http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/opinion/04dowd.html?em This is in addition to Paul Krugman's recent article. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/opinion/02krugman.html?_r=1&em The Obama bubble is bursting, and I didn't think it would happen this fast. The journalists who built built him up to the sky are now gonna tear him down. LOL. What happened to the Messiah who was gonna save America and save the world? Where's the change we can believe in?
Here are a couple comments by readers: Ah, how the mighty have fallen-or at least seem to be skidding sideways. I'm a liberal who wishes Obama well but don't see how much of anything different can be accomplished by putting the same old same old into positions of power. I really was hoping to see some faces I hadn't seen before. I was also hoping that Obama and his new band of merry followers would stand up to the callousness of the Republicans. During hard times we need to take care of our less fortunate citizens to an even greater extent than during easy times. Now is not the moment to cut back on social services. In fact, I'd like to see 100% of the stimulus go to infrastructure (repair bridges and roads that have been neglected for two wasteful wars), mass transportation (let's get our train system running efficiently before the oil gives out), and programs (including universal health care) that will shore up those who need help right now. Let's look at our arrogant energy consumption and figure out how to cut back. Let's also insure that people keep their homes, no matter who made the mistakes: greedy bankers, greedy buyers, or a government who ignored all the signs of an impending financial disaster caused by both sets of idiots. And I'm sorry, but if making new jobs does call for a little protectionism--giving the contracts to our steel makers, our lumber mills, our unions--so be it. It doesn't mean that we cease to be good neighbors to the world, simply that we acknowledge that we need to focus our attention, for the moment, on ourselves in order to revitalize our economy and thus the world. It's like those instructions you get on a plane--when the oxygen masks fall from the ceiling, put yours on first before you help the people around you. Having everyone unconscious does no one any good. And while we're looking at our country to see who needs help, maybe we can come out on the other side of this depression as a better part of the world community. Greener, kinder, stronger. â me, eugene, oregon Ms. Dowd, The bloom is fading fast on Obama's rose. The candidate who once said, "Yes, we can," is now busy recanting, "I am sorry I did." And with good reason. The Obama who promised change has just given us more of the same old Washington cronyism. First there was the debacle of the Richardson nomination. Now there is the disaster of the Daschle withdrawal. What is next for Obama? What soaring rhetoric can we expect beyond his first round of predictable mea culpas? Will he say that everyone has a patriotic duty to pay their taxes except his cronies? Will he excoriate corruption in everyone except those whom he owes a political favor? Of course, Obama's precipitous fall from grace should come as no surprise. A man who bears the ludicrous mantle of secular savior hood can only disappoint former acolytes like Ms. Dowd. But there are things more important to the American polity than Ms. Dowd's disappointment in Obama. As bad as Obama is, the Democratic Congress is far worse. And it will only become more problematic if Obama does not recover from these serious stumbles and govern the country with bi-partisan consensus. Given the Hobson's choice between Obama and Pelosi, we should choose Obama no matter how painful that choice may be. â Steve, Miami http://community.nytimes.com/article/comments/2009/02/04/opinion/04dowd.html
Of course, Obama's precipitous fall from grace should come as no surprise. A man who bears the ludicrous mantle of secular savior hood can only disappoint former acolytes like Ms. Dowd. Much can be said in just one sentence.
Seven days in May...it's the only way to stop a non-right-wing kook job. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058576/