( – promoted by odum)
First off, before all you Democrats jump down my throat, I still think he’s way better a president than McCaint ever woulda been.
But ya know, his rhetoric far exceeds his deliverables.
For example, Obama had promised (and it was on the White House website at least until April 15) to fully fund needle exchange programs to prevent the spread of HIV. So guess what? Not only did he cut the funding for the needle exchange programs in his budget, but he called for the funding ban to remain in place. And his promise disappeared from the website. And if you don’t believe me, Rachel Maddow had it on her program a few days ago. So I guess it went down the memory hole.
So then there was this demonstration in the Capitol Rotunda, and 26 people got arrested for chaining themselves together and shouting “Clean Needles Save Lives” in protest of this gross betrayal. But, over on Pam’s House Blend, Keori reports that “Protests Work – House Dems Buck Obama and Lift Federal Ban on Syringe Exchange,” quoting a story from Huffpost. It’s all in the Appropriations Committee and there’s a long ways to go, but the HIV advocates, at least, are not taking Obama’s reversals lying down. Yay for them! Now, if only the HRC and the NGLTF could get a little inspired, we might get somewhere on DOMA and DADT.
And then there’s a kind of confusing story about Obama’s first signing statement over at The Hill. I don’t actually know whether it’s Obama’s first signing statement. And, it’s true that he never actually promised not to do it. But given how much he (and all of us too) criticized the former Chief Executive over ridiculous signing statements supposedly canceling out huge swaths of the laws they were attached to, well, you wouldn’t expect Prez O to go ahead and do one this soon, wouldja?
This one is about some restrictions on international aid payments involving stronger environmental and labor protections. The Prez didn’t want to go along, and the House voted 429-2 (talk about bipartisan!) for an amendment that requires the big O to abide by these restrictions. And, it was proposed by a REPUGLICAN!
Love him or hate him, Barney Frank had this to say:
“We do this not just on behalf of this institution, but on behalf of this democracy,” said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). “There’s kind of a unilateralism, an undemocratic, unreachable way about these signing statements.”
I think if we want activists to make a difference here, we should do some kind of “Obama Watch” where people keep an eye out for broken promises and serious flip flops. I’m not volunteering, I’ve got enough to do. But maybe if everybody contributed something, we’d all know more about where to put our energies to make change (and I ain’t talkin’ nickels and dimes). How else are we going to keep him accountable?
(Attorney General May Open Interrogation Inquiry, NY Times, 07/11/09)
But not to worry because Obama, as he has oft stated, wants to “look ahead” rather than behind. So all you good Nazis who were only following orders will still get a free pass for your torturing.
I bring this is not because this was a broken campaign promise … it wasn’t, isn’t and won’t be. Obama consistently held this position. I bring this up because this is the Obama so many people who call themselves political progressives voted for.
How’s that feet to the fire thing working out?
I voted for Obama. I crossed that X in the ballot square because I did not want McCain or any more Republicans in there, knowing full well that Obama’s lofty rhetoric would run into the usual wall of DC and the lobbyists and that he would also make many mistakes. I voted for Obama because of the historic moment, the first black president. My vote was both for history and to keep out the Republicans. For the first time since I began voting way back in the Nixon era, when the voting age got lowered to eighteen, I feel that my vote actually accomplished something other than just the lesser of two evils. In America, that is a miracle.