{"id":16257,"date":"2009-11-23T22:40:55","date_gmt":"2009-11-24T05:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=16257"},"modified":"2009-11-23T22:40:55","modified_gmt":"2009-11-24T05:40:55","slug":"obama-and-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/11\/23\/obama-and-hope.html","title":{"rendered":"Obama and hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his GReader share of this article<\/a>, George (DOF<\/a>) commented:<\/p>\n

I’m getting pretty tired of “Obama hasn’t fixed everything in his first year so I’m disappointed!” He inherited a country that was taking on water fast and half the body politic wants him to slip on a banana peel, and the other half is pouting because he didn’t shit rainbows on his first day in office. Forget for a moment that Democrats aren’t all Winston Fracking Churchill; ask yourself where we would be if the Republicans would start thinking of their country for one damn minute and stop trying to bury Obama. And ask yourself this; where would we be if McCain had won? Seriously, now… you think the US would be re-engaging its allies? You think there’d have been ANY progress on health care? You think the words “global warming” would even enter into the political vocabulary? And in a thousand other little ways. Grow up, people. Support Obama AND the Democrats.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think that’s important.<\/p>\n

There’s a hundred different ways, small and not-so, that Obama has disappointed me.\u00a0 A lot of them are reflections of a frustration over the previous eight years of Dubya’s regime, and the desire for someone to ride in on his white horse, wave his Mighty Sword of Affirmative Fiat, and fix the problems of the world.<\/p>\n

\"via<\/a>
Hope Is Fading Fast?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So I don’t like that Goldman Sachs, bailed out by the Federal Government, is now turning around and self-righteously awarding zillions of dollars in bonuses.\u00a0 I don’t like that not only has Don’t Ask Don’t Tell not been officially repudiated or passively abandoned, but that the Obama DoJ has been actively fighting cases around it.\u00a0 I don’t like that the Obama Administration is continuing to defend anti-democratic warrentless wiretap policies.\u00a0 I don’t like that Obama hasn’t used the bully pulpit to whip the Dems (let alone the GOP) in line regarding health care reform.<\/p>\n

Would I want the job?\u00a0 Hell <\/em>no.\u00a0 Do I think I, personally, could do better, handed what he was handed Day 1?\u00a0 I am exceedingly dubious.\u00a0 Do I imagine that I have any grasp of the intricate and dysfunctional Rube Goldberg device that is Washington politics, such that I could actually make all the things happen I think should? Especially with a win-at-all-costs and damn-what-it-does-to-the-country GOP and a will-this-hurt-my-re-electability Democratic Congress?\u00a0 Not in my darkest nightmares.<\/p>\n

Which is not to say that I think Obama is perfect, or that he even agrees with me in all the things I wish he could accomplish if he had a\u00a0 magic wand and could make it all be better.<\/p>\n

But, as George says, imagine where we’d be if John McCain had won.\u00a0 Or Huckabee.\u00a0 Or Romney.\u00a0 Or, heck, if Hillary had succeeded in the primaries. Do I think things would be substantially better?\u00a0 Positively not.<\/p>\n

Obama isn’t perfect.\u00a0 But nobody will be.\u00a0 I think he’s a lot better than the alternatives would have been.\u00a0 And I think we won’t really appreciate that for another decade.<\/p>\n

Hold his feet to the fire for our ideals, certainly.\u00a0 That’s part of the dynamic of a representative government.\u00a0 But I think it’s far too early, and far too unfair, to throw up our hands and give up on hope<\/a>.\u00a0 And, really — isn’t that just what the folks who we just managed to defeat last year want<\/em> us to do?\u00a0 And if we don’t get everything — or even most of the things — we want, right now, from Obama … is there anyplace where we could realistically <\/em>ever get any of them?*<\/p>\n

Like anyone else, I want it all.\u00a0 And I want it now. And I want a pony, too.\u00a0 And I won’t really be happy until I get it all, now, with pony.\u00a0 But if I’m self-destructive enough that I’m going to turn my back on the man most likely to get me at least some of it, soonish, and the party that at least pays lip service to a fraction of what I want, then I deserve whatever I get from the other side that will be left standing.<\/p>\n

And I’m sure I’ll get it from them — fast and hard.<\/p>\n

*Please don’t suggest that if only Third Party Anarcho-Green-Free-Liberty-Hemp Candidate Rainbow Starshine were elected, I’d get a pony and a rocket ship, too.\u00a0 I said “realistically.”\u00a0 I might as well hope that the Overlords<\/a> arrive and force us to wipe out hunger, sickness, and war.\u00a0 Nor is simply giving up and turning my back on politics an option, because politics won’t turn its back on me. Realistically, the only alternative to the Democrats at this point in time is the Republicans.\u00a0 As irked and dismayed and disappointed and infuriated as I often am at the former, the previous Administration and its successor candidates demonstrates the moral, economic, political, and intellectual bankruptcy of the latter.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his GReader share of this article, George (DOF) commented: I’m getting pretty tired of “Obama hasn’t fixed everything in his first year so I’m disappointed!” He inherited a country that was taking on water fast and half the body politic wants him to slip on a banana peel, and the other half is pouting … Continue reading “Obama and hope”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-law"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/obama-hope-fading.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":30316,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/23\/obama-has-done-a-disappointing-job-as-anti-christ.html","url_meta":{"origin":16257,"position":0},"title":"Obama has done a disappointing job as Anti-Christ","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 23-Sep-12 1:04pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I mean, it's really hard to whip up any enthusiasm when the guy has been so half-assed in the effort. Too much compromise, not enough Great Beast, if you ask me. 'So when you walk into your respective polling booths this November, remember: If you just want a regular old\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13659,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/10\/31\/conservatives_for_obama.html","url_meta":{"origin":16257,"position":1},"title":"Conservatives for Obama","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 31-Oct-08 5:18am","format":false,"excerpt":"DOF summarizes some of the ship-jumping going on amongst some high-profile Republicans, who are choosing to vote for Obama. Something weird is going on. Conservative leaders like Colin Powell, Chris...","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2008"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2008","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23567,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/11\/09\/eek-obama-hates-christmas-and-christians-and-trees-proof-eek-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":16257,"position":2},"title":"Eek! Obama hates Christmas! And Christians! And trees! Proof! Eek!","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 9-Nov-11 7:22am","format":false,"excerpt":"Yeah, I figured when I started seeing this stuff hit my feed that there was a mundane reason for it all.Yes, there is now a 15 cent (eek!) tax on all fresh-cut Christmas trees. Yes, this is being instituted by the Dept of Agriculture in the Obama Administration.But what Drudge\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13633,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/11\/03\/some_conservative_parents.html","url_meta":{"origin":16257,"position":3},"title":"Some conservative parents for Obama","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 3-Nov-08 7:54am","format":false,"excerpt":"From a letter from a professed liberal about how and why her conservative parents are voting for Obama. I'm a dirty rotten liberal, so don't listen to me. Listen to...","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2008"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2008","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16627,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/01\/30\/where-has-this-president-been-the-past-year.html","url_meta":{"origin":16257,"position":4},"title":"Where has this president been the past year?","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 30-Jan-10 1:16pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The House GOP thought they were being clever in inviting Obama up to their lobbyist-sponsored strategy retreat.\u00a0 They thought they were being even more clever in taking up the White House's Br'er Rabbit offer to televise the 90 minute discussion.\u00a0 They were sure that the opportunity to stand up, preface\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fourth Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Fourth Estate","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/fourth-estate"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29059,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/08\/06\/is-obama-shunning-israel.html","url_meta":{"origin":16257,"position":5},"title":"Is Obama shunning Israel?","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 6-Aug-12 10:34am","format":false,"excerpt":"A new ad out against Obama by a pro-Israel group (and followed up by an ad from the Romney campaign) criticizes Obama for not visiting Israel during his first term. \u00a0Is this a sign of his disdain and antipathy toward that country?Not unless the same disdain and antipathy was shared\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}