Remember when we had hope?

[hfojvt]

Remember when we seemed to have a choice? There was John McCain who offered 'more of the same' and there was Barack Obama who offered 'change we can believe im'. I remember Joe Biden laying that out. John McCain 'that's not change, that's more of the same'. But "Barack Obama will deliver that change."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVH58DeUThg

What was going to change? The war in Iraq was gonna end, for one thing.

That sorta happened, although we still have 40,000 troops there and 59 have died there this year, including two last month. And now our casualties in Afghanistan have tripled, up to 470 this year, including 4 already in December, and the withdrawal date has recently been pushed back.

Guantanamo was gonna be closed.

Still waiting.

Admittedly, I have not got all that worked up about some of those issues and delays, but my key issue, my line in the sand, is the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.

Now apparently even that is not gonna change.

Here's a campaign clip that ought to make President Obama ashamed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47MKGOPP4Zo&feature=channel

"I think the American people are hungry for something different, and can be mobilized around big changes, not incremental changes, not small changes."

"I'm running for President because I want to tell them 'yes we can.'"

Now today, Obama has a press conference to tell us "no, we can't" or really "no I won't".

I wanted to see a fight. I thought "yes we can" win that fight, but now the President has decided to fight his own party instead. As the first line says here "Brushing past Democratic opposition ..." http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Obama-GOP-reach-deal-to-apf-3635579613.html?x=0

I think it is interesting in that campaign speech that candidate Obama said that a President was going to "inspire the American people to do better". Well, Mr. Obama, often the problem is not so much the American people, but rather the feckless politicians who refuse to work for the American people and choose to serve the powerful people instead.

Going back to Biden's speech again, Joe began by saying that as people we are "defined by your sense of honor and redeemed by your loyalty". How much honor is there in this betrayal, in this collaboration with Republicans to give an extended windfall to the rich. How much loyalty is Obama showing to the people who fought to elect him and are asking him now to fight for us?

Biden also said that "failure at some point is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable".

What does that say about Obama now, who, instead of fighting, has decided to give up?

Ah well, I guess he is the decider now. That reminds me of a song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHhrZgojY1Q

[Hawkowl]

1. Funny

I had been thinking of the old Who song ever since he appointed Geithner and Summers. Sadly it gets more appropriate with every day of this sorry administration.

[hfojvt]

2. Yeah getting a Clinton cabinet was kinda odd

I thought 'didn't we defeat Clinton in the primary?' But for some reason I thought the President would matter more than the cabinet. Heck, I thought even Clinton wouldn't cave on the Bush tax cuts. I mean, every Democrat agrees on that.

But actually I could see them caving way back in March of this year. Already the message was being pounded "you shouldn't raise taxes in a recession" and "those rich people are small business owners who create jobs" and "billionaires give so much to charity". Already the November bloodbath was predicted, as practically a done deal.

[deutsey]

7. Yeah, bringing those guy onboard didn't pass the smell test for me

I wanted to get on the Obama bandwagon, but all the news I heard about who he was pulling in to help drive the bandwagon stunk to me.

I voted for Obama with a very cautious (and small) hope that, while he wouldn't do anywhere near what I wanted his administration to do, he'd do something more than he's done.

Unfortunately, that doesn't surprise me at all, but it does sadden me.

[hfojvt]

3. coulda, woulda, shoulda

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY

"Nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change."

Now it is that President standing in the way of people who wanted to change the tax code for the better.

[onethatcares]

4. it should have been

"nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of dollars wanting more of the same"

I'm looking for the one change we can believe in.

[Le Taz Hot]

5. Yes. 1968.

And he was killed in the kitchen at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. I had a brief time of hope with Dean's candidacy only to see it snuffed out by the Party Bosses who got who they wanted all along.

[deutsey]

10. Unfortunately, RFK's funeral is my first political memory

It was one of my earliest memories in general. I remember watching it on TV with my grandmother when I wasn't even four yet.

Little did I know then that this tragic event would set the disappointing tone for me throughout my involvement in American politics.

Like you, I also saw a glimmer of hope in the Dean campaign (I was one of the local grassroots organizers), but I can tell you from firsthand experience that as Dean looked like he might be the nominee, a lot of party apparatchiks came out of the woodwork, pushed organizers like me onto the margins, and started taking over.

Shortly afterward, the campaign imploded going into primaries. :evilfrown:

[hfojvt]

18. I don't remember the funeral or even hearing that he died

but I do remember waiting at the airport to see him. Funny to think of a Presidential candidate visiting my tiny little town. But it was Hubert Humphrey's adopted home town.

[ladjf]

6. During the campaign, my wife kept saying, "we don't know who he is".

Well, sadly, we do now. I feel particularly sorry for the African Americans. Obama squandered a unique opportunity to improve race relations in the world. All he had to do was be a good President.

[hfojvt]

19. Well he sure talked a good game

somehow, I thought people would be accountable for actually doing the things they said they would do.

[ladjf]

21. Yes. He had about convinced me that he was going to do a good

job. But, I have been very disappointed.

By the way, I'm from the South and have known many African American men. I can tell you from personal experience, it is rare to find a coward among them. They typically will lay it on the line for whatever they believe in, regardless of the risk. That doesn't sound like Obama to me. But, maybe Obama believes in Ronald Reagan and George Bush and is laying it on the line for what he believes in.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

22. What are you talking about?

:wtf:

[Catherina]

8. My theme song today. Rec'd n/t

[LWolf]

9. I never had hope.

I always knew Obama didn't offer change I could believe in.

I'm more saddened than I can say that he didn't prove me wrong.

Of course, my key issue, education, was obvious from the beginning. When he was asked what Republicans do better than Democrats, what did he offer up? Public education.

[hfojvt]

16. well I wasn't a huge fan at the start

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/hfojvt/43

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/hfojvt/5

But I figured that ADBC - Any Democrat But Clinton would be a huge improvement. With big majorities in Congress, the Bush tax cuts should have been DOA. That didn't seem too much to hope for.

[tekisui]

11. Barely. I gave up hope a good while back.

[piratefish08]

12. hope? yeah, THAT changed anyway.......

[The Straight Story]

13. Don't lose hope, turn to dope

It's about all we have left :hippie: :rofl:

[Stoic]

14. Hope was a con. n/t

[ThatsMyBarack]

15. I sure do.

That was just two years ago. :cry:

[Moondog]

17. That changed. n/t

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

20. i never had hope

I thought it was neat that other people did. I never did.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

23. Remember when we didn't expect one person to solve all of our problems?

[Mimosa]

24. I used to be so darned HAPPY then.

That was then, now is now.