Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Bring Out The Big Guns

I was watching a film clip of Obama addressing a crowd at the University of Wisconsin last night, waving his fist as he was yelling at the top of his lungs about how “We can have change if we are willing to fight for it,” and I realized that he has completely lost me at an emotional level. I was totally unmoved by his words and, more importantly, I simply did not believe one single word he was saying. I did not believe they were true, and I did not believe that he believed they were true. He was saying them strictly for furtherance of the power of the Democratic Party.

"Fight for it?" When has this president ever fought for anything?

Where was all this fist waving and yelling when health care reform was in danger of not passing? He made a few intellectual speeches, but he never went out and waved his fist in the air and yelled about how we needed it.

Where was the fist waving and yelling on behalf of the “public option” that 80% of Americans wanted in “health care reform?” The best he could do was a lukewarm comment to the effect that it “would be nice to have.”

Where was all this fist waving and yelling when the revocation of DADT was failing? He stood silent and let it fail, and after it failed he remained silent except to tell the people who suffer under that policy to “be patient.” He’s not going to fight for that change, he wants people to be patient and “hope” that it happens when the magic pony rides into town.

Where was all the fist waving and yelling about closing Guantanamo? He “gave the order” to close that horrible blot on America’s honor and then has stood on the sidelines, silent and impotent, as the military and Congress have thwarted him on that issue.

The fist waving and yelling comes out only when the Democratic hold on power in Congress is threatened; then and only then he comes out in the full fury of his mastery of campaign rhetoric and sloganeering. This he will “fight for.” This is a cause worthy of battle. Principles be damned; this is power, man the cannons.

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