I debated writing about this because I generally like to keep things fluffy - even when I'm serious it's often with a wink and a nod. But I find myself more and more annoyed with the constant chatter about how little Obama has done in his first year as president. There are a lot of people all over the news, in polls, in the grocery store, wherever - that are constantly discussing how little our president has accomplished. Where is the man from the campaign? Mr. "I'm gonna fix the world" Mr. "I ran on a campaign of hope and nothing else"! Blahblahblah. Ok seriously? No politician does everything they say on the campaign trial, none of the people running for president are privy to all the security/military goings on that the current president is. They can talk about their platforms and their views and their goals and then we the people vote based on who we think has the best chance of actually reaching those goals which probably have something to do with our own political/social/(god forbid)religious vision. Does that make sense? It's a lot of hoping and crossing fingers that the people picked the best person. It's never a for sure thing and no leader is ever going to be perfect or 100% efficient.
Here's the deal with Obama:
1) He is not a dictator. He cannot run into the white house, wave a magic wand, and poof his will be done.
2) He was handed a shitty economy and a war. A war he most likely didn't have all the intel on until he became president. So yes, he wants to pull out of Iraq, that's where he stands, but I'm going to trust that dude has more information than me on Afghanistan, etc. And that he probably doesn't even want to be in this conflict - based on what I know of his platform, etc - so I am actually (This time, for the moment) going to trust that maybe he knows something I don't. And I do actually think that he's not so much of a shithead to want to kill thousands of people (soldiers and civilians getting in the way of an IED and the like) for his own personal gain.
3) If you didn't know this already, let me inform you - Obama is a Constitutionalists. He actually takes great stock in the way our country runs and he doesn't want to fuck with it. He is methodical and careful in his decisions. He may strive to be dynamic but he's going to do it within the parameters of our governing system. Our system doesn't act swiftly.
4) Healthcare is a large fish to fry. Fish may even be too small of a word for my metaphor is what I'm saying. If it doesn't work, it's a first step to bettering the quality of life for many American's. It also raised the quality of debate in this country (to quote West Wing). It got everyone talking about what they need from healthcare, from our government, who is screwing us over with healthcare, etc etc.
I'm on the moderate end of liberal and I don't think anyone is above criticism, but seriously? We're raking this guy over the coals after a year in office when the economy is on the slow mend, we haven't started any new wars (Afghanistan? My opinion is we should have been there in the first place), and the world loves us more than ever with Obama in office. So people have criticized him for not doing enough... what did George Dubya do to improve my life in any way? I'll take complaints over inactivity over robbing me of my personal liberties any day.
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The thing you have to remember whenever you analyze political discourse is that the climate in this country is extrememly polarized and bitter. I suppose it's always been like this, but it seems that in the past decade, people have just gotten even more insane and detached from reality. It's really quite unfortunate that at a time we need it the most America can't be civil and intellectually honest when breaking down the issues of the day.
ReplyDeleteAlways consider the source. I find that most of the people claiming that Obama is a failure/hasn't done anything/is destorying the country in this first here are weakly hiding ultierior political motives. Either they're trying to gain power from themselves and their party or they're trying to fleece money from hurting, disaffected citizens who aren't entirely clear on how their country works. Yes, it's gotten to the point where politicians and pundits care more about their bank accounts than their civic duty and fellow Americans, but that only changes when we choose to ignore their double-speak
Those few of us still grounded in reality understand that Obama can't change the world by himself. Those of us with decent memory know that he never promised such a thing in the first place (I believe the line was "WE are the change we are looking for"). I think we should, as a country, take a quick discussion break, consult with our 6th grade civics books, and stop depending on the rich and powerful to form our opinions.
Cliffnotes versions: bark is worse than bite, so keep your eyes open and don't get caught up in the dramatic rhetoric.