From my perspective, Obama was elected for three primary reasons: to spite the Republicans, to “change” politics (whatever that means), and to end a war in Iraq. His fans got their first wish.
As for the other two objectives, well it’s been an ironic ride. He promised the nation a “different type of politician.” We were led to believe he would break through bipartisanship, and with Nancy Pelosi “draining the swamp” in Washington the wasteful spending, pork, and backroom deals would come to an end. That surely hasn’t the case as a giant stimulus bill which was more of a “hey, lets increase the size of government and pass it off as a recovery act” than something designed to aid the economy was passed. It was full of wasteful pork barrel spending.
As far as backroom deals go, Pelosi and Obama did everything they could to pass a healthcare bill that the majority of the country was against, including some shady deals now dubbed the “Cornhusker Kickback” and the “Louisiana Purchase.” While I don’t mind mandated healthcare (I think of it like car insurance, only instead of needing it to protect other drivers you need it to protect hospitals) I do mind the expansion of government. That’s not the point though. The point is…what was my point again? Oh, Obama has not been the clean, upfront, transparent President we were promised. Not even a little!
Now if they wanted out of Iraq, they probably weren’t hoping for a 30,000 troop surge in Afghanistan, but that’s what Obama gave us, and to his credit it seems to have been as successful as the surge in Iraq. Whether a half-way decent government will stand when we leave remains to be seen, but I’ll give kudos where they’re due and they’re due here.
Now to more recent news. All of a sudden we have bombers over Libya. Some are complaining about the financial issues that go with our involvement, but most of his critics seem more shocked that he’d be so willing to get involved. Meanwhile conservatives are upset he was so hesitant and slow to move. Watch this for a three minute video run down of the situation. It developed fast!
Looks like we’re lending air support in order to have our hand in how the future of the oil rich nation shakes out. Now we better not turn this into a full blown nation building project like Iraq and Afghanistan, (update: according to Obama’s 3/28 speech it will not) but I doubt it goes there. Liberals are livid that Obama isn’t being more of a wimp here. Seems like they’d love to see us hide in the corner and be completely uninvolved in the firestorm going on in the middle east. Instead the US has saved tens maybe even hundreds of thousands of lives. Obama’s not such a wimp after all, and the liberals seem so disappointed.
Iran…If the wasteful spending didn’t convince you Obama’s still a Liberal, look to Iran. Despite sending more troops into Afghanistan (he sent less than the Generals asked for) and getting involved in Libya (Clinton got involved in Yugoslavia, right?) he was sure to stay away from Iran (and didn’t say a whole lot during the riots either). It looks like their going to get themselves a nuclear arsenal and Obama isn’t gonna do a thing about it. So let’s keep things in perspective. Most modern US Presidents would have gotten involved in Libya. He’s not the war hawk liberals suddenly think him to be. He spends tons of money we don’t have. He really loves taxing the rich (watch that for one of the silliest Obama positions of all time). He even got rid of don’t ask don’t tell. Note to liberals: lay-off, he’s still one of you.
