OBAMA IS NOT CINDERELLA

          Obama… FIX THE OIL LEAK
          Obama… SHOW MORE EMOTION
          Obama… FEEL OUR PAIN
          Obama… FIX OUR ENERGY DEPENDENCY
          Obama… FIX HEALTH CARE


Obama…Obama…Obama…

From all the shouts to President Obama from near and far to “FIX EVERYTHING,” you’d think he’s Cinderella, and we’re all his wicked step-sisters yelling our commands.  But is that really fair?

Barack Obama is the President of the United States, not the Town Mayor.  So although it’s easy for us Americans to think of him as “Mister-Fix-It” with a magic wand he can wave to fix every single wrong in our lives and make them all right, that is far from realistic.  A president has a plethora of things to deal with on his plate all at once, both domestically and internationally.  And yes, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has grown into an environmental catastrophe that will effect the U.S. for years to come.  But for as much as we all want our president to be engaged and “feel our pain,” it is certainly an unfair assessment to expect him to micro-manage the situation.

“If Bill Clinton were still president, he would have been down here at the Gulf in a wet suit” exclaimed Democratic Strategist James Carville on CNN recently.  Good sound bite? YES. Realistic expectation? NOT ON YOUR LIFE!  But we get the point.  Still, it is not a fair point.  Barack Obama did not cause this oil spill. So why then do so many people keep saying they want him to “do something” (as if he’s not already)? Mr. Obama’s ability to secure a $20. billion Escrow fund for Gulf victims was unexpected and actually pretty good. But for some, it still wasn’t enough. Which begs the question: Exactly what is it we all expect our President, Barack Obama to personally do — swim to the depths of the ocean and plug the oil spill himself???

Barack Obama inherited a boatload (no pun intended) of problems from his predecessor, George W. Bush.  From a failed economy, to a health care crisis, to a non-existent energy policy (which allowed situations like the BP oil spill to occur in the first place).  And now, like Cinderella, he’s left to clean up the mess.  But once again, is that fair? Are our expectations for our president far too high? Do we really expect him to be some micro-manager and fly into town like Superman and fix every little thing? Are Americans trying to make their president a Mayor, City Council President, Governor, Senator, oh and U.S. President all at the same time???

I think we all need to take a step back and recognize the reality of how things work.  Barack Obama can not solve every little problem himself, if for no other reason than the way our system of government is set up.  No president can. The president is part of the Executive branch of government, which is extremely limited in what it can or can’t do without the permission of the Legislative branch of government (Congress). And as we all saw when the president tried to fix health care or our economic mess (Thanks, Bush), Republican members of Congress fought him every step of the way just for the sake of being disruptive and disagreeable.  But was that his own fault?

So no matter how magical we may think he is, Barack Obama can not personally plug that gushing oil well in the Gulf himself. If he could, I’m sure he would have done so by now (after all, why wouldn’t he?). But he can’t. Nor can he fix the economy, or our health crisis, or the Iraq war, or anything else BY HIMSELF. Again, If he could, I’m sure he would have done so by now (after all, why wouldn’t he?).  So how about we get off of Obama’s back. He’s not Cinderella. He is the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. No matter how much we want him to, he can’t do it all.  But at least he’s trying.