Obama's First Year

Have you noticed how quickly the Obama bumper stickers have been disappearing from vehicles? During the months running up to the election and for months afterward, they were everywhere, but after one year in office, sightings are few and far between.

Granted, the CA Central Valley isn't as left-wing as say, Berkeley, where sightings might be more frequent, but it occurred to me yesterday when I actually spotted a faded and peeling “Kerry-Edwards” sticker that the red, white and blue “O” logo once ubiquitous, has become scarce enough that I would have to search one up on the net to remember exactly what they looked like.

I've noticed as well, lately, that criticizing an Obama policy, which for the first few months of his Presidency brought immediate protests that I should give the guy a chance are met now with silence, a change of subject or (by some die-hard BushWhackers) references to something President Bush did that was as bad or worse, a response that immediately brings to my mind an image of a child defending his own misdeeds by pointing out that another kid had done the same. So if Bush told Obama to jump off a bridge, would he?

The disappearance of Obama stickers before they'd scarce had the chance to peel or fade is as good an empirical indicator of the O-Man's declining popularity as all the polls outlining his spectacular plunge in approval ratings.

Just how disenchanted, disappointed or downright embarrassed does someone have to become before undertaking the rather laborious process of removing a bumper sticker? Not to mention the possible humiliation of being observed in the process by your neighbor who listens to conservative talk radio while mowing his lawn.

What has happened to The One We'd Been Waiting For? Why is Obama the Rock Star so quickly looking like a one-hit-wonder, the one hit being his election? Where has all the enthusiastic credulity that led normally discerning, informed people to vote a junior U.S. Senator, (who announced his candidacy after serving a bare 2 years) of no particularly stunning record and of dubious perspicacity in the matter of choosing acquaintances to the highest office in the land gone?

The basic answer is fairly simple. You can't promise people, or allow them to think you've promised everything they want and then deliver nothing without them noticing and becoming a bit touchy about it.

Even the most ardent Obamaphile, if he/she retains the least scrap of intellectual honesty, has to admit that the President has delivered on few of his most oft-repeated promises as of yet. Now apologists may cite all sorts of impediments, unforeseen circumstances and Republican intransigence, but the fact is that with a Democrat majority in both House and Senate, it would be reasonable for those who elected him to expect a bit more return on their vote.

Are all combat troops out of Iraq? Well, no. Of course, he still has 4 months on his campaign promise, and he did make very clear (after he was elected) that a residual force would have to remain. He has been quite careful not to define “residual” with any specific number. Troop levels have been lowered, and troops have been relocated away from some areas, but that was all according to the plan already in place before he took office. Last I checked, we still had 115,000 troops stationed in Iraq. I seriously doubt that the people who voted for then Senator Obama based a good deal on believing his “out of Iraq” promise feel they are getting their vote's worth.

Was Gitmo closed during the first 100 days of Obama's administration? Well, no. In fact, the President only just signed a memorandum half way through this past December officially closing the detention facility and ordering the transfer of prisoners. Problematically, many of the prisoners don't want to leave Gitmo for harsher(!) conditions in US prisons, so their lawyer is talking about suing to prevent the move. Better late than never, and I suppose being “officially closed” even though inmates are still held on the premises is still “officially closed.”

How about all those Congressional negotiations on Health Care “Reform” he promised we'd be able to watch on C-SPAN? Seen any of those?

Then there were all the promises to cut spending. I wonder if a Two Trillion dollar spending increase sounds like “a net spending cut” to those who voted for him because they trusted him to cut the deficit?

Let's not forget the pesky little promise he made to “ban all earmarks.” I suppose those Americans sick to death of pork barrel spending and back room deals to tack extra expenses onto legislation in exchange for votes to pass it understood that “all earmarks” didn't include the almost nine thousand included in the first spending bill he signed.

He made much, during his campaign about how differently he would handle international diplomacy, impressing many voters who hadn't been comfortable with President Bush's diplomatic style and the perceived unpopularity it had caused. People were waving signs around in Europe protesting President Bush, and he was criticized by foreign leaders, dictators, oppressive governments and even beholden allies at times.

Obama has of course, made a whirlwind of diplomatic appearances overseas, placating antagonistic despots, bowing to foreign kings, scraping to European leaders of countries that owe their safety to the belligerent American insistence on a strong, well armed, modern military, and generally making the rounds trying to atone for American arrogance, lack of engagement and sundry other specific and nonspecific sins.

The result of his efforts, I have been assured, is that America's prestige and image have been improved and enhanced. Yes, so I have been told.

As Obama basks in the glow of his world wide popularity,North Korea tests nuclear missiles and Iran builds nuclear facilities (for power only!) while buddying up to Venezuela. Russia's Putin schemes and pushes the envelope (despite Obama's concession of the Czech and Polish missile defense bases) and China not so subtly makes clear that as long as America keeps coming to them to buy our debt, we should keep our advice, ideas and admonitions to ourselves.

Well, he did get the Nobel Peace Prize. Of course, so did Yasser Arafat, Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter and IPCC/Al Gore, so you can make of that what you will.

Obama apologists (and Obama himself) will often cite the severity of the economic crisis that he “inherited” from Bush as the reason he's been unable to accomplish much in other arenas. But that excuse can't be used indefinitely, especially when the various measures the Obama administration has rushed to implement have accomplished nothing tangible other than speeding the mind boggling increase of the National Debt. We were warned of dire consequences if the massive, complicated, pork-laden “stimulus package” wasn't passed immediately. Now we are being told that another “stimulus package” is necessary, even as our President assures us that the first one is working. As unemployment hits double digits, Obama and his spokespeople insist that without his expensive actions it would be far worse even as they offer conflicting statements regarding just how many jobs the billions of our tax dollars have created or “saved.”

Recently, a bit worried about his falling popularity with those of us who pay the bills, our President has begun talking about fiscal responsibility again, citing the growing deficit and sounding very “tough love” as he promises (again) to cut spending but lecturing us that we'll all have to sacrifice.

He offers a grand new proposal to freeze “discretionary” spending for 3 years, thinking that the American people don't realize (or don't know how to Google and find out) that the “discretionary” spending he's speaking of (once he's done with exemptions) represents only about one sixth of the federal budget, and that “freezing” is not the same thing as “cutting.” The proposed savings amounting to 250 Billion dollars sound rather impressive, until one realizes that to stop actively (and only partially and temporarily) adding to a debt does nothing to reduce it. Being that Obama has at the same time declared he will still push for his health care “reform” which, depending who you ask will cost somewhere up around 800 Billion give or take the odd hundred billion, one can easily imagine that thinking people aren't as easily impressed with his repeat of that campaign promise to go through the budget “line by line” looking for more ways to cut spending.


This brings me to what might be at the heart of the growing disenchantment former supporters are feeling with Obama. People don't like being treated like chumps. They don't like politicos who make promises they can't keep and pretend they have kept them, all the while pointing fingers and laying blame for problems on others while pretending to take responsibility. In short, people don't like the leaders they have elected to pee on their legs and tell them it's raining. It makes them cranky enough to scrape off bumper stickers and cross party lines to vote for someone else.