The Man Without a Party

By Joe Schartz

The following column appeared in the Trojan Tribune in September, 2009:

A person’s trust is one of the most important things we can acquire. It takes time to build it up, to show that person we’re sincere in our promises, that we’re dependable, reliable and responsible, and the slightest breach of these principles can cause them never to trust us again. I wonder, do congress and our president realize this?
After the 2008 presidential election we saw a rosy picture of thousands of Americans rejoicing in the new change that was coming. Glowing supporters of Barack Obama waved their “Yes We Can!” posters in the air, and the public was swept off their feet by this young, charming statesman that was going to turn Washington politics upside down. With a democratic congress at his disposal, the stage was set for the largest political shift in history. Now, eight months later, the party is over, the posters are no longer waving, and the country’s mood resembles the one it had during the end of President Bush’s second term.
In fact, the end of the president’s political honeymoon has brought his booming popularity to a screeching halt. His approval rating has fallen 18 points since his election, from a whopping 68 percent to only 50 percent. If that number dips below 50, he will have the second-fastest presidential approval drop below majority since World War Two, behind only Bill Clinton. Congress’s approval ratings are faring much worse, however, at a demoralizing 31 percent. Their approval hit an all time low last year at 19 percent.
What explains the low numbers when Congress and President Obama have had scores of issues to prove themselves worthy of power? The truth is they’ve dropped the ball on many of them, and concern is growing among Americans. Only 34 percent of the country, according to the latest survey, believes the nation is heading in the right direction.
The problem began with the stimulus. Billions of hard-earned taxpayer money was given to irresponsible Wall Street bankers and wealthy corporate managers. This bill created the president’s first broken promise: after vowing never to sign a bill full of pork-barrel waste, he put his signature on a stack of legislation with over 9,000 earmarks.
Next came the cap and trade bill, a bill unknown to many Americans. The new law puts a cap on the amount of carbon companies are allowed to emit, and if they go over the number set by the federal government, they will be taxed. Many company CEOs now intend to relocate overseas, and thousands of Americans are threatened with losing their jobs.
The appointment of Sonya Sotomayor to the Supreme Court was another controversial battle for the president. Her questionable remarks about a court case involving white fire fighters denied promotion due to the color of their skin drew fire from conservatives, who deemed the comments racist.
Next came health care, an issue President Obama is still struggling with. Afraid of a massive government takeover, millions of Americans are protesting the swelling powers of the federal government. Only 43 percent of Americans approve of President Obama’s stance on health care.
The biggest hurdles for President Obama to jump are yet to come. He told the country after he was inaugurated that his administration, under the guidance of experienced, ethical appointees, would hit the ground running. He hit the ground alright, but it appears growing revelations about the true content of his administration will make him smash his face onto the pavement. The latest slides in his approval numbers are partially due to media coverage on a new group of staff members called—to use the administration’s own language—“czars.” The term itself, derived from the name of Russian dictators, gives cause for questions. The newest appointee to raise eyebrows is “green czar” Van Jones. Jones is a self-avowed Communist, and among his most incendiary comments are, “In jail I met all these young radical people of color—I mean really radical, communists and anarchists. And it was like, ‘This is what I need to be a part of.’ I spent the next ten years of my life working with a lot of those people I met in jail trying to be a revolutionary…I was a rowdy nationalist on April 28 and then the verdicts came down on April 29. By August, I was a Communist.”
And here’s this, from “diversity czar” Mark Loyd: “The progressives of today should take a page out of FDR’s media playbook from when the New Dealers were battling conservative print media and the conservative supreme court to quote ‘fix the great debacle of American capitalism.’” The prospect of Marxists, socialists, and communists in the White House is beginning to wave the sparks of fear into flames.
So what about the Republicans? How are they faring? The number of seats they control in the House and Senate is an accurate reflection of the answer. A lack of leadership and direction has the GOP in complete disarray, even if they have been able to rally somewhat through the health care debate. To add to their troubles, South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, who was recently discovered to be having an affair, refuses to step down. The republicans are unable to connect with real Americans, and their lack of leadership is beginning to show. They made a promise to stand up to big government, but the country is seeing right through it.
Why are Americans upset? They don’t trust Washington anymore. They’ve been lied to too many times. For years politicians have been making promises just to abuse their power. They find themselves looking at an out of control government and don’t know whom to look to anymore. To their left is a group shouting for bigger government with more control. To their right is a group that is shrugging its shoulders, without ideas, without direction. In the middle are people, not politicians, bur real Americans, who work and have responsibilities. They’re not sure what to do.
The time has come when I can’t look to a party to solve my problems anymore. It’s time I speak for myself. They’re the ones who created the problems in the first place. As of now, I’m a man without a party.