The End of Obama

Wow. That was fast. From boy wonder, full of hope, audacity, and smarts, to a lame duck unwilling to get his hands dirty, and unable to stand up to the slightest bit of opposition – unless it comes from the center or the left. No, make that the moderates or the left. When the Center (Lincoln, Lieberman, and others) tell Obama to squat, he politely asks what color. 

My only problem was how long it took for the wrapping to be removed, allowing us to see the real Obama. And what we see ain’t pretty. The list is bad, and getting longer. Worst of all, there really is no sign that the White House gurus even have a clue how angry and restless we natives are. They seriously misread how easily they could bamboozle and lie to Americans, hoping it would be too late for us to do anything about it. To their chagrin, the American people caught on too fast. 

Nope, it is clear. As of today, Obama has created such a mess for himself, that we seriously need to start hunting for some primary candidates to oppose him. Mr. Obama is clearly not up to the task of governing. 

POINT 1) WALL STREET

How embarrassing. How unseemly. How easily the boy wonder in the Oval Office was put in his place. He “invites” Wall Street and other professional thieves to come to DC for a serious talk. His glamor and power are so diminished that the three most important guests don’t even bother coming. FOG? My ass. The private jets that they own could have easily landed, even if a commercial flight had been delayed. And the best operated, fastest, and easily accessed US-based train system runs where?  From New York to the Bloatway. 

His response? Obama was sure to pull a campaign move from the mess he created. On video, he APOLOGIZED for the fog. 

POINT 2) IRAQ

We have plenty of evidence of war crimes. We have way too much evidence of torture by the US military and our CIA. The president’s campaign promise was noble. These things were not American, and could not go on. 

My, how his tune has changed. His DOJ is now coddling and protecting the very people who were behind these heinous acts. Instead of doing what is moral, ethical, and most importantly, LEGAL, Obama refuses to allow investigations, and even worse, he has adopted almost every Bush era policy that led to these crimes. Photos? Memos? Investigations? Not on his watch. Even worse, Obama has let it be known that illegal renditions will continue. 

Not exactly the change America voted for. 

POINT 3) AFGHANISTAN

A land-locked country of 25,000,000, mainly tribal, and mainly centered in three large cities, or through some of the most treacherous mountains on this planet, Afghanistan has 

i. no military (to speak of. We keep training folks, they keep going AWOL and joining the insurgents. With our guns) 

ii. no air force

iii. no rail roads

iv. no air ports (except ours controlled by our military)

v. no missiles, WMD, nukes, germ laboratories, or other methods to deliver anything harmful to America

By any rational standard, Afghanistan poses absolutely no threat to us or its neighbors. There are, according to the US DOD, 100 Al Qaida left in the country. Mainly on Pakistan’s border. Their presence means we have to send 30,000 more targets into hostile territory? Plus another 57,000 Blackwater mercenaries and contractors? THIS MAKES AFHGANISTAN A NATIONAL SECURITY RISK? My ass. 

Yes, this is a troubled region. Pakistan has serious issues in its adjoining mountain regions. bin Laden, if alive is hiding there. And Iran has responded to Israel’s and our threats by testing missiles. Iraq continues to fall apart. Other countries also suffer greatly. 

The worst part about Afghanistan is that our DOD and Commander in Chief forget their history lessons. The one overwhelming fact is that Afghans hate intruders and occupiers. It matters not who they are; they are all bad and need to be exterminated or removed. We will never win in this country, no matter how badly you bent, fold, spindle, mutilate, tear, or mangle the definition of “victory.” But what is saddest is that Obama has caved on this issue for political reasons. He hopes to pacify the GOP, the DOD, and the neocons by expanding Bush’s surge into a country that wants us gone. All we do by adding more troops is to create more strife, more targets, and more anger among the locals. But at least the Bush neocons are happy. Endless war is precisely what their clients want. The profits are just too good to pass up. 

POINT 4) HEALTH CARE

Here are some direct quotes from Obama’s own party members in both the house and senate: 

 

Congressional Democrats are starting to voice their anger at President Obama over the way health care legislation has been compromised, blaming him for not fighting harder.

“The president keeps listening to Rahm Emanuel,” said Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.). “No public option, no extending Medicare to 55, no nothing, an excise tax, God!” he exclaimed about the Senate health care bill to Roll Call. “The insurance lobby is taking over.”

Rep. Dave Obey (D-Wis.), told Politico of Senate delays, “It’s ridiculous, and the Obama administration is sitting on the sidelines. That’s nonsense.”

 

Remember, these are his friends and supporters. In May and June, some people were asking where the White House was? Why the absence? the silence? the lack of leadership? Obama answered with a toothless demand: “Pass a health care bill by August recess.”  And then he left for his version of an undisclosed location, never to dirty his hands with health care again. At least not this summer. 

July was filled with angry town hall meetings, and Obama’s closest allies were left hanging. Without a plan, without even an outline, they had to deal with the fear stoked by Big Insurance, and the lies carefully crafted by K-Street. Still, the WH was completely silent. These meetings caused even more strain and stress, and reinforced the idea that the allegations were true. A real leader would have responded quickly. Obama was no real leader. 

Actually, Team Obama did do something during these months. They crafted a secret agreement with Big Pharma, a deal they denied ever existed, until they had to admit that they lied. And now, when we tried to lower drug costs by allowing a weird capitalistic approach like competition, (through drug imports or even re-imports of US made drugs) the White House screamed bloody murder. At the progressives. At those working hard to help the poor and middle class. 

The only ones that Obama’s enforcer, Rahm Emanuel,  ever targets are those on the left, plus, the moderates who mistakenly believed that they had someone honorable in the White House. Joe Lieberman has become Obama’s best friend, taking away ever more positive parts of the HCR bill, until all that is truly left is a mandate to make Big Insurance companies more profitable. Those limits on payments that were erased? Gone. Yearly limits? Back in force. A public option? Gone. Fines for failure to pay overpriced insurance premiums? Present, front and center. Single Payer? Don’t make me laugh . . . . or rather, cry.  Taxes on truly high premiums? Gone. Buy ins into Medicare for those 50 or 55? Gone. Family planning and abortion? Ha. 

At this rate, I expect Obama to demand a loophole for pre-existing conditions, and then, the whole bill will be a conservative Republican’s wet dream. With Obama providing any services requests to make their orgasms that much more enjoyable. 

This is not the change that America voted for. This is that weird point in time to which historians will point, and say, “Here is where the first african american president lost control, and ultimately, lost his office.”  Even used car salesmen could not accomplish a Bait and Switch as devastating as what Obama has done in one short year.