79 days is a relatively short amount of time. It's shorter than any season of professional sports, it's shorter than the time between oil changes on your car, and hell, it's shorter than the time it takes to fly a hot air balloon around the world. It's also how long President Obama has been in office. Follow me below the fold, if you will . . .
In a mere 79 days, Barack Obama has changed the way many Americans think about America. This is evident not only in the steadily increasing "right track/wrong track" poll numbers (as well as his own still sky-high approval rating), but also in ways that are less tangible. Americans now have much more faith in political leadership to overcome the various challenges we face, and despite poor reviews of Congress, Obama's leadership has managed to keep a large percentage of the population believing in the power of government to enact meaningful change. Obama has appointed progressives to his cabinet in prominent roles, such as Kathleen Sebelius for Health and Human Services, but also in more obscure ones (but well known to most Kossacks) Hilda Solis for Secretary of Labor, and Stephen Chu for Secretary of Energy. All of these, I would argue, are excellent developments.
Some of the other positive things done during Obama's short tenure? They've been listed ad nauseam on this site already, but they bear repeating in this context.
-Health care coverage for children
-A huge, once unthinkable government stimulus bill to help out during the worst recession in at least 27 years.
-Closing of C.I.A black prison camps (news from today)
-Plans for closing Guantanamo
-Plans for withdrawal from Iraq
-An incredibly progressive budget outline passed through House and Senate
-Repeal of the ban on embryonic stem cell research
It hasn't even been 3 months, folks, and a nice chunk of the things we all wanted to happen under an Obama administration have happened. I left a bunch out too (like the halting of DEA raids on medical marijuana).
Now, in light of DHinMI's diary on the rec list right now, I appreciate that there are a lot of people who are disillusioned or angry with Obama over his and his economic team's handling of the current crisis. Some of you aren't even Democrats, which is fine by me. I'm not suggesting that anyone who is critical of the Geither plan should STFU, or isn't a real progressive. There are a number of things that many people here are concerned about (Afghanistan, bank bailouts, DOJ torture memos) that are completely valid concerns. I don't necessarily have the same criticisms, but I understand the sentiment behind them.
What I find to be insidious, however, is the Obama = Bush meme. Obama is not Bush. The new boss is NOT the same as the old boss. You may disagree with the Obama administration on the choices made so far about Afghanistan, or the bank bailout plan, or even marijuana legalization. But to deny that Obama has marked an impressive step forward, in demeanor and policy, from the dark days of the Bush administration, is pretty damn silly.
In conclusion, guys, get your heads in the game. We've got a health care battle coming up. We've got an energy bill battle coming up. We've got an immigration battle coming up. Those are big potatoes. I know there's a lot of frustration for many reasons out there in Kos land, but we're in it with Obama for the long haul. From what I've seen so far, I give him a B+, but regardless, we need him for the fights ahead. Please, let's not get so caught up in the day-to-day that we can't see what looms on the horizon.
He's only had 79 days so far. With any luck, he's got 2,841 to go. We'll get there.