The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

One year since more Americans picked Barack Obama than John McCain in the most expensive race in history, and how do we feel about it today? A year later I’m a little impatient, a little frustrated, and a whole lotta disappointed.

Take the war in Iraq. We’re now supposed to be out of Iraq by August 2010. My math says that’s roughly 20 months after he was sworn in. And we won't really out at that time; only the troops that are committed to leave will be out by then. It’s typical Washington double speak. We plan to keep a force of nearly 50,000 troops in Iraq indefinitely, but for some obscure reason they don’t count. Why, I don’t know. But it fits the policy of all the other wars we fought and won. We still have troops in Germany and Japan sixty-four years after the end of the war.

Health care reform will likely be signed into law before years end. One small step for mankind, one giant leap for the health insurance industry. You can bet they will charge whatever is needed to be profitable, and being forced to take on all comers will only raise their risk, so the price of health insurance will go up to cover it. Some people will get insurance they couldn’t get before, but at what price? Forget the public option, it has a pulse, but it won’t survive.

Gay rights in America went nowhere this year, and got no support from the President. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” is still the policy in the Armed Forces, and good people are still being discharged from the service, losing their careers, for being honest and forthright about who they are and who they love. The President is dragging his feet on this issue intentionally. President Clinton attempted to address the gay rights issue early in his first term and it derailed him from getting traction on other issues.

Obama’s war, Afghanistan, is a major disappointment. We should be leaving, not increasing our presence there. It’s a tar pit that will cost more precious American lives and only breed more terrorists- the friends and relatives of innocent people who are killed by our indiscriminate bombing. I feel that he knows he’s made the wrong choice, but can’t come up with a way to change his strategy. If the war is still raging in three years he’ll be one term president.

The bailouts and the stimulus programs are an addict’s drug. When the money stops flowing, what happens then? The problem will still be there. People will still be unemployed; houses will still be in foreclosure, Wall St will still be the world’s largest casino and pressure for corporate growth will continue to fuel credit spending and investments on margin. It’s the same game, no change.

The Patriot Act is about to be renewed. This is another major disappointment and a major defeat for our freedoms and the First Amendment.

I should feel better about having President Obama in the White House, but the "change I can believe in" hasn't happened,  so I’m not feeling optimistic that it ever will happen.