Once upon a time there was a candidate named Barack Obama who ran for president on a platform of hope and change...he was many things to many people and of course he was elected president of this United States.
There was great joy and much hope among his followers that here at last we had someone who understood our concerns and hopes for our country and was willing to fight in our behalf.
This great orator and constitutional scholar has become the President who refused to investigate the grave and abhorrent deeds of Bush, Cheney et al.
He also became the President who allowed healthcare reform to languish in the public square until we finally instituted a 3,000 page monstrosity who benefits a few, still enriches the insurance companies and is understood by nearly nobody. Of course the dream of a one payer system is only that ...a dream even though it is the way most industrialized nations protect and insure the health and welfare of their people.
He also became the President who has allowed Guantanamo to remain open and allowed the further rendition of enemy combatants to countries where they will probable be tortured.
He has escalated the use of drones killing innocent civilians in the pursuit of a few terrorists. Some of those terrorists were American citizens who were "eliminated" without benefit of trial.
He is now in charge of a NSA who investigates American citizens in their country under the guise of keeping us safe. I guess one must choose between safety and privacy these days. I don't understand what happened to this great security apparatus if the Boston bombers could kill and maim innocent people even after we received a warning from the Russians.
I must count myself as a former member of the Obama Cult of Personality brigade. I remember too well the reality of Castro's Cuba even though I left when I was 10. I remember my father in jail for opposing the government and he was one of the lucky ones that managed to get the hell out. I remember the paranoia of not knowing who was watching you or why. I came here to leave than behind but now I find it right here in my adopted country and it scares hell out of me.
We are going to have to decide if we are a free people who are willing to take their chances in that freedom or a nation of submissive scared human beings who see danger in every shadow because their government has made sure they do.
I vote for freedom because to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson...if you sacrifice liberty for security you will have neither one.