The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I admit, I was nowhere near as enthused about the Obama presidency as most of my fellow progressives. I was pleased, of course; why wouldn't I be? Barack Obama had a history of being intelligent, hardworking, dedicated, and a whole host of other things which his predecessor lacked. He promised change, and passed out hope like Halloween candy. I was cautiously optimistic, hoping that Obama would take his election as a mandate to do what needed to be done and ignore parties and politics in favor of firm leadership.
I knew I was setting myself up for disappointment, I always am when I hope for something good. But I thought that this was different. The Republicans dug in their heels and made themselves painfully vulnerable, their hard "we oppose anything and everything you wish to do" stance meant that they were begging to be ignored, to be shoved off to the side and made wholly irrelevant. Granted, their right-wing hate machine (talk radio, Fox News, etc.) was still blaring at full volume, but the Republicans were well on the way to marginalizing themselves to a fringe party catering only to the craziest of the crazy.
But Obama reached out to them, mistaking them for the dedicated-but-reasonable opponents he had faced in his climb to the top. He mistook them for the sort of "me first, country second" people he'd encountered in the past, not understanding that the Republicans are mostly the "me first, me always" sort. By reaching across the aisle and being the good guy, Obama empowered the enemy and breathed life into a dying party. He created his own opposition, by reaching out to them and trying to get them to help him save the country.
It looks like we're in for four or eight more years of idiotic, backwards bickering and politics as usual. The current economic stimulus plan is equal parts failed ideology and outright treachery, and differs only from the corrupt plans of the Bush administration in that it is coated in something other than bitter hatred. In the end, a combination of pointless tax cuts and Republican subterfuge will make this bill useless, and while it will probably not collapse the economy or kill the earth, it will certainly make us all a lot more miserable.
I'm just disheartened that President Obama can't get past partisan politics, that he can't take an assertive leadership role, and that his opponents can't understand that they are doing nothing but bringing misery. Their conviction indicates that they think they are doing the right thing, and I am certain that the strength of their beliefs will blind them to the suffering they cause (it certainly has in the past). But this isn't about them, it's about the rest of us, and our unwillingness to stand up to them and say "No, it's our turn now."
I am disheartened that America is so determined to ruin itself that no matter how much blood, sweat and treasure I relinquish in her defense, she will still throw herself upon her own sword, blaming me for her foolishness the whole way down.