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What was expected of the exemplar of "Change" and "Hope" who succeeded the "Decider," was that he would Do the Right Thing.Sounds trite perhaps? No, it is not. It means rising above lies and torture and slaughter and partisanship and the influence of greed. As a matter of fact and as a matter of morality it is what any good person is expected to do, that is to put humanity above the tactics of personal advantage.
Is this difficult? Of course it is. Does it take integrity and courage? Of course it does. But many do in fact have those capacities. The leader of the United States of America -- the most powerful person in the world -- should be expected not to lack those qualities.
President Obama has not met the standard of integrity and courage to Do the Right Thing. Torture is now disavowed, but we are left uncertain as to the disgracefully euphemized "enhanced interrogation." The War of Lies continues in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now metastasizes into Pakistan, a nuclear power, and one seriously wonders where next, with no honest objective. The gifting of the people's treasure to the mis/malfeasant banksters and the funding of their obscene bonuses appear not over, while little hope is in evidence for the growing mass of the foreclosed beyond dispossession. And such domestic issues as the restoration of the Bill of Rights and adequate healthcare for Americans, Obama has allowed to be buried under the obfuscations of partisanship and greed rather than to stand tall as the champion of the people.
Yes, dammit, a Champion of the People, that's what the citizens expected and deserved for their votes after eight years of Bushco treachery.
We did not get such. What we got was exploitation by sloganeering.
Let us not be reticent in expressing our disapproval and profound disappointment in being denied the "Hope" and "Change" that Obama promised. And let us try again in 2012, then for the genuine article.
