Reading jpmassar's diary today seemed like the straw that broke this camel's back. I've had enough of President Obama.
This is but the latest example of an opportunity presented to him on a silver platter that he somehow manages to squander. Politifact.com is actually keeping tabs on all of President Obama's promises. While the numbers appear to be significantly in his favor, it's not the number of promises broken that is the source of my dissatisfaction, but what the specific failures indicate.
[Warning: It's not short]
Because my time is limited, I'll restrict this diary to those which mean the most to me, as well as a few other concerns not explicitly listed on their site.
I'll start out with something that gets to the core of why many people voted for him, changing how Washington works. More specifically, the Obama administration pledged, straight from his ethics plan: "No political appointees in an Obama-Biden administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. And no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch after leaving government service during the remainder of the administration."
This is a no-brainer. Too much of our government, and it seems more and more of it every day, is beholden to the lobbying power of big money in America. This fact directly diminishes the strength of the voice of the individual. In fact, when you read the collected news reports found on Politifact's website that detail this particular breach, it makes you wonder how sincerely he cares about the individuals at all. Let's not forget that while President Obama did have an upbringing that was is some regards average, he managed, to his credit, to move much farther up the social hierarchy. He's a millionaire, and that puts him distinctly outside of the reality that the vast majority of Americans face. I've tested the waters and made a couple submissions on the White House website about suggestions directly related to promises he has made, and ways to make them achievable. But when I see him keep lobbyists around, I wonder if I wasted my time. The completely generic responses that come 4 weeks later when I checked the box requesting being contacted did nothing to improve my suspicions (I acknowledge that they claim to receive tens of thousands per day, but there's not been any real evidence I've seen that indicates they care or even read them).
Moving on, DADT is just one example of Obama's failure to keep promises regarding the LGBT community. Again, Politifact does a wonderful job detailing what I'll paraphrase. Obama explicitly promised that he would use the bully pulpit to advance the equality of our gay neighbors. Presented with numerous opportunities, including the recent one with DADT being declared unconstitutional by a federal court, he has consistently shown little to no interest in this area. Granted, he has always knowingly been opposed to same sex marriage, but if his opposition to that level of equality doesn't stop there, and he is in fact not personally committed to any of it, then he really is a crook for pretending for the sake of votes. Mr. President - you may have told the heckler who challenged you on DADT a while back that you're on our side, but your actions speak louder than those words.
Healthcare reform provides another area where he has failed us. He has recently admitted to failing to adequately sell healthcare reform to the people. No shit. He also said he would have the negotiations on C-SPAN. Instead, we get backroom deals with Senator Nelson and others, as well as endlessly pursuing compromises with little to nothing in return. His approach, along with Sen. Harry Reid's, was far from transparent and consistent. Instead of selling healthcare reform, the entire process was presented as shady, and ultimately failed to deliver. Obama explicitly pledged to push for a public option, and then failed to support it. Time will show that Howard Dean was right about the bill, as we have done nothing to change the fact that the entire system still operates under the premise that our health should be the object of profit.
Another distinct failure, and one that is shocking considering the President's diverse experience and background himself, is advocating properly for one area that literally makes America what it is. This is supposed to be a diverse country that welcomes those willing to work and succeed to come and do so here. Immigration reform is but one area that Obama promised would happen within the first year of his presidency, but it looks more likely that it will not happen at all during this first term. Another failure in the area of diversity happened more recently in failing to make a proper stand in regards to the Park 51 mosque project in NYC (notice how such an allegedly big deal has seemed to sublimate before our very eyes?). His first speech concerning the matter was on point, but as soon is things got hot, he backed down. I'm not referring to his "wisdom" comment, I'm referring to the fact that he let the GOP run with the messaging on the matter, when it would have been a perfect time to advocate for unity amongst Americans, and a time to reiterate exactly what our mission is in the Middle East right now. Instead, his silence allowed the notion that we're engaged in a holy war take an even greater hold.
In the area of climate change and clean energy, and this is something I intend to write its own diary about in the near future, I'm having a hard time taking anyone seriously, including Al Gore, in the clean energy discussion that isn't trying to make big bold steps towards using Thorium as a fuel worldwide. I'm currently doing more research, so I won't say much more, but I've yet to find in my research any significant drawbacks that even compare in scope and scale to the current downsides we accept with almost all our existing fuels, including things like solar. In fact, I just sent yesterday a nice message to the President about Thorium reactors yesterday through their WhiteHouse.gov form, and I doubt anything will come of it. More on point, Obama has had numerous opportunities to move this ball forward, but apparently "climate-gate" has proven too big an obstacle.
In conclusion, I recognize that the GOP is a big reason for the obstruction and failure to get a lot done. However, blaming them is not the answer. Blaming the GOP will never get us what we want and need. It's just a distraction. Obama the great orator, the great communicator, the uniter. He seems to have vanished. He could have steered the public dialogue if he wanted to. However, he le the Republicans do it. That mistake has cost the entire world. While I recognize that one may wish to use the economy as a defense, saying that the economy was his focus, and that's why all this bad stuff happened, I respond by saying that the economy was worse when the President began making these promises. He's the one who attached time tables to his promises, and he's the one breaking them. Furthermore, we as a nation have the capacity to tackle multiple issues simultaneously. None of these exist in a vacuum, many can actually help the economy. All that is needed is willpower, and that willpower comes from inspiration, which he used to provide.
Thus, while I will vote Democrat both in 2010 and 2012, I'm starting to hope that Obama will choose not to run for re-election so that I can have a better Democrat in 2012.