“Change will not come …” – President Obama’s legacy and the Democratic Party

By: Nguyen

As a Canadian my opinions on President Obama might be different from Americans and perhaps different from other Canadians. President Obama was the first African-American president in U.S history which is great! There are many people that may think he is the first progressive president in history. In addition, his personality in different media platform was superb and his speeches were inspiring (especially Obama’s “Hope” 2008 campaign). All I am saying is he was well-liked by many people from different age group and socio-economic class. He was a “cool” president.  However, having a cool persona does not mean he is the “best” president we ever had. I’ll give that to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  Is President Obama better than George Bush? Of course! Is President Obama better than Bill Clinton? Sure.

However, I feel like he could have been better. As a reader, you would probably cuss at me or tell me: “It is easier said than done”. And I definitely agree with you, but when I learn more about the 2016 U.S election and the corruption from the US government. I feel like President Obama is not what he said he was in 2008. He was not “progressive” as I have imagined. He is more “conservative” than the conservative politicians in Canada. Perhaps, as a Canadian, I was lucky to have a Prime Minister that was more left than any of U.S presidents or US candidates we seen at this moment in time. (However, I feel like Canada is going towards the wrong way following U.S footsteps)

We recognized President Obama accomplishments, for instance, helping America get back on its feet from the depression that was caused/created by George Bush’s administration.  He was also the first president to endorse same-sex marriage equality, implementing Health Care Reform Bill which prevented insurance companies from denying insurance because of a pre-existing condition and so forth. These accomplishments were great and all. However, he did not fix the systemic corruption in the government. This corruption may be the reason why U.S is the only developed country that did not take care of their citizens in terms of health (e.g., physical and mental health) and human rights (e.g., black/latino/aboriginal’s rights) compared to other nations. How is it that the U.S the most wealthy and powerful country in the whole wide world still have major problems with LGBTQ rights, lack of healthcare for their citizens, quality of education, race issues and so forth?

So, what were President Obama’s failures? Although Obama’s policy improved the economy, however, U.S citizens do not feel good about themselves and their ability to find jobs, pay for their children’s education, and so forth. Why is that?  Because most of the wealth in the country are own by the 1%. Major corporations have been influencing the U.S election for many years. There was a Princeton study that shows corporation’s money in politics leads to corruption; therefore, policies favours the wealthy individuals and not the common people.

Money in politics can lead to poor quality of education and the increase in college expenses, as a result, lead to students in debt for the rest of their lives (it is all about business, and schools nowadays are run like businesses). The government is in charge of distributing tax-payers’ money to invest on resources (e.g., fixing road infrastructure, military and etc). However, the past few decades politicians favour corporations and big donors which leads to tax-payers’ money going to them (e.g., pharmaceutical companies, military industries, Wall Street, etc) which are indicated in this video:

Another example of President Obama’s failure is not relieving/finding solutions to the tension between minorities (e.g. blacks and latinos) and the cops which are at an all-time high (e.g. the emergence of Black Lives Matter). I guess the racial tension was always there (before President Obama), but nowadays everyone has a phone camera to record and upload it to media platforms (which is a good thing!). Also to note, having cops with military-type equipment is also a bad idea.

Another racial issue is the lack of rights for aboriginals. A prime example, is Obama’s administration ignoring or slowly responding to the Dakota access pipeline protestors until it was a huge issue for them. The huge issue being the cops brutally abusing aboriginals/veterans/protestors (e.g., 21-year-old Sophia Wilansky was wounded in a concussion grenade blast that “blew the bone out of her arm.”). This issue is not just about racism, but also an environmental issue as well.

Another failure is President Obama not able to solve the shrinking of the middle class and the wealth inequality which has occurred for the past few decade (perhaps, starting from the Reagan presidency). Big corporations = Policy-makers!

One of his other failures would be his justice department condemning many whistleblowers (e.g., Manning, Snowden) compared to other presidents. These whistleblowers are Americans that wanted to let U.S citizens know about the government corruption was and is doing behind their backs. President Obama embracing mass surveillance. A lot of people around the world would say U.S have an Orwellian’s surveillance and propaganda.

My own personal Obama’s failures: President Obama endorsing Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton was the candidate that was despised by many republican, independent, and progressive voters; therefore, causing a divide between the Democratic base. Moderate-Conservative voters love Hillary Clinton while independent, progressive individuals love Bernie Sanders. (My bias is showing …) All I am saying is that establishment politician will always help another establishment politician to woo the big donors. It is somewhat amusing that President Obama was once Hillary Clinton opponent in 2008 and now he is helping her … remember the attack ads and debates between them?

Perhaps, it is not all about President Obama and maybe we need to focus on the democratic party as well. If you are following the 2016 US elections, there were lots of propaganda and DNC corruption (e.g., Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Donna Brazile inclusion/support with the Clinton’s campaign). We already knew FOX was a media-machine for the Republican party; however, who knew CNN, MSNBC, New York Times, VOX and so many other mainstream medias along with media platforms such as Twitter and Google were all supporting the establishment politicians and the democratic party elitist (go read WikiLeaks). Democratic party vs. Republican Party is an illusion, it is more about corporation vs. corporation and who cares about the people.

After the 2016 U.S election, I feel the democratic party did not learn their lesson. Hillary Clinton and her staffers/people did not take any blame for the election loss, but assigning blame to other people (e.g., progressive voters, millennials, Bernie Sanders, Russians, Fake News). There are many Hillary Clinton voters (and perhaps 2008/2014 Obama voters as well) have the mentality and attitude towards different groups of people. I am not talking about race. I am talking about people with different political, economical, and religious views. There is a reason why there is a silent majority. The silent majority are scared or sick and tired of people shaming their religion or political views. The two things they can do is be quite and VOTE (which is the most powerful “F” you to the government). We as human beings should focus more on debating or have deep conversations with each other and not bash people with different views. The consequence for not listening to people’s views and anger is a Donald Trump presidency!

I hope that in 2020, Americans do not fall for the same establishment politicians (from either parties) whether they are black/asian/latino/female candidate (aka “symbol of progressivism” but not really) and vote for a candidate with actual “progressive policies” that benefit the poor and working class and not just for the wealthy.

All I am saying is “liberals” or people who call themselves “liberals” that support gay marriage, women’s rights, black rights, and marijuana legalization, it is all fine and dandy to support all these things, however, it is not enough! Being “progressive” is not just fighting for these things, but also fighting against a government that is not for the people. Every individual, whether you are republican, democrat, or independent should stand together and fight against corporate greed and political corruption! Do what is right! Do it for your children. Heck, do it for yourself!

Like what Barack Obama said: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

Please beware that I have my own bias. Please feel free to comment on your opinions or say that I am wrong (I could be wrong). I just want a good conversation and who knows you might persuade me!