David Smathers Moore: Let down by Obama, people seeking change flock to the 'Occupy' movement

[KoKo]

David Smathers Moore: Let down by Obama, people seeking change flock to the 'Occupy' movement

By David Smathers Moore

Special to the Mercury News
Posted: 10/10/2011 08:00:00 PM PDT

In October 2008, my wife and I loaded our 6-month-old baby into her car seat and drove six hours to Reno. As 40-something new parents, a weekend road trip to walk precincts for a presidential candidate was not convenient or easy. But when we arrived at the staging ground for volunteers, we were rewarded by an inspiring sight: The line to sign in snaked through a parking lot the length of two football fields. Barack Obama's candidacy had inspired a lot of people to participate in their democracy.

What I most liked about Obama was the independence and intelligence reflected in his position, taken five years earlier when it was not politically expedient, to oppose the Iraq invasion plans well before they had been put into motion. In 2008, as a terrifying financial crisis was unfolding, Obama seemed to have the combination of sound judgment and courage that our country needed in the White House. It seemed reasonable to hope that he might become an FDR-for-our-time who would hold people accountable and get us back on a path toward shared prosperity.

But three years later, not one executive from a major firm involved in the 2008 disaster has been prosecuted. On the contrary, Obama hailed the CEO of the firm that most personified the abuses -- Goldman Sachs -- as a "savvy businessman." But the rest of us continue to be punished for their crimes. We are losing homes, watching our retirements vaporize and struggling with long-term unemployment.

To lead us forward, Obama also needed to explain to the country how wealth and power had become more and more concentrated over several decades and how that trend had reached a critical point at which it was cannibalizing our economy and corrupting our democracy. He needed to put forth a vision for how we would take our country back from the 1 percent that has only continued to amass wealth and power. But such leadership never materialized.

MORE at.....
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_19083951

[Rex]

1. They threw a TARP over Big Biz but forgot to throw The People one.

If he would just do something like the GWB Rebate 'feel good' bribe money handed out after the GOP started stealing from the Treasury. At least they gave us some chump change. All I got out of the TARP deal was more debt I will never pay off, like every other American.

[Vincardog]

2. Net recommendation: +2 votes (Your vote: +1)

[polichick]

3. k&r "the system itself has been hijacked"

Nice piece!

[Bandit]

4. This guy must not have heard Obama when he coined the phrase

"Main Street, NOT... Wall Street".....D'Oh

[Enrique]

5. let down by Obama?

George Clooney won't like this

[KoKo]

6. George Clooney just came out in support of OWS today...Who could figure?

http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/10/george-clooney-penn-badgley-support-occupy-wall-street-protests/