draft
Being
POTUS is a nearly impossible job. Those who were great at it in our
history have had a number of things going for them that were
extraordinary, had accidents of history on their side in some sense,
and still made enemies who were bitter thirty years later. Like the
Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, a great Pope or a great President
is very hard to predict in advance, and even they make enemies.
I
do not think Obama was a great president; I think he was an adequate
president. He and his administration was certainly better than any
Republican administration since Eisenhower, and possibly better than
any Democratic one since LBJ, but that is faint praise. LBJ, as
flawed as he was, had elements of greatness in him.
In
the following, I admit that there are many issues below that quite
possibly could never have gone “our” way, or at least the way I
would have liked. But I felt that he could have tried harder, made
more of a stink, rallied the troops, and generally raised hell. This
is the POTUS after all, it is an impossible job and judged by
impossible standards.
The
following is in no particular order.
1.
He needed to fight harder for our supreme court position. He should
have raised bloody hell in the morning, and then complained about it
at night. He should have shut the government down, pulled our troops
home, and stopped spending money until the Congress did its
constitutional duty. The damage to our republic will last for
decades and may never be repaired.
2.
Someone needed to lead the Democratic party to deal with
redistricting in the states. That is only part of the problem that
the Democrats need to face to regain control of Congress but it is an
important part. He needed to lead the Democrats to at least formulate
a plan.
3.
He continued the bipartisan neoliberal economic policies that have
destroyed manufacturing, destroyed employment for whole sections of our people, and destroyed the unions. He tried to pass the TPP which represented
everything bad about the discredited neoliberal policies. The
Democrats abandoned the working man and woman. Some say this was
inevitable and nothing could be done. Fine, then enjoy your time with
Trump because that is what you get.
4.
He squashed criminal indictments against Wall Street for the economic
meltdown. No new laws were passed to see that corporate malfeasance
was punished.
5.
The decision not to prosecute the Bush administration for their use
of torture disgraced this country and set a bad precedent.
6.
He did nothing to address inequality in this country.
7.
He did nothing to address the way the tax code, exemptions and
loopholes favor the rich.
8.
He did nothing to address economic inequality in this country.
9.
He did nothing to improve support for the poor.
10.
He did nothing to improve how we finance education for the poor and
middle class.
11.
He did nothing to stop the civil asset forfeiture insanity that is
being perpetrated by our local police forces. The Justice Dept
briefly halted it, but then allowed it to continue.
12.
The Affordable Care Act was adequate at best but did not address the
issues of greed in the medical and pharmeceutical industries. These
industires need to be nationalized or become not-for-profits.
Doctors should be paid what teachers are paid.
13. The policies towards Russia were, in my opinion, unrealistic and certain to cause more conflict.
14. His response to China's cyberattack on this country was inadequate.
15. His response to Russia's cyberattack on this country was too little, too late.
13. The policies towards Russia were, in my opinion, unrealistic and certain to cause more conflict.
14. His response to China's cyberattack on this country was inadequate.
15. His response to Russia's cyberattack on this country was too little, too late.
16.
Finally, he was behind that UN resolution that is causing so much
glee for those who would destroy Israel. He did so against objections
in his own party and as a deliberate f*ck you to some of his
strongest supporters.
I
have a problem with these things.
I liked his style and manner. I thought he was a first class communicator. And compared to what comes after him, I thought he was a bloody genius and a saint. As our first African-American president, I think he is a credit to his nation.
But he was not the advocate of change that I feel we needed then and now.
I liked his style and manner. I thought he was a first class communicator. And compared to what comes after him, I thought he was a bloody genius and a saint. As our first African-American president, I think he is a credit to his nation.
But he was not the advocate of change that I feel we needed then and now.
No comments:
Post a Comment