One Year. Change?

So yeah. A year since Obama took the office. How are things going? Let's count the change.

Gitmo - still open. Oh, and they're not actually releasing most of the prisoners (you know, those guys that they can't prosecute for lack of evidence). They're just moving them stateside

Iraq - still there (and still planning on keeping those massive military bases. Make no mistake, we are not leaving - there will be an enduring presence - remember, Obama has already broken his campaign promises for a rapid withdrawal... it just kept getting extended as he got closer to winning. Besides, this nation is not fond of tearing down military bases. We still have them in Japan and Germany)

Afghanistan - WORSE!

Pakistan - More drones!

Yemen - Yeah, we're waging an undeclared war against YEMEN now! This brought to you by the 2009 recipient of the Nobel prize for peace.

Health Care - What? No, no, no. You're confused. It's INSURANCE care now, because it will be illegal to NOT own insurance and there is no public option.

No lobbyists in the white house - BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Right. That one didn't hold up more than a WEEK, did it?

Transparency in the White house - *cough, cough* ...No.

I'm not saying he's the exact same as bush. He can speak. He has garnered more respect and cooperation internationally. But... on several key issues, this man has repeatedly NOT changed (or slightly altered for the worse) some of the most damning things about the former administration.

He INCREASED the pentagon's budget (already at world-conquest proportions)

He increased the Federal Reserves power for financial oversight (the federal reserve being one of the organizations that caused the financial crisis to begin with, through 'cheap money' aka VERY low interest rates)

He has not taken any steps to end unconstitutional practices sanctioned by the USA PATRIOT ACT. Warrantless Wiretapping, Anyone?

Now, granted - he may have saved the economy or at least slowed down it's death a bit. Unemployment has ebbed and his stimulus is, at the very least, partially responsible for that.

He Lifted the ban on embryonic stem cell research, which will potentially give us invaluable research that could eventually cure many diseases.

He passed his climate change bill... (but it's mostly Cap and Trade, so it's COMPLETELY FUCKING USELESS - it won't cut back on air pollution or carbon much if at all)

Oh, and we have the first Latina supreme court justice. And she seems pretty damn progressive.

Conclusion: Obama's not all bad, but... he's nowhere NEAR good enough to be what we need. He is, as I've often stated, Clinton pt II - and Clinton just wasn't that great of a president. Remember that 'better than' does not equal 'good'.