Change? Hope? Or More of the Same?

I'm impressed with the following submission from reader Randy Turner, and we would both appreciate any feedback you may have. Randy, because it's the first time he's posted here, and me because I want to know if I should offer him an official, unpaid job. My standards are not too high. I simply require my unpaid labor to be better than the majority of editorials featured in the New York Times. Have at it...

A guest submission by Randy Turner:

So lately, I have been in a funk and I know it's in no small part due to the inauguration and all of the hype surrounding it. I'm disappointed that, even on the day that should be about celebrating the peaceful transition of power and the historical event that is taking place, Pres Bush continues to receive no respect. As an American, I am extremely proud that our country appears to be beyond race, even if there are individuals who aren't. But any sense of joy that I would have on this day is lost not only in the treatment of Bush but also in my disappointment in what I believe the election of President Barack Obama means.

Change?

We heard it throughout the election that an Obama Presidency would bring change the tired, old politics of yesterday. The hope that Barack Obama is not just a visual difference but that he represents a new, progressive shift in the way our government will serve its people. However, based on his cabinet selections and intimations that he would continue many of President Bush's policies, it's obvious now that all of those promises were nothing more than campaign rhetoric. He's even acknowledged as much (here and here) and seemingly offered that he shouldn't be held accountable for things said during the heat of a campaign. Obama recently said in an interview:

"I want to be realistic here. Not everything that we talked about during the campaign are we going to be able to do on the pace that we had hoped."

I wonder what reality President Obama was living in when he made those promises.  Did we not have two wars and a looming, potentially catastrophic, economic crisis before the election? Indeed, he made it his mission to stoke the fire of fear as he made everyone keenly aware of that reality with his blame for the previous administration. He promised if we elected him he would bring to office the recipe to cure what ails us. He has since been doused with a more fierce reality. Why else would an agenda that was advertised as the solution just four months ago not have the same healing powers now? It's no surprise then that President Obama and his acolytes have since been in the business of expectation management. Sell the bar as being so low that any improvement (such as jobs created or even saved) will be a result of Obama's Presidency. Is that change you can believe in or politics as usual?

 Or same ol' same ol'

Looking past the lack of credentials that would make one believe he is actually qualified to hold this office, Barack Obama's supporters believe he is highly intelligent, that he has an incredible grasp of nuance and is wise enough to listen to his expert advisors. Of course he's intelligent, he managed a revolutionary campaign that allowed a man whose past acquaintances would no doubt have denied him a top secret clearance (judging by the standards I was subjected to). Yes, Pres Obama is a master at nuance; a point that no doubt gives him remarkable aplomb within the political realm. He must be a master politician because, despite little experience by which to judge him otherwise, he has held no other job for as long as the office of which he is about to enter.

So, I like many others can only find in Barack Obama hope. In his inaugural address, President Obama stated that, "On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord…"  I found it ironic that he, his party, and the mainstream media were largely responsible for fueling that fear, conflict and discord; nevertheless, he's right. We have chosen hope because we can't possibly know what he stands for otherwise. He's a political chameleon who, despite his long-standing liberal political roots, suddenly dines with conservative pundits and picks Bush-era realists to run his wars.

A New Hope?

Ronald Reagan famously quipped that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." I guess even the great communicator--who in 1984 won 525 of a possible 538 votes in the electoral college--would have had a tough time getting elected against Barack Obama and his promise to more intimately involve the government in the lives of its citizens.

Today, Obama said, "What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them -- that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified."

This is a far cry from Pres Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you…" While Pres Obama asks the country to embody the spirit of service and the "willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves", he contends that affordable health care is not a choice but a right. I guess the founding fathers weren't quite prescient enough to include health care next to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I will concede one point in President Obama's speech, that we must ask whether or not our government works.  To that I answer a resounding no. As a member of the military, I have firsthand experience dealing with one idea of state health care. While I applaud the individuals that try to make it work, the system, borne of government bureaucracy and inefficiency, is a mess. The same can also be said of social security which will probably be bankrupt before I am able to draw from it.

In fact, I will challenge you to find one system of government that works well or cannot be replaced by a more efficient system. The IRS? The DMV? The postal service? I'll give you one and only one; the US Military. But even the military, filled with the best and brightest this country has to offer and who represent the willingness to serve that Pres Obama refers to, has a number of shortcomings which can largely be blamed on bureaucracy, politics, and other shortcomings pervasive in our government.

And this is why I am concerned. Welfare is broken and outdated. Public schools are failing. Medicare is crippled. Every time the government injects itself, the results are usually off the mark, over budget, and past deadline. But Pres Obama has filled the country with hope. Hope that he and his new administration of change can correct the compounding issues of the day. Hope that his election marks a turning point and suddenly people will be called to action. Hope that ALL Americans will suddenly demonstrate a willingness to work harder and serve others.

Sorry, but if all those things could happen, then there would be no need for government at all. Instead, my pessimism and understanding of the human id as naturally self-serving prevents me from acknowledging that hope. People will continue to look after their own self interests and will continue to find ways to abuse and exploit one another potentially to the cost of $850 billion in wasted government programs that will accomplish little more than holding us more dependent upon the government.

I'm disappointed because by holding on to this hope, it indicates that rather than taking greater responsibility of their lives and risk being held personally accountable, more and more Americans would rather ask the government to step in take over. Are Americans turning away from the belief that hard work and determination would lead to prosperity? Isn't this the spirit that made us great in the first place? I guess I have hope too. I hope I'm wrong.