Q: Measuring Change

[H2O Man]

I did not watch President Obama's speech last night. This was a change for me. It was the first time that I made the choice not to watch/listen to him.

My question to you -- and although it is simple, it is intended as both serious and sincere -- is: Has President Obama changed Washington, or has Washington changed Barack Obama?

[Fumesucker]

1. Neither..

I wasn't a fan of any of the major Dem candidates including Obama, I think he's essentially the same person he was when he took office.

Obama is better than any conceivable Republican alternative but that particular bar is so low you'd need a tunneling machine to even reach it.

[babylonsister]

2. I think Washington

has disappointed him. He had grand visions, and is met at every turn with people who don't want him to accomplish those visions, rethugs and Dems.
Last night, because he didn't throw * and Cheney in prison, he is now perceived as a bad guy, here on DU and elsewhere.
He can't win, but I love that he keeps trying.

[Panaconda]

3. Nothing has changed

Of course it would be laughable to even consider that Obama changed D.C. as we can see by the activities of our governing bodies. They carry on just the same representing their true constituents, which is big money.

It is also an oversight to believe D.C. has changed Obama, as he has always been a rather conservative politician and has always been enthralled by the big political career and proved early on that he would play the game with big money to advance his political career.

If it is something you are interested in you can study his early career in the Illinois state senate and see quite clearly that Obama was never the man that many believed him to be.

[mmonk]

4. It's hard to tell. I don't know if it is that I misjudged him all along.

This is not to be taken as an insult to Obama. I just thought he might be a little more progressive than Hillary Clinton, not so much as the same. Sibel Edmonds told me after I had told her I was a delegate for Obama that she didn't think things would be better for whistleblowers under Obama though she congratulated me, and she still expected a problem based on what she knew of him. I told her I had decided to become one due to his pledge to the American Freedom Campaign pledge about the Constitution and executive branch power. But it turns out she was closer to right than me. I have also been quite bothered by the health care bill as it was shaped vs. what candidate Obama said about a public option. But the real surprise has come regarding this deficit commission and education. They both blindsided me. So whatever I think, it doesn't really matter anymore. I will continue to press members of Congress to make the right decisions on behalf of those that voted for them. He well could have just been a member of the DC bubble all along.

[Solly Mack]

5. I watched it a few minutes ago. I was busy celebrating my eejit's birthday yesterday.

Washington hasn't changed. If Obama has changed, it has been an internal change - one not likely seen by the public at large. A personal change, so to speak, that only those close to him would notice.... And one that hasn't been allowed to surface in his public face.

That said ....I think America is undergoing some growing pains and as is almost always the case...those involve change. Some of it is a long time coming and may not end with a positive good. A big theme of that change being how those who consider themselves the dominate cultural factor (white/christian) see the rest of us. We see that in the treatment of marriage for all, equality for all (marriage, serving in the military, being a Muslim in America) I don't know how any of that will play out...I know I want America to do the right thing...I also know that America isn't the least bit afraid to do the wrong thing and then shamelessly justify the doing of it.


Some change is good already. It matters not what anyone thinks of Obama (on one level - and it's a biggie), America elected a person whose skin hue sets him apart from past presidents....and that is a good change. We're experiencing the ignorance that comes along with that change...and we could go back if that ignorance carries the day...but I'm thinking it won't. The ignorance won't go away but the precedent has been set..and the ignorance can't change that...which is one reason the hate is so vocal.


If America embraces the false narrative of there being no war crimes to prosecute then America has in many ways chosen its path for the future - and such can change the core of a country. People begin to believe torture is necessary or can be easily explained away. That wars of lies are the to be celebrated and cheered. Children grow up to accept that governments lie and that's just the way it is...so you have to just accept those lies and all the abuses and crimes that come with them. Teach a people to turn a blind eye to atrocities and you can do anything you want to such a people and they'll just beg for more. No change there, I guess...


Oh my...sorry. Such a simple question to have been so wordy a reply.

[mmonk]

6. .

Kicking for more responses.

:kick:

[mmonk]

7. I have often wondered about another thing.

The people he seemed to pull together as a team when he was a candidate vs. the cabinet he chose seem opposed to each other in outlook or vision in some ways. I would like to know if this was just for the campaign and was planned all along or if he was pursuaded into making his cabinet choices. If I had known who he would choose, I would have been thinking differently.

[SalviaBlue]

8. No and no.

I think the PTB are to strong to allow much change in Washington. I think Obama knows what he is up against. (I do believe he is against them.) I still believe he has the capacity to steer us away from the crash course the 'Cons have set us on.

Obama's presidency has helped to pull the curtain aside and shown us just how little control we have and how much power we have allowed the corporate interests to have. I think more and more people are realizing this.

I will not give up on Obama and turn away. I think if we allow ourselves to believe the narrative coming from the right and become discouraged, we are sunk.

[Me.]

9. It's Hard To Say

I can't decide if the joke is on us. Was it all campaign rhetoric or was/is he for real? For me the final tests will be SS, Elizabeth Warren, DADT and the tax breaks for the rich.

[stevedeshazer]

10. The jury is still out.

So far, my opinion is that Pres. Obama is very, very slowly changing Washington. Not quickly enough for most of us, but a positive step, especially compared to the alternative which would be McCain.

I know turning the metaphorical ship of state around is tough, especially given thirty, okay fifty, years of right wing crap dating back at least to the John Birchers.

Cautiously optimistic here.

Good question and nice photo.