A Frustrated Liberal

2008 was the first presidential election I could vote in. I’ve had an interest in politics long before this, however.

I started researching who I would vote for in 2007. I was immediately drawn to Barack Obama, a progressive candidate who seemed, to me, to have a lot of the answers to America’s problems. I proudly cast my vote for him in November 2008, and was nearly brought to tears when it was announced that he would be the 44th President of the United States.

About 2 and a half years later, I have all but lost my “hope” in Obama.

Now, over the past couple months, my faith in this man was being restored. He helped lead a surprisingly successful lame duck session in Congress this winter, after Americans took to the poles and voted overwhelmingly for Republican politicians. He gave a powerful speech after the incident in Tuscon, and delivered a generally well-received State of the Union address last month.

But now, when the country and the world need him most, he has been decidedly indecisive, and at times, silent.

It started with the situation in Egypt. He seemed incapable of delivering a stern message to Hosni Mubarak. Thankfully, without much pressure from the United States, Mubarak stepped down after weeks of protest in Egypt.

The events in Tunisia and Egypt have inspired pro-democracy demonstrations across the Middle East. The most drastic of these is in Libya, where Muammar Gaddafi has allegedly brought in mercenaries from Africa to violently murder his critics.

At a time when a region needs the leader of the free world to send a message, all that has been delivered is silence.

There are uprisings going on here in America, as well. Across the Midwestern states there have been pro-union demonstrations happening for about a week now. One would expect that the President would have something to say about this, especially a Democratic President. Obama paid a visit to Cleveland, OH yesterday, where some 2000 people have been showing their support for unions. But instead of listening to the people, he hosted a “listening session” for small business owners, in which he made no mention of the rallies going on in support of union labor.

It comes as no surprise to me that Americans seem to be more concerned with Jersey Shore and Justin Bieber’s new haircut than the events currently shaping the future of the world. After all, we are following a leader who seems to have no interest in them. Or, at least, lacks the spine to form a public opinion on them.

Revolution is taking place across the world. With all that is going on, President Obama not only has the ability to go down as one of the strongest presidents in United States history, he also has the ability to make a huge difference in the world. Instead, he is too concerned with tip-toeing around the issue in hopes of not upsetting anyone too much.

Form an opinion, Mr. Obama. Go after the tyrants in the world. Stand by the side of Americans fighting for their rights. Even if you are unwilling to take action, at least open your mouth and let your voice be heard.