The look of seriousness that he dons had me- believing. But what fundamental change has he enacted? It seriously makes me crazy rolling over and over in my mind, trying to reconcile this self-proclaimed agent of change with the meek deviations from the status quo that he has induced. Initiating health care is no longer bold, it's a no-brainer, the only real winning issue for democrats- was until they blew it so absolutely.
I propose that the fundamental problem of the democrats, particularly the leadership, is in failing to appreciate the positive power of a basic physical concept- polarity. If you will recall, the whole Obama phenomenon started with that glorious speech at the Democratic convention in 2004 (note the irony, see Kerry, John). Well the heart of that speech that sent him rocketing to the presidency was 'uniting'- "we are not the red states of America, or the blue states of America, we are the UNITED States of America". So here this past year we have but seen Obama try and realize that. Well, you gotta give the guy credit for tryin. At least he was true to that part of his proclamation. The other part of his claim, of course, is that he is a freakin' democrat, and committed to democratic reforms, strategizing and striving to get democrats elected. And herein I think lies the problem. Obama is conflicted. He wants to unite, but he was elected on his rhetoric by democrats, save a sprinkling of independents and the off republican. It's a case of trying to represent everyone, while representing no one. And imagine the scorn of such betrayed democrats.
The problem with democrats is that while campaigning, they are 'true blood' democrats, but as soon as victory is clenched, they immediately 'think they know better' and want to please everybody. But as the saying goes, you try to please everyone, you please no one. This is exactly where the dims are today. They could have played hardball and gotten hardcore health reform through. The country would have rewarded them handsomely, even republicans when they benefitted tangibly from it. But dims fail to appreciate the positive power of polarity, which carries with it a directional vector, or momentum.
When momentum is in the republican direction, it can be used to accomplish significant republican initiatives, yes, lowering taxes and fostering business can be good for the economy and American prosperity. When the momentum is in the democratic direction, it needs to be wielded to get democratic priorities enacted while the getting is good. That is the power of polarity and momentum. While bipartisanship and 'uniting' is cumbaya great stuff and good ideals, they also have the negative qualities of inertia and petty bickering- people often just aren't going to agree, not because they are not reasonable, just because their priorities are different.
I have learned that that is largely what politics comes down to, not a difference in fundamental reason, but substantial differences in emphasis. Isn't it about time the democrats woke up to appreciate the underlying intelligence in the polarity of our system? And then fricking wield the power when commanded by voters to do so? I mean talk about the all time greatest missed opportunity with this health care thing. And the criticisms are all true, Obama and the Dim leadership let this thing drag out and the bickering, like there were no adults around to say, "Ok children, now shut up. This is the way it's going to be." Wasting congresses time while terrorists are plotting against us, etc. Sad, sad Fail.
Another way to look at this is for all the resources, blood and treasure, that are are poored into our ELECTION CYCLES, they must produce profound material results in order to be worth it, to be value added. After martially the time, attention, resources- $1 billion for Obama's campaign alone- of the entire country for the better part of two years, then their better be some significant returns on this investment. And so far, the returns from Obama and Congress have been what? An politician's open-ended 'promise' to close gitmo? Escalating the Vietnam III quagmire in Afghanistan? Waving his finger at the naughty bankers? Please, this is no return on investment for anyone, this is just pathetic. This is all just pathetic. And to think, all he had to do was be bold. That's it. If he was bold, all the kids that were 'fired up and ready to go' would have noticed their return on investment. Now, pfft. What do they have to notice? What does anyone have to notice? Obama- enough with the public date nights and the all the ceremonial circumstance with the White House pomp parties. The clock has ticked, where have you been?
