Great Expectations.

[kentuck]

Following the soft bigotry of low expectations promoted by George W Bush, many people had great expectations of the new, intelligent, African-American President. Not just Americans but around the world, people were relieved and had high hopes of dramatic change.

But the system was set up against him. Before he even took office, the banks, with the assistance of George W Bush and Hank Paulson, pulled the greatest heist in history. They removed almost all the money in circulation from those that would borrow and create jobs and put that money into their own interests and investments. The President was handcuffed to do anything. Expectations sunk as the job market sunk. Wall Street soared. Big bonuses came back into style.

Congress, many connected at the hip to big corporations and insurance firms, was incapable of doing anything. They were mostly useless. In the end, they were left sniping and arguing with each other about who was to blame? So, they blamed the President. He did not lead.

However, it was not possible to lead this present Congress. The President may have over-estimated his own popularity and strength. He was left holding the bag. Unfortunately, the bag was empty.

[Mari333]

1. well, thats what I am finding amongst my dem friends

they were starving, expecting a huge feast. and ended up with a box of chicken mcnuggets instead.

[hayu_lol]

2. If the president was" left holding the bag"...

then why did he not go after the 'criminals responsible?'

He made his choice not to pursue...a decision that may well come back and bite him in the butt.

[rfranklin]

3. Those nuggets were already half digested and regurgitated...

by insurance companies who are trying to spoon feed us garbage and tell us it is "reform."

[KharmaTrain]

4. Well Stated My Friend...

I knew whoever would take over from boooosh would have a massive mess to clean up. One doesn't get a clean slate on inauguration day and President Obama inherited more messes than I had anticipated and has spent the majority of his first year putting out the fires with precious little left to move things forward.

Yes...he over-estimated the tone of the country. And so did some who voted for him. The Democrats won in spite of themselves...the rushpublicans had screwed things up so badly it worked in Obama's favor more than he may have realized. His broad coaltiion was as much a rejection of the rushpublicans and saw him as the anti-boooosh...something he isn't and couldn't be. There were those who put their hopes on him...wanting to believe one man could change everything at once. When it didn't happen, the doubts and now the knives have come out. It's what you've done for me lately.

The big mistake this administration has made is not to counter the lies and distortions that have forced them onto the defensive on almost every front. It's led to pissing off the left to molify the right and in turn no one is happy...Obama is now catching it from all sides. The big mistake this administration can make is to think that since both sides are upset this means they've found the "happy middle".

Congress...and in specific, the Senate is a root of a lot of problems. Weak Democratic leadership has allowed the prima donnas to run wild and bottled up a lot of very good reforms that have been passed out of the House. It's Reid's fear of rocking the boat with rushpublicans and inside his own caucus that has led to this dysfunction and needs to be addressed soon or this administration will get nothing passed.

What this President has really overestimated is the corporate media. They gave him a nice ride to the top, but now he's a target and isn't realizing that. He thought he could finesse 'em inside the beltway but is quickly learning (or he should) that it's money and egos that rule inside the beltway, not reason or accomodation.

Cheers...

[dgibby]

5. Expectations are inversely proportional to serenity.

The higher the expectation, the lower the serenity. I think that's what we're seeing on the Left, and it's painful. That's why there's so much anger now (justified,imo).