Today is a sad day in America. It seems the Republicans have taken over. They took our people hostage, and Obama rewarded them for it. No doubt we will see Republicans use their threats again and again over the next two years.
Today I and others are losing some innocence. Two years ago, we nominated and then elected a man who had little experience and barely any record of accomplishment because he seemed to have the right ideas. Obama had denounced the war in Iraq even when that position was a political risk other Democrats feared to take. Obama criticized our military for expelling needed soldiers simply for being gay. Obama opposed Hilary Clinton’s health care plan for unfairly imposing mandates on individuals, recognizing that if the public were offered a reasonable public option, the uninsured would choose it without a government mandate.
Now it is painfully clear that good ideas are not enough. We need a leader strong enough to fight for those ideas and smart enough to win at least some of those fights.
Being unemployed, I am glad President Obama won a temporary extension of benefits. But I would have happily forgone those benefits for a few months in return for a President who remembers why we elected him and not John McCain.
Were John McCain our president now, facing a congress where Democrats still have a majority in the Senate (lest we forget), I’m sure McCain, too, would be willing to extend unemployment benefits in return to continuing Bush’s tax-giveaway to the rich.
In 2008, the voters made clear that we didn’t want a continuation of the Bush economy. That’s why we elected Obama. It’s just too bad that the man we elected doesn’t have what it takes to deliver the policies we voted for.