"Where is the Obama who inspired hope of real change?"

[demmiblue]

"Two days after the national celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth and the day after a little-known Republican defeated a Democrat for the U.S. Senate seat that Ted Kennedy held for 47 years, I went searching for Barack Obama.

I wasn’t searching for President Obama, the man who has yet to reject the Democratic contribution to the partisan warfare that is killing Washington.

I searched for the Obama who wanted to institute real change in Washington, the one who tapped a fount of young energy, excitement and (millions of) dollars by being radical and challenging the status quo.

<snip>

Finally, after hours of searching, I found Barack Obama, not the president, but the candidate, the man who changed the way elections are won and who, last November, quite simply, took down a whites-only sign from another building in America’s continuing civil rights movement.

I found him back on March 18, 2008, in a speech in Philadelphia that was partly about race, but mostly about change.

<snip>

Maybe Obama’s not just in the wrong place, but has adapted to the wrong political system. I’m searching for the Obama who knows that — and the millions of Americans who crave the change he promised a year ago.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100120/COL10/100120052/1164/Where-is-the-Obama-who-inspired-hope-of-real-change&&template=fullarticle

[babylonsister]

1. OMG, he's just...gone. nt

[demmiblue]

2. Thanks for reading the article

[babylonsister]

5. You are welcome. And fyi, he hasn't gone anywhere. Thankfully. nt

[demmiblue]

6. I am guessing that you didn't.--- unless you are a speed reader.

[babylonsister]

8. I read enough to know this was another 'lambast Obama' post. I'm

actually getting a lot of practice in spotting them, which is why I post positive opinions, to counteract all you naysayers who are salivating to think the worst. Because, you know what? It's not so and he's trying really hard to meet his obligations. Not everyone will be satisfied, maybe not half, but the man is serious, and he's working for the greater good of all of us (what a novel concept after the past 8 years), whether you want to believe that or not.

[demmiblue]

9. So, in other words, you didn't read the link?

[Botany]

3. He is right here

The man has a good heart and means well ..... end of story.

BTW @ 4:53 PM the quake struck Haiti by 5:30 PM he was on the phone getting help started.

[demmiblue]

10. Yes he does!

But it is not the end of the story.

[donheld]

17. Meaning well and doing well aren't always the same thing.

[midnight]

4. Good...

[xchrom]

7. Smoke and mirrors. Nt

[FrenchieCat]

11. A Rebuttal.

His work is seen on all channels right now,
brought to you by the people that supported him.....
The program is called "Hope for Haiti Now"......
and every single star who supported Obama throughout
is on singing or speaking their hearts out so that we may come together
and give for the least fortunate.

In this country, "We are the ones that we are waiting for".

Don't know where you are, but it ain't up to one person,
it is up to all of us; even the most cynical ones at heart.

Take note, and stop looking elsewhere then in the mirror....
and you might find something that gives you hope....
if it ain't there, just keep looking,
and you may find it one day.

[demmiblue]

12. Here you go, sweetie:

http://www.freep.com/article/99999999/opinion04/50926009

Go rebut the author.

[FrenchieCat]

13. That's exactly what I was doing......

I posted it in this tread, since I was responding to this OP specifically.

Whether some might agree with this one person's opinion, at least they get to read
a different viewpoint as to what Hope and change really means
....as it means many things
to many people.

Some folks simply want hope and change handed to them,
and stomp away after a year's time....
while others understand that it is a work in progress,
and something to be worked towards brick by brick,
block by block, etc...
and that change is always hard,
and it always, always takes a lot of hope
for those who choose it.

It is a simple concept.

There is no pill to take,
or no one man to bring it.

[demmiblue]

15. Again... go ahead and rebut the author.

You have the link... go ahead!

[LWolf]

14. He was a figment of the hopeful's imagination. nt

[Clio the Leo]

16. There was an old couple who'd dated since high school.....

... and when they were teenagers, the girl would sit next to the boy as he drove his old truck, snuggled up to him.

Fifty years later, she was pressed as far to the passenger side door as she could be without actually being OUTSIDE of the truck. She looked over at her husband, still sitting in the driver's seat and said, "why dont we snuggle like we did when we first dated?"

The husband looked at his wife with a puzzled expression and said, "well, I haven't moved."

[boppers]

18. LOL, nice little story.

Very apropos in this case, as well. Take a look at his speech, and Q/A, from yesterday, and Obama's in the same place. The pundits, however, have definitely shifted.