I remember back in the early nineties when Bill Clinton won the Presidency, thanks to third party candidate Ross Perot, who garnered a fair percentage of the votes from people like me who were disgusted with the federal deficit run up under Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush. I wasn’t much of a Clinton fan at the time, although I started to come around as the deficit was reduced and the economy showed the results of a government which was “paying as it went.” Of course, as a Christian and a father of two beautiful young ladies, I was totally turned off by the Lewinski affair and the lying about it. However, I was more turned off by the incessant Republican attacks on Clinton – which happened for virtually his entire term in office. I will always believe Clinton’s sexual misconduct was the only reason George W Bush stood a chance in 2000, and, I believe, once the truth about the voting in Florida becomes known, we will all know that GW Bush was an illegitimate President right from the start. The only thing which keeps me from extreme bitterness about that election to this day is the FACT that Al Gore chose Joe Lieberman as his running mate, and Lieberman turns me off more than GW Bush. I realize he wouldn’t have had the type of power Dick Cheney exercized, but the thought of Lieberman being Vice President, to this day, makes me shudder!

I remember researching GW Bush prior to that election and finding that the man had NO CREDENTIALS to make him a likely candidate for President. The more I found out about him, the more astonished I became that he somehow managed to win an election on a national stage. That was the real beginning, for me, of questioning just what had happened to our so-called “liberal” news media. I mean George W Bush had never really done anything that ended in success. Every business he became involved in was the result of his family connections and money, and every one of them ended in FAILURE, with the exception of his being granted partial ownership in the Texas Rangers baseball team – again, only because of his family connections. He managed to help get a new stadium built and then sold out his interest in the team with a profit of something like 10 million dollars. Other than that, pretty much everything GW touched was a collossal failure. Even his political career was the benefit of his Father’s influence and it was non-distinguished (unless you consider the huge number of executions that took place on his “watch” while Texas’ governor as being something of distinction).

His grasp of the English language was such that he needed a script for everything, he needed advisors to keep him from being in situations where he had to think on the spot, and he followed the advice – regarding his message – of the guy who said, “Keep it simple stupid.” That, along with the Republican “machine” worked to get Bush into the White House. I still remember the most profound statement I heard during the campaign, although it took me a couple years to totally appreciate the brilliance of it. Jay Leno, on the Tonight Show (which I rarely watched) compared Bush/Cheney to the movie “The Wizard of Oz.” I’ll never forget him saying, to the laughter of the audience – with no one understanding how spot on his words were at the time – “Bush needs a brain, and Cheney needs a heart.” As it turned out, Bush will go down in history as one of the worst Presidents ever and Cheney is considered by many more than me to be “heartless.” I believe it took Bush about 6 years to figure out how much he was poorly served by Dick Cheney. I know that many “pundits” say, to this day, that their relationship is still good – but, I believe that is mostly because they need to be united in defense of their illegal actions in an attempt to keep the Obama administration from “looking backward.”

I’m saying all this to frame my thoughts for tonight. The 28 years prior to the election of Barack Obama, for me, were FULL OF FRUSTRATION. Even when President Clinton was reducing the deficit (to me, managing the economy is job number one for the President) all the Republican rancor combined with the Lewinski affair kept me pretty much turned off by my government. Bush’s tax cuts and his misadventure into Iraq just put me over the edge (hence this blog). I have two grandchildren and the thought of Bush leaving office with a 1.7 TRILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT (for just his last year in office, on top of doubling the national debt during his term, despite inheriting a $250 Billion surplus upon his election), and an economy in complete shambles, two unwinnable poorly managed wars which were destroying our military, and a Republican party that had evolved into something I imagined might be a political party in Russia or something like that – TOTALLY MEAN SPIRITED – left me in great anticipation of a restoration of the country I love and knew before the so-called “Reagan Revolution,” once Barack Obama took over the Presidency.

Well, if you’ve been reading any of my other posts on this site, you’ll know that I’m feeling a bit naive on the one hand and, probably a better word for it is disappointed in our new President. I thought he would come in and have the guts to start reversing all the abuses that took place in the previous 8 years and ALL WOULD BE WELL. I knew there would be a fight because I knew that the Republicans weren’t going to agree to anything. It was obvious to me that the idea of a Democratic President didn’t sit well with them, but a BLACK PRESIDENT was more than they could stomach. It was also obvious to me, RIGHT FROM THE START, that the only thing important to the Republicans was the FAILURE OF BARACK OBAMA! The slogan John McCain used in the Presidential election, “Country First,” went out the window as soon as they all digested the fact that our commander in chief was half African. And, one interesting thing I”ve noticed since then is that the only people willing to use the “race card” since Obama’s election are the Republicans. They are showing their racist selves in so many creative ways (“tea baggers,” “birthers,” and outright accusing President Obama and his Latina selection to the Supreme Court as being racists – OK, I have to add this here although it wasn’t my original intent – and if you don’t know these guys and what they stand for, Google them – Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Jeff Sessions, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell and I could go on ALL CALLING OBAMA AND SOTOMAYOR RACISTS! – THIS, IN ITSELF IS BEYOND THE PALE) – and the “Liberal Media” is letting them get away with this.

These Republicans are so repulsive to me that I hate the idea of writing anything that is “anti-Obama.” On the other hand, I REFUSE TO ACT LIKE REPUBLICANS did with GW Bush and just agree to everything. Somehow, we have to get this country back to the place where there can be a debate on the issues and people can express their views in an adult manner. I’m an Independent voter and I always look at the issues before I decide if “I’m for it or against it.” So, despite the fact I feel like I’m helping the Republicans by pointing out the things I see wrong with what Obama is doing, I have to keep doing what I think is right. I guess my hope would be that someone in Obama’s administration would get wind of what A LOT OF PEOPLE BESIDES ME ARE SAYING and get him to re-direct his course of action. Just as I pointed out that ALL THE MISBEHAVIOR AND LAWBREAKING of the Bush administration will EVENTUALLY come out, so will the actions Obama’s taking that are not in harmony with the impression he left on his voters during the campaign. This morning I read a column in the NY Times by Frank Rich that gave a hint of what I believe is certain to come.

Obama’s supporters are caught up in the “health care debate” and many people believe that is the make or break legislation for his Presidency. And, to a certain extent, they may be right – because, the media is really good at one thing, and that’s manipulating the public – although, I believe the media is constantly being manipulated by the politicians themselves with the Republicans MUCH BETTER at this than the Democrats. However, the Republicans are so extreme in their beliefs at this point that I’m not sure they can become viable again without someone TOTALLY DIFFERENT emerging who is willing to CHANGE THEIR BASE. But, rest assured, THEY’LL KEEP TRYING. Getting back to my point, as Rich started to point out, but didn’t do it very well, Obama’s reneging on much of his promises of reform will probably turn off many of his supporters as it becomes known (it’s already happening with me). The term Rich used was that Obama was “Punking us.” Well, I believe Rich has a point – at first I thought maybe he’s reading my blog – but Obama is “Punking us.” By “us” I mean the millions of “progressives” who supported him and trusted him to follow through on his promises of “Change we can believe in.”

I’ve listed this stuff before, but I’ll do it again because I’m so passionate about this – AND IT’S NOT TOO LATE FOR OBAMA TO CHANGE. First, he’s refusing to investigate the Bush administration’s illegal activity (or even allow investigations – although I know there’s continued pressure for this because the ACLU is pushing for investigations of the torture program and the warrantless wiretapping programs – I know this because what little money I have for the “process” is now going to the ACLU) – many people besides me heard Obama state clearly that “no one in America is above the law” and “if there’s evidence a crime was committed it should be investigated and prosecuted.” SO THAT’S DISAPPOINTMENT NUMBER ONE for me. Then, you’ve got the so-called “transparency” promise being hidden by secrecy MORE AND MORE – and we’re only in the first eight months of Obama’s Presidency. Additionally, there are still the PRE-SURGE number of troops in Iraq and, despite Obama stating that we will be out of there, he’s now following the plan negotiated by Bush and there’s ample evidence that we’re going to be in Iraq far longer than anyone who voted for Obama anticipated. Many will feel “Punked” when the reality of this becomes “news.” Then, you have an escalation of the war in Afganistan without so much as an explanation to the American people what the purpose is and it appears that it could become the new “Iraq.” After reading the book “Three Cups of Tea” I could be convinced that we have a role in Afganistan, but this unilateral escalation with no explanation is QUITE DISTURBING TO ME. On “top of all that” you have the wiretapping policy of GW Bush. I’ve heard more than one Obama associate saying that “President Obama doesn’t want to give up this authority.” Well, to me as I’ve stated many times on this site, I DON’T BELIEVE HE HAS THE AUTHORITY.

President Obama is not only continuing Bush’s warrantless wiretapping policy (with the data mining and all) BUT HE’S DEFENDING THE BUSH POSITION IN COURT. And there are other Bush abuses that Obama’s Justice Department is defending in court (some relating to GITMO). It’s like IT’S JUST TOO HARD TO GIVE UP POWER, EVEN IF IT WAS GAINED ILLEGITAMATELY. And now reports are coming out that Obama is continuing the practice of “signing statements” that Bush abused beyond imagination – this is where the President signs a bill and then makes a “signing statement” pointing out that he doesn’t intend to follow a provision of the bill. I was hoping Obama would reverse most, if not all, of the Bush signing statements – but he’s following the same course. THIS IS ALL VERY DISTURBING. I don’t think I’m the only American who was trusting President Obama to reverse many of the Bush abuses – AND I’M SHOCKED THAT HE’S FOLLOWING THE SAME PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR! So, reality is setting in for me and, I believe many other “progressives,” – and, I think, Frank Rich almost had it right – but it’s way more than the health care debate (I’m beginning to think what we’ll end up with there is something that’s worked out in the back rooms of Congress – JUST LIKE IT’S BEEN DONE FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER – not “Change I can believe in” – and I believe the health insurance companies will come out of this feeling their HUNDRED’S OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS USED TO BUY OFF CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE – was money well spent. President Obama continually told us “This is our time” during the campaign – well, as Rich put it – “WE’VE BEEN PUNKED!” I was up for a fight to put these Republicans and their mean-spirited agenda OUT TO PASTURE. What we’re ending up with is POLITICS AS USUAL, no sign of courage in Washington DC, and something that sounds different coming out of Obama’s mouth, but looks the same when one takes a close up look at the process.

I’ll say this again, because it’s not too late for the “change we can believe in.” President Obama, the people who voted for you, by and large, were sick of George W Bush and the Republican party. We don’t want a health care bill that represents their values (which would be more profits for the insurance companies), we don’t want you to look forward and not backward – we WANT ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE TORTURING AND THE OTHER ILLEGAL ACTS – I mean a CIA agent was outed for God’s sake – THAT CAN’T BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN! We want the transparency you promised! We don’t want the government intercepting our emails and phone calls – you can stop terrorist attacks without shredding our bill of rights. We don’t want the signing statements, we don’t want you defending Bush/Cheney in court, and we DON’T WANT YOU COW TOWING TO REPUBLICANS. PUT UP A FIGHT – they are not going to “like” you, no matter what you do! (well, some of them might, but they’re not the leaders – ie Limbaugh, et al) President Obama, we didn’t vote for you to defend the Bush administration, we trusted you to make sure their abuses NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN in America! It really does feel like we’re being PUNKED!