Is President Obama Being Purposely Sabotaged?

Paying close attention to all of the media reports on President Obama's activities in this past year and a half, I have noticed he has successfully made some bold, historical moves that impact the everyday lives of lower and middle class Americans. The people have not had an American president who was willing to go out on a limb specifically for them like President Obama in decades. The more he does for the people, the lower his approval ratings dip. Exactly who are these poll folks asking? Why?

Of course, President Obama pushed through the Stimulus which stabilized our banks and housing market and hoped it would promote job creation, but for some reason it has not. It has been long believed that economic salvation for most Americans rests in the small business arena. The banks now have money to lend to small businesses to create new job opportunities. Yet, reports from small businesses say red tape interferes with access to these loans and discourages borrowers. Why?

The Affordable Housing project gave millions hope for saving their homes. They contacted their lenders and HUD agencies, provided the paperwork required and were told over and over again that those papers were not received. They hit one snare after another in this process that eventually frustrated many who walked away from their homes unnecessarily. Many did not apply because bureaucracy intimidates them. These people do not understand what they are being asked to sign, and there is no one with the time or patience to educate them. The system does not allow for it. Regardless, for those who persisted, months passed and their situations became more and more dire. They continued to receive notices of foreclosure and the constant calls regarding delinquent mortgage payments. According to reports, of the 1.6 million who applied, only one-third received adjusted mortgages, and now we learn only a portion of those who survived the red tape of the process remain current in their mortgage payments. Why?

Healthcare has been a long sought after prize in America. President after president unsuccessfully tried to push through one version of healthcare or another. Even Richard Nixon and George W. Bush realized a government sanctioned healthcare system was desperately needed. President Obama promised healthcare and he delivered. Is it a perfect bill that covers every American? No, but it is a beginning. Social Security and Medicare, and every other social program has been through an overhaul or two to get them to where they are today, and after decades of existence, none of them are perfect yet either. Still, pundits and many in Congress and the Senate pound the perfection gavel so loud everyone forgets we have the beginnings of a program that helps hundreds of thousands of people who would have otherwise lost their homes, their life savings, their hopes and dreams; trying to care for family members. Why?

The oil spill in the Gulf is another of President Obama's challenges. America asked for an intelligent and compassionate president who would deliver decisions that benefited everyone, or at least the majority. BP had a major explosion of an oil rig and the results have been catastrophic. President Obama called in the experts and they came to the conclusions early on to rely on BP for information until they could get there and employ their methods of measurement for the spillage and cleanup. No one other than BP knew how horrific this was. No government agency operates on the floor of the Gulf. BP lied and President Obama was somehow negligent because of it. He should have firsthand knowledge of the workings of every agency, who runs it and how. The fact that the agency had been in bed with Cheney and Bush for eight years only meant President Obama should have gone in and handled that before the explosion. Ridiculous? Yes.

Choruses of, "He's naïve." "He's not passionate enough." "He's not compassionate enough." "He's not presidential enough." "He's not demanding BP to stop that oil leak and clean up the Gulf." And, on and on. President Obama traveled to the Gulf states several times and there were complaints about his not spending the night, not talking to the fishermen, not visiting the salvaged animal facilities, and on and on. He went on television to speak on the Gulf situation and the media went ballistic. "He's not engaged", "He's not presidential", "He's not passionate", and on and on.

The very next day President Obama announced he had secured from BP 20 billion dollars for a Gulf recovery fund that was not capped and would be administered by the same person who handled the 911 funds. There was silence in the media. A trickle of the fact that no president had ever done such a miraculous thing in the history of America was whispered across the airwaves. Then, the Republicans and their pundits started saying, "President Obama and his crew have strong-armed BP to create a 20 billion dollar slush fund." Why?

Why is red tape used to tie up every initiative President Obama offers to relieve the suffering of Americans? Who is handling the tape? Why is he criticized for being thorough, thoughtful, and determined? Why is there such a cry for him to be passionate when they know an African American's passion will always be translated as anger, or some other carnal behavioral category? Prime example, President Obama said, "I need to know whose ass to kick." The media said, "That was not passion; it was beneath what was expected of an American presidential response."

We all know the answer to all of the Whys. It is imperative that President Barack Obama fail. The Republican Party has erected the most ridiculous partisan wall of opposition the country has ever seen. The fact that people are suffering does not matter. The fact that soldiers will die does not matter. The fact that the environment will continue to deteriorate does not matter. The fact that the infrastructure of the country is on the verge of collapse does not matter. The only thing that does matter is President Barack Obama must fail.

The Tea Party says it all and the Republicans sit in the corners snickering because they want to say it, but dare not. "We are taking our country back." No one says from whom. While this phrase is not new; ordinarily, it would be noted and disregarded. Today, it is not because the sentiment has taken root in more people for reasons they will never publicly acknowledge. I ask, "From whom do you want your country back? Why?"