No one will argue the fact that we haven't seen such a divided Congress as we have now since the Civil Rights movement of 50+ years ago. Obama campaigned on the promise to bring the two Parties together to achieve the Economic Recovery Main Street so desperately needed. It is certainly obvious this has not happened. He started out his Presidency by blaming his predecessor and his Party for every ill facing America in January of 2009. He conveniently forgot to mention that the Democrats were the controlling Party in Congress in 2007 and 2008 or that they had failed to bring a National Budget during that time. He wasted two years focusing his attention on bailing out Wall Street and his dismal Healthcare Plan that has been shown to actually raise taxes on the Middle-class, something else he promised not to do. Is it any wonder then that this Nation is further apart politically than it was when he took office?
The Democrats and the Republicans have declared a war upon each other much to the disgust of much of America. The ranks of Independent voters have swelled to near-record levels in the last 20 years with the most often cited reason is the drift of both Parties away from their more Moderate positions. Some will argue the Left has become more Left Leaning while other will say they have moved too far Right of the spectrum. The disenfranchised-Republicans-turned-Independent most often cite the move to the extreme Right by the Republican Party as their motivator. Whatever their reasons, the Independents are now enjoying a unprecedented pivotal position in the upcoming election in November. In my humble opinion, it is the lack of of Congress to work together that has been the single biggest wedge being driven between the Parties former supporters and the Parties themselves. We certainly do not need an ALL Republican or ALL Democrat led government. We need both sides to keep us centered so that we do not tip too far towards either extreme of Socialism or Plutocracy.
The outright Obstructionism of Obama was publicly announced when Mitch McConell stated that it was the Republican agenda in Congress was to ensure that Obama was a one-term President during the run-up to the 2010 mid-term elections. While this is a very common notion, apparently saying it in a Publicly aired interview is a big no-no. Because of it, the Republican Party has been castigated for speaking openly about what is the political goal of every losing party in a Presidential race since George Washington. It didn't help that for the two years prior, almost every attempt to pass legislation was blocked by filibusters by the Republicans. Again, a tactic also employed by the Democrats in Congress in the past, but this time it seemed like it was personal to some people. At least that is the way they painted it in the Mainstream Media anyway. Once again, the derision of the Republican Party since his election came back to haunt Obama as he found his efforts being blocked by those he was publicly attacking in the media and blaming for all of the Nations ills while ignoring the complicity of his own Party in the economic woes we faced as a Nation.
Those who opposed his policies were quickly labeled as "racist". Nearly any criticism of him is based upon his race apparently if the comments to surely follow below are any proof. This is funny really since Obama himself has played the Race Card on occasion. In a speech he gave at Hampton in 2007, he shamelessly panders to the largely black crowd by his assuming a more "black" dialect than any he has shown in previous speeches for one, and actual references to "black" neighborhoods versus "white" suburbs needing more for another, and painting black youths as unable to get up for work on time, unable to speak properly, and unable to dress appropriately for a job on their own. Had McCain or Romney made such comments to a black crowd, they would have been eviscerated as racist. Because he is a self-identified "Black Man" though, Obama is allowed to point out these failings of HIS specific race instead of being Politically Correct and pointing out that this is a problem which knows no racial boundaries amongst our youth. These are things ALL races must be taught at some point in their youth ans implying that this problem is limited to young black Americans is racist to the core.
He goes on to invoke the race card several more times, further opening the slow healing race wound we are still battling to this day. He openly alleges that Washington, D.C. ignores the plight of black communities while giving preferential treatment to white communities whenthey are hit by disasters. I happen to agree with his evaluation of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Andrew, and the 9/11 attack and the response of the Federal Government, but does this really help to heal the Racial Divide? He and his supporters have made Race an issue when it need not be. He has already accomplished something no other President ever has simply by being elected the first Black President of the United States of America and should have used this as a way to ensure that such racial discrimination is eliminated from Federal Agencies in the future. He is, and should be proud, of that accomplishment of being the first black man elected to the Office of President of the United States of America, but that is where the Race issue should stop being relevant. Unfortunately, his legacy will be tarnished by the racial Divide he has openly propagated.
Great Uniter? Sorry, but this is a mantle he will not be able to achieve this term. Should he win a second term come November, if he fails again to bring both Parties together to solve the economic troubles we face, his Presidency will go down in History as a failed one following the previous failed one of Bush. I'm afraid the wounds he has re-opened between the races and the political parties will prove insurmountable and it is us, the American Citizens, who will bear the brunt of his failure through heightened racial and class tensions. I will not be surprised that upon retiring from the Oval Office he becomes a recluse from the political scene like his predecessor has should he lose this election or his next term prove to be another failure like this one is. At this point, he has very little to trade upon other than the division he has brought to this country not only along racial and political lines, but also along the lines of personal wealth and personal beliefs as he openly attacked Christians and supporters of the 2cnd Amendment which crosses all political and racial lines as core beliefs of the majority of Americans. Obama has not brought us together as promised. He has further fractured and divided this country along every possible demographic line there is. To re-elect him may be a bigger mistake than electing him was in the first place if the goal is to bring us together as a Nation.
