Obama Breaks Another Promise, Presents War Supplemental
Candidate Barack Obama criticized the former administration for using "supplementals" to fund the war in Iraq and thus effectively hide the full cost of that war from the American voter. He promised that his administration would be open and honest and specifically that it would not ask for any supplementals.
So today Congress is voting on only his latest supplemental to fund the ongoing futile war in Afghanistan. Just as with the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell by the military and many others (see this site for a detailed listing and analysis), President Obama, faced with the reality of governance as opposed to the fantasy world of campaigning, is finding that it is often far more difficult to do what is promised than it is to promise it in the first place.
This problem is endemic to our political system. No politician I can recall in my lifetime has kept every promise made during the campaign for office. But it is disconcerting -- in large part thanks to the very high expectations he set to change politics as usual -- to see this particular President renege on so many important promises in the first half of his first term. I supported him reluctantly and voted for him with some enthusiasm. I allowed myself to become very hopeful about his presidency. The bloom is definitely off the rose, though, and I find myself increasingly critical and skeptical of how he's handling his job. I mean, if he found it difficult to keep some promises, why didn't he renege on his completely indefensible promise to up the ante in an unwinnable war on Afghanistan? Now that's a broken promise I'd have applauded.
Alas, is not a Liberal. He never was, of course. Only by comparison was he able to give the Left any hope at all. And he has dashed most of that hope on the rocks of compromise with an opposition party which is not interested in compromise or governance.
