I have been shocked by the speed with which so many have turned on President Obama. After the euphoria of his election and inauguration, the recent back stabbing and malicious briefings have made quite a contrast. Within a few weeks Obama was transformed, at least within some elements of the media and blogosphere, from messiah to pariah. The turbulent passage of the American Economic Recovery Package has been used as a stick to beat the new administration with - inspiring accusations of Obama's diplomatic incompetence after House and Senate Republicans failed to support (with limited but essential exceptions) the Recovery Package. What did everyone expect? There was never a realistic hope, and Obama never expressed such an expectation, that every Republican would abandon decades of fiscal dogma and bitter partisanship. I admit to being just a little surprised at the very small numbers of senators who eventually 'switched sides', in the face of such an emphatic mandate for change but it is hardly fair to blame Obama for the old elephants' ignorance.Despite the rocky passage of ARRA (America Recovery and Reinvestment Act) it will eventually be signed into law in just a few hours time (in Denver, CO not Washington - continuing the President's strategy of re-engagement and consultation). And wow... is this administration good! To mark this occasion and the vital stimulus the law will provide, the White House has compiled a photo summary of recent events. It is so slick I almost broke down and wept... Admittedly, they are spinning so fast they appear to be in a different orbit but they are certainly not having the 'Blair/ Bush Drill Effect'. This phenomenon was most notably in evidence during the 2003 build up to the Iraq war - both administrations were spinning so fast and hard that they began digging deep holes for themselves. Rather the opposite is true for Obama - he is spinning into takeoff!
So while the Old Guard are patting themselves on the back in their own little bubble - oblivious of reality - Obama is getting down to work. Change has come...
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2 comments:
I'll believe that "change has come" when I see it happen, not when I see it in writing.
Thank you much for linking the legislation, though. I've seen very few news sources willing to do it; in fact, I've read sources saying that the act wasn't available for public perusal. Perhaps that was true at the time the articles were written, but there was never any follow-up.
Honestly, I wish the act were simpler. I feel as though Obama has tried to sneak a lot of proposals many Americans will consider quite scary into the legislation, hoping they wouldn't be noticed amid the debate on tax cuts and bailout money.
While you may be right that Republicans would still have debated the economic issues, the social agendas hidden in the bill were absolutely certain to drive them to disagreement.
"I'll believe that "change has come" when I see it happen, not when I see it in writing."
Obviously, with the first dollars yet to be spent, we cannot be certain that the Act will work as well as expected. But there are already 'green shoots' such as:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/02/23/Recovery-in-Action-Minnesota-and-Oregon/
and Obama's pledge to cut the national budget deficit in half through changes to defense procurement and revamping tax policies:
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2344649120090224
It may not be FDR scale as yet but I feel very happy to claim that change is coming.
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