln over a century ago.

But now here I am with probably the same 8 or 9 million who are now quite disenchanted with Obama.

Speaking for myself, here are my reasons for the turnaround:

• He promised that we would not have “Washington as usual” and would bring an end to partisanship. Yet his attempts at having Republican senators and congressmen board his wagon seemed feeble and ineffectual. For sure the GOP was determined to see him fail and adopted the “NO” mantra to anything he proposed, but I thought he could have tried harder. And if they did not want to be active participants in bringing about change he should have proceeded with the promises he made in the campaign and not water down the Health Care legislation to appease the GOP. If having a “public option” was the trigger to lowering health care costs he shouldn’t have backed away from it. Now health care costs are rising, thanks to insurance companies’ greed and they’re blaming Obamacare for it.

• He promised he would end the influence of the lobbyists for good. Well, he hasn’t. While it may be true that lobbyist do not seem to have much of a presence in the White House, they are all over Congress in even bigger numbers and with even more visible clout. I had expected Obama to go to Congress with a whip and lash at the lobbyists the same way that Jesus cast off the money changers from the temple. Obama could have, at the outset of his term, demanded from congress a strong reform law that publicly financed national , congressional, state and city elections thus reducing to a vast extent the influence of political contributors. The country would have supported this. It seems he really did not mean what he said in 2008.

• He obtained passage of a $700 billion stimulus package but thereafter seems to have lost sight as to what the objective of the stimulus was: to stir up the economy and get Americans employed again. It is clear that he has underestimated the negative and depressing impact that unemployment creates in the minds of people who cannot find jobs. Unemployment insurance is fine for a couple of months but people who are used to earning a paycheck are definitely more buoyant in their demeanor and outlook; they prefer to be “doers” and not “do nothings” relying on a “dole” regardless of whether they have paid unemployment insurance dues all their lives. If it were not so painful I might have died laughing when I heard President Obama a few weeks ago said he is asking another $ 50 billion in funds to devote to “infrastructure” programs. Wait, weren’t you supposed to do that with the $700 billion stimulus program in 2009?

I am not a “tea party” sympathizer by any stretch of the imagination but I can truly understand how irate some segments of the voting public are. They seem to be prepared to elect an ex-witch in Delaware and a glowing nut case in Nevada to the US senate just to express their anger. Or perhaps a large segment of the electorate has come to realize that regardless how smart or how altruistic the motivations are for the leaders we’ve sent to Washington, in the long run they can’t do us much good. Perhaps the witch and the nut cases might stir a different brew. How much worse could they make Washington?

Personally I find Obama's fall to be a tragic one. The hopes of so many were riding on him. Had he just lived by the cause he espoused, and lured millions of us to,
the outcome might have been different. Had he just made a decision that he would do the right thing for America at all times regardless the political consequences he would have, at the very least, kept the respect of many who want this country to be great and successful in every aspect of human endeavor. Alas, sadly, he chose the path of the politician, and indeed the country is worse for it and I wonder if we shall recover at all. "Hannibal ante portas" the beleaguered Italian villagers used to scream as the invading Carthagenians approached. The demagogic Tea Party tainted Republicans are about to take over after November 2nd. The billionaires, millionaires,corporate entities and their minions are bursting at the chance of a Bacchanalian celebration but I doubt that many of us would join them, nor even get invited.

ldq44@aol.com