JMO - Promises lost

We all know Presidential candidates and the political parties promise a view of the world on values, issues, problems, and so on down the litany of them, as we've heard over and over again. And we know they promise solutions and answers. And we know they tell us about their personal view and values on them, along with promises to do what we ask and they say they will.

Then they get elected, and true to form as they say, "All bets are off." Everything is forgotten, promises and all, including values. It's good we have an intelligent President, probably one of the smartest in recent decades. But he's done what they've all done, abandoned his promises and checked his values at the door to the White House. He's very bright but not very smart.

He hasn't learned, or at least shown he's learned, burning bridges with those who voted to elect you isn't very smart. And now he's seeing the great divide between the moderate-to-liberal democrats and independents who wanted change and himself. I won't say he explicitly lied, but it's fair to say he standing on the line between truth and lies.

He's standing on the double edge sword between his base and his politics. And he's on the way to falling on his sword in 2012 if he doesn't learn and change, and then do what he actually promised which is namely return our government back to the people and what we value as a nation with liberties, rights and protections with a government which works for the peole and not for the intrusion into our lives and privacy.

He decided early in his term of office to jettison the base view he had in order to engage the right, especially the extreme right. He has seen over and over the Republicans are the party of "NO!" and they won't budge. But he keeps moving his position from the left to the center and now to the center-right, and he keeps losing the political battles. And yes he has given us something, but far short of what he promised.

We wanted the publiic option. He promised it and jettisoned it quickly, too quickly in order to win. He was more into winning than remembering it's the quality of the win that matters, just just the act of winning. Winning a bad healthcare bill isn't winning but losing. Giving the people crumbs and the industry platefuls isn't winning for the people. The promise he made and abandoned just to win.

We wanted curbs on intelligence gathering powers on citizens, the repeal of provisions in the Patroit Act. We got more intrustion, more intelligence agencies and contractors, and less rights against the intrusions. We got conned as he not only continued the Bush practices and policies, he expanded it several times over again. It's out of control and he's happier than anyone because he's fighting terrorism.

At the price of civil rights and liberties. He doesn't really care, about us, or the law, or our country. Only more intrusion and less protections. He lied in the campaign and he's being silent now. He promised to curb the military work in foreign countries as an international policy. He's doubled or tripled those efforts, even in other soverign nations not at war with the US by writing checks to corrupt governments, training their military and providing intelligence information.

Rather than focus on what's important in the fight against extremists - notice he stopped using that description and went to war on terror and called it a fight against our way of life. Gee, just like ole' GW himself. Couching the same idea in fancier words doesn't make it better, only prettier. No less platable to us, just harder to believe.

Most of all, however, he promised to stand for values the Democrats and many independents have fought for against the Republicans and Libertarians who want to exploit government for their personal gain. And he has failed and is failing badly to keep even the smallest promise and preserve the least value. All in the name of something we see and don't understand, trying to appease the right.

We see they won't be appeased even when the President and the Democrats offer the Republicans own ideas. They're entrenched with their political feet in concrete to their views and values. The only word they know is "NO!" and the only views they express are lies. Even in the face of the truth, they deny it and keep lying.

And the President keeps extending his hand to get it cut off. All the while ignoriing, then forgetting and finally abandoning those who got him his job. As it stands now he won't get my vote in 2012. I won't vote for his opponents, but I won't vote for him. I will vote my own "NO!" about and to him. He has failed me and the American people.

He and his press secretary keeps saying we've made gains, but not the gains he promised or the gains he and we could have gotten in a real tough political fight. He abandoned women's rights. He's abandoned environmental protection (after all BP donated money to his campaign). He's abandon civil rights and liberties. He's abandoned real affordable (universal) healthcare.

He's abandoned the people who need jobs, want to afford homes, want a good life for their family. All he's left for us are crumbs. Recession or depression is a matter of sematics. He didn't do and hasn't done enough. Enough of what he promised and we expected from those promises. He is no different than any other politician these days. He lies.

And the truth is lost in the dust under his shoes. LIke us.