In 2008 I supported Barack Obama in the primaries because I thought he was the best of the major candidates. Hillary Clinton supported the Iraq War, making her unfit for the presidency, as did Joe Biden and John Edwards. His promise to restore the rule of law was another bonus, as was his stand against crony capitalism. By the time the primaries reached my state I was more than happy to attend my county convention as an Obama delegate.
It wasn't just his stand on issues that won me over. When Bush tried to appoint one of the men behind the Swift Boat Liars as an ambassador, Senator Obama confronted him over the lies he spread about John Kerry and more importantly, used his power as a senator to block the nomination. Imagine that -a Democrat using every tool at his disposal to stop Dubya! We needed more of that kind of thing!
Over that summer, there were signs of what sort of President Obama was actually going to be. First there was his disgraceful vote to grant immunity to telecom companies that had illegally wiretapped Americans starting within days of Bush taking office in 2001. Obama wouldn't even try to delay the vote, which was only postponed for the funeral of ex-Senator Jesse Helms. As I pointed out to Sam Seder at the time, it's pretty sad when a dead Jesse Helms does more for freedom and civil liberties than a live Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi or Barack Obama.
Of course it was easy to vote for Obama in spite of his flaws when the alternative was McCain and his deranged running mate. Obama might be a bit of a wimp and possibly a sellout, but surely he'd do better once he's in office and no longer running for office and having to answer the cranks at Fox News.
I could go through the litany of betrayal but this is a good starting point, though a bit dated since he hasn't yet fed the environmentalists to the lions by approving the pipeline for the Tar Sands. Is there any doubt that that's exactly what he's going to do?
I despise sports analogies, however there comes a point when it's clear that your team's quarterback isn't over-matched by a more ruthless and talented opponent, that he's not just playing poorly and choking under pressure but will eventually snap out of it. It's also clear that the terrible performance isn't due to bad luck or maybe the team overestimated his talent and he never really was good enough to play in the big leagues. At some point -maybe after he's punted on 1st down for the fiftieth time- you realize that either he's deliberately throwing the game or that he's so inept he might as well be deliberately throwing the contest.
What to do? In sport, it's simply a matter of benching or cutting the blundering player, whether any of the others on the roster are really any better or not. The point is, this guy can't (or won't) cut it and for the sake of the team has to be pulled from the game. If nothing else, not only will the QB get the message that poor performance and lack of effort won't be tolerated, but just as importantly, others on the team will get the message too. Until that kind of action is taken, you can't fault fans for booing, for not applauding or buying tickets or otherwise having zero enthusiasm for a team that doesn't produce.
This is why I'm not going to waste another vote on Barack Obama. If I want bailouts for banks, amnesty for torturers, indefinite detention, government eavesdropping, persecution of whistleblowers and citizens who exercise their right to free speech, and an international kidnapping/torture/assassination ring, I have a half dozen or so Republicans to choose from. Personally, I'd rather see a real Democrat take Obama's place but failing that, I'm not about to support and cheer on someone who is at best inept and at worst deliberately throwing the contest.