Change We Can Believe In?

The Obama Administation and various Senators and Congressmen are more than a little miffed this week at the likes of Howard Dean, Keith Olbermann and others who've expressed disdain for their health care reform efforts. David Axelrod is suggesting it'd be "insane" to dump the current Senate bill, and we're hearing that we can't let perfect be the enemy of good.

Bull. Few of us on the left were seriously expecting "perfect" to come of this effort, but it is preposterous to suggest that the bill in it's current form is "good", much less the best we can do. From the beginning, the debate has been framed by Republicans whose sole (and repeatedly stated) ambition is to "break" President Obama. They have lied, stalled, undermined etc., etc., while the representatives we voted for too often sat silently by in some irrational hope of bipartisanship for which the right has shown not an iota of interest. You'd think that more of the people we hired for this job would have been willing to state, and restate, as often and loudly as necessary, the case for reform. Instead, we've turned the stage over to the likes of Chuck Grassley and John Boehner and their brethren and left the theater as they fine-tune their considerable fear mongering skills. They relentlessly attack "Obamacare", but I can't tell you what that is because I've yet to see a plan put forth by the President. (?) What we are seeing is health care "reform" virtually guaranteed to make the health care cartel even wealthier at the expense of an already-struggling middle class.

The President has to bear much of the responsibility for this state of affairs. After putting the ball in play he stepped back and let others run with it, rarely using his position or oratorical skills to press the issue. Worse, key putative teammates, particularly in the Senate (Nelson, Baucus) are evidently more concerned with their health care industry income streams than their sworn duties, while assorted Blue Dogs use reform as an opportunity to strut as if in an AKC competition. Are these people immune to party pressure or has none been exerted? (Are you there, Rahm Emanuel? Lost your "Hammer"?) If none has been exerted, why not? The stakes here are enormous, not just for reform but for the Party. The Republicans are trouble enough; the last thing we need is torpedoes from our own fleet.

And then, of course, there's Joe Lieberman, the former Democrat, current "Independent", who campaigned for McCain/Palin and who is currently flipping off his own constituents and the nation at large while expanding his offices at 151 Farmington Ave. in Hartford, CT (a building he shares with the Aetna, the only constituent for whom he has shown any real concern). When it comes to massive fraud, this guy makes Bernie Madoff look like a carnival barker, yet we Democrats, in our infinite wisdom, continue to reward him by allowing him to caucus with us and retain his committee chairmanship. Joe Lieberman is a shameless, self-serving cancer who for the good of the country needs to be excised and discarded, not treated as an ally. What in heaven's name are we thinking?

But the problems go well beyond health care reform. The Obama administration has shown no taste for pursuing the documented war crimes of the previous administration, and this week it looks as though we're going to be defending John Yoo in a civil suit. Constitutional Law, anyone? Transparency? Wall Street continues to be the watch dog of Wall Street, despite recent evidence suggesting it's ill-equipped for the responsibility. Don't ask, don't tell...oh, and don't bring it up again?

It's tempting to crack wise about "Change We Can Believe In", but this is serious stuff and I take it very seriously. I have never been prouder to cast a ballot than I was last fall when voting for Barack Obama, never more thrilled with an electoral victory, never more hopeful about America's future. So I've never been more disappointed in the trend of events, and the President's and the Party's current polling numbers tell me I'm not alone. We come across as ineffectual and unprincipled, and as incompetent at governing as the Republicans. Change?

This administration never had, and wasn't going to get, the Right, but in kowtowing to that element it's losing the middle and the Left. Many, many of us feel betrayed. Feeling betrayed is a Bad Thing. This is no time to be questioning the sanity of one's most ardent supporters. Rather, it's time to recognize how far we've drifted off course and make the necessary corrections. Mid-term elections will soon be here. Since prospects for maintaining our current majorities are looking weaker by the moment, I do hope our party leaders soon begin to demonstrate better piloting skills than they have to date.

Having become aware that I am not my sole reader, I encourage anyone who can convince me that I am full of it here to do so. This particular blog was slow in coming because I didn't want to write it (and contrary to my hopes don't feel any better having done so). So please, show me the error of my observations. You're also welcome to agree with me, 'though no points accrue.