Has Obama's first year in office been a big disappointment? In all honesty, we were all so thankful to be out from under Bush, who was finally going back to Texas to get out his trusty chainsaw to cut down anything in sight and to dutifully carry out the trash for Laura, that we raised our hopes to sky high levels. Some went so far as to claim that we dared to look upon Obama as the next savior, possibly even able to 'walk on water'. We have all had time now to let the glow of that magical night in the park in Chicago and that cold, crisp, glorious Inauguaration Day fade from our memories.Instead, we hear many grousing that he's not all he was cracked up to be because he hasn't cured cancer, hasn't solved all our problems, hasn't put all of us back in work making twice what we previously made, and still hasn't freed gays to frolic openly at boot camp. Where's the peace we were promised? Why are we sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan;  where's the complete overhaul of the Federal government;  where's my tiny car that purrs along on pure air; why is the smog still so thick that I can't breath; where's my single-payer health care?And those are just the complaints from the liberals. Conversely, the far right fringe spews forth hate, drenching the internet and conservative television programs with a steady barrage of venom that can only be described as childish at its best and as deliberate misinformation, lies, and threats at its worst. It infuriates them that Obama, with his intellect and control, ignores them, continuing to work quietly and carefully on his agenda. Because he's not interested in bombing everyone in a turban, he must be a coward who is hell-bent on taking away their sub-machine playthings to keep them from attacking the government.Like bullies on a playground, they keep up a steady barrage of intimidation tactics, calling him all manner of names--he's a Muslim, he's a Socialist, he's a Marxist, he's a Communist; he's Hitler come back to life. He dares to bow to kings and queens; America "bows" to no one!!Well, I am happy to report that both sides are wildly, fantastically wrong. As Slate's Jacob Weisberg rightly points out, Obama has had a very first good year; indeed, spectacular even, far better than most in major media acknowledge (but they will, they will). In fact, assuming health care passes, Obama will have accomplished more in his first year than any president in the history of the world, ever.
To quote from Mark Morford, SF Gate columnist: "That might be an exaggeration. But I'm OK with that, because the basic idea is something that needs to be declared a bit more loudly. Nearly everything Bush tore down and decimated and humiliated to its very core, Obama has either restored, is in the process of restoring, or is set to restore. Even Afghanistan appears to have a coherent framework now (we shall see). And that's just thebeginning.:
It hasn't been a steady stream of euphoria emanating from the oval office; the harsh realities of life have brought us back off Cloud Nine. We've forgotten what Obama said from the very beginning that things would get worse before they got better, that we would not agree with every decision he made, and that he would make mistakes. Â
Morford stated that he decided when Obama took office to keep a running tally of ' accomplishments; but, in his own words he couldn't keep up:
I had an ambitious idea, way back at the beginning of Obama's term, to keep a loose, running catalog of all his accomplishments, every announcement and policy shift, legislative act and executive order I could find that either reversed a toxic Bush agenda item or put into motion a progressive idea he'd mentioned during the campaign, everything from science to emissions, stem-cell research to women's rights. As the stories came across the wires, I'd grab the link and keep a master list. Just to see.
Ha. It didn't take long before I realized the utter futility of this plan. I simply could not keep up. There were too many, coming too quickly. What's more, many of the changes were not widely reported, were not shouted by the White House by a president seeking applause or a boost in poll numbers from a mal-educated, reactionary "base" who wouldn't be happy until every Planned Parenthood clinic was burned down and Jesus' face was on the dollar bill and the Indy 500 was declared a national holiday. For example.
The good news is, others took up this noble task, have tracked most of Obama's rather stunning, unsung achievements and policy nudges to date. And those changes are voluminous. Here's just one handy list, a quick rundown of about 90 of Obama's more noteworthy accomplishments, right off the top. Can you read it and not be impressed? Or do you get stuck on those handful that you disagree with, personal hot buttons that negate and blinder everything else?Shame.
But, here's even better news. That list is not a complete accomplishment, and Obama continues with reform. The Washington Post just reported, for example, that the Obama administration is now beginning to ban all lobbyists -- hundreds if not thousands of longtime influence peddlers from serving on federal advisory panels. Many people totally missed that because it didn't get much coverage.
All is not perfect. We are still invading Afghanistan, Wall Street is still filled with cheaters and crooks, DOMA still exists; but things are DEFINITELY not what they used to be.
And that is the best news of all.Â
posted on Dec 4, 2009 10:31 AM ()
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