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Edited on Sun Mar-29-09 11:55 PM by smalll
I knew he was a centrist. Not a righty, not a leftie. A centrist. But a "change"-oriented radical centrist. The man, (the Democrat, quite importantly) who told us that there were no red states or blue states, but the United States.
And so he comes to power in the worst economic situation in over half a century. The stimulus? The bailouts? Who the hell has the experience or the expertise to really understand any of that. And even those who do, how much can they know about what will work and what won't.
But this week, Obama was not a radical centrist, he was an "inside the box" centrist instead. He said no to single-payer healthcare. Now at a time when not only would single-payer help so many uninsured Americans, but also when it would take a huge load of the corporate employers' backs, and would finally make small business as competitive as the corporate folks in the employment market. But he said no.
And he said no - he laughed -- at marijuana legalization. At the very same moment that the border sinks towards anarchy because of our latter-day prohibition, at the very same time that our most populous state sinks towards bankrupcy (California) in part because it can't tax its number one cash crop.
So no, Obama never promised us single-payer. And he never promised us legalization. But he held himself out as a paradigm-shifting, blockbusting, pragmatic, intelligent, radical centrist. And he has, with his health care and marijuana statements of the past week, revealed himself to be, in actual fact, a more-of-the-same ho-hum middle-of-the-roader.
You know, the Repubs have criticized Obama for ages for having "no executive experience." Well maybe he doesn't have much, but that is not required. Even a legislator, or even a pundit, or a theorist, or a writer, may not have executive experience, but may yet and still have a talent for making decisions - for taking stock of the facts on the ground, and pointing the way forward. This is what I have begun to fear that Obama lacks. He has many accomplishments and achievements on his resume. But making decisions, coming up with the breakthrough ideas, not so much.
Tell me where I'm wrong. Or talk me down. :shrug:
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