Posted by
Patrick Henry on Monday, February 09, 2009 12:53:05 PM
President Barack Obama was elected on a platform of change. Arguing that "Washington
is broken," he promised a government of transparency, rejection of pork-barreling and a
curb on the powerful lobbies. The campaign began around a drumbeat of "change we can
believe in," and ended on the note of "change we need."
Observers have already begun to note the distinctions between the noble promises and
the "realities on the ground." Promises to eschew "Washington insiders" have evaporated
into a flood of cabinet nominees who are nothing but. "I will end this war," has now turned into perhaps in 23 months, with the only troop withdrawals being those authorized by Obama's unpopular predecessor. "Spendulus," or "Porkulus," depending on which commentator's jargon you prefer, is the mother of all big government spending boondoggles that even Obama's vice president admits has at least a 30% chance of failing to help the struggling economy. The nominee vetting process is in a shambles, with one nominee after another belatedly confessing failures to pay taxes due. The close of Guantanamo has been announced, with no firm plan as to where to put the detainees there, and evidence mounting that previous occupants now at liberty have already resumed killing Americans. And now the government wants to borrow more money -- over eight billion dollars -- than the country has borrowed in total between the Civil War and the the Carter administration. None of this is even remotely "change we can believe in," let alone "change we need." Barack Obama cannot change Washington, and there are good reasons why.
First, it is impossible to change a pervasive culture of falsehood by simply telling bigger and bolder lies. This is as much an indictment of politics as usual as it is of Obama. Americans seem to meekly accept the fact that their politicians routinely lie to them, and it further seems that the more brazen the falsehoods, the larger the winner's electoral plurality. During the campaign, Obama promised with a straight face that he would (a) reduce taxes, (b) increase targeted government spending, and (c) balance the budget. Historians, economists and most rational people know that doing all three simultaneously is a fiscal impossibility. Developments since Obama's election have made that reality even clearer. Obama promised the impossible, something he had to know that he could not deliver. As long as whoppers like this one comprise the information voters believe, politicians will continue to outdo one another at telling bald-faced lies. And Washington will never change.
Washington will never change as long as those who made it what it is keep being recycled into positions of power. Obama's list of cabinet nominees looks like a who's who of Bill Clinton's leftovers, with a smattering of environmental and energy extremists thrown in for good measure. They are mostly just politicians, not people who have ever actually earned a living in the discrete areas of commerce, energy, agriculture and the like. What they share in common is a leftist agenda and a seeming reluctance to pay their taxes on time. Washington will never be changed by the same people who contributed to what it has become.
And Obama can't change Washington because of partisan politics. The sad fact is that people on both sides of the aisle have become radicalized in their philosophies and agendas. They like to fight, attack and, when in power, ram things down the other party's throat. Bipartisanship is a myth, and Obama's succesful stimulus courtship of three moderate Republican senators doesn't change that fact. Washington isn't about cooperation, it's about power. And until someone finds a formula to expose that for what it is, Washington will never change.
Barack Obama has no real motivation to change Washington. His party has the majority across the board, and they will give him anything he wants. At the end of the day Obama is still a flaming liberal with socialist ambitions, and it is to that ideology and structure that he wants to change the country. So long as Washington, as is, helps him along that road, he'll make no move toward real change.
So, you suckers who voted for him hoping for real change got hosed. And there are more whoppers yet to come. If the "Pinochhio Principle" applied, by summer Air Force One won't be big anough to accomodate Obama's nose.