The 1st year…

Well I can’t believe it, but it’s been a year since Barack Obama rode the wave of change to the office of President.

No, this is not going to be a ‘coulda woulda shoulda’ column, nor is it going to be an ‘Obama is the best thing since sliced bread’ piece either.

It’s going to be yet another piece on the further disillusionment of a formerly idealistic young(er) American.

My disillusionment is not solely directed at Obama, but were I to omit the fact that I am utterly underwhelmed by him and his administration would be dishonest on my part.

However, the roots of my melancholy lie in the politics that rule the day. They are the same politics that have ruled the day for as long as I can remember. They are the same politics I thought I was voting-out when voting for Obama.

So here we are a year later and as usual, the American political machine has left me confused, unfulfilled and wondering why I even bother.

But for me, politics are a lot like women, though I rarely get the end-result I am looking for, I am utterly intrigued and keep coming back for more.

So most Sunday mornings I sit on my couch, sipping overpriced coffee in a high-rise apartment downtown, seemingly in the lap of middle class luxury, watching the political pundit shows and get pissed-off.

I saw a snipit of a speech, from of all people, Jon Voight, that I think perfectly illustrates the return to the ‘business as usual’ ’us versus them’ politics that I thought Obama’s election would curb.

Voight stated that Obama is: “Taking America apart piece by piece" and suggesting he "had 20 years of subconscious programming by Reverend Wright to damn America."

It’s the old tactic of extremism. Nowhere is there a shred of evidence to back Voight’s rants, but there he was on national TV getting face time spreading nothing more than gossip.

Now I understand politics, and there is always going to be an element of mud-slinging and creative license taken when anyone is out drumming for support, be they Republican or Democrat. Where I draw the line is at lying or defamation/character assignation. Simply put, neither has a place in American political discourse.

And here’s the odd thing about this whole Jon Voight issue, this personal attack on Obama was given as Voight was trotted out by Republicans to defeat Obama’s universal healthcare bill. I have hard time seeing any logical line of reasoning that leads from universal healthcare to Obama’s former pastor.

Now, for what it’s worth, I’ve always thought of Jon Voight as a less-than-stable individual. I didn’t know of his conservative leanings until I saw the snipit of his speech. So while I don’t think all Republicans are zealots in the vein of Voight, someone decided to put him behind a podium with the proposed healthcare bill planted squarely in front of him.

This ploy to paint Obama as a leftist Black Panther anarchist ideologue is bypassing the real debate and downright silly. Where is the substantive debate? What are the legitimate Republican objections to the bill in its current incarnation? *You can see my prior post on lack of objectivity in the media as to why modern discourse has been oversimplified to sound bites instead of full disclosure.

In debate, you address the issue being debated, not the debater. This critical aspect of political debate seems to have been forgotten by those taking part in modern political discourse.

I, while on-board with the idea of universal healthcare, am not sold on the bill in its current incarnation. I thought some disclosure was due, as I hammered Mr. Voight pretty good there. But oddly enough, he and I agree in our displeasure with the bill. Though I will note that our reasons for disliking the bill most assuredly vary greatly.

Later-on in the political pundit show, I saw a discussion between a democratic governor and a Republican Party representative and was again appalled. Here were two grown men, seemingly respectable enough, who were so embittered and entrenched on their respective sides that neither would let the other so much as finish a sentence. I felt like I was watching two 4-year-olds try to out tantrum one another. It was a downright pathetic display from both gentlemen.

My how far the mighty have fallen…if our elected officials are unwilling to listen to anyone but those of their own ilk, how can they be true representatives?

I voted for Obama because I thought he represented a break for the ‘tow the party line at all costs’ style of politics that had caused Washington to grind to halt. But it looks like I was wrong. Obama has yet to exhibit the coalition-building and reaching across the aisle that won my vote.

I guess I should have known better. He’s got three more years to win it back, but at this point, Obama’s lost my vote.