I may be eternally cynical of our government, but I still expect a Renaissance in this presidency

[bigtree]

This isn't a jaded and weak old man we've elected, and he's no fool. I'm also not buying the arguments of some that he or his presidency is institutionally and intractably corrupted by industry (not yet). So I have a good feeling about the future of this man, Barack Obama, in realizing the power of his office to effect lasting and meaningful good.

Despite the fact that the problems he inherited haven't been brought to some favorable conclusion, or that some seem to be getting worse, he has made some meaningful progress and has had some historic accomplishments for his young presidency. I like the prospects for our party's agenda in this precarious majority that we've crafted together with our votes, and I'm optimistic about the prospects for the realization of our own (as expressed here at DU) as well.

[anonymous171]

1. Right.

He is a idealistic weak young man. Because of that, his intelligence is irrelevant Intellect without courage and heart is worthless. He does not have the glands necessary to achieve actual change. I wish he did and I hope that in the future he proves me wrong. :(

[Go2Peace]

2. I hope your right but it doesn't look good for serious change this time

I think what distresses people was the expectation that was built. By recent standards the policies so far are not "bad", they just aren't really a "change" in direction, nor enough for the times we live in.

I hope your correct, but I think it is evident that he is not as transformative a thinker as we all thought. I am not even sure he is a strategic thinker. If he was he would be waking up by now. He is seriously brushing aside his most important base of support and risking his own future. The fact that he does not seem to realize this leads me to believe he is not as thoughtful as he has appeared. Either that or he is so surrounded by such bad advisors that he has lost his insight.

I still have hope he will turn around and really be what we hoped for, but now I think it will likely be in "reaction". He is not a stupid man, eventually he will lose so much support he will realize that he has lost touch with his base, and that he has to speak for them. I just hope that happens soon.

[bigtree]

3. I don't see his efforts so far in such bleak terms

. . . as you describe.

here is an example of what I mean when I write of his accomplishments and potential:


from Kos: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/19/805925/-90-Accomplishments-of-Pres.-Obama-Which-The-Media-Fails-to-Report


--Instituted enforcement for equal pay for women

Families of fallen soldiers have expenses covered to be on hand when the body arrives at Dover AFB

Ended media blackout on war casualties; reporting full information

Ended media blackout on covering the return of fallen soldiers to Dover AFB; the media is now permitted to do so pending adherence to respectful rules and approval of fallen soldier's family

Limits on lobbyist's access to the White House

Limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration

Ended the previous stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date

Phasing out the expensive F-22 war plane and other outdated weapons systems, which weren't even used or needed in Iraq/Afghanistan

Removed restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research

Federal support for stem-cell and new biomedical research

New federal funding for science and research labs

States are permitted to enact federal fuel efficiency standards above federal standards

Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants) after years of neglect

Funds for high-speed, broadband Internet access to K-12 schools

New funds for school construction

The prison at Guantanamo Bay is being phased out

US Auto industry rescue plan

Housing rescue plan

$789 billion economic stimulus plan

The public can meet with federal housing insurers to refinance (the new plan can be completed in one day) a mortgage if they are having trouble paying

The secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere are being closed

Ended the previous policy; the US now has a no torture policy and is in compliance with the Geneva Convention standards

Better body armor is now being provided to our troops

The missile defense program is being cut by $1.4 billion in 2010

Restarted the nuclear nonproliferation talks and building back up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols

Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic

Reengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions

Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office

Attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles

Cash for clunkers program offers vouchers to trade in fuel inefficient, polluting old cars for new cars; stimulated auto sales

Announced plans to purchase fuel efficient American-made fleet for the federal government

Expanded the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children

Signed national service legislation; expanded national youth service program

Instituted a new policy on Cuba, allowing Cuban families to return home to visit loved ones

Ended the previous policy of not regulating and labeling carbon dioxide emissions

Expanding vaccination programs

Immediate and efficient response to the floods in North Dakota and other natural disasters

Closed offshore tax safe havens

Negotiated deal with Swiss banks to permit US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals
Ended the previous policy of offering tax benefits to corporations who outsource American jobs; the new policy is to promote in-sourcing to bring jobs back

Ended the previous practice of protecting credit card companies; in place of it are new consumer protections from credit card industry's predatory practices

Energy producing plants must begin preparing to produce 15% of their energy from renewable sources

Lower drug costs for seniors

Ended the previous practice of forbidding Medicare from negotiating with drug manufacturers for cheaper drugs; the federal government is now realizing hundreds of millions in savings

Increasing pay and benefits for military personnel

Improved housing for military personnel

Initiating a new policy to promote federal hiring of military spouses

Improved conditions at Walter Reed Military Hospital and other military hospitals

Increasing student loans

Increasing opportunities in AmeriCorps program

Sent envoys to Middle East and other parts of the world that had been neglected for years; reengaging in multilateral and bilateral talks and diplomacy

Ended previous policy of awarding no-bid defense contracts

Established a National Performance Officer charged with saving the federal government money and making federal operations more efficient

Students struggling to make college loan payments can have their loans refinanced

Improving benefits for veterans

Instituted a new focus on mortgage fraud

Ended previous policy of cutting the FDA and circumventing FDA rules

Ended previous practice of having White House aides rewrite scientific and environmental rules, regulations, and reports

Authorized discussions with North Korea and private mission by Pres. Bill Clinton to secure the release of two Americans held in prisons

Authorized discussions with Myanmar and mission by Sen. Jim Web to secure the release of an American held captive

Making more loans available to small businesses

Established independent commission to make recommendations on slowing the costs of Medicare

Appointment of first Latina to the Supreme Court

Authorized construction/opening of additional health centers to care for veterans

Limited salaries of senior White House aides; cut to $100,000

Announced the long-term development of a national energy grid with renewable sources and cleaner, efficient energy production

Returned money authorized for refurbishment of White House offices and private living quarters

Paid for redecoration of White House living quarters out of his own pocket


sure, I cherry-picked these from Kos, but it's still an impressive start with just 10 or so months in office.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

15. good list! Change usually comes in small steps

kind of the opposite of "death by a thousand cuts"

[kentuck]

4. I like your optimism..

I had the same hopes when he was elected. Since then, I have become discouraged somewhat by the degree it has been shown that our entire Congress is owned by the corporations and nothing will get done that really needs to get done. Even with healthcare, they will nibble around the edges. I'm still waiting for regulations on the big banks that brought this country to its knees. I haven's seen anything yet. We really need campaign finance reform. That would be the best first step we could take as a nation.

[bigtree]

5. we need a better Congress

. . . that would help the president make good on many of his promises and initiatives.

[OneGrassRoot]

7. +1, and I also appreciate bigtree's optimism....

and thank you for the OP this morning. :)

[spiritual_gunfighter]

9. I had a lot of hope

it has mostly been dashed. But I am not giving up on him just yet. He inherited a mess and I still believe in his abilities. I just tend to wonder why he has surrounded himself with people who dont have my interests at heart (Geithner, Summers, Emmanuel etc.).

[kentuck]

17. "Seat a thief to catch a thief"?

That's what FDR said when he hired Joseph Kennedy to be head of the SEC. Kennedy had done very well trading on Wall Street.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

18. But why adopt the thief's policies

and unleash them on an already failing economy?

[unhappycamper]

6. I was estatic when Obama was elected.

Can you image that? A President that is actually elected by the populace.

I haven't been very pleased with his choice of hired help; Golman Sachs and Dana Perio immediately come to mind. I'm not pleased about him sending an additional 30,000 soldiers ($30 billion dollars) to Afghanistan. But I am pleased he's asking for an exit strategy from Afghanistan. I'm not pleased about getting troops out of Iraq.

All in all he still has my vote.

[bigtree]

8. I look at Barack Obama's presidency this way

He the first fellow to reach the office in my lifetime who is so thoroughly connected to the people - from his beginnings as a community organizer to local office and to the Senate. His life experiences and interests give him a unique perspective from the elite, connected pols of (my) past who made their way to the top. He's even more grounded in all of that than Bill Clinton was as a well-connected governor.

I too wonder about his conservative appointments, and I conclude that his choices reflect the great deal of confidence he has in the strength and character of his own idealism, yet regard enough for the rest of America to check those ideals of his against these establishment catalysts.

I too would like to see him make more choices (as in the occupations and in finance matters) which are in line with those aspirations he so eloquently expressed and sold to those who voted for him. But I don't, for a minute, believe that the political balance of this narrow majority in the present legislature he's expected to parry his initiatives and ideas with is (collectively) any more inclined to effect those bold changes than he's managed in the level and scope of his public support for them.

I predict a transformation (in the not too distant future) of his presidency from the deference he's given to those in the establishment he's, so far, determined responsible enough to serve him, to a desire to exercise his own impatience and earnest desire for change. He certainly has enough allies and friends out there who provided the support which enabled him to advance to the WH who represent the best of our citizenry. I fully expect him to advantage his presidency of those when he's finally lost faith in the establishment figures and their recalcitrance to provide the lift he desires for his stepping-stone administration.

[unhappycamper]

10. I know it's difficult to keep the faith.

I hope you are 100% correct.

[Liberation Angel]

11. The key word here is "intractably" meaning "it can't be dragged or drawn there...

Took me a while to kind of get a handle on this word...

I find that institutionally the presidency is corrupted by industry because the entire government is intractably corrupted (for the most part): Congress, the judiciary, the executive, military, intel, financial systems --- everything.

What Obama MAY be willing to do is DRAG this system in a direction which is NOT so corrupt, inherently pro-empire and pro-rich and pro-corporofascism.

Is he or his presidency unable to be drawn or dragged in a direction away form corruption?

I tend to think that he himself is capable of that and has demonstrated it but the institution as it sits in the middle of its crumbling empire of corruption is not...

I have felt from the beginning that Obama is not himself institutionally corrupted except to the extent that he is largely a product of western civilization and elitist mentality (Harvard).

To the extent that he is, to many of color on the far left, a "house negro", he is still subect to the control of the imperial (generally "WASP") masters who pull the strings or at the very least control all the plantation with economics and violence.


I have been impressed with much of what he has done and this pause in the Afghanistan war planning has given me a little optimism.

He has done in many ways an incredible job under the very daunting circumstances.

So I am sort of with you (except for the "party" line - most democratic institutions are pretty much hopelessly intractable and corrupted (even though I am a registered democrat it is not because I think they are the best we can muster but the only game in town that practically can fight the extreme right).

So I maintain hope for Obama but with gritted teeth and apprehension that he can only drag this country back in the right direction so far and may only be able to keep it from drifting toward totalitarianism slower than it has been sliding there...

The world and country is still sinking into an abyss, but Obama IS trying to slow or stop that the best way he believes --- and that is at least something...

[bigtree]

12. very nice

I'm agreeing very much with what you've written here. I think its interesting how much 'hope' plays into most folks' view of his presidency so far. Sustaining and (hopefully) vindicating that belief may well be his most enduring and meaningful legacy.

[Liberation Angel]

13. Well - I was hoping for world peace, an end to global warming and...

a resolution of the hatred and violence in Israel and the Middle and far east

a robust economy with meaningful and just opportunities and progress for all...

So I would rather his legacy be a little more than just vindicating the belief that he was someone we could believe in and have hopes for...

I still hope for those things

and if we got on track to get those things then that belief could be vindicated.

But right now I am feeling a lot like a disappointed lover...

the bang was not what the package seemed to present

I am left desiring MUCH much more...

and I was HOPING for much much more...

[bigtree]

14. understood

. . . that's why we continue to press him and his administration in concert with our appeals and demands to Congress. Change is going to have to be a group effort, especially with the bulk of your concerns. I don't cotton much to autocratic governance.

[lonestarnot]

16. K & R!