I had pretty much given up on him and on THEM. As Paul Krugman said in the New York Times, "He's Not the One we had been waiting for". The health care debacle revealed a weakness in the man and in the Democratic party it revealed a disgusting sameness with the GOP, owned as they both are by the Corporate Scumbags. We Liberals had made a huge mistake; we ASS-UMED that the Democrats were on our side. They are not. Oh sure, there are some Democratic politicians that are righteous men and women. But there are also a few LBJs among them. How did I forget that in the 60s we demonstrated not only against Nixon, but also against LBJ! But I DID forget. So did a lot of us, apparently.
I just ASS-UMED that with our President and a majority in both houses of Congress, a true Progressive agenda could proceed in America. And man did we ever need one. There was a lot of Right Wing damage to undo! So what happened?
Well, first Obama hired Larry Summers & Tim Geithner to be his Financial advisors. When the Corporate Scumbags breathed a sigh of relief at this, I knew trouble was coming. And come it did! In one year, Obama has managed to transform himself from the guy who was going to change things, to the guy that needs changing himself. He has morphed from The Solution to The Problem in just one year! Simply breathtaking is the scope of this political STUPIDITY. Get right into bed with the most hated people in America. Simply amazing.
Then came the health care catastrophe. I can scarcely recall any President looking so weak and unable to lead. Even Bush led better than Obama. I hate saying that. But it's true. Obama allowed Pelosi & Reid and the Gang of Six and the Tea Party lunatics to take the health care issue that was at the heart of progressive policy and trample it and twist it into an ugly piece of crap. No public option, no nothing; Obama & the Democrats succeeded in crafting a health care bill so putrid and so lacking in anything good that we were left in the position of having to vote for this piece of crap just so the GOP doesn't claim victory.
And now after the Mass disaster we are left with our LIMP President saying things like "we aren't going to ram health care through". Why not? Could you in your wildest dreams imagine George Bush being that freaking timid? If they wanted to they could use reconciliation (like the GOP did REPEATEDLY!) and push through Medicare for everyone over 50. Or a public option. But Obama lacks the strength, and the Democrats are all running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
I spoke about this in my very first Diary. How, incredibly, Obama & the Democratic party managed to completely squander a huge, strong populist grass roots MOVEMENT in just one year! Looking at Obama & the Democrats it's hard to believe that they WON. That they have a majority. They are scared, in disarray, looking for Obama to lead them and it looks like HE DOESN"T HAVE IT IN HIM.
I'm disgusted, obviously. And yet the other day I watched Obama on TV from Ohio and I started to almost feel some of those good feelings i felt in 2008, during the campaign. And I started thinking maybe we are giving up on Obama too quickly. Maybe he has learned something and is now ready to lead & fight! Then I heard the comments about not ramming through health care. And now the newest thing: Obama is calling for a SPENDING FREEZE! Oh man, I can't believe what I'm hearing. I guess all those GOP complaints about his spending have got him running even more scared! And I'm thinking he deserves a second chance? Wow....