I understand. He's the President - of a nation divided, deprived, and desperate. People want leadership. They want hope. They want someone to represent them, their interests, and the interests and well-being of their loved ones.
Of course there is polarization and widely varied opinion. Of course there is strong, strident, and stubborn rhetoric. After all, he's the most important figure in the ongoing struggle for the future of the United States of America, right?
But seriously, I can't be the only person who thinks he isn't. In fact, to me, that most important figure in the ongoing struggle for the future of the USA is... me.
I'm serious. I couldn't care less if the President is living up to expectations. I don't even care if he reneges on every single campaign promise. Nor would I care if he exceeded them all. And as you may have guessed, I care to the sum of zero what blame or credit he receives.
Maybe I'm just selfish. Or maybe I just don't "get it". Or maybe I'm just busy.
After all, is the President going to make calls on behalf of the citizens of Wisconsin in the fight to stop the corporate takeover of the state? Is he going to be at the demonstrations? Will he help organize? Maybe bring water or snacks?
Probably not. So I guess I'd better get my sorry ass out there.
I suppose I could squeeze in a little time between the current battle in my home state of Wisconsin and my obligations as a husband and father to give a rat's ass what the highest levels of government are up to. But that would cut into the time and energy I expend advocating for the local arts, or civil rights issues, or awareness and education campaigns, or any of a host of other things I could be doing right in my back yard to further the struggle for the future of my country.
But I'm being disingenuous. I'm not really so busy that I couldn't stop to consider the President. I just don't. Really, he's not that important. Not to me, anyway.
This is a value judgment I made a long time ago. First, I learned from schooling and self-motivated study about politics, history, legislation, bureaucracy, laws, governance, social order, cultural trends, and everything else that might shape the world in which I live. Then I decided on what shape I'd like that world to take. Then I looked into what - historically - has been the most effective method by which to mold the country into that shape.
And just like that, President Obama ended up in the same pile with former-Presidents Bush, Clinton, the other Bush, Reagan, et cetera. The one marked, "Of Minimal Utility." To be fair, President Obama never had much chance of ending up anywhere else on my list of priorities.
Nothing I care about - the dismantling of corporate America, the cementing into place of LGBT rights (and civil rights in general), good wages and benefits, maintaining a solid, unyielding wall between Church and State, health care as a human right, winning the class war and it's by-default passive-aggressive violence against minorities, you name it - will ever come from the top, at the benevolent hands of President Obama. Or President Superman. Or President Anybody Ever In Future History Or Past.
Everything I like about my country - secular rule of law, what protections for minorities we do have, the 40-hour work week as opposed to the 75+hour week, Social Security, Medicare, labor unions, universal suffrage, the Bill of Rights, and so on - came about as a result of popular struggle.
Personally, I like Barack Obama. I think he's a decent man, even if we are polar opposites in a number of respects. But he's not going to help me. He's not going to help my neighbors. Not in any of the things we must do to force the government to act in the interest of the citizenry. The President is - by definition - a part of that same government which must be given no choice but to obey the will of the people if they are to do anything worthwhile. As such, he is of little value to me until I am part of a chorus large enough to refuse a deaf ear.
Right now, the government isn't obeying. The citizens of the US aren't yet bestirring themselves in sufficient quantity and intensity to bring the lumbering beast to heel. So, I still have work to do.
And while I'm doing it, President Obama is of little interest.