America – Change Yourself

It’s been less than one year and I can already see that President Barack Obama and his administration are in big trouble.  Ratings and polls, for whatever their value, seem to prove this theory each month as the ratings look to be headed south for the winter.  Not what they expected I imagine. 

Sure, every administration hits a rough patch, but this presidency began to unravel so early.  Perhaps our President simply bit off bit off more than he can chew.  Or, perhaps trying to do everything at warp speed, and being a one-man show in providing the agenda for this nation has hampered him.  Regardless, he  remains insistent to have it his way, regardless what Americans think about the issues.  It's his way or no way, without compromise at any level.  This isn’t national leadership principles that Americans can expect to see any real changes for the better happen as a result.

The trouble I speak of has many faces.  This is perhaps most evident in his health-care initiative, an important concern that he has made central to his first year in office.  Unfortunately, his administration has mishandled the issue, allowing it to spiral out of control and threaten to become a political liability.  I remember during the campaign debates when his now vice president stated to America the White House is no place for on-the-job training.  Yet, on-the-job training is what we are seeing happen right in front of our very eyes. 

Inexperience, however, may not be the root of his problems. President Obama’s real difficulty is he does not understand the nature of the mandate he was given last November.  Obama was elected for two reasons: Americans were tired of President George W. Bush and the economy was collapsing.  The public wanted change, something Obama’s campaign successfully tapped into.  What he has failed to recognize is that voters wanted change that would calm things down, not turn everything on its head.

President Obama’s troubles began when he pushed through the highly controversial stimulus bill. There was an incomprehensible amount of money tied up in that bill and it was rammed down the throats of Congress so fast that legislators were voting on legislation they hadn’t even read, let alone understood.  In the process, the deficit and national debt were increased to unprecedented levels.

Obama’s second mistake was to dismiss those voices that began to speak out—American citizens!  Sure, it was politics as usual, driven by the usual suspects, but it was more than that; his failure to recognize this voice was probably his most serious miscalculation.  The “TEA Parties” may or may not have been orchestrated at first, but they tapped into a deep wellspring of unease.  They became a rally point for people to express their concerns about a government that has seemed to turn a deaf ear.  Instead of acknowledging their concern and their right to express it, the administration stood back as they were demonized.  “TEA Party” became “TEA Baggers” and participants were attacked with crude, vindictive language. 

I know because I have attended a couple of them myself.  People—yes, American citizens… were called “Astroturf, angry mobs and racists,” ridiculed by the media and dismissed by the government.  Their anger deepened and their distrust hardened as the president stood mute to the attack being heaped upon them.

Then came health-care reform.  Once again, the president tried to fast-track a controversial program through Congress.  But this time the public pushed back.  Obama ran full speed into a roadblock he never saw.  The collision completely derailed his initiative and he’s struggled to get back on track since.  Too many people were leery of his administration and its ambitions by this time.  The president tried to finesse the public by promising everything for nothing, but it didn’t sell.

The people most affected by these changes, seniors, were not the gullible schoolchildren the president was used to working with during the campaign. They felt they were being had and they weren’t going to put up with it. So they showed up at town hall meetings.  They were angry and they were going to make sure their congressmen knew where they stood on this issue.  Once again, they were dismissed and ridiculed, only this time they became enraged.  They ranted, they raved, they got in the faces of their representatives, and they were heard. And for every angry voice raised at a town hall meeting, there were dozens of people listening at home, nodding in silent agreement with those silver-haired lions on their screens.

Support in Congress began to falter.  Representatives and senators were spooked and started to back away.  Instead of being in control of this defining legislation, Obama found himself on the defense. He was forced to return to campaigning (instead of governing) and he has abandoned any pretense of bipartisanship.  It’s been a hard struggle, but it’s starting to look like eventually there will be legislation passed by this Congress and signed by the President when all is said and done –maybe before the next election.  Better men have tried and failed in previous administrations.  Regardless, the political costs have been steep.  As I recall, citizens vote every two years on house members and each six years for Congressmen.  American citizens who love what this nation has always stood for, and not what it is becoming, need to stand tall and take back America!  Your vote really counts!

No doubt, the president will survive this firestorm as Presidents always do. The public’s memory is short and there is always fresh outrage for politicians and the media to exploit.  And if nothing is happening, they will create something to draw attention elsewhere.  But the long-term effectiveness of this presidency is in doubt.  Just looking at the way he commented on the recent terrorist attack at Fort Hood and not calling it what it is… just more political correctness I suppose.  Can you imagine if the Fort Hood shooter, Nidal Malik Hasan, was shouting, "Jesus Christ!" as he unloaded fire.  Do you think there would be any of these calls, "Hey, let's not rush to judgment here.  Let's not."  Imagine if some idiot walked into a Planned Parenthood place and opened fire.  Can you imagine?  There wouldn't be any call for calm and, "Let's not rush to judgment in any way.  But that’s another article for another day. 

Will President Obama be the transformative, historic president he aspires to be, or will his final legacy be only that he was the nation’s first black president?  I don’t know the answer to these questions, but one thing seems clear: if President Obama wants to aspire to greatness, he must act accordingly.  So far, his prideful manner and self-confidence and refusal to look at the major issues of the day through anything but political and ideological prisms are making him, at best, mediocre.

I encourage all citizens to let their Congressional representatives know how they feel.  The First Amendment isn’t just for a selective few.  Let your voice be heard.  Failure to not do so in the present time we live will prove in history to be our biggest mistake that we will surely regret. 

Let’s hope, for President Obama’s sake and ours, he turns this around.