Too bad about the Obama Administration. It actually seemed to show some promise in its early months. It actually seemed to have a real commitment to change, a desire to see in crises at home and abroad opportunities to strike out in different directions that would lead to a brighter future for Americans and the world generally. But now it’s clear. That ain’t gonna happen.
On the domestic front we’ve seen the sad and in many ways incomprehensible continuation of Bush-era economics. Feeding banks and Wall Street in hopes these institutions would dribble down some scraps to the rest of us, the proof of which would be seen in growth numbers such as the GDP. The GDP has jumped but there have been few dribbles. Instead we’re getting a numbers based “recovery” with few if any Main Street benefits. A major, major failure, with worse to come.
And there’s the international front. A very critical area being Arab-Israeli peace. This has seen no improvement here since Jim Banker during the first Gulf War made it clear that the United States was the superpower that set the policy, and Israel was obliged to follow our lead. Since first Bush and Baker, America’s Middle East policy has been to pretty much back whatever policy-makers in Jerusalem wanted to do, with the occasional meek request for moderation. In essence, we merely served as messenger boy for Israel’s communications with its neighbors.
In keeping with this pathetic role, just yesterday Secretary Clinton formally backed off the original Obama demand that Israel stop its illegal settlement activities in order to start a real peace dialogue with the Palestinians. She delivered this message to Abbas, the Palestine head, in person. So the main Obama change here: delivery girl replaces the usual delivery boy.
Next stop on the going-almost-nowhere Obama express? A domestic health care reform that if it passes (Joe Lieberman willing) will fall far short of making national health care a true right that’s prudently funded. And abroad, a deeper leap into the graveyard of empires, Afghanistan, in support of a slick operator named Karzai who held his ground and jerked our chain as effectively as Natanyahu did a few countries over.
Well, I guess things could be worse. If John McCain had been elected we might also be war with Iran by now.