President Obama, yes, we will!

Walk the path, Mr. President.

“Obama's betrayals offer lessons we can't deny” – Opinion, by Danny Schechter (dissector@mediachannel.org), Al Jazeera English, http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/08/201182991442788791.html

"We have to say we were wrong, when we were, not in our beliefs, but in pinning our hopes on an adept, opportunistic, and double-faced political performance artist."

Talk about a disillusioned former believer! Mr. Schechter points out many flaws of our President that elicit him as an elitist, calculating power monger. His quote above regarding our President shows signs of resentment so deep that it could have only come from someone who once whole-heartedly, unabashedly supported him: “I have to admit that I was seduced by the idea of Barack Obama” (same as above). President Obama has, in fact, made some executive decisions recently that seem to betray the fabric of progressivism and common sense, like the deficit ceiling brawl that he simply could have avoided with a stroke of his pen, invoking Section 4 of the 14th Amendment. More importantly, President Obama has yet to draw down the troops, Special Operations teams and privately-contracted “security forces” in Iraq and Afghanistan as he promised to do (http://www.democracynow.org/tags/afghanistan). The military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about so many years ago has our American dream of true democracy in a stranglehold:


The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion -- a major victory for Osama bin Laden, whose announced goal was to bankrupt America by drawing it into a trap (Noam Chomsky, http://www.chomsky.info/articles/20110824.htm).

Yet, our President does try to improve some status quo conditions, such as the Infrastructure Development bill he's trying to push through (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/08/31/presidential-memorandum-speeding-infrastructure-development-through-more) and the care he’s taking for the Hurricane Irene victims (http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/09/04/president-obama-hurricane-irene-victims-entire-country-behind-you). Compare this to Governor Rick Perry's self-proclaimed "over the top" measure, dubbed the Loser Pays bill, which, on the face of it, makes frivolous law suit seekers pay all of the legal bills if they should lose, but actually gives a big opening for businesses to abuse the law (http://www.texastribune.org/texas-legislature/82nd-legislative-session/guest-column-why-loser-pays-is-a-loser/). This Loser bill comes from a serious contender for the Oval Office in the 2012 election cycle. The point being that President Obama is at least trying, if possibly only superficially, to help the American worker, while Governor Perry is blatantly sucking up to potential business interests that could bankroll his bid for the Executive Office.

I do agree with Mr. Schechter that President Obama:


...spoke for the people but served the power. His wanted the other side to love him too even as his stabs at "bi-partisanship" proved folly (see above link).

To try to appear as the only adult in the room among name-callers and blame-pinners is one thing. But to bring a compromise, no, a give-away to the Republican Party during the debt ceiling negotiations was pure politico bravado. President Obama had a huge chance to make a real difference and clearly state his position against Wall Street and its bank-rollers IN LEGISLATION. Instead, he appeared to cave into the capitalists who manipulate our national fiscal policy. His version of the facts is graphically displayed here: (http://www.whitehouse.gov/infographics/the-bipartisan-compromise).

If, in fact, President Obama was still in the our corner, fighting for Main Street, then he’d immediately, completely end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, drone attacks in Libya and other military ventures to “secure our national interests.” This would by far reduce our need for borrowing and free up lots of money for domestic programs to create real jobs for people who want to work. If he is to fulfill his own prophesy as the curator for change and enamor a different kind of politics, he needs to play ball and make Executive decisions as only a President can. He once stated when asked why he wanted to enter politics that he believed in:


...the simple idea that we have a stake in one another, and that what binds us together is greater than what drives us apart, and that if enough people believe in the truth of that proposition and act on it, then we might not solve every problem, but we can get something meaningful done (Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307455874/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=1278548962&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1400082773&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=01DWQB5WDBW7SY0ZR2QW#).

In order to make meaningful change now, our President will have to say “No” to the special interests, as powerful and as deep as their pockets may be. He’ll have to remember his own idealistic spirit, set the example through personal as well as official action and renew his own energy by filling his surrounding environment with advisors who actually believe and live up to those treasured ideals as well. President Obama must always carry with him the idea that he is our leader, the American people's choice of a leader, which is why I refer to him as "our President." I spoke for him in the ballot box and I expect him to speak for me now.

The political advisor of the President, Mr. David Axelrod, suggested the use of the phrase “Yes, we can!” as a slogan for then-candidate Mr. Obama in his own bid for the Presidency. That phrase comes from “Si se puede,” a Spanish phrase made popular by Cesar Chavez of the United Farmworkers union. It inspired a struggling people to fight for their basic human rights, their fair wages and benefits and the fully supported livelihoods of their families. Now that President Obama can wield so much political power from the bully pulpit, he can turn this phrase into measurable action with those and all American workers in mind. Transform the phrase to “Yes, we will!” and see where it can take us, Mr. President. I and many others still believe a difference can be made!