Just over three years ago, more
than a million people endured freezing temperatures in downtown Washington,
D.C., to be a part of history: the inauguration of the country’s first African
American president.
Emotions ran high as people came
together for the culmination of a political campaign that took the country by
storm, spreading a message of “hope and change” across the land. George W. Bush
was leaving in disgrace, and a brilliant, charismatic new leader would redirect
the country, putting it on a progressive path to finally meet the needs of the
struggling working class.
What a difference three years make.
It is hard not to feel some sympathy for the millions of people who were caught
in the powerful emotional pull of the campaign who are now confronting the grim
realization that “hope” and “change” was just an illusion.
This was apparent as soon as Obama
established his cabinet and appointed key advisers. Robert Gates retained his
post as secretary of defense. For the first time in U.S. history, an incoming
administration kept a secretary of defense who had originally served under an
opposing political party. People who had eagerly anticipated an end to the wars
instead saw the number of troops in Afghanistan quickly triple.
Voters drawn to Obama’s promise to
improve health care soon saw the new president break a campaign promise. Policy
discussions leading to improved health care, they had been repeatedly told,
would be carried live on C-Span TV. That may have sounded like a new way of
doing things in Washington.
But it was not to be. Once elected,
Obama invited the health insurance and pharmaceutical companies to join closed
door meetings. A single-payer policy that would have created universal health
care was never considered. Health care workers and other activists were
arrested in acts of civil disobedience as they attempted to join the
discussion.
The end result guaranteed a bonanza
for the insurance and pharmaceutical companies but dubious benefits for the
working class.
Then there were Obama’s financial
advisors with deep connections to J.P.Morgan, CitiGroup and other Wall Street
firms that had brought the economy to its knees and backed his campaign. Not a
single bank executive was prosecuted under the Obama administration, which
dutifully carried out the bank bailout. Wall Street, meanwhile, continued on as
it had before—recklessly speculating, hoarding the country’s cash, and
foreclosing on working-class families.
Disappointments continued to
accumulate. The Obama administration refused to investigate the Bush
administration for its illegal torture and domestic spying campaigns. Instead,
the administration aggressively prosecuted and incarcerated the whistle-blowers,
while expanding the attack on civil liberties with a law that allows for
indefinite detention, without trial, of U.S. citizens. Prisoners continued to
languish without charges in Guantánamo, despite the administration’s promise to
close the facility.
Drone attacks increased in
Pakistan, Yemen and Afghanistan, killing hundreds of civilians. Reminiscent of
the war on Iraq, the Obama administration carried out a “regime change”
operation in oil-rich Libya in clear violation of international law. The country,
which previously enjoyed the highest living standards in Africa, experienced
massive civilian destruction.
Despite the hundreds of millions of
dollars he received from labor unions in 2008, the Obama administration did
nothing to stop the nationwide attack on workers’ rights. Despite the massive
support he received from immigrant communities, the administration deported
more people than Bush ever did.
Obama and other politicians serve
as the managers of the ruling class. While the country was held rapt,
mesmerized by Obama’s rhetoric, Wall Street bankers were feeding his campaign
with money. The capitalists know the role that politicians play for them.
Many in the 99% have learned from
the experience of the Obama administration that the political and economic
system does not change with the selection of a new CEO. Real change comes from
struggle, getting organized, and building a movement of poor and working people
to fight for a government that truly serves our interests.
