There might be One Way He's Like Bush

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday September 05, 2009 · 5:54 AM PDT

2009/09/05 · 05:54

No, not secrecy. Or Afghanistan. Or wiretapping.

This is not, repeat NOT, a "Wahh wahh Obama isn't the guy I voted for where's my unicorn" diary. I had reservations about Obama early on. He's a bit too personally and politically cautious for my tastes. That said, I still think we got the best president for our times. And I do NOT think he is "just like Bush."

Except, perhaps, in one small but very detrimental way.

The Junior Mob, down to the last under-under-secretary, shared a single compulsion, an overriding principle that drove their every decision, to their and our destruction. Whatever Bill Clinton did, they would do the opposite.

The health care rollout and the policy of "Don't ask about Don't Ask" make me wonder if the people surrounding President Obama may have a touch of the same not-like-Clintonism.

With an administration chock full of former Clinton officials and supporters, the motivation for avoiding the appearance of doing it like Bill is clearly not contempt for Clinton policies, as it was the last go-round. By putting the onus on Congress to craft legislation--and take the heat--they are merely trying to avoid Clinton's mistake of slapping his face on programs that became the focus of Republican attacks.

How's that working out, guys? Last I looked, the fruitcakes weren't waving signs saying, "Stop Congresscare!" No need, really, as Congress is doing its damnedest to stop reform all by itself.

Republicans and their fellow-travelers hate Barack Obama for a lot of reasons. He's young, he's smarter than they are, he's black, he's a Democrat. He was actually elected president (that's gotta sting). They are going to oppose any program he backs. Witness the effort to turn his message of "study hard, stay in school" into "socialist indoctrination." The changes that must be made in this country, however they are legislated, are going to be prefaced with "Obama's."

And unless he accepts that ownership, and brings the power of his formidable mind and forceful personality to bear in pushing those changes, they aren't going to happen. In trying to find a middle way and decorate his programs with a few token Republican names, he and his team risk leaving a legacy of watered-down, corporate-compromised Change Lite and dreams of things that might have been.

Kind of like Clinton.

This content was created by a Daily Kos Community member.

Make YOUR voice heard!

Comments are closed on this story.