Salon: The promises Obama wants you to keep forgetting

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Monday, Dec 27, 2010 08:30 ET
War Room
The promises Obama wants you to keep forgetting
By Justin Elliott

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/barack_obama/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2010/12/27/obama_promises



In early December, a combative President Obama challenged reporters at a press conference: "Look at what I promised during the campaign. There's not a single thing that I've said that I would do that I have not either done or tried to do. And if I haven't gotten it done yet, I'm still trying to do it."

Given the president's challenge, and the fact that we're about to reach the halfway mark of his administration, we took the opportunity to check in on his campaign pledges. As it turns out, there are plenty of clearly stated promises, in areas big and small, that Obama has not kept. PolitiFact, which pretty much has this market cornered, has been tracking hundreds of Obama promises.

A few broken promises, like Obama's pledge to shutter the prison at Guantánamo Bay, are well known. But there are plenty more campaign promises that have disappeared down the memory hole -- and that Obama would prefer to stay there. Here is a sampling of five:

"State of the World" speech:

In an October 2007 speech on foreign policy, candidate Obama offered this novel promise: "I'll lead a new era of openness. I'll give an annual 'State of the World' address to the American people in which I lay out our national security policy."

President Obama has delivered scores of formal speeches since January 2009, but he simply never followed through on the "State of the World" idea.

[Demeter]

1. Wait, I'll Get My Tinfoil Armor

(great protection against slings and arrows of outrageous fortune)

[Tansy_Gold]

2. LOL

figures I'd see you here!

:hi:


TG, TT

[somone]

3. Obama always keeps the promises to his base

the haves and have-mores

[Kolesar]

4. So clever

Give yourself a big pat on the back. Whoa, this is a great day for you and you must be feeling just so great. Great beyond words! Wow. If only others could appreciate.