Apology: I was wrong about Obama

Well, it takes a big man to admit when he's wrong. The time has come for me to confess that everything the Kossacks predicted has come true: Obama has indeed proven himself to be a wise and courageous president. He is an exemplar of the progressive spirit. What a difference from the administration of George W. Bush!

Obama's economic team formulated their plans according to the presumption that we would be experiencing 7.9% unemployment at this time. And that's just what happened! We all owe a debt of thanks to Barack Obama for the sharp reduction in personal bankruptcies.

I can only applaud Obama's foresight in his decision to place the "too big to fail" banks into receivership. Obama had the courage to stand up to the Wall Street crowd. If Hillary had gotten into office, she probably would have handed our financial future over to guys like Larry Summers and Tim Geithner.

Perhaps Obama's most important accomplishment was pushing Congress to write new regulations for the financial industry. These rules which will insure that nothing resembling the recent economic disaster will never occur again. Without those regulations in place, Wall Street would surely fall back into its old ways. Wisely, Obama understood that he had only a brief period in which to act -- had he waited, regulatory reform would soon have become politically impossible.

Obama understands that we live in a "trickle up" economy. He knows, as FDR knew, that if the average worker has extra cash in his wallet, he will use that money to purchase goods and services, thereby promoting economic activity. (By contrast, overpaid bank executives simply stash their loot overseas.) That's why Obama's team has concentrated on jobs, jobs, jobs -- putting millions of ordinary Americans back to work.

Those three words have become Obama's mantra: Jobs, jobs, jobs! Now, whenever he says those words during a speech (as he often does), the crowd chants with him: Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!

Obama's institution of a HOLC-style protection plan for homeowners facing foreclosure has shielded thousands (perhaps millions) of Americans from disaster. You know damned well that Hillary would never have done such a thing.

Speaking as a Californian, I must express my thanks to Barack Obama for all the help he has given my troubled state. We will remember. California, with its massive number of electoral votes, is sure to vote Democratic in the next election.

I'm also extremely grateful to Obama for his courageous stance on health care. Instead of bowing to the insurance industry, Barack Obama has fulfilled the promise he once made:

I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care program. I see no reason why the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, spending 14 percent of its Gross National Product on health care cannot provide basic health insurance to everybody... A single payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that’s what I’d like to see. But as all of you know, we may not get there immediately. Because first we have to take back the White House, we have to take back the Senate, and we have to take back the House.

Mission accomplished!

Everyone knows that Barack Obama was a fervent opponent of the Iraq war. He strongly condemned the invasion during his 2004 address to the DNC. His calls for troop withdrawal became the cornerstone of his campaign for the Senate. He was never the sort of cowardly politician who spoke out against the war only when it was politically easy to do so. So it came as no surprise when he fulfilled his pledge to make withdrawal his first priority. Our brave young men and women in uniform are finally coming home!

All lovers of the Constitution should thank Obama for overturning the outrageous Bush-era assault on our right to privacy. No longer will the government be able to eavesdrop on our private conversations without a warrant.

This administration, unlike its predecessor, will not attempt to hide abusive behavior under the "state secrets" rubric. In three important court cases, the administration has declared that it will not use the scurrilous "state secrets privilege" to impede justice.

Not only did the Obama administration immediately call for an end to the illegal detentions at Guantanamo, our president has pledged never to reverse that decision under any circumstances. From now on, all prisoners will receive a fair trial in which they will be able to face their accusers and to see the evidence against them.

America will no longer torture. America will no longer covertly ship prisoners to corrupt regimes in order to have others perform torture at our behest.

The American psyche underwent a difficult period of soul-searching when the Administation fought for the release of photographs and videos documenting the rape of a boy at Abu Ghraib, under the supervision of American military authorities. We also saw photographic evidence documenting even worse abuses at that facility and elsewhere. Thousands of horrifying images were released. We were forced to ask ourselves: "How could Americans allow such things to happen? How could we participate in such actions? Are we no better than the Nazis?" Asking such questions may have been difficult, but I feel certain that the national conversation will, in the end, have a cleansing and healing effect. It will also insure that such atrocities will never again occur under an American flag. We will be a better nation after having had this debate -- a debate which would not have occurred if Obama had kept the evidence under lock and key.

As you will recall, candidate Barack Obama told Planned Parenthood that signing an abortion rights law would be one of his highest priorities. Sure enough, he acted with boldness on that front during his first hundred days.

I am so grateful that Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame will finally have their day in court.

Obama promised to reform "Don't ask, don't tell" -- and now he's doing just that. Of course, we all recall the courage he displayed when he came to California and campaigned against Prop 8.

Finally, we must always be grateful to Barack Obama for seeking justice against the miscreants who flouted the law during the Bush administration. I, for one, eagerly look forward to heaing Dick Cheney defend himself before the World Court. Now that Cheney is facing a prison sentence, he sure us spilling a lot of beans, isn't he? We would never have learned the truth about the Bush administration's conspiratorial activities if Obama had decided to pursue "reconcilation" instead of retribution.

On all these issues, and on so many more, Obama has proven that I was a fool to oppose his nomination. I owe my readers a massive apology. Hillary Clinton would have been far worse.

It's a bright new day!