Heck Of A Job Tim

Oh, how I hated to come to a time when I was willing to title a blog post with those words.


But I have to say, unless it becomes clear that the MSM is guilty of an attempt at character assassination of President Obama, I'm afraid that I will become more disappointed day by day by what Obama is reported to be saying and doing.


When Gene Washington of WaPo questioned Tim Geithner's thinking, when the whole world came to know about Obama's thoughtless and insulting gaff on Leno, when it became clear that Obama left Charles Freeman to twist in the wind, as did fellow Dem Senator Shumer and Dem Speaker Pelosi, when Paul Krugman ,writing about Geithner's plan, now becoming known as "Cash for Trash", opined that it "fills me with despair", when the Dow jumped 7% the day the details of the plan are announced, a plan which essentially rewards those self serving so-called Masters of the Universe for their role in taking down the world wide economy, when I heard that Obama is actually continuing some of the secrecy policies of the Bush administration, when Obama decided to do his own surge in Afghanistan, a place on earth that is more a badlands than a real country, just to name a few, I've become more cynical by the day about the Obama administration.


I've been trying to be one who resists jumping to negative conclusions. After all he's been president for only a few weeks, and he's dealing with so much crap bequeathed him by the Bush/Cheney crowd who had eight long years to create the toxic super site that is our current economy, having inherited a healthy surplus in 2000. At the same time he's trying to rescue us from the financial quick sand he inherited, he wants to get things rolling on health care, and provide relief for those who lost their homes, jobs and dreams.


If Obama is a pragmatist which some claim him to be, the positive attribute of that approach is summed up in the old saw, "Chase the balls you can catch". The negative attribute of that approach is knuckling under to the powers against you. The long range value of such an approach is being willing to knuckle under for now, luring in the opposition to gain their favor in the long run, and reminding them that they can be exposed for what they really are, champions of the wealthy. Sadly it's about establishing the conditions of debt, in this case political debt as set up against political capital, hoping to be able to call the debt in the future. The nice word for that is compromise. The sordid word is extortion. It's ironic that the strategy relies on the ability of the lender to call the debt of the borrower. Sound familiar?


It is so very sad, since those of us who supported Obama had such high hopes that he would be a different kind of president, one whose values would be manifested in actions which would somehow provide safety nets for those who did all they could to be responsible for taking care of themselves and their commitments, but who ran up against, and were defeated by, the deep pockets of those who claimed to be providers, but whose actions were clearly about denying provisions as often as they could by invoking the exculpatory provisions embedded in the small print, which they can cite as warnings to those who trusted them that their marketing messages were genuine in their expressions of care for those who dreamt of "owning" their own home or trusted that the health care they paid for would not be denied them.


Every day we learn more about financial institutions using tax payer money to reward themselves for their egregious handling of the public trust, and paying off their debts to others.


I've been concerned about Geithner from the beginning of his appointment as Treasury Secretary. I've paid attention to those who remind us that he headed up the Fed in New York, and should have known what those he was expected to monitor were really doing. He doesn't seem to me to be a reformer, but a tweaker of systems, trying to please two masters, those whom he must know personally in the financial institutions he was supposed to monitoring, and now Obama, who is asking him to use those connections to the country's advantage, by requiring those with whom he had a close relationship to do the right thing for the country. So far Mr. Cuomo of New York seems to be doing a much better job of that.



It's true that the bonuses Cuomo has apparently recovered by the recipients returning the money is a very small fraction of the actual dollars given AIG as a bailout, but it is a huge part of the moral outrage which we taxpayers have felt. The contrast of the bonuses to people living in mansions to those who have lost their homes, starkly humble in comparison, is extraordinary.


Obama, this week, has confirmed that he will continue to support Geithner, going so far as to say that if Geithner tried to resign he, Obama, wouldn't let him. I'm sorry, but that kind of dig in your heels, loyalty and endorsement is too close for my taste to what George W. Bush said in his now infamous remark to "Brownie" during the Katrina fiasco. At least Brownie could be forgiven by some because he had no previous experience in doing the job he was appointed to do. Geithner, on the other hand, has made a career in the financial sector of the economy. He does not have the privilege of using that as an excuse for bumbling the job.



I suspect that Obama will in fact learn and grow in the job. He has nearly four, if not eight years in which to do so. I only hope that growing is more than learning how to do business in D.C.. I hope he rewards those who believed in him in the campaign and elected him in spite of his relative inexperience in high places, by standing up to the war mongers in our own country and in Israel. His video outreach to Iran is welcome evidence. Turning his back to Charles Freeman clearly is not.



Months ago I wrote on this blog, more than once, that I didn't really expect much to change in our country's policies and actions abroad, no matter who won the election. At that time I was as naive as any layperson could be about a possible threat to the world that a bursting of the financial bubble would wreak.

Americans are an impatient people, a trait which has both positive and negative consequences. The GOPhers will continue to hope that the American people will have begun to suffer a severe case of amnesia about the last eight years, which attacked them on January 20th last. They will find a gullible and easily persuadable audience for their propaganda; as in the what -have- you- done- for- me- lately question.

Those who were concerned during the campaign that Obama was inexperienced have been exonerated. We can only hope that we who saw in him a strong intellect will be exonerated as well over time, by Obama's being a quick study, who will learn and grow in office.

Barack, Mr. Obama, President Obama, it's time for your first real fireside chat. Quipping with Leno is not where it's at, with apologies to my English grammar teachers. Dig deep as when you had to quell fears of the doubters who tarred you with the same brush which they used to tar your former pastor. Dig deep as when you had to quell the fears of the doubters who were afraid of a black man as president. In my less than humble opinion I believe that you are now being assessed as President Obama, not Barack Obama. It's actually what you hoped for and what we who elected you hoped for. I hope you get it. We do.

Consider the message in some lyrics from West Side Story, especially the stanza, "Tonight, tonight/ The World is full of light/ with Stars and Moons all over the place". (Click on the link below.)

http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/w/westsidestory7630/tonight438876.html

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper