Some may say that it's almost poetic, that on the day following a national holiday honouring America's most iconic black leader--Dr. Martin Luther King, America's first black president is being inaugurated into office.
Yet, will a man who is increasingly showing a right-leaning attitude, really change anything in the next four years?
A lot of damage was done by a regimeist-like Bush administration, who oft-times treated Congress and the senate more like employees than representatives of the people. From human rights violations, to treaty-breaking, wanton ignorance of citizen's constitutional rights, to environmental damage, financial disaster and war-mongering, the Bush administration has proved far more destructive to America's standing in the world, and the American way of life, than any terrorist organization could ever have done, if they'd planned this.
Americans stood by Obama, because of longing and a hope that the man could reverse at least some of the negatives that a pseudo-patriotic, crude, childish and single-minded Bush had heaped upon his own nation.
Yet, even before today, Obama has done an awful lot of backpedaling on his campaign promises. True, the world has changed slightly since the election year began...but not to someone who was awake and aware of what was happening. A year ago, millions were in ignorance--but six months ago, there should have been some awareness...and certainly in the month leading up to 14th November--when a president-elect Obama was still making the same campaign promises--should have lead to some more truthful statements from him...but he was quite silent about the realistic future.
And, Obama has shown his right-leaning conservative side, more than once since being elected. He's choosen outright conservatives to be members of his cabinet, he clearly supports Israel, has praised the policies of Ronald Regan, is having a conservative pastor--whose social outlook clearly is anti-abortion, anti-stem cell research and very much anti-gay--give the ignuagral benediction, he has vowed to pull out of Iraq...eventually, but wants more troops to go to Afghanistan, he has pulled back on some of his campaign promises in support of trade unions/workers, as he is doing with some of his economic promises, as well.
Some will say that Obama wants only to compromise--which after Bush, is indeed a breath of fresh air...but others say that the man is proving to be somewhat of a wishy-washy man, a jobsworth, who in trying to bring everyone together, is showing a weakness for backing away too easily from his promises to the American people.
I'm not saying Obama isn't going to be America's new savior, not by a long chalk...but, I am advising caution in putting too much faith in a man, who has yet to show us his true colours--it took Bush a year or so for some of us--and 7 years for the rest of the world--to show the kind of "man" he truly was...perhaps Obama really is a centreist liberal, or...perhaps he's just a progressive conservative in liberal's clothing.
