A New Year’s Eve Rant

On this 31 December 2009 a look back gets my juices boiling!
by Charlie Leck

That cold day in January when Barack H. Obama took the oath of office was one of the most incredible days of my life. I was riding on a cloud and terribly excited and happy.

From there, it’s been all downhill.

“You’re not being fair to President Obama,” so many of my readers have written to me – in those words or something quite similar. The same has been told me by readers at meetings, conferences, eateries and grocery stores were we bumped into each other.

Suppose?

I’m not so sure! Were my expectations just too high? Did I shout, with the masses, far too many times? – “Yes we can!”

Did I really believe that candidate Obama meant REAL change when he talked about “real change?” And did I take too seriously the concept that “we are the change we were looking for?”

Did I misunderstand that “health care reform” meant “every man, woman and child in America will be fully covered by health care insurance?” During the campaign, weren’t Hillary Clinton’s promises about health care compatible with those of Barack Obama? Were they just out-promising each other in good, old, unchanged American politics?

How did I so badly misunderstand the candidate’s promise that he would deal differently with the legislative process – that he would bring both sides together – that the old style pay for votes with deals would be over – done with – history?

I’m sorry! This is NOT the change I was looking for! I don’t see change in the political progress happening or even out there anywhere far on the horizon.

President Obama deals with political questions just like the tired old hacks that have been doing it for my entire life and long before that? The rule is that one has to measure the political waters – the depth and the temperature – and act only in the safest possible way (from a political stand-point).

If you want to get mad at me for writing this – for saying this – that’s perfectly okay; but I challenge you to show me where I’m wrong. You show me where we’ve had real, honest-to-god change in the political process!

Where exactly is the new era Barack H. Obama was going to usher in?

Instead of getting angry at me, you should be getting angry at him and demanding of him the change that he promised us we would get – the change that he promised us we were!

I am afraid that the air has gone out of the balloon and there will be no stuffing it back in there!

Happy new year!