The Biggest Political Disappointments Of 2009

We're not your parents, but we're still disappointed. Take a look back at the biggest political flops of 2009 and vote on the year's biggest letdown.

Gay Marriage Setbacks

In May, California courts upheld Proposition 8, a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. In November, Maine voted to reverse a ruling passed earlier in the year which had legalized gay marriage.

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[mardees]

12:15 AM on 03/12/2010

No sane person will be willing to run for public office in this country. Who would expose themselves to the kind of unreasoning hatred represented by posters here? One year ago it looked like the world's economies might collapse into a depression the likes of which had never been seen. Instead, the Obama Administration miraculously brought us back from the edge. And what do you hear from the American public? We have devolved into an hysterical, hate-filled mob with no idea how to participate in a tolerant society.

[Linda Edwards]

10:26 AM on 12/31/2009

by far biggest disappointment not even listed-holding previous administration for their war crimes -murdering thousands of innocent women and children -staring a war for profit

[Zipzop]

04:46 PM on 02/02/2010

Yes! Bring the Bush-Cheney criminals to justice!! That's the main reason I wanted Obama over Hillary, because he said something about investigating the Bush Administration for crimes committed. If he cleaned out the corruption left over from the Bushies, it would have a far reaching impact in making the government run better in all branches.

[Robert in NYC]

11:06 AM on 12/30/2009

The biggest disappointment for me was the defeat of marriage equality in NYS. As a result, the NYS democratic party and the party in general can expect a huge backlash in November 2010 and beyond from gay and lesbian voters who happen to be taxpayers too, I guarantee it. That eight conservative democrats voted against our rights was astounding. What they did was vote against the economy of our state and the hundreds of same-sex families with children. So much for the family values of the eight who believe in segregation and sexual apartheid. Connecticut will now probably stand to benefit from the more than $207 million that according to a financial report issued by city comptroller William B. Thompson in May 2009, would have been realized within three years benefiting many businesses if NYS had legalized same-sex marriage.

[Zipzop]

04:51 PM on 02/02/2010

Marriage, as it is, mixes religion and government, imo. I wish they'd just make a simple contract where people can become legally the next of kin who get to share each other's benefits and abolish legal marriage.
So, maybe if gay people finally got equal rights in marriage, next, people might take another look at legal marriage and realize that the marriage contract really doesn't belong in the government and we'd get religion out of the government and people's personal relationships would be their own business, not the government's.

[Robert in NYC]

10:56 AM on 12/30/2009

As a New Yorker, my biggest disappointment was that we lost marriage equality by a substantial margin of those against us. This will send a clear message to NYS politicians that in 2010 and beyond, they can NO longer take our votes and donations for granted. In May 2009, city comptroller William B. Thompson issued a report stating that if NYS legalized same-sex marriage, it would realize within a three year period, more than $207 million in revenues which will now be lost to Connecticut and other states or countries that allows same-sex couples to marry. A vote against our full equality was a vote against the economy of our state and all of the businesses that would have benefited from our hard-earned taxable income. If the state isn't prepared to give us our equality, then every gay voter in our state should petition for a reduction in state income taxes since we do not have full representation, while religious denominations are fully represented without any taxation at our expense, and that's just for starters. Under the 14th amendment, every citizen is supposed to have equal protection but in regard to the gay and lesbian voting bloc of taxpayers, we are exempt. The democrats can expect a huge backlash in November 2010 and beyond, I guarantee it, deservedly so.

[sweetnesstoday]

01:31 AM on 12/30/2009

The biggest 2009 political disappointment was Obama installing Summers, and Geithner and re-appointing Bernanke. Indicative of Obama's general philosophy; take the path of least resistance, excercise minimal conviction, convey principle, but do not act on principle.

[aprilshowers]

11:39 PM on 12/29/2009

Barack Obama's election of President 0f the United States was, and is, transformative for every child in America and every child in the world. His election was transformative for the pursuit of perfecting American Ideals--our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. I fear the left wing progressives are losing sight of this fact, so concerned with the pursuit of " I want what I want NOW--pure ideology, no compromise!!!" The ability to govern in a democracy is COMPROMISE! The ability to get a strong public opton in health care reform was weakened in the spring and given the deathblow this summer in the virulent town halls and the tea bagger marches. It has taken all the perseverance of the Democrats and the Administration to be on the brink of getting the first health insurance reform in history. If you really want change, then see to it that more progressive Democrats get elected to the Senate, so the Democrats don't have to compromise with the Ben Nelsons and Joe Liebermans of Congress. If you really want change, then make sure the right wing extremist don't hijack the media with their incessant harangues. And make sure your support for this President rings loud and clear. That's how Franklin D. Roosevelt was able to pass his agenda. If you keep on with your impatient complaining, then we will probably be in for more right wing extremists in Congress, and absolutely no progressive agendas moving ahead.

[tbone99]

12:30 AM on 12/30/2009

Compromise cannot occur unless the full spectrum of ideas are brought to the table.to be negotiated. However Obama banned single payer advocates from the discussions , while meeting secretly hundreds of times with Med industry insiders,... there was never even at attempt at compromise!

You have a lot of nerve suggesting that our efforts to change things can occur through elections- Obama promised change,ran on the public option and opposed the mandates that HRC ran on. However once in office he dropped any pretense of sticking to his campaign platform and appointed a cabinet full of recycled politicos from previous administrations.

If a person is willing to lie and misrepresent himself ,you cannot vote in change

Obama protected Joe Lieberman time and again when the Dems wanted to discipline hin for his defection in supporting a Repug candidate , and Lieberman repaid him by helping him deliver the medical industry their coup.

Voting for Obama was a great exercise in showing that voting is meaningless in this country. He has done very little differently than Bush .

[Oxonian2001]

09:32 AM on 12/30/2009

Well said--and great point about Obama's embrace of Lieberman. I guess that was one of the first signs of danger that so many overlooked.

[bioluminescence]

11:28 PM on 12/29/2009

The biggest disappointment is the growing disconnect between the will of the people and the actions of their government. No U. S. voter would say: let's build 1000 military bases all over the world; or, let's spend 50 per cent of the discretionary budget on the military and just 6 per cent on health care; or let's build a Trident submarine that can carry 192 warheads each with the killing power of 100 Hiroshima bombs. But that's exactly what their government gives them.

The biggest disconnect in the world's supposed leading democracy is that most people want it to have the number one health care, education and economic system. Instead they get a military colonial empire with ridiculous killing power that doesn't even keep them safe from the growing number of enemies its existence creates.

[Bartel5]

09:10 PM on 12/29/2009

Biggest disappointment? Has to be barry. Of course.

[Golden111]

10:28 PM on 12/29/2009

Was there ever any doubt??????

[talkitreal]

07:51 PM on 12/29/2009

I bet that President Obama will fullfill most of the promises he made during the election -- BUT it is also important for rational folks to realize that without Democrats in the Congress who can vote for the bills that need to be passed that will benefit Democrats -- we need to make sure that we KEEP real Democrats in the Congress, and get MORE in the Congress in 2010 --- If the Teabaggers, and the Republicans are able to get more Senators in the Senate -- they will shut that place down - Obama will be stopped at every turn by Republicans, who want BOTH the President, and the Democrats to fail.
And we also CANNOT allow any more Republicans, or Teabaggers to win house seat either - More Republican will just shut down the House in 2010, and beyond, if they are allowed to win in 2010.

[tbone99]

11:32 PM on 12/29/2009

Having more Dems has not helped us any more than having Repugs , especially when the prez has done everything but back flips to please them.

The Dems have failed us on their own - they don't deserve our votes.They only went out of their way for the Repug constituency .

[Oxonian2001]

05:29 PM on 12/29/2009

con'd

It's almost a year later. We didn't expect Obama to perform any miracles, but we didn't expect him to leave intact so many of GWB's policies. This is why so many are disappointed. So for those of you trying to claim that progressives are T-baggers and vice-versa, you are being disingenuous at best, idiotic at worst.

[Oxonian2001]

05:29 PM on 12/29/2009

Many of you have been comparing the progressives to the T-baggers--and it's certainly an interesting comparison. But there are crucial differences that you won't comprehend unless you have a few functioning brain cells.

Remember that many of the baggers were ALREADY opposed to Obama even before he stepped in. They were the leftover Palinbots and assorted kooks who loved screaming SOCIALISM at the top of their lungs. (Read Glenn Beck's Common (non)Sense and you'll know what I'm taking about.) They're the kooks opposed to the bailouts--but curiously, also think that there's nothing wrong with the execs from those banks earning big bucks. (Actually, these folks should be thanking Obama that we;re just about as far from socialism as we ever were and that he's still a slave to the same corporate vision.)

Progressives, on the other hand, were genuinely elated with Obama when he stepped in. And things looked good at first--for instance, when he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Act. Many of us were still rooting for him when he discussed the necessity of the public option this summer. (And I was amongst them.) Even though by then he wanted to brush aside the investigation and prosecution of GWBand did a reversal on releasing detainee photos without actually addressing the glaring problems on Wall Street. (thanks to his stubborn clinging to Geithner and Summers)

[evekendall]

09:17 PM on 12/29/2009

I've been reading your comments over the last few threads. I'm now your newest fan.

[Oxonian2001]

10:41 PM on 12/29/2009

I have read yours elsewhere--thanks for THINKING! (And fanned too!)

[jayevans20]

04:13 PM on 12/29/2009

I agree Mitie, the far left has gotten out of hand. After 11 and a half months, your going to abandon Obama for having a hefty agenda which included helping out the left? Wow. The HP has gone wwwwaaaaaayyyyyyy to the left. Can we as Independents and Liberals give the man at least 2 years?

[nilotic]

04:26 PM on 12/29/2009

It's not how long he has been in office, it's the direction he is moving in a number of areas- right of center. The president works for us, and I will support him if he shows that he is fighting for us, but thus far he has shown himself to be a corporatist.

[Oxonian2001]

04:37 PM on 12/29/2009

You've nailed it. It would be one thing if Obama tried genuinely hard and got defeated in his measures: but so far, we've only seen tepid approaches. Otherwise, why would he so plainly LIE that he never promised the public option when he had been promising so since 2007?

And where the real curbs on executive bonuses like in the UK and France? (Begging pretty please to Wall St. ain't gonna do it!) Or a much needed additional tax brackets and higher taxes (Hoover and FDR certainly anticipated that such moves would not make them popular, but they knew it was the RIGHT thing to do.)

The excuse that he's only had one year is a lame one at best. Does it really take that long to realize that wireless taps are WRONG? Or that landmines are WRONG?

[tbone99]

11:36 PM on 12/29/2009

Given that he has a WH full of Goldman Sachs agents and recycled Bush and Clinton decisionmakers - it doesn't two years to see what his agenda is....and it's not the left in any way , shape or form.

[chewie2008]

03:58 PM on 12/29/2009

The guy sitting in the White House.What a corporate fraud he turned out to be.

[mitsie]

01:32 PM on 12/29/2009

The worse thing, is the whiners, crying in their beer, who thought this President was superman, who could leap bounds to Congress, and ensure they would pass all of his bills within 12 months. If this President had not bailed out the banks, and we slipped into a Depression, what would you people say? You would be bitching that he didn't do anything about it. We are making money on the bailout money to banks, check it out on Google.

This President has taken more crap from the right and the left, and the media. I am frustrated, angry and embarrased at the citizens who have done nothing more, then sit at their computers and complain. If these people have all the answers, they should call the White House and meet with Rahm.

I am embarrased because American citizens don't appreciate anything. They want everything instantly and have no gratification when things do get passed. i.e. the stimulas package has saved millions of jobs, just search Google for the CBO report. How do you think we look to citizens around the world, with our teabaggers, birthers, KKK, gun lovers, GOP politicans and yes, the far left. This constant drumbeat has to stop and Progressives have to stop their constant complaining. At least have the decentsy to give our President three more years to get things accomplished. Further, you never would see bloggers on the right being this critical of Bush. Yes, this is embarrasing.

[CLASSWARWELOST]

02:10 PM on 12/29/2009

Why complain when the man you voted for sold you out. Deal with your own cognitic dissonance. The part sucks. You can dismiss progressives as tea baggers to your party’s doom. I had been a 40-year Democrat and I quit this party for they are nothing but a second string team for the corporatocracy. Secrets meetings with Big Pharma against the needs of the American people show exactly who this man is. You need to deal with reality not your preconceptions of what the Democratic Party pretends to be. Did it ever occur to you that Obama protects Lieberman because he is doing exactly what Obama wants? . Reality is right in your face. The man escalates war, protects Bush and war criminals. Is anything but Mr. Transparency he claimed to be. He will probably soon want Patriot Act renewed,. which I assume is reason for recent terrorist news. It’s the same ole stuff. People who object are patriots not tea baggers or comlainers. This is not the change we voted for and it is obcvious who this man is. Deal with it.

[Oxonian2001]

03:05 PM on 12/29/2009

Welcome to the alternative universe of the Obamabots. Here, Obama can do no wrong, because THE KING CAN DO NO WRONG!

Like you, I've been disillusioned by the Dems. In all honesty, the Repug and Dem parties are like the Tories and Whigs of 18th century Britain. Same ol same ol. Back then, they were spoiled scions of aristocratic families, educated at the then overrated Oxford and Cambridge. Today, they're predominantly from WASP families (or at least share that mindset), educated at the overrated Ivies. All live in much larger houses than necessary--like 5500 sq. ft mansions and 7.0000 vacation homes (and the latter during a time of economic crisis, no less!); all have fashion-obsessed wives who love shopping FOREIGN (then, it was France...today, it's still France as in Michelle's custom ordered Clergerie boots and the girls' dresses), etc. etc.

Now, if Obama and other Dems held to their promises, we wouldn't begrudge them anything. Not even a palace. As for the Repugs, we know we were going to be robbed blind so we're not particularly surprised. We just know we're never going to vote for them. (And if the Dems keep up their shenanigans for much longer, we shouldn't vote for them either. )

And meanwhile, the Obots and Bushbots hold their houses wide open and say "please take from me, please, please. You can even have my organs. I wanna be your serf and work on your estate."

[evekendall]

03:30 PM on 12/29/2009

Fanned!

[sandrasamnick]

01:05 PM on 12/29/2009

http://www.examiner.com/x-28964-Anchorage-Conservative-Examiner~y2009m12d28-The-New-World-Order-has-arrived