Where Are You Now?
Posted: Monday, September 07, 2009
by Michael Ramzy
delusionthread.com
Do you remember?
A wave of optimism and hope, a promise of hope and change, and a change of tone is what swept Mr. Obama into office last November. It was a new era, an historic time to be alive and to be an American. You could not escape the celebration and good will which ushered the first African-American into office. In spite of whithering attacks by his challenger Mrs. Clinton for the nomination, Mr. Obama not only defeated her but defeated the lion of the right, Mr. McCain. It was David against Goliath, in this case Goliath not only the Republican party, which would become only a shell of its former self, but the Clinton war-machine. Goliath was also history, American history, which does not forget its past although it goes to great lengths to rewrite it. Mr. Obama was David, the hope of generations. Goliath fell not by a shot to the head as in the Bible, but by being overcome by that optimistic wave of hope.
Things were going to be different now. The bad, evil war-mongering Mr. Bush was going back to Texas to do whatever they do in Texas. The nay-sayers and conspiracy-nuts and 'sheep' were going into hiding, and the Democrats - led by Mr. Obama - were to change everything for the better.
Do you remember?
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would end soon, the casualties would stop and the troops brought home. The economy would be fixed, healthcare would be available for all, and climate-change legislation (whatever that means) would be passed to help curb global warming/cooling/rotating/whatever. All of this would be done because finally the right man was in the right place at the right time and he had the support of millions in America and countless millions around the world.
Do you remember?
Mr. Reid of the Senate and Ms. Pelosi of the House would help steer the Democrats to follow the 'agenda' of the new President. There would be bipartisanship and before you could say scandal there would be no more corruption in Congress and complete transparency from the administration. This was welcome news.
Do you remember?
And now, nine months later, we find ourselves more polarized than ever. For example:
1) We find the health-care debate not a debate but a screaming match between those who don't want the government to mess with their health plans and those who have insurance (private insurance, of course) arguing for the government to step in.
2) We have the American auto industry still in free-fall after countless billions in bailout money and Cash For Clunkers, which strangely helped the Asian auto industry and continued the tailspin of Chrysler and GM.
3) We have the banks making record-profits after billions in bailouts and no new oversight.
4) We have those who remember the promise of ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wondering how many more troops are required in Afghanistan and how many more troops are going back to Iraq for a third or fourth tour. At the same time, we wonder why the media doesn't tell us how many soldiers have been killed daily as they did when Mr. Bush was in office.
5) We have scandals in Congress which would make even the most jaded politician blush. We have Mr. Rangel of New York admitting to not paying taxes on more than half a million in income, and not listing certain real estate properties on his tax returns. We have Mr. Van Jones resigning from the Council for Economic Equality (whatever that is) because of his 'revolutionary' past, a past which included signing a petition attributing the horror of 9/11 to the Bush government. We have Ms. Pelosi decrying those who protest the government as anti-American, and those who disagree with Mr. Obama 'racist'. We have more 'Czars' then in pre-revolutionary Russia, and we all remember what happened to them, don't we?
We have all of this, and the 'hope-and-change' artist seems to be flailing without anyone to lead. Or perhaps it is because the wrong people are leading him?
Congress seems to have a mind of its own, which we all know is a very bad thing at any time but especially these days considering who leads Congress. And what of those who washed Mr. Obama into power? Where are you now? Where are you now that you realize your boss is just another paint-by-numbers Democrat who can't do it without someone (Congress) showing him which colors to paint first? Where are you, those of you who filled the streets with jubilation now that the evil Mr. Bush was finally gone? Where are you, those of you who thought Mr. Obama, who was vague at best during the campaign and was elected purely on charisma and history, was going to trim the deficit but instead increased it by 9 trillion dollars, where are you now? Are you helping define his message? Are you giving him a pass, as you tend to give all Democrats a pass because at least they aren't 'evil'?
Mr. Obama is a likeable enough man, yet don't you wonder where this is all going? Don't you wonder what his endgame could possibly be given all of the missteps so far? You were going to be there, weren't you? You promised you would be there, remember? This is a time of great hope and change, remember?
You do remember, don't you? Are you ashamed, or do you just feel as though you've been conned?
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)interesting article MikeI'm just tired of all of the bashing back and forth and I truly wonder where the people are who were so emboldened by his election. He could sure use their help now, couldn't he?Thanks for reading.
Well done, Michael, and very brave of you.Had Mr Obama put an immediate halt to the tide of cash flowing to banks and wall street I would have jumped on board with him.I stand with you, 100%I'm still on board since I support the president's attempts to do something good for this country, yet I have some serious reservations about his ability to lead. I don't know who his advisors are, but 'advising' is not quite what they're doing. They are leading him over a cliff, and he seems to have no problem with it. I just wish those who were so quick to judge and lynch the last president would spend a fraction of that energy working to make America better.Thanks, Ken, for reading and commenting.
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