Philip George / Roundup
It was 100 days ago that a crowd of more than one million people strong swarmed the streets of Washington, D.C. to witness the swearing in of President Barack Obama.
They chanted his name joyously on what was such an historic and festive day – and why not? He had defied all odds, being elected the first African American president merely four decades following the Civil Rights movement. The credit was due.
But that was 100 days ago.
Now that all the pomp and circumstance has dissipated and Obama has taken up residence in the White House for over three months, his accomplishments in office are what is to be examined. Credit is not due.
Obama took immediate action as president, ordering the shutdown of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year, promising to “make sure that the procedures we set up are ones that abide by our Constitution.”
But the fate of the more than 200 detainees – many of whom are suspected of committing atrocities far worse than waterboarding – is unknown.
Talks arose regarding the possibility of transferring the prisoners to United States facilities, but some citizens opposed the concept of suspected terrorists being held miles from their homes.
So Obama tried to ship the inmates to Europe. France agreed to take a grand total of one, and Austria’s Interior Minister Maria Fekter declined the president’s request by concluding that if Guantanamo’s inhabitants aren’t dangerous, why not just keep them in America?
Shocking that nobody wants our terrorists.
The plea to Europe was made at the G-20 conference in London on April 2, the same stage Obama used to kick off his apology tour in which he vowed to restore American foreign policy (read: reverse the wrongdoings of George W. Bush so the United States can be liked again).
Obama apologized for America’s “arrogance” and “dismissiveness” toward Europe and its mistreatment of the Muslim world.
The act of the leader of a global superpower groveling for the forgiveness of nations that dislike us anyway signifies one thing – we as a nation are weak.
But with the national economic crisis the nation’s most glaring issue, the most significant action of the Obama administration has been the $787-billion stimulus bill passed Feb. 13.
“We cannot sustain a system that bleeds billions of taxpayer dollars on programs that have outlived their usefulness,” he said Nov. 25, nearly three months prior to passing a bill including the following provisions according to CNN:
$150 million for parking improvements at a Little League facility in Cidra, Puerto Rico, $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film, $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees, $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program and $850 million for Amtrak.
Those programs have not outlived their usefulness, but rather were useless from the get-go.
Obama’s mantra of change has proved true, but his slogan of “Change We Need,” is debatable.
