October 23, 2009

Obama vs. The President He Said He’d Be

By Tom Bevan

During the campaign Barack Obama vowed he would be a different kind of leader who would move America beyond the “smallness of our politics.” That inspired promise was not an insignificant part of why he was elected last November.

In his inaugural address Obama told us that “the time has come to set aside childish things.” He promised to bring “an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.”

Not only has President Obama failed to live up to those promises so far, it appears that on more than a number of occasions he’s made a conscious decision to break them.

In the first nine months in office President Obama and/or members of his administration have accused doctors of performing unnecessary medical procedures for profit; demonized bond holders as “speculators;” produced a report suggesting military veterans are prone to becoming right wing extremists; attacked insurance companies and threatened them with legislative retribution; ridiculed talk show hosts and political commentators by name from the White House podium; dismissed and demeaned protesters and town hall attendees as either unauthentic or fringe characters; maligned a white police officer for arresting a black man without knowing the facts of the case; launched an orchestrated campaign to marginalize the Chamber of Commerce; and publicly declared war on a news organization.

via RealClearPolitics – Obama vs. The President He Said He’d Be.