Friday, December 10, 2010
The Capitulation of Barack Obama
The Great Yielder
On November 4, 2008, at Grant Park, IL, the president-elect said:
"But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you."
The crowd roared. We, who watched the stirring scene on television, felt the high hope and elation.
Now, nearing two years after his inauguration, the elation has evaporated. It did not take long for the alarm signals to appear when the president began to court the conservatives and gave ground on every issue that he once spoke of supporting. And he did so without putting up much of a fight. The Republicans smelled blood on the water and mounted vicious attacks on his agenda. The president still gives great speeches but he turned out to be a hollow man. A friend said that the president was afraid of confronting alpha white males. The final straw was his surrender on the Bush tax cuts. His agreement to extend them for two years is a joke. The way things are going, he will cease to be meaningful by that time.
Does that mean that we, left of center Democrats, would rather see a Republican as president? NO. That would be worse; much worse.
