How is Obama doing? (2)
In this piece in today’s “Guardian”, Gary Younge brings a dose of reality to the discussion:
“Yes, there are grounds for disappointment. Bush’s torture infrastructure has been left largely intact, the Iraq withdrawal has been extended by two years and the healthcare reform debate might have panned out differently had he led more decisively. But there is a world between that and accusations of betrayal and treachery. In Afghanistan in particular, the problem was that he kept his campaign pledge whereas many of us wish that he had broken it.”
He adds:
“The distance between the aspirations invested in him during his campaign and his record after one year is the distinction between the electoral and the political in this current period. Popular demands thwarted by institutional stasis and ideological sclerosis.”