DID OBAMA BLINK?

It sure looked like it this week---when President Obama agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts for another two years for everybody, not just the middle class and including the very rich whom Obama had been targeting and villainizing for so long. But wait---there was a catch---the Republicans had to agree to a thirteen month extension of unemployment wages. You could call that a blink, but it seemed more of a nod--it wouldn't have looked good not to during this Christmas season, even though it's going to cost 56 billion dollars to fund it. Ah well, that's politics and what's another 56 billion? Yes, the Republicans came out ahead on this one. So, was it really a blink,on Obama's part--or was it a wink, that said, Okay, I'm busted. I'll give a little, you give a little, and we'll both live to fight another day? There are still plenty of issues ahead on Obama's agenda--the Health Care Bill, which is in danger of being revisited and revised, the START treaty with Russia, tougher or softer immigration laws , energy cap and trade controls, deep oil well drilling moratoriums on our shores, etc., etc. In order to move forward,Obama had to compromise and eat his rather smearing campaign words re "tax cuts for the wealthiest among us". But the rank and file left of left democrats are not at all happy with him, feeling he sold out to the "other side". President Obama, looking more like a politician eyeing his re-election prospects than a committed ideologist, stood firm and spoke double entendre words of wisdom on Mon., when he said, "it was the right thing to do." I wish he had really meant it was right not to raise taxes. For a brief moment in time,I naively thought he did and that maybe this man would finally learn to lead---I gave him points for standing up against some in his own party, and realizing that the time had come to rise above his own beliefs and do what he also promised to do--begin to stop the polarization so damaging to our country. But it has since become clear that he meant it was the right thing, the only thing he could do, given the "between a rock and hard place" situation he was in. It took a "shellacking" at the mid-term elections, for him to see that he wasn't going to become an effective President by forcing his will upon the people, and by shutting out the Republicans during the health care debate, and by making statements as he did to Senator John McCain ---"The campaign is over, John, and I won." His arrogance was constant and disturbing. But has he really changed? Or was he simply a man who knew when to fold his cards until the the next deal comes around? His comments to the press and his constituents since Monday have indicated he'll be back with a vengeance.

For now,we see a President with a very low approval rating, attempting to stop the hemorrhaging of his weakening presidency and a lame duck congress. He must compromise, negotiate, and listen, perhaps more than ever he has before. This is the big time, not Chicago politics, and we're not a community to be organized. If that means disappointing some of the people who put him where he is, Obama must risk their wrath. Perhaps, all of them should realize, that being President transcends playing favorites---the office of the President of the United States was never actually meant to steer the ship of state with only his own idialogical flag. If he wants all hands on deck, all rowing somewhat together, so that we can get someplace, he must inspire and make us believe once again that he wants what many of us want---an America we can be proud of again. Some call this belief in our particular brand of patriotism, "exceptionalism". Is that so bad? Do we not deserve that title? We have, since our inception, stood for a breed of people and government the likes of which no other country had achieved. We were different. Free of an over reaching government, our anscestors gladly took on the responsibilities of making their own way, not continuously looking for assistance or hand outs We became a strong, resilient, optimistic, and respected country, able to lead and share our wealth and technology with others. We became great, not by trying to be like other countries, but by allowing for as much individual freedom to flourish as possible, thereby nurturing strength and independence from the bottom up. By daring to care for ourselves, rather than leaning on a big nanny, demanding, ever more taxing government, we became the envy of the world. Now, as we deal with an economic crisis and frighteningly high unemployment, our true metal is being tested again. Severe budget cuts are on the horizon, and all of us will have to sacrifice in some way. But giving the government more and more money to spend as they see fit, and driving us more and more into debt is not the answer.

Whether for reasons of diplomacy or survival,President Obama has taken the first step since his presidency to show that he can compromise-- unbelievable and impressive, given his past record. But if he expects to be more than a one term president, he may have to do a lot more than compromise. His economic policies have failed, Obamacare is extremely unpopular, and our international relationships are growing weaker. To be great sometimes means to step aside, to listen, and to lay down your mantle of power so that others may speak. Obama has been good at doing this with other countries--now he must do it with his own. He may or may not do this in the future---but it appears this week's decision was not so much a compromise, or even a strategic move, as it was a decision made because there was no other choice when faced by a mandate made clear at the last election-- a huge push back that said, no more taxes, Mr. President. No more entitlements, no more stimulus, and ix-nay on your ideas of spreading the wealth via taxes of any kind.

We may need to make some changes, but not perhaps what you had in mind. Here's what many of us have in mind--- for now, knock off the class warfare bit. It's getting a little tiresome, and most of us realize the rich pay their fair share. Do what you were elected to do---protect, lead, but don't divide by pitting us against each other by continuously using words like "fight" and "hostage taking by the Republicans" when referring to the heretofore stalled bill on extending unemployment benefits. We believe that we can rise again if you will stop trying to reinvent us into something we never intended to be--if not a socialist government, it's simply too close for comfort. If this week's decision was a blink--we'll take it. It it was a nod, we'll take that. We'll even give you another chance, if you move more to the center. But if Monday's language was a wink that really said,'I had to do it guys, but I'll be back for much more'---Katie, bar the door! Game on.