Day: June 19, 2009

When former President George W. Bush figures its safe to pile on President Obama, you know the people are restless.

Yes, everywhere you go in the United States today, you run up against worry and angst. Jobs are not coming back. For a while it was chic to spend less; now it’s just boring. The stock market gyrations are dizzying and depressing. They’re rioting in Iran, while Obama ponders what tone to take. On Capitol Hill, they’re sucking their thumbs.

One can’t help but think there is considerable danger in Barack Obama’s unswerving determination to alter the nation’s health care landscape at what may be a cost most Americans can’t even fathom.

The president’s zeal is impressive. It is the passion of a true believer who sees a country in which no one is without medical insurance as key to restoring the economy even as the national debt approaches unimaginable dimensions and some of his most ardent supporters are beginning to wonder how to pay for such an ambitious goal.

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets of Tehran in recent days to protest the seemingly dubious results of an election that returned hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power for a second term.

The American response to the protests has generated fresh controversy here. Some conservatives have criticized President Obama for not offering a forceful statement in support of the protesters.

During the campaign, candidate Barack Obama made unambiguous commitments to openness and transparency. But once in office, President Obama has been far more tentative about public disclosure, at times opting to continue Bush administration policies of withholding information.