A lot of diaries have been written recently about the Obama Presidency and, while I still consider myself a strong supporter, there is one thing about Obama that I find maddening. It is his unwillingness to take any risks.
Getting a stimulus package in the middle of the Great Recession is NOT taking a risk. Everyone to the left of Dick Cheney realized we needed a stimulus package. Continuing the TARP program was not a risk; it wasn't even Obama's idea --- he just continued the program. Signing legislation that ANY Democratic President would sign (Ledbetter legislation, or the credit card law) is not taking a risk.
As a candidate, Obama talked about Ronald Reagan being a transformative President, and how much he admired that.
But when Obama has had a chance to be transformative he has chosen not to be. He talked about closing Guantanamo and starting a new era of Human Rights US behavior. But when push came to shove, he decided not to decide. He fired the guy responsible for getting it closed -- and it sits open to this day.
He campaigned on ending the war in Iraq; no sooner was he elected than he started backing off. He slowed down the withdrawal and decided that a "withdrawal" means 50,000 troops will remain in Iraq forever. That way, he doesn't piss anyone off, you see...
He couldn't even make a simple declarative statement about ending DADT. Instead, he decided to sort of end it, but apparently gave the Pentagon a veto? What a risk-taker! Especially given that the public actually supports gays in the military.
He could have risked his Presidency on the Healthcare bill. But no, he decided to ask for Republicans' "ideas". He could have insisted on a public option, but no, he waited until it was too late to do anything. He took NO risks. And the law that passed doesn't even take effect until 2014. That minimized the risk, I suppose...
But last week's oil speech took the cake for me. I don't expect Obama to suck up the oil with a straw; but this was a chance to propose major energy legislation. What did Obama do? He again asked for Republican "ideas".
He doesn't look or act like a leader when he says stuff like this. He looks and sounds like a naive schmuck who still doesn't get it. Any one of these decisions is justifiable on "realpolitic" grounds, but put them all together and we have a serious trend. I am no wild-eyed liberal, and taking unnecessary risks is foolish...But...
Obama is running out of time to be "transformative". The consequences for his timidity will be severe --- especially for people who believe in progressive ideals...
I was a strong supporter of Bill Clinton, and I am STILL a strong supporter of Barack Obama. I am angry with Obama but I am mostly sad.
Bill Clinton had his "fatal" flaw, and now it appears that Barack Obama does too. They are very different flaws of course, but both have devastating consequences for Democrats.
The Republicans put morons in charge; we put geniuses in charge. Republicans fail because their ideas suck and their candidates are too dumb to realize this. We fail because our candidates are too smart to take any risks.
As Billy Joel tried to tell the Catholic girls: "they never told you the price that you pay for things that you might have done".
There is a price to be paid for timidity.