I would like to submit a missing persons report for the man I voted for in 2008. His name is Barack Obama. He told us that if collective bargaining rights for unions were threatened, he would put on comfortable shoes and walk the picket line (2007).
He was supposed to provide leadership in the struggle against reaction, inequality and the destruction of the middle class. He was supposed to be our champion in the good fight. He told us that there was hope. He told us he would do the job. We believed him.
He began to disappear after the health care bill passed and was gone as soon as the Republicans took over the House. If you see him, please tell him that some of us miss him and would love to see him return.
ED GOLDBERG
Southeast Portland
Once upon a time- November, 2008, to be exact- we elected a President who sold himself as a champion of Progressive values. He promised change, that things would be different. He promised to champion the cause of the middle class. He committed himself to ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and to closing America’s human rights violation factory in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Yeah…so how’s that all working out for you? It’s been barely two years since Barack Obama took office, and I feel as if we’ve been sold a bill of goods. Sure, there have been a few triumphs along the way, but it seems as if even those triumphs were watered down and delayed. Health care reform? Half measures. Repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell? It took close to two years to do the right thing. Closing Guantanamo Bay? A promise is a promise…except when it’s not.
Don’t get me wrong; I understand that BEING President is a much different undertaking from RUNNING for President. Governing is a far more difficult challenge than merely talking about governing. Still, even I have to admit that Obama hasn’t helped his case by proving to being willing to cave to Republicans at virtually every turn. Governing as if you occupy a place of weakness when your party is in the majority isn’t exactly a recipe for success…and so Barack Obama (with the help of Democrats in Congress) has managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
When Michele Bachmann talks about the need to ensure that Barack Obama is a one-term President, she has no idea how right she is…althought not nearly for the reasons she hallucinates thinks….