Obama, the great disappointment?

Published:

Obama, the great disappointment?

The Miracle President hasn't actually accomplished much? Wrong

Mark Morford
SF Gate Columnist

 

Wednesday, December 2, 2009
I am here to report some good news. Times have changed. Things are not what they once were. Evolution has occurred, is occurring, just now occurred while you were reading this very sentence.

Did you feel it? Are you noticing? The new has fully arrived to replace the old, and the old is going to have to take a long nap under a tree and watch what happens while the new delves in even deeper and does the best it can under the circumstances.

There is much talk, for example, of the man known as President Obama, of his effect and impact so far, his supposed lack of marked accomplishment lo these first dozen months of this most historic and revolutionary of presidencies -- a period, by the way, I am absolutely convinced we will all look back on in 10 or 20 years and go, oh my God, there. Remember that? That was a time, wasn't it? We will sigh and smile and point at the historic pictures and say, dear God, how incredible that was. It was a difficult time, there was much acrimony and resistance, but it was amazing. And it changed everything.

But not so fast. Back here in the dwindling twilight of the '00s, there is much puling from the liberal left that Obama has not done nearly enough, quickly enough, that his list of accomplishments is no list at all and is more of a giant, infuriating shrug. Many are saying he's not all he's cracked up to be because he has yet to completely revolutionize every aspect of human life as we know it by instantly turning everything organic, curing all diseases and setting all gay military personnel free to romp in the fields of boot camp.

Where is the complete ideological overhaul of the entire federal government? Where is the Gandhi-like pacifism? Why are we sending 30K more troops to Afghanistan? What about my new job, my single-payer health care and my tiny car that runs on sunflowers and hemp popsicles? Indeed, rabid impatience has combined with impossible expectation to give many liberals a free ticket to the land of nonstop bitching. Alas.

Conversely, there is all manner of incoherent noise spewing like radioactive urine from the far right, a nonstop wail of childlike panic claiming that, because Obama behaves with unnerving calm, shakes hands with foreign dignitaries and doesn't seem interested in bombing everyone in a turban, he must be a socialist Muslim Nazi hell-bent on banning machine guns and killing all old Republicans in their sleep and replacing them with French-speaking hip-hop jazz musicians.

The good news is, both sides are wildly, fantastically, delightfully wrong. As Slate's Jacob Weisberg rightly points out, Obama has had a very first good year indeed, spectacular even, far better than most in major media acknowledge (but they will, they will). In fact, assuming health care passes, Obama will have accomplished more in his first year than any president in the history of the world, ever.

That might be an exaggeration. But I'm OK with that, because the basic idea is something that needs to be declared a bit more loudly. Nearly everything Bush tore down and decimated and humiliated to its very core, Obama has either restored, is in the process of restoring, or is set to restore. Even Afghanistan appears to have a coherent framework now (we shall see). And that's just the beginning.

Make no mistake, it is not all wine and roses and classy poetry slams in the East Room. Personally, I'm far from the nice swoon for Obama that I experienced when he swept to miraculous, world-altering victory, a swoon born in large part from the nearly unbearable sense of relief that Bush was finally gone. My appreciation is now tempered with harsh reality, as well it should be.

Then again, during the campaign, Obama admitted this exact fact himself, saying he was sure to make mistakes, that you would not agree with every decision, that there would be more bad news before we got back to the good. What a jerk. Oh wait.

Regardless, I had an ambitious idea, way back at the beginning of Obama's term, to keep a loose, running catalog of all his accomplishments, every announcement and policy shift, legislative act and executive order I could find that either reversed a toxic Bush agenda item or put into motion a progressive idea he'd mentioned during the campaign, everything from science to emissions, stem-cell research to women's rights. As the stories came across the wires, I'd grab the link and keep a master list. Just to see.

Ha. It didn't take long before I realized the utter futility of this plan. I simply could not keep up. There were too many, coming too quickly. What's more, many of the changes were not widely reported, were not shouted by the White House by a president seeking applause or a boost in poll numbers from a mal-educated, reactionary "base" who wouldn't be happy until every Planned Parenthood clinic was burned down and Jesus' face was on the dollar bill and the Indy 500 was declared a national holiday. For example.

The good news is, others took up this noble task, have tracked most of Obama's rather stunning, unsung achievements and policy nudges to date. And those changes are voluminous. Here's just one handy list, a quick rundown of about 90 of Obama's more noteworthy accomplishments, right off the top. Can you read it and not be impressed? Or do you get stuck on those handful that you disagree with, personal hot buttons that negate and blinder everything else? Shame.

The amazing thing is, this list is far from complete. Obama has actually accomplished even more, and shows no signs of slowing down. The Washington Post just reported, for example, that the Obama administration is now beginning to ban all lobbyists -- hundreds if not thousands of longtime influence peddlers -- from serving on federal advisory panels. Did you know? Probably not. It didn't get much coverage.

Huh. That's funny. I'm out of room. When I started this piece, I intended to mention Obama only briefly, just one example in a larger list of evolutionary energies that was to include music and food, technology and cars, love and sex, all sorts of myriad evolutions taking place in my world and probably yours as we dance down this wayward road.

But somehow, as I delved in a bit more deeply, as I scanned those lists and noted all the changes in a single year, I found myself reenergized, invigorated, slapped awake at the new tone and direction, the sheer scale of all the changes, and how we are no longer the rogue macho cowboy laughingstock jackass of the world.

Sure, there's still a long way to go. Yes, we're still invading Afghanistan. Wall Street is still packed with jackals and demons. DOMA still exists. All is far from perfect. But times have changed indeed. Things are most definitely not what they once were. I can think of no better news to report.

Entry #1,426

Comments

Avatar jmidgette -
#1
It is very difficult for the President to get anything accomplished, when you have a bunch of conservative and liberal RATS that are under minning his every attempt to help persons who really need help. These people are keeping his hands tied. They are so afraid that they may lose a couple of millions out of thier already rich house holds that they rather sacrifice the poor and needy just to keep from loosing their elaborate lifestyles.

The last Administration totally destroyed this country and now, everyone expects this man to save the day. We happily gave the last Addministration 8 years to bring the Country to a disasterous halt, decrease in jobs, bad health care, and other problems, but now we can't even patiently give this man 4 years to try and make a difference. We must all remember that the USA was already in a hot mess when this Administration took office. We used to be one of the wealthest countries, now we are borrowing from other countries. I believe we were doing that before this Adminstration came aboard.

Everybody keep saying this is not about race, but they must be blind or in outer space if they think it is not. For some persons, it is just inconceivable for an African American to leave this country. You can tell that this is true, by all the racial comments and slurs you hear about the President and his family. It's really SAD! I notice that some people don't even respect the man enough to call him President Obama, just Obama, and that is a shame. Finally, When you have persons who make comments and that "they hope this President fail", they are really saying they hope the United States of America fails, because we are all in this together. It is time for us to be honest with ourselves and see the real AMERICA for what it really is.

If you were receiving million dollar bonuses, would you not do all you could to keep recieving it, even if it meant taking for persons who need it. I am sure you would. The USA has become a selfish place. It's all about us.
Avatar konane -
#2
Mark Morford is the same buffoon who wrote this amusing fairy tale. Down the rabbit hole anyone?
______

"Is Obama an enlightened being?
Spiritual wise ones say: This sure ain't no ordinary politician. You buying it?
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Friday, June 6, 2008

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/06/06/notes060608.DTL
Avatar Todd -
#3
@jmidgette: Apparently you didn't notice President Bush having to push his way through the entire mainstream media trying to bring him down, a majority in Congress trying to thwart him, while trying to win two simultaneous wars.  You're worried about a few conservative radio shows and one single TV station that has the gumption to tell the truth, instead of acting like a cheerleader like the others do?

Don't cry about people pointing out the quite obvious flaws in Obama, as well as his desire to destroy Capitalism, while instituting Socialism. Obama has flat-out said that he wants to institute Socialism, without actually saying those words. Don't you think it's odd for someone who claimed to "want a smaller government" to put us all in debt for trillions of dollars -- something we may not get from under for 100 years -- in only his 1st year? Isn't it odd to hear the President saying he wants to take people's money and "spread it around"?

If you DON'T find those things odd, then we could never have a civil debate about anything, because America IS a FREE country where there government has PURPOSELY been LIMITED by the constitution -- NOT EMPOWERED to do what it thinks is "the right thing to do". Only the PEOPLE know what is the right thing to do FOR THEMSELVES.

It is NOT AN OPTION to have the government take control of things like health care, or car companies, or banks, or energy companies. That is what COMMUNIST countries like CHINA and the old USSR do, not the LAND OF THE FREE and HOME OF THE BRAVE.

If you aren't doing so great, then ASPIRE TO DO BETTER, but it's not an option to prop yourself up by TAKING SOMEONE ELSE'S MONEY. And that is exactly the what Obama is seeking to do with all of these God-forsaken government takeover plans and wacko czars who are advising him. And that's why these radical associations of his MATTER.

Finally, the race-baiting is disgusting. These days people reaching for the race card have most obviously sunken to the lowest possible rung, and have absolutely no legitimate points to make. Their only option is to smear their opposition by labeling them "racist". Disgusting!

Your defensiveness about people referring to him as "Obama" and not "President Obama" is likewise very telling. You obviously care NOTHING other than making sure your HERO is protected, because it is very common for ANY president to be referred to by their last name. Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Carter, etc. Maybe all the sudden once Obama was elected you started to care about how the president is treated in our country. Don't go flinging "racist" labels at people when your own behavior is questionable. The Bible has a very good story about that.

BTW, I'm not disappointed with Obama at all. I knew before he was elected what a disaster it would be. He did not disappoint.

Post a Comment

Please Log In

To use this feature you must be logged into your Lottery Post account.

Not a member yet?

If you don't yet have a Lottery Post account, it's simple and free to create one! Just tap the Register button and after a quick process you'll be part of our lottery community.

Register