Keeping Them Honest, or Trying To

Look, I'm as much a fan of President Obama as any one who worked so tirelessly to get him elected. I have enough Obama T-shirts (and not tacky ones either) to wear every day for a week and a half and not have to repeat any of them. Hell, I even wept tears of joy on election night, and the inauguration. The reason I reacted so emotionally is because I was sure that this was the guy who was seriously going to change the world, and our nation radically. But now, in the cold light of day, almost a full seven months since his inauguration, (and yes, I really am about to criticize the President, take note!) he seems to be governing timidly. For me, this is one of the worst possible ways to govern. For all his soaring talk about real change, we haven't gotten what we paid for. Of course I realize it's better than any of the other options, but we hold the best to a higher standard. Never have we had a man so intelligent, and so appreciative of our country's diversity in a position where they could use these traits to effect real good on America. And now that we do, President Obama seems to be shying away from exercising his real potential. He's dragging his feet on gay rights and the environment. He's shown no desire to fight for meaningful gun laws and he supports the death penalty. On the healthcare front, his plan doesn't go far enough in ensuring that insurance companies aren't still in control when we get "reform".

My point is that from the standpoint of a hardline Liberal, President Obama is a step in the right direction, with the potential but maybe not desire to be our "messiah". At this point if someone like a Howard Dean or someone more liberal were to challenge the President in the primaries in 2012 I would certainly pause for thought about voting for them, and it's going to take some work on the President's end to change my mind.