Topic: Decline of the West
Sometimes all one can do is smile and shake one’s head at the naiveté of one’s fellow human beings. From the Guardian (UK): This is not the President Obama we voted for
That sad line introduces Heather Long’s lament for the President Obama she and so many other young people voted for. But let her tell it in her own words:
I was in Washington DC the night that Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. As usual, people were hopping from bar to bar to watch the returns come in and high five friends (or boo, in some cases). When it became clear that Obama had won and he gave his victory speech, something happened that I have rarely witnessed in America: spontaneous demonstrations broke out. People started marching down some of the main streets, many shaking keys or banging on pots and pans. Others carried American flags. Cars honked (more than usual) in solidarity.
It was mostly young people marching – from varied backgrounds. Many of these parades ended up in front of the White House where chants of "goodbye Bush" (or some variation thereof) began. It was the same slogan heard as Barack Obama was sworn in as president in January 2009 and Bush flew away in a helicopter.
There was a belief, especially among voters in their 20s and 30s, that Obama was going to be different. That his promises to “change the culture in Washington” were real. That his administration wouldn't be beholden to lobbyists and conduct executive power grabs. That any wars would be justified.
Alas, though:
This isn't the president so many took to the streets to cheer on in 2008. And the blame for that can't be placed solely on partisan politics or the media's thirst for a good scandal.
Long, who describes herself as a “registered Republican,” seems typical of the young voters who swallowed the Obama snake oil in 2008. She really thought that Chimpy McBushitler and the Demon Cheney were in league with the Antichrist, and that Barry was the Messiah—a belief assiduously promoted by Team Obama. But now reality has come crashing down upon these shallow idealists. It turns out that Barack Obama is a mere mortal, subject to the constraints of politics, fallible to a fault, and that his grandiloquent promises were merely the stuff of bumper stickers and Facebook status updates. I could say that I feel Ms. Long’s pain—but to tell you the truth I think that she and her peers had this coming. It’s not as if they weren’t warned!