Warning to Obama: Don't Take Us for Granted

I am sure many of you are shocked by the bluntly critical title of this post as you endured months of Obama worship on these very pages. I still proudly stand by all of my posts and believe deeply in my candidate. However, there comes a time when even a steadfast supporter has to distance himself, if only for a moment, for a healthy dose of criticism. And in the last few days Obama has deserved to be criticized for several things.

HIS SUPPORT ON FISA BILL. The bill that he now supports grants blanket immunity to telecommunications companies that helped Bush and his cronies spy on American citizens without any warrants. This bill is so outrageous that I couldn't have imagined Obama supporting it, especially given the fact he had promised to oppose it. Well, last week, he came out in favor of it. After his website was flooded with protests by his supporters, he sent us all an email in which he clarified his position and acknowledged that while he understands our dismay, he insisted that supporting the bill was essential to national security since it was expiring. FISA courts are there for a reason, to protect our very liberties from people like Cheney and Aschcroft. During the primary season, Obama not only vowed to oppose the bill, but promised to filibuster it. Hence his reversal justifiably angered his liberal base: in just a few days over 7,000 of his most ardent supporters had organized on the Internet and protested his decision. DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas said: "I will continue to support him. But I was going to write him a check, and I decided I would rather put that money with Democrats who will uphold the constitution."

HIS SUPPORT FOR DEATH PENALTY FOR CHILD RAPISTS. After the Supreme Court came out with a reasonable decision to strike down death penalty in cases of child rape, Obama came out on the side of Justice Scalia and Clarence Thomas who were the dissenting voices in the decision and had supported death penalty in such cases. Obama said he opposes "blanket prohibition of death penalty" in such cases, insisting that the heinous nature of such crimes makes death penalty potentially constitutional. He completely ignored the complexities of such cases. Justice Kennedy argued that there was no societal consensus on death penalty in such cases and that imposing death penalty puts unbearable burden on children victims whose testimony would decide matters of life and death. Obama has always been pro-death penalty (in certain cases), but this time, he went out of his way to support it.

HIS SUPPORT OF SUPREME COURT'S DECISION TO STRIKE DOWN D.C. LAW BANNING INDIVIDUAL HAND GUNS. This really came as a shocker to me, especially given the fact that as a former grassroots organizer on the South Side of Chicago, Obama is well aware of the horrible damage guns have done to intercity Chicago and other cities. The D.C. law was a sensible ban on individual hand guns, and also stipulated strict rules on how to store weapons in one's home. Obama cited the decisions as allowing for future government regulation of handguns (thank God), but still said that the decision was helpful. How was it helpful? It caused an outcry by mayors and police officers throughout the country who face disastrous effects of gun laws on daily basis.

Obama's stance on these three issues have, for the first time, made me angry with him. Now, I am not a naive, dreamy-eyed idealist who believes that Obama will stroll into D.C. on his horse and change the way politics is done in one day. But I do believe in his genuine desire to change things and bring this country to a better place. I do believe in his intention to scrape away at the unconstitutional executive power this administration has accumulated over the last agonizing 8 years. I do believe in his genuinness when he says he wants to sit down and talk to our enemies and not rush off to war. And I do believe he is committed to progressive issues, such as poverty in inter-cities, environment, and civil liberties.

I do understand that the transition from primary to general election season inevitably entails some repositioning and re-imagining in order to appeal not only to your hardcore supporters but to the general (apathetic) public, but Obama has to be careful not to betray the very core of his message. In other words, he cannot take us for granted. The reservoir of hope and inspiration that he has tapped into is not his to squander. It belongs to millions of his supporters who braved the cold to watch him declare his candidacy in Springfield, or to watch his victory speech in Iowa. It belongs to millions who are desperately in need of change and want this country to do better. It belongs to millions of those who are truly craving to be proud of their country (if for the first time in their lives). In short, Obama has personified this hope, but hope belongs to all of us.

For those of us who have been dismayed by these actions, it is useful to stand back, take a pause of reflection, and realize we have a long way ahead of us. It is healthy to recover from the Obama worship that makes one feel as if they had woken up after a wonderful one night stand only to realize that the person next to them does not look as good as they did the night before after a few drinks.

Obama is still the most intelligent, articulate, and literary presidential nominee this country has had in a long time. His background, his multi-faceted perspective promises great things for an Obama presidency. I just hope that in the process of winning this presidency he does not drain his substance.