rabbijaffe

If you haven’t yet started to check the politifact website daily, it’s about time you did.

I love this website because it’s the only place I have found where there seems to be no political agenda. Everyone’s successes and flops are highlighted. The only thing that seems to matter is the truth.

However, I am not so philanthropic in my “journalistic” methodology.

After years of feeling like the American people have turned President Obama into some type of flawless legendary figure, I wish to burst the bubble a little.

One of the features on Politifact is the Obameter. The folk who run the site have dedicated themselves to tracking the unprecedented over 500 campaign promises of Obama, and ranking his actions vis-a-vis each promise (i.e. kept, compromise, stalled, no action, etc.).

This scrutiny is so fundamental in our modern world, and should be praised greatly, especiall when Obama did say:

“I want you to hold our government accountable. I want you to hold me accountable.” 

The reason I’m writing about this now is because I just noticed that our celebrated president has just been ranked as having broken his seventh pomise:

-Negotiate health care reform in public sessions televised on C-SPAN.-

Read all about it.

And while you’re at it, read about his other six broken promises:

1. End income tax for seniors making less than $50,000   

2. Allow five days of public comment before signing bills

3. Tougher rules against revolving door for lobbyists and former officials

4. Create a $3,000 tax credit for companies that add jobs

5. Allow penalty-free hardship withdrawals from retirement accounts in 2008 and 2009

6. Recognize the Armenian genocide

This last one fascinates me the most, although it’s probably the one least relevant to the average American.

Here you have a man who represents to so many people across the globe the ultimate beacon of hope. The light which can finally bring peace to the world, can finally unite all the different types of people out there.

And when repeatedly prompted by reporters to finally fulfill this promise, he wasn’t even able to simply state that the Armenian genocide occurred.

Why?

Because he’s a politician.

Politicians are just like the rest of us… only worse.

They come with all the flaws of regular human beings: anger, jealousy, stubbornness, etc.

But they toss on the extra-special politician flaws: willingness to step on others to get ahead, lying, and our subject, breaking promises that were used to get votes because they are no longer (or never were) politically convenient.

Barack Obama is no exception.

The American people spoke out. They wanted hope. They wanted change. They wanted no more business as usual.

But they got a politician.

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