President Obama Has Kept His Promises

I read the comments and blogs of many conservatives who see Barack Obama as the scourge of America. One very nice lady expressed the view on Facebook that the Government, presumably under the current administration, has plans to intentionally poison Americans with toxic chemicals; other frightening goals of the new president is to establish Death Panels who would decide if your elderly Granny should be put to sleep or if a disabled child should be destroyed as a cost-saving technique. The president is greeted at political gatherings by armed men, some bearing characterizations of him portrayed as Adolph Hitler, some with signs calling for the spilling of the "tyrant's" blood.

A recent post on Facebook warned about a conference on swine flu issues, pointing out that, if a pandemic occurred in the United States and if many lives were lost and if and if and if....the was placed at the door of Barack Obama, although the first planning took place years ago under President Bush whose administration was properly concerned about the threat of bio-toxins. Just to prove that paranoia is not exclusively directed against President Obama, in May, 2007, the Department of Defense had a plan "for a possible avian flu pandemic that could kill as many as three million people in the United States in as little as six weeks." The military considered scenarios whereunder troops might be required to assist local and state officials if catastrophic waves of disease overwhelmed health facilities and prevented local governments from providing even basic commodities or services. Some people thought more was involved. In 2005, even before the plans were introduced, Michael Chossudovsky suggested a "hidden agenda [that would use] the threat of a pandemic and/or the plight of a natural disaster as a pretext to establish military rule" and "suspend Constitutional government and allow the Military to intervene in civilian affairs in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act".. Whew! Even the most uneasy among us has to consider that a stretch.

What's going on? Unlike some past presidents, Mr. Obama was open and candid about his policies and ambitions. He campaigned on a platform of liberalism, idealistic beliefs in the potential of the nation and a promise of optimistic accomplishments. The American people chose the Democratic candidate, gave Democrats a majority in both Houses of Congress. In so doing, the people voted for innovation and change and traditional progressive ideas. The people repudiated the "compassionate conservatism" of the 43^rd president, a man neither compassionate nor conservative.

Candidate Obama expressed concern over the collapse of the economy, the crash of the stock market in the United States, but not exclusively so. He warned that the nation's health care delivery system was buckling under the weight of waste, exorbitant and increasing costs and a dominating pharmaceutical industry and its counterparts from the major insurance companies. He stressed that, unless and until health care costs could be contained, the overall economy would not recover. That part of the system managed by the Government (Medicare and the VA programs) was run well and nearly every participant under those programs was pleased with the resultant care. Those citizens who had privately arranged or employer-supplied coverage had seen costs escalate and coverage could be lost if an employer found the increasing expenses too high to bear. Moreover, if an employee changed jobs, coverage could be lost. In these areas also, increasing costs were placing an unacceptable drag on any economic recovery.

Finally, as candidate and president-elect, Barack Obama criticized the previous administration by entering into an expensive and seemingly endless was in Iraq, taking money away from domestic needs. He warned that additional taxes would be needed to meet the challenges he was to inherit but promised that any additional burden would not be imposed on the average, modest income taxpayer.

So how has he done the first eight months of his term?

The returns are not in on comprehensive health care reform, but according to the most recent polls, the president has lost support and his approval ratings have decreased - but among liberals for the most part. Much dissatisfaction with the president comes from those of us who urge him to be more aggressive with his fellow-Democrats, to insist on the passage of a health package with a right for people to choose a "public option", that is a government supported and managed system, or a continuation with their private insurance process. The people would have a choice; isn't that the American way?

Many of us have pressed for the president to demand that which he needs. It is clear that President Obama had wished to avoid the failure of the Clinton initiative 25 years ago. Rather than presenting the Congress with a fully developed complex plan, the president wished to have a program developed during the Legislative process. This has proved to be doomed by the explicit statements of many Republicans that they would not vote for any health care plan, even if it had been drafted following negotiations with their own members. While Mr. Obama wished for health care reform, the GOP only wanted his personal failure.

As to the rest, the past nine months have been favorable. The Federal Reserve Board Chairman announced that the recovery was in sight, housing starts are up considerably, the "cash for clunkers: program has put people back to work. Our nation's international standing is, once again, favorable. The problems still remain, of course, but there are positive signs.

Conservative core Republicans were dismayed that Barack Obama, a black man with an anti-conservative message received a mandate from the American electorate. How could this have happened? How could the warnings of terrorism and the cry of "Drill, baby, drill" have been beaten by a supposedly big government black guy?

The coping technique that these core believers developed was to ignore and deny reality and to create a non-existent world of their darkest fantasies. It's all they can see. Rather than cooperate with the elected president, provide a loyal opposition if appropriate, these people have frightened themselves to the point where they cannot move. It is only the hoped for possible downfall of Barack Obama that allows them to function at all.

They have slipped the tethers of reality and have trained themselves to be, in the words of Johann Hari, writing in the London Independent, "impervious to reality?" Mr. Hart continued,

"Something strange has happened in America in the nine months since Barack Obama was elected. It has best been summarized by the comedian Bill Maher: 'The Democrats have moved to the right, and the Republicans have moved to a mental hospital.'."

I will demonstrate the truth of this remarkable opinion in an upcoming essay.