What A Difference a Year Makes

It is pretty much the end of 2009. It is also the end of the first decade of the Millennium. Hard to believe that we’ve gone through ten years since the Y2K scare. Also, hard to believe we had three different presidents since the turn of the Millennium: One that was impeached, one that retired extremely unpopular and one that is becoming extremely unpopular.

Barak Hussein Obama has been president for 11 months. So, this year is his for all its good and bad. There is no doubt about that. When he became President, the entire world was energized. America had elected a new savior. He was young, energetic and promised hope and change. And, he is the first African American President in US history. All of the scars of the past had disappeared. Per the Progressives, we had become a true shining city on the hill. The Republican Party was in deep trouble.

Now, that we have had him as President for one year, nothing has changed and the hope is dimming by the minute. His first year in office has been notable for basically one thing: he has accomplished nothing. Gitmo is still operating. Health Care Reform may or may not happen. Cap and Trade is effectively dead (especially in light of Climategate). The Recession is still destroying the lives of millions of Americans. And, based upon yesterday’s latest report, here comes the inflation we have all been dreading. The President, for all intents and purposes, has been a failure.

Obama’s approval rating is at the lowest ever for a President in office for one year. That is a bad thing for the country, but a good thing for the Republican Party. When you factor in the approval rating of Congress or should I say its 68% percent disapproval rating; the universal dislike of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Chris Dodd; and, the insistence on passing a health care bill even though almost 70% of the country do not want it, things do not look too rosy for the Democratic Party in 2010.

In the past few days, it has become evident that Democratic Congressmen see the writing on the wall. They are beginning to announce their retirements. As of my last count, four have decided not to seek reelection. The most recent being a long term Congressman from Tennessee.

Will 2010 be a repeat of 1994? Or, will it be even worse for the Democratic Party than 1994? Who knows? I can just say for the record I would not want to be running for reelection as a member of any party right now; especially the Democrats.

The Tea Party movement which has been largely ignored by the main stream media and scoffed at by the Democratic leadership is currently polling higher than the mainstream Republican Party. On its face, this would appear to be bad for the Republicans. But, it may actually be good because the Tea Party movement is, for the most part, all Republican. So, unless they form their own party, these people will be voting Republican in November. Of course, if they do form their own party, as I have said in the past, it will represent the end of the conservative movement as we know it. The Democrats will have control for years to come.

A few days ago, I firmly believed that Congress would pass some sort of health care reform within the next 60 days. However, yesterday’s events may have made it less likely. Just when Harry Reid seemed to have reached a compromise to get his filibuster proof 60 votes, his own party began to splinter. Ex DNC Chairman Howard Dean went on the record as saying that the entire Senate Bill should be scratched because it has become spineless. Per Mr. Dean, without a public option there is nothing to discuss. If Dean is successful, whatever Reid was accomplishing in the Senate will dissipate quickly. Only then, will Health Care Reform have to become bipartisan for anything to happen. Abortion, Tort Reform and the Free Market for Health Insurance will have to be addressed. If Harry Reid and the President are smart about this, they may be able to pass Health Care Reform with Republican support, albeit the left wing of the Democratic Party will be left in the dust! Good riddance to them I say.

On another front, just this morning, Iran launched another test missile. In the past year, President Obama has done nothing to stop Iran’s nuclear program. Will the events of the past 24 hours change his attitude? Or, must the world rely completely on Israel to stop this threat? It seems that this is going to be the case. Facing extreme opposition from the left wing of his party, President Obama is not going to confront Iran in any way that will scare its leadership into submission. Our only hope is that Obama does not try to stop Israel from doing what is necessary.

By the way, I was at a dinner last week in which a very prevalent Congressman was speaking. Congressman Mark Kirk from Illinois, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the current Republican hopeful to take President Obama’s Illinois Senate seat, stated that one of the biggest blunders made by President Obama in foreign affairs was the removal of the missile shield from Poland. Appeasing the Russians here was a tragic strategic error. Kirk made it clear that the missile defense system in question was not just to protect NATO countries. Apparently Poland is a direct line between Iran and the United States. That missile defense system would be protecting the United States from an Iranian missile attack.

I could go on forever, but this is enough for one of my last columns of 2009. In concluding, this has not been a very good year for the country, its President and its Congress. However, I do not hear anyone saying right now that the Republican Party is dead and should be buried. In fact, all I hear is that the Republican Party is going to possibly take back Congress in 2010. Of course, if the economy turns around in the next nine months, 2010 could turn into a good year for Democrats again!

© 2009 by Frank T. DeMartini. Permission to copy will be granted freely upon request.