Obama does present the pretense of pushing against the establishment and corporate interests, but it seems that he has no intention of bringing about real change. For instance, he has pushed watered down health care legislation that falls well short of the kind of reform needed. Although he suggests that his proposals constitute a first step toward the kind of health care system that the American people deserve, there is no one who would seriously suggest that the current proposals would really fix a horribly dysfunctional system, that boasts great facilities, but incredibly poor access to them, should they pass. Despite the contrived complaints of conservative media pundits, it's hard to make a strong case the Obama is a liberal. Obviously he is stuck pretty squarely in the middle-of-the-road and although you can call a duck anything you want, it's pretty lame to pretend that it is something that it is not!

Clearly I am disappointed in Obama so far, but I do not actually regret voting for him considering the viable choices presented on the ballot in November 2008. What would make me feel profound dissatisfaction with Obama would be if we were to enter into an armed conflict with Iran. That would be such a thoroughly disillusioning event that I would feel extreme contrition for ever uttering a word of support for Obama. I fully realize that if the United States attacks Iran it will be following a carefully orchestrated series of events designed to make Iran appear to be the aggressor. For that reason I will accept absolutely no excuse for armed aggression against Iran. Further, I hope that we do not use Israel as an excuse should they decide to move militarily against Iran! Although I sound rather negative here, I recognize that Obama has done some good for this country and he has been somewhat of an improvement over Bush, but this is a case where expectations have far exceeded actual performance, at least so far.