Oh boy. I hate this feeling. The feeling that my Democratic president is way too middle of the road and doesn't actually stand for my progressive beliefs like I had hoped he did when he nattered on back in the day, when he campaigned for my vote.
I had this feeling back in 2000, hence my membership in the Green Party and my support of Ralph Nader. And all the while it turned out Al Gore was a fiesty green peacenik hippie who likes to call "Bullsh*t!" on all the pseudoscientists of the world that proclaim climate change is not a man-made phenomenon. If only he'd been more like that on the campaign trail. But he wasn't.
Instead there was only a thin veil of difference in the things that Candidate Gore and Candidate Bush were saying about how they would govern. What they said and what they did turned out to be completely different things. I witnessed that way after the fact--when it was most certainly too late.
And here I am again. Disappointed in my not-lefty-enough president and feeling very down indeed about it. Only back then, more than 10 years ago, I was younger, more hopeful that things could change and more certain that if you worked hard and did your best, you would be rewarded with a decent living and a decent job and a decent income.
I don't feel that hopeful anymore. And without a strong leader to believe in and to try to lead the country into being fixed, it's hard not to want to run away to some cozy island that has a AAA credit rating.
Here's some very smart articles articulating the particulars of why I'm feeling so very blue over my not-so-blue Democratic president. (More like lavender with very aubergine tendencies).
Robert Reich "Why the President Doesn’t Present a Bold Plan to Create Jobs and Jumpstart the Economy"
(via Senator Bernie Sanders's webpage) Drew Westen "What Happened to Obama?"
Only compared to the other candidates for president in 2012, he's definitely the best bet. I mean, Michelle Bachman? As unprofessional and petty as that Newsweek cover was, there's a hint of the truth of why she scares the crap out of me in the fact that it illustrates she is bat shit crazy. Rick Santorum? Google it. Rick Perry? Has not read the part of the Constitution that says the US shall take no official religion. Mitt Romney? Well, who is he? Is he a middle of the road guy like when he was governor here in MA? Is he conservative, like when he campaigned in 2008? I don't know. I don't care to find out either.
So, what to do besides just be angry and sad? I'm not sure. I'll have to think about it.