What You Don't Want to Hear

"The Obama Presidency was a failed presidency. Banks got bailed out and millions lost their homes. Two foreign wars raged on sending young men home, injured, dead, or damaged. An opium epidemic ran unnoticed and unchecked through the middle of the country. We got a dirty bandage slapped on our failing health care system. And at the end of it all nearly half of American households couldn't deal with a $400 emergency."

"President Obama is a good man, but he didn't have the political chops or interest in developing them to create real progress, it was all brilliant rhetoric. There is real embedded racism in this country, but that's not the reason we have the presidency we have now, we have what we have now because George W Bush was a fiasco, and Obama a crushing disappointment."

Obama's presidency left significant failures across multiple areas. Banks received bailouts while millions lost their homes. Two foreign wars continued, returning young veterans injured, dead, or mentally damaged. An opium epidemic spread unnoticed and unchecked through large parts of the country. Healthcare reform amounted to a temporary, inadequate fix. By administration's end nearly half of American households lacked the ability to handle a $400 emergency. President Obama is described as well-intentioned but lacking the political skills or will to produce substantive progress beyond rhetoric. The political outcome resulted from both George W. Bush's failures and Obama's disappointments. Urgent acknowledgement and concrete solutions are necessary.

Read at Portland Mercury