Seitawake Rajasingha Foundation

Is Barak Obama declining....?

"The magic is gone....." the Americans say, having one year experience of Obama rule. Is that the reason why Scott Brown won the Senate Race..? Or, has the magic, that evoked in 2008 for the victory of Obama, now turned upside down...???

After one year in office, the fall of Obama from grace is obviously steep. His promises seemed boundless on January 20, 2009, when the young president moved into the White House. As he took office, nearly 70 per cent of Americans approved of his performance, now it's less than 50 per cent as polls show.

However, on key issues, Obama has moved the ball forward, but obviously less than the Americans would have been pleased. President Obama's stance towards the banks and financial reform has been especially disappointing. Although he has supported the Employee Free Choice Act, which will make it easier for workers to gain union representation, this has also taken a back seat on the administration's agenda. The proposal faces serious opposition in the Senate. His stimulus package was an important first step towards stemming the downturn and getting the economy growing. But the economy having performed worse than projected, the package looks even more inadequate. Obama pushed cap and trade legislation as a step to limit greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to including some green elements in his stimulus package. At this point, the cap and trade proposals being considered in Congress have already been substantially weakened, with health care being given top priority by the administration and congressional leadership.

President Obama put forward pretty much the health care program that he had run on during the campaign. But Scott Brown's Senate win puts Health Care Reform at risk. He conducted his campaign opposing Obama's Health Care Program and now he seems to be extremely in hurry to go to Washington. The opposing fronts in American politics are bitter and harsh.

When Obama came to power, US and the world were wrestling with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of 1929. The solutions seemed possible and immediate: close Guantanamo, end the Iraq war, stretch a hand to Iran, North Korea and Cuba, stem climate change, and, of course, health reform, education and jobs. But how is it in the reality? Though closing Guantanamo is in progress, the detainees returned to Yeman have re-organized for new wave of terrorist attacks targeting America. The end of the Iraq war is uncertain. Iran and North Korea remain always trouble makers. Not only the US but also the whole world has been suffering due to the global climate change. The jobless rate is getting higher and higher day by day. At last but not least Obama's health reform is supposed to face new obstacles.

After a crisis-ridden first year, reality has laid its claim on Barack Obama's face. The ever-ready infectious smile has given way to sober creases of concentration. "We will change America, and we will change the world!": boastful expressions of Obama slowly fading away. America as well as the rest of the world has been changing but certainly not in the manner that Americans expected to see it. The Great Depression of 1929 gave the impulse to the outbreak of the fossil fuel dependant new era of the human civilization that ultimately led the isolated nations of the world to the agenda of the concept of Globalization. The long term effect of the current economic recession too might spur the world toward a new era of civilization.

Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize just days after announcing the massive escalation of the war in Afghanistan. Although Obama spoke less of peace than of the justifiable use of force in his acceptance speech in Oslo, the audience was fervently supportive. This is the ultimate political edge where Obama has been pushed by the invisible super powers which stand behind him.

As Nobel committee Chairman defended the Obama choice, awarding Nobel Peace Prize for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples.", in fact so called "Obama qualities" are supposed to be used in order to achieve the political and military targets at which the "Cowboy style politics" of Bush failed. Obama mastered large gestures, big speeches, enormous crowds. He offered to meet with leaders in Tehran, without conditions; he travelled to Cairo to speak to the Islamic world and visited Saudi King too. When Obama bowed deeply before Emperor Akihito, Queen Elizabeth and King of Saudi Arabia many chided him. Despite of the fact that without support from Moscow, Beijing and Europe, the "most powerful country in the world" is helpless, perhaps America is thirsty of an emergence of a powerful king.

"Make no mistake" is one of Obama's verbal twitches, and it's as much a prayer as a preface. Of cause there is no room for mistakes especially when America is involved in a war that has been spread in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. Since the political goals of America and the future of Obama deeply depend on the war-related achievements, America should be ready to show more generosity and flexibility when dealing with new friends of the world. We are confident "Yes you can!!".