Yes Obama is in over his head because the mess left was above anyone's head. Bush really messed everything up. That is exactly why Obama should do what is right even if it doesn't seem like it's smart for trying to become re-elected. Obama has been too cautious in my mind.
That alone should not mean he should not be elected. There is a difference between what we should expect and what we should never accept. And unfortunately even if we never accept some of the things he's done doesn't mean he isn't the lesser of evils. But in not criticizing him openly we forever doom ourselves to choose evil.
It's a disservice to Obama. I believe he is a good man but he is governing by what he sees as left of his challengers.
Andrew Sullivan recently put up an article about what a genius Obama is for running this way. Here are some foot notes of mine:
*Sullivan criticizes the 'radical left' of being disappointed that Obama didn't revolutionize everything. Most people don't actually hear from the 'radical left'. They never supported Obama. There is nothing radical about expecting Obama to live up to his own hype. If it was radical Sullivan would be a radical for supporting him when he said it or a shitty journalist for not telling the rest of us that Obama really meant something more mediocre.
*It is true that Republican candidates are making up how Marxist Obama is. They have chosen to run against an Obama that doesn't exist. Obama is a centrist (nothing wrong with that) and no matter how far he bends to prove he is not a radical leftist they continue to campaign against him as if he is.
*It is true that Obama doesn't get enough credit for actions like buying GM. It seems to have worked. But Obama has also done too much waiting to see what Congress will send him. I blame the fact that he has surrounded himself with the same kind of aspiring lobbyist and yes men that previous administrations have. During the election we were given the impression that this would be an administration of academics. It isn't that I am saying that academics would necessarily have better solutions. But they'd be offering different solutions.
*Though it's nice that Obama will be able to call the GOP nominee a liar about raising taxes. Wouldn't it have been better to raise taxes on the top 1% and say "If I raised your taxes don't vote for me"? It's fine not to raise taxes if you don't believe it will help but Obama keeps saying one thing and doing another.
*Sullivan: "But where Bush talked tough and acted counterproductively, Obama has simply, quietly, relentlessly decimated our real enemies, while winning the broader propaganda war." true enough. Though Obama also continues a show of force while proving over and over that is not the way to win modern warfare and 'winning the hearts and minds'
*Sullivan is also right to say that " From the start, liberals projected onto Obama absurd notions of what a president can actually do in a polarized country, " But Obama hasn't been very good about finding common ground. Instead of passing a huge medical bill he could have broke it up and passed the components that would be foolish for congress to vote against. Yeah he got health care through but he could have gotten through more things like hiring more patent clerks if he didn't call in so many favors on healthcare.
The other thing is that Obama has started all his negotiations from the center instead of starting from where he says he believes and forcing the other side to work to the center with him.
* "Liberals have derided him as a captive of Wall Street," That is because of the way Obama has done business. Monsanto is going to be able to save money on lobbyist now that Obama has hired one of their guys to run the EPA. Yes business people are smart and knowledgable. But you can't let them both advise you and lobby to you on how to regulate them.
*Personally I don't expect Obama to grandstand. I expect reasonable results from him. I expect a lot out of him because we pay him a lot of money and pay for him to have a very big staff. I'll give him that he is probably one of our best presidents of my lifetime but that is a very low bar considering the resources available to him.
*Ending torture does not give Obama a free pass on indefinite detention. Because guess what the next president can bring torture back and doesn't have to worry about the prisoner telling anyone because they are never getting out of solitary confinement.
It may seem easy for me to sit here and criticize the president and his defenders. But I am running for office as a dare to see if I can do better. And I can guarantee that even if I do accomplish more than what we've come to expect, I will be still riddled with guilt over what more I could have done.
We should never be complacent with our elected officials because that is when they begin to slide backwards.
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