Barack Obama: Change We Can Deceive In*

-- A critique from the Left
By Lori Price,

19 Aug 2009

President Barack Obama is selling out the left wing of his party - those who contributed $750 million to his campaign for 'change' - quicker than a Blue Cross rate rise in August. Mr. Obama won the Democratic nomination -- and the presidency -- on a wave of anti-Bush sentiment and the promise of 'change we can believe in.' But when the assertions and actions of the Obama Administration are critically examined, a conclusion can be drawn that the key difference -- thus far -- between Barack Obama and George W. Bush is their choice in breed of White House pet. 'Bipartisanship,' the bane of Obama's first eight months as president, is providing the groundwork for an extended (albeit educated, charming) Bush-light Administration. Those of us on the left are fearing a Bush-ultra Administration, wrapped in populist rhetoric, and disguised as everything but the same.

Barack Obama: Meteorological Nightmare

Nuclear Leaks and Response Tested Obama in Senate By Mike McIntire 03 Feb 2008 When residents in Illinois voiced outrage two years ago upon learning that the Exelon Corporation had not disclosed radioactive leaks at one of its nuclear plants, the state’s freshman senator, Barack Obama, took up their cause. Mr. Obama scolded Exelon and federal regulators for inaction and introduced a bill to require all plant owners to notify state and local authorities immediately of even small leaks. He has boasted of it on the campaign trail, telling a crowd in Iowa in December that it was “the only nuclear legislation that I’ve passed...” A close look at the path his legislation took tells a very different story. While he initially fought to advance his bill... Mr. Obama eventually rewrote it to reflect changes sought by Senate Republicans, Exelon and nuclear regulators. The new bill removed language mandating prompt reporting and simply offered guidance to regulators, whom it charged with addressing the issue of unreported leaks. Those revisions propelled the bill through a crucial committee. But, contrary to Mr. Obama’s comments in Iowa, it ultimately died amid parliamentary wrangling in the full Senate.

Sound familiar? Just replace the words 'Exelon Corporation' with 'insurance companies' and the words 'Senator Obama' with President Obama' and here we are. 'Mr. Obama scolded Exelon and federal regulators for inaction,' we learned in 2008, regarding Obama's reaction to the undisclosed radioactive leaks. In 2009, the president condemned the insurance companies for their record-breaking profits and role in the U.S. health care situation: Obama says insurance companies holding U.S. hostage,' Reuters, 14 August. In 2006, the Obama admonishment preceded the sellout, just as it likely will in 2009. Yup, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

The Exelon incident should have set off alarms in every progressive's brain from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine. The corporate-owned media, determined to see the 'better' liberal -- Hillary Clinton -- lose the Democratic primary, waged a Hillary-bashing campaign, 24-7. This media bias was couched and defended in the enthralling possibility of the election of the first African-American U.S. president.

And so, the Exelon incident passed as insignificant -- the unnoticed fluffy cloud on a bright summer day. But to those of us in the meteorological know, we're aware of the path that a singular cumulus cloud can take. More cumulus clouds appear, then populate the horizon. Soon, cumulonimbus clouds form -- which lead to thunder, lightning and a nightmarish end to the day.

My Exelon-Obama umbrella has been with me since February of 2008, when New York Senator Hillary Clinton co-sponsored legislation to boot Blackwater and other mercenaries from Iraq and Afghanistan. Candidate Obama remained silent. Under President Obama, the mercenary industry is flourishing.

President Obama: They're toting assault rifles and you're toting 'bipartisanship.'

All of this pandering to the GOP, and the elusive quest for 'bipartisanship,' is not entirely the fault of Barack Obama. As soon as a Democrat is elected, the corporate-owned media begins the 'bipartisanship' brainwashing of the public, to elevate the GOP. Indeed, Obama was 'conditioned' to select a political moderate to the Supreme Court, despite the fact that the lack of political balance on the Court clamored for a left-leaning Justice. Even though George W. Bush stole two elections, the media never chided Bush for not acting in a bipartisan fashion. Apparently, Obama the Conciliator chooses to live and breathe to to please everyone --well, every Republican.

How did Bush force his pharma-terrorist giveaway aka Medicare Modernization Act through Congress in 2003?

Drug Industry and HMOs Deployed an Army of Nearly 1,000 Lobbyists to Push Medicare Bill, Report Finds --Study Shows Special Interests Spent $141 Million in 2003, Hired 431 Lobbyists With "Revolving Door" Connections to Congress and the White House 23 Jun 2004 In the final push for Medicare prescription drug legislation, the pharmaceutical industry, HMOs and related interests spent more money and hired more lobbyists in 2003 than ever before, according to a report issued today by Public Citizen.

The bill came to a vote at 3 a.m. on November 22. After 45 minutes, the bill was losing, 219-215. Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Tom DeLay sought to convince some of dissenting Republicans to switch their votes, as they had in June... In a highly unusual move, the House leadership held the vote open for hours as they sought two more votes. Then-Representative Nick Smith (R-MI) claimed he was offered campaign funds for his son, who was running to replace him, in return for a change in his vote from "nay" to "yea."

I can just see the Fox heads exploding -- and more AR-15s waving -- if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pulled such a stunt! In 2003, the mainstream media -- owned by the same corporations who financially benefit from corporate profits -- did not demand that the White House 'work with the Democrats' on the 'Patriot' Act, Medicare, Iraq or any other Bush-Cheney disaster forced upon the United States.

True, the day after his Inauguration, President Obama signed legislation to close the U.S. detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, by January 2010. He has also pushed for some popular programs, such as 'Cash for Clunkers.' Although his rhetoric is with the left, his actions are serving the rightwing. Obama is allowing his detractors to call the shots. The Obama Administration's acts of appeasement merely serve to embolden the gun-toting critics and snarly Congresscritters who would do anything to destroy the Obama presidency.

Herewith is the running list of Barack Obama's supplications and fabrications. After having endured eight months of an Obama presidency, a case can be made that Barack Obama was 'allowed' to win the election so that he would provide the relief valve for the rising anger over predatory capitalism in the U.S.

Thus far, Obama has out-Bushed Bush. This list is under construction!

Extraordinary rendition we can believe in: Obama Administration Maintains Bush Position on 'Extraordinary Rendition' Lawsuit 09 Feb 2009
State secrets we can believe in: Obama Administration Backs Bush Secrecy Policy in Terror Case 10 Feb 2009
Mercenaries we can believe in: KBR Awarded Convoy Support Center Contract by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 28 Jan 2009
Torture architects we can believe in: Obama lawyers set to defend Yoo 28 Jan 2009
Air strikes we can believe in: Obama ordered Waziristan airstrikes --Guardian report says US commanders consulted president before Friday's missile attacks 25 Jan 2009 Loopholes we can believe in: A Loophole In the Rules --In a national-security crisis, Obama could deviate from his own rules. 24 Jan 2009
Eavesdropping we can believe in: Obama Sides With Bush in Spy Case --'President Barack Obama adopted the same position as his predecessor.' 22 Jan 2009
Defense lobbyists we can beleive in: Obama Picks Lobbyist as Pentagon No. 2 09 Jan 2009
Mission creep we can believe in: The Pentagon is muscling in everywhere. It's time to stop the mission creep. By Thomas A. Schweich 21 Dec 2008
Warmongers we can believe in: Obama wants Bush war team to stay 23 Dec 2008
Silence we can believe in: Obama's silence on Israeli airstrikes disappoints many 29 Dec 2008
Spies we can believe in: President-Elect Obama May Keep Mike Hayden as Director of the CIA 05 Dec 2008
War criminals we can believe in: Obama Plans to Retain Gates at Defense Department 26 Nov 2008
Bailout critters we can believe in: Obama's Bailout Bunch Brings Us More of the Same By Jonathan Weil 11 Nov 2008
Bush trolls we can believe in: Obama Wants Lieberman to Stay With Dem Caucus 11 Nov 2008
Republicans we can believe in: Obama advisers signal Republican roles in administration 10 Nov 2008
Surges we can believe in: British troops 'cannot bear brunt of Barack Obama's Afghanistan surge' 09 Nov 2008
Big business we can believe in: Obama reassures big business on economic policy By Patrick Martin 8 Nov 2008

Are Obama's most virulent critics open to bipartishanship? Well, they would have to drop their assault rifles, first. Obama should simply jettison them, and abandon his 'Bush-light' agenda. If he doesn't, leftists and liberals need to back an actual progressive candidate for the 2012 presidential elections. Now, that would be 'change we can believe in.'

*Essay title attributed to Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D.
Lori Price is Managing Editor of Citizens For Legitimate Government.