"Change Is Hard": Obama A Year After Election

AFP:

The tale of the turbulent year since Barack Obama's historic election win is told by his evolving political theme: once he promised "Change We Can Believe In" and now he warns that "change is hard".

On November 4, 2008, Obama bathed in the adoration of a crowd of tens of thousands in a Chicago park, after beating Republican John McCain to the presidency in an election that promised to reshape his nation.

Read the whole story: AFP

Comments

[brady61995]

President Obama just nominated Islam Siddiqui, a top official from
CropLife -- the pesticide industry's powerful trade group -- as America's
chief agricultural negotiator for international trade. If confirmed by the
Senate, Siddiqui, who has spent the last several years of his career
fighting various restrictions and bans on environmentally hazardous
pesticides, would bring that inappropriately aggressive stance on
broadening pesticide use to the White House and influence trade
negotiations with Europe and the developing world.

[WeMustSpeakOut]

Yes brady, and isn't this special!

He will fit right in with all of the Bushies that remain in place in various government agencies along with Obama's Goldman Sach's alum and other "interesting" appointees.

[brady61995]

both sides are so tangled up in money they can see straight, obama seemed to be the real deal but he is just like all the others. fixed hooked and rotten, too bad for americans

[PhilipTaylor]

TRACK THE MONEY - Wall Street Caused the ENTIRE CRISIS and the BAILOUTS and RUNS THE GOVERNMENT

1. Corporations have excess ill-Gotten L00T to spend!
2. Congress needs L00T for Reelection Campaigns!
3. Corporations Buy FAV0RS and V0TES from Congress and the Corruption Spreads
4. Corporations Control Government causing an Oligarchy of the EL1TES!
5. M0NEY ALL FL0WS from Corporations to the Government - the SOURCE of BAD G0vernment!

If Wall Street is NOT FULLY REGULATED then Europeans and Asians will avoid Wall Street completely, plus many Americans will move to and invest in foreign markets (NOT US-based foreign products) that are better controlled by their respective countries!

If you TRACK the L00T it tells the story that BAD Government comes from ONE SOURCE: Wall Street & Corporations buying INFLUENCE in Congress and the Wh!te H0USE!

Bad Government is when Government is RUN by BANKSTERS!

[PhilipTaylor]

Government is CHEAP to BUY for the Wall Street Banks+ Swiss +German+ London Banks!

It is less than a "00.001%" investment for them! A mire $5 Billion Total!

Remember the BIG BANKS own over 66% of the FED Reserve System!

TRACK THE MONEY - Wall Street Caused the ENTIRE CRISIS and the BAILOUTS and RUNS THE GOVERNMENT

1. Corporations have excess ill-Gotten L00T to spend!
2. Congress needs L00T for Reelection Campaigns!
3. Corporations Buy FAV0RS and V0TES from Congress and the Corruption Spreads
4. Corporations Control Government causing an Oligarchy of the EL1TES!
5. M0NEY ALL FL0WS from Corporations to the Government - the SOURCE of BAD G0vernment!

If Wall Street is NOT FULLY REGULATED then Europeans and Asians will avoid Wall Street completely, plus many Americans will move to and invest in foreign markets (NOT US-based foreign products) that are better controlled by their respective countries!

If you TRACK the L00T it tells the story that BAD Government comes from ONE SOURCE: Wall Street & Corporations buying INFLUENCE in Congress and the Wh!te H0USE!

Bad Government is when Government is RUN by BANKSTERS!

[Nunnya]

The man has a lot he wants to do give him time people.Bes­ides the Gross Opposition Party ain't exactly making things any easier.Why does the GOP hate America so much?

[hhayden]

We hate government control and oppression. That's not America in my view as it seems to be in yours.

[Nunnya]

What control?What oppression?Please list them,not your paranoid delusions.

[BrickSykes]

hhayden, Ahh, its YOU again.

Look. The US Federal Government is NOT GOING TO GO AWAY! Plus, it will NOT change very much from what it is today. You and your radical friends should spend some time studying how wonderful the state of governance is in the US compared to SOME others, not all of them.

The main thing wrong with the 'Government is Not Your Friend' folks is that you have absolutely no idea how to do it better, and by that I don't mean one certain little piece of it, I mean the whole thing. Plus, like Thomas Paine, who had some very good ideas, you have absolutely NO Intention of getting into government yourselves and helping make it better, or 'Fixing' it, you just sit on the sidelines and HECKLE the brave folks who are in it and doing the best they can in spite of all the CRAP you throw at them.

Please go hang around RedState with others of your ilk. They won't help, either!

Brick

[bluntobject]

Mr. Obama's core constituency are getting very sick and tired of his backpeddling and repeated failures to deliver on his most celebrated campaign promises. Obama does not deserve a second term if he doesn't straighten his act up SOON, and stop pandering to right wing nutjobs and republican obstructionism and deliver on his promises to Americans.

[hhayden]

Obama circa 1948:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVh75ylAUXY

[BrickSykes]

I just wish all these 'First Hundred Days' or 'First Year' or 'Is Obama Living Up to His Promises?' would just go away! Look, he's been legally elected to serve FOUR YEARS, for Christ's sake! Let the man and his plans have enough TIME to WORK!

There are many, many THOUSANDS Movers and Shakers in America's Commercial Establishment who fervently Desire NO CHANGE AT ALL, PERIOD!! You know why? Because most of them are MAKING A FRICKIN' KILLING just the way things are! They would DIE before they allow any change! Think about Ike's premonition, "Beware the Military/Industrial Complex!" Think about how much money would NOT go to them were 'things' to change!

'Change' is Hard, but it is NOT Impossible!

Brick

[sarabono]

This may sound harsh but the only thing I can really see that he has done is spend a Trillion Dollars of money we have had to borrow, mainly from the Red Chinese, on many dubious projects including nationalizing General Motors, Chrysler and many parts of the financial system.

Hopefully, some of these actions will work out well, but it is now very clear, that many will not. All in all, it looks to me that his grand experiments are turning into terrible flops.

[musselmanm]

I can no longer support the lack of any direction and ledership by any of the officials I supported and worked and voted for. All Democrats by the way.
letting America collapse into a third world county is unacceptable. Almost all of our elected leaders are actually afraid to fight for us other than what they fight to take away from us. Our Democratic party and most of our elected Democrats do nothing and are afraid of standing up for our citizens.
The audacity of silence on what we support and believe is deafening. The lack of fire in the belly by our President and the members of Democrats in both houses of Congress is driving the downfall of America.
We will, perhaps after the next three years speak of the audacity of Fail!

[PhilipTaylor]

AH Article Summary: Questions Candidate Obama should ask President Obama:

1. Are we still on Track? "country needs deep, fundamental change; .. think long-term, ... Special Interests&Lobbyists have too much power, and Americans must again trust and engage in their democracy.­"
2. Is "the core leadership ..turned rotten?"
3. Are "the people..ge­tting hosed" Olympia Snowe style? Or Lieberman style?
4. Is "the greatest risk we can take to try same old politics with same old players and expect a different result?" Geithner+S­ummers+Ber­nanke
5. Did we "..forget middle class?" Summers against extending unemployment
6. Is our policy "Nothing can be done?"(Summers) or "Yes we can?" (Obama)
7. Is My TEAM WORKING to FULFILL OUR GOALS of "The Audacity to Win?"
8. Is conventional wisdom telling us Obama has no chance at REAL change?
9. Are Special Financial Interests in COMPLETE CHARGE?
10. Aren't we "Grassroot­s..to the core..(wit­h) supporters­..(who) led us to victory?"
12. Where is 13 million people on campaign's email list? Network? DNC!
13. Are young people still "ignited .. throughout country?"
14. Are Americans who had never voted, and voted 71% for Obama still with us?
15. Are grassroots "people who gave their heart and soul" still with us?
16. "I feel such an obligation to them (Americans)," Obama told Plouffe. "They believe in me. In us."
17. Still true? "I don't want to let them (Americans) down?"

[PhilipTaylor]

We need him to as Arianna said, to "..complet­e the journey from The Audacity of Hope and The Audacity To Win to The Audacity to Govern."

[hhayden]

How about:

Are we better off today than we were eight months ago?

Are we safer today than we were eight months ago?

Do we have as much freedom and liberty as we did eight monts ago?

Are we kinder as a people to each other as we were eight months ago?

I'm sure your answer will be yas, but you will be wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVh75ylAUXY

[PhilipTaylor]

TRACK THE MONEY - Wall Street Caused the ENTIRE CRISIS and the BAILOUTS and RUNS THE GOVERNMENT

1. Corporations have excess ill-Gotten L00T to spend!
2. Congress needs L00T for Reelection Campaigns!
3. Corporations Buy FAV0RS and V0TES from Congress and the Corruption Spreads
4. Corporations Control Government causing an Oligarchy of the EL1TES!
5. M0NEY ALL FL0WS from Corporations to the Government - the SOURCE of BAD G0vernment!

If Wall Street is NOT FULLY REGULATED then Europeans and Asians will avoid Wall Street completely, plus many Americans will move to and invest in foreign markets (NOT US-based foreign products) that are better controlled by their respective countries!

If you TRACK the L00T it tells the story that BAD Government comes from ONE SOURCE: Wall Street & Corporations buying INFLUENCE in Congress and the Wh!te H0USE!

Bad Government is when Government is RUN by BANKSTERS!

[Probus]

I think the Obama administration can do better in keeping its promises (repealing DOMA, DADT; leading the fight for the PO - abandoning the single payer Medicare system, and prosecuting the Bush administration for torture). As an ardent Obama supporter I am disappointed in many things my president has not yet done or has failed to lead on. But that doesn't mean that he has lost my support. He will always have my support.

[PhilipTaylor]

Always = INFINITY!

NOT ME! He is allowing the Financial Corporatocracy to RUN America like they did in 1929!

[PhilipTaylor]

DEFINITION OF CORPORATOCRACY OR OL1GARCHY: AMERICA IS ONE!

Corporatocracy is government by a group of corporations who direct the governance of a country

Five Factors - Hallmarks of Corporatocracy:

1. Corporations give to competing political parties+major political party candidates - Hedge Bets
2. Corporations effectively BUY V0TES and Set Policies and Laws of Government
3. Former corporate employees serve as powerful decision makers within government institutions
4. Former government employees accept high ranking positions in corporations completing circle
5. Appointment of a Marketable Figurehead in the position of President

L00T from Corporations to Government and Corporate Employees Revolving Door with Federal Employees!

THE People are simply a crop to be harvested as desired by the R1CH Corporate EL1T1STS!

[WeMustSpeakOut]

That is absolutely what we are to them. "Them" are the Ruling Class who orchestrate and protect the corporate fascism that runs this country - the true power that resides above the government that we see and hear.

[hhayden]

So, we get to choose between oppressive corporations or oppressive government? At least with the corporations we can choose to not buy their products or services as I do with WalMart. The oppressive government can't be boycotted. It's do what they demand or else.

[EducatedObserver]

So "change" is now "hard" and what?

Are the loyal foot soldiers expected to genuflect and continue walking in lockstep with an administration that demonstrated little hesitation about promising the moon only a year ago?

Methinks not.

[hhayden]

What dust thou thinkist?

[Ventura Co California]

I find it unbelievable that some people on here can't tell the difference between a question and a statement.

[hhayden]

Which one was this?

[Ventura Co California]

Sorry it was on another article. I miss posted on this one.

[Mulvaney]

An article in a recent Harpers compared Obama to Hoover - an intelligent man who understood what was happening but was unable to seize the radical imperatives of the time. FDR used his popularity to push through an agenda that conservatives hated. Obama has tried to tried to appease those interests. His economic plan was defined by those who helped shape the problems we face. His health care goals have become ever more limited. He had the opportunity to use his mandate and define the debate. He failed to do so.

[hhayden]

I think that Obama is more like Buchanan in his ability to divide the nation and misunderstand the situation.

[hhayden]

10 to 15 thousand Americans showed up at Sam Houston Raceway for a political rally tonight even with the World Series on. It was totally peaceful. They were mostly concerned about out of control spending, not the health care bill.

[Mark Twaine]

The President has chosen the advisors and supporters who will enable him to bring about the changes the country needs!

Its a team effort I support!

[hhayden]

The President has chosen the advisors and supporters who will enable him to bring about more oppressive government and wasetful spending..

[WisconsinAve]

President Say Anything, Do Nothing is making excuses now...usin­g the Bush/Cheney cop out about hard work.

The only 'change' that will help tens of millions of ordinary Americans happens when Obama is voted out in 2012.

Maybe this time we'll actually get a Democrat?

Keep the change.

[janiceh]

You have a lot of different names, Mr. "Keep the Change."

[hhayden]

If we don't change how we come up with candidates we will get the same old crud.

[chlai88]

Just show me 1, anyone in Washington from any party right now who will even let you keep the change. Keep smoking your perfect pipe dream.

[WisconsinAve]

I can show you one person who won't let ordinary Americans change, or keep the change we get...his name? Barack Obama. His political leanings? Republican.

Keep the change.