Who is President Obama?

Dear Friends,
In The New York Times today, Frank Rich wrote a great column (here) that was I believe written just for me.

I must admit that my view of President Obama can swing wildly between being in awe of his intellect, his thoughtfulness, his oratory and his positions and being dumbfounded by his unwillingness to take liberal stands, hold people accountable for their actions and stand up to the right wing fear mongers.  I do my best to differentiate between times when President Obama breaks a campaign promise or fails to do something that he said he would and when he just does something that I don't like or fails to do something that I think he should.  I was particularly struck by the following paragraph in Mr. Rich's column:

Last week, after I wrote about the role race plays in some of the apocalyptic right-wing hysteria about the health care bill, a friend who is a prominent liberal Obama supporter sent me an e-mail flipping my point. He theorized that race also plays a role in “the often angry and intemperate talk” he has been hearing from “left-liberal friends for the past many months about what a failure and a disappointment” the president has been. In his view, “Obama never said anything, while running, to give anyone the idea” that he was other than a “deliberate, compromise-seeking bipartisan moderate.” My friend wondered if white liberals who voted for Obama expected a “sweeping Republicans-be-damned kind of agenda” in part — and he emphasized “in part!” — because “they expect a black guy to be intemperate, impetuous, impatient” rather than “measured, deliberate, patient.”

After some reflection, I do not believe that I am one of the liberals that Mr. Rich's friend describes.  I expect President Obama to keep his campaign promises.  I also expect President Obama to listen to the views of the people that elected him and support him and to take those views into account.  I do not expect to agree with everything he does or for him to agree with me all the time.  I also expect that when you campaign on slogans of hope and change that you better have a real sense of urgency in addressing the multitude of problems that our country and world are facing.  I do not think I am racist.  I think that I am entitled to hold President Obama accountable for his promises and the expectations that he created, and I will continue to do just that.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal