Note: I just posted this as a comment on another blog . . . and then I realized its actually a diary . . . so I'm reposting it.
Edited to add: Thanx for the rec list!
One common talking point that I hear often repeated is that President Obama has been unsuccessful at "changing the tone" in Washington D.C.
I beg to differ.
By staying focused on actual problems (not media created problems), actual solutions (not snappy one liners and talking points), and forcing the Congress to actually legislate (instead of just run year round re-election campaigns), President Obama has already accomplished more than any modern President.
Through his skillful sheparding of the Stimulus Bill, which included the biggest investment in green energy in our nation's history, CUT taxes, and created more jobs in 20 months than the Bush Administration did in 8 years, President Obama provided a lifeline to millions of Americans who are unemployed or facing unemployment due to depleted state budgets and was able to at least halt the increase of unemployment.
Through his relentless determination to finally address the deplorable status quo of our nation's for-profit health insurance system, the President has provided basic and common sense protections for every American AND reduced the deficit.
President Obama has ended the combat mission in Iraq, as promised, and has renewed the focus on Afghanistan. He had the AUDACITY to HOLD MEETINGS and make a PLAN to proceed, he had the COURAGE to increase our TROOP levels, knowing that with increased combat would come increased casualties, but proceeded with what was best for our nation's national security instead of what was best for made-for-TV soundbites.
Wall Street reform, credit card reform, student loan reform, education reform . . . President Obama has been busy addressing problems that have been kicked down the road for decades.
And through it all, the President has largely ignored the "advice" of the punditocracy and the partisans, the spin doctors and the pollsters.
He has just rolled up his sleeves, took a clear eyed look at the choices before him, and made the decision that he thought was best for the American people, even if many in the electorate are too confused, angry, or misinformed to notice.
And THAT my friends, is a HUGE CHANGE in the TONE in Washington D.C.
Because no matter what the "narrative" of the day is, or what the "nontroversy" dujour may be, OUR PRESIDENT is focused on his JOB. And the contrast between his serious and deliberate approach to government compared to the shallow and manipulative approach of many in D.C., Democrats and Republican, has been a revelation.
No matter who is elected the next President of the United States, the bar has been moved WAY UP.
The days when folks could run for government jobs saying how ineffective government is are at long last coming to an end. Either you believe the government can be a force for good in this country and you work to make it better, or you need to find another line of work.
There is too much to be done to continue to pay folks to gut our country from the inside with their hair-brained schemes (like deregulation, unpaid for tax cuts, and unfunded wars), and all the while they keep reminding us that "government can't work" and pretend like the record deficits and financial collapse are somebody else's fault, whey they were the ones in charge. . . it would be funny if so many folks didn't believe it.
What business man or woman would hire an employee that came in the door saying "This company will never succeed"?
President Obama's determination to do his JOB and use the government as a tool to help the folks who it claims to represent seems like a simple act, but in our modern political system based on spin and confusion, even that most basic of premises is fodder for endless debate.
Instead of constantly TALKING about changing America, President Obama is busy making change a reality. That is pretty impressive work from a man who the media derided as a presumptuous hope monger.
President Obama has done what he could with the cards he was dealt. It is now up to the American people to stop being manipulated by lies and require more of those who are applying for high paying jobs representing us in government.
Or we can continue being angry about the wrong things and blaming the wrong folks. The reality is, the only people we are hurting by continuing to make uninformed votes based on misinformation is ourselves.
This is not and never has been about Barack Obama. It's is about solutions to problems. And by that standard, our country is in excellent hands.