April 29,2009 will mark Barack Obama's 100th Day as President of the United States of America. It'll be all the rage to critique how he's performed during the initial stages of his term in office. Reporters and commentators all have opinions on the subject and are being paid handsomely to share their views with a thirsty public. I've braced myself for the on-slaught of conflicting views, the myopic view of some and the distorted partisian contributions of others. I've tried to decide how to approach creating a credible evaluation, so that I can feel comfortable with my own conclusion.
I discovered an interesting site PolitiFact.com which presents tons of information on a variety of related subject. One subject is an "Obama Meter" which assesses whether the President "kept" his promise on an issue, "compromised", "broke" the promise, is "in progress" toward keeping the promise or is "stalled". The site also has a TruthMeter commenting on the accuracy of statements, not only from the president, but also other politicans, commentators, and others. Note that PolitiFact.com won the 2009 Pulitizer Prize for national Reporting for coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election. For a detailed analysis of 500 promises made by Barack Obama, check out the site at http://www.PolitiFact.com.
As for my own analysis, I asked myself what were the most important issues in my view. I decided to focus on the Economy (including Taxes), the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (including US/World Relations and U. S. Security), Health Care Reform and Energy Policy. I took into account the lack of cooperation from Republicans and Right Wing Conservatives and the disastorus national and world situation the President inherited. I closed my mind to the bias and bull and tried to wade my way to a "truth" I could live with and support.
He's honoring his promise to end the war in Iraq, setting a time line of 18 months, and he also made provisions to send additional throops to Afghanistan. Obama ordered the closure of secret CIA prisons overseas and of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba , within a year. He rescinded the Bush administration's authorization of harsh interrogation techniques, and he made public four previously secret Bush-era memos that described those methods in detail.
President Obama has signed more executive orders, memoranda and proclamations in his first 100 days than any president since Franklin Roosevelt . Obama also spent more of those first months outside the country than any of his 43 predecessors. The new president has brought a warm new tone to global diplomacy. His performance at three world conferences of European and Latin American leaders began a renewed environment of international partnerships for the United States. He sought to recast relations with the Muslim world, including his video overture to Iran for new diplomatic relations. He relaxed Cuba policy, opening what some see as a window toward lifting the almost 50-year-old trade embargo.
Many efforts on a variety of other issues have been launched in spite of obstacles, obtaining mixed results. The president also has begun laying the groundwork for sweeping health care and global warming legislation. He passed the $3.7 billion Stimulus Package to address the economic downturn. Unfortunately, his campaign promise to open a new era of bipartisanship has fallen short. Only three Senate Republicans and none in the House of Representatives supported his stimulus bill. His effort to change the culture of revolving-door and special-interest politics also achieved mixed success at best. While putting in place a detailed ethics policy that aims to reduce lobbyists' influence, he made exceptions to his own rules. While some say he's fallen short so far in his effort to convert his campaign's effective grassroots and Internet operations to a force that can help him govern, the president has held major prime time interviews, press conferences, town hall meetings and public address to keep the American public informed of his plans, efforts and ideas.
In the final analysis, I compliment the President on substantial progress toward steering the country in the right direction.
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