Obama's Metamorphosis: From Center-Center-Right to Right-Right

Last year I listened to the SOTU while driving through the South. We had to tune in by AM radio, and at times the crackling speech was as we went deeper into the south. We were headed to South Korea, and I still had hopes for what Obama intended to do for the country. While that sense of hope was somewhat of a flicker, it was still there. Today, that then dwindling flicker has been fully extinguished. Not even a faint string of smoke or the leftover hint of hot wax remains.

When President Obama delivered his last SOTU, I had even received a letter from him a few weeks weeks earlier about the student lending crisis. Of course, the President didn't call it that, but that's why he was responding to me. As of this date, the White House continues to shift the conversation back to the same sorry message. They can't get away from the safe and easy lines that relate to prospective and current students. To hell with the current debtors. Even though the outstanding student loan debt is nearing a whopping $900 billion, we're still going to talk about how we'll take care of those who don't currently carry the burden of debt. Oh, and we'll be sure to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.  Because helping prospective students is really going to make a difference when it comes to a generation, actually generations, of people who are part of the indentured educated class. Keep up the good work! You're really making a friggin' difference.

In President Obama's last SOTU, he mentioned student loan debt at least four times. His most inspiring line was this: "In the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college."

He should have added, "well, what I mean to say is, no prospective students should go broke when they go to college in the future. To hell with those of you who are current student loan debtors. We've been convinced that you're not a problem in D.C. That's what the the associations for the universities and students are telling us. Oh, so is the College Board. I'm pretty sure I've had some dinners with Nelnet and Sallie Mae. Besides, I read the Post, and they never seem to make a stink about student loan debt. They've all assured me that you're really not a concern. So, to hell with you. But . . . please rally around me for my next election, so that I can break more promises and then bitterly complain that you are ungrateful and whiny!"

Welcome to the new age of Right-Right Obama.

Related Links

"Bitter Taste, Bad Letter," July 19, 2010

"You don't say? The President tells the Arizona Daily that higher education needs to be affordable," September 28, 2010


"Last call with the White House," February 5, 2010

"Quick Notes: The President's State of the Union Address," January 21, 2010

"The Obama Administration: Why they have failed (Part II)," January 11, 2010

"The Obama Administration: Why they have failed," January 7, 2010 

Other related links

"Barack Obama - Out of the closet," Michael Brenner, Huffington Post, January 24, 2011

"Obama's transformation culminates in Tuesday's State of the Union Address," Sam Youngman, The Hill, January 24, 2011

Olbermann calls Obama a sellout, MSNBC, December 7, 2010

Good luck, indentured educated citizens! You're on your own!