Obama's inauspicious beginning

So far, it appears my decision to give the new president the benefit of the doubt is going to be repaid with nothing but heartache and disappointment. Well, perhaps that's an overstatement. Still, it's hard to find any encouraging in the following:

First, the Dems are in the process of enacting a "stimulus" bill that appears to have almost nothing to do with stimulating the economy. Rather, it's nothing more than a spending bill designed to reward every liberal constituency imaginable for their support of Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress. How else to explain doling out over $4 billion to groups like ACORN? Where's the "stimulus" in that?

During the campaign, Obama told the American people over and over again that he would pay for his new programs by cutting spending in other areas. Now we are looking at new spending of something like a trillion dollars a year, so we have not only that to pay for, but also no foreseeable way to pay for Obama's other new spending promises.

The recession is clearly just an excuse for this spending rampage, not the reason for it. Only a small fraction of the spending is truly stimulative, and most of it won't take place soon enough to do the economy any immediate good.

The hypocrisy of this is truly astounding. For years, Democrats complained about how the Iraq war was bankrupting the government and driving the economy down the drain. Now, barely a week into the new administration, the Dems are already adding in new spending an amount equivalent to twice what the war in Iraq has cost since its inception. And for what? What does the average American get in exchange for trillion dollar deficits?

The only good news in this is that House Republicans managed to stick together and unanimously oppose the so-called stimulus package. That should help them in the 2010 midterm elections.

In other depressing news, Obama gave an interview to an Arab-language TV network in which he bent over backward to validate claims that U.S. policy toward the Muslim world over the last thirty years has been disrespectful and arrogant. The American media seemed in awe of Obama for "reaching out" to Muslims in such a clever way, ignoring the fact that, in so doing, the president essentially tossed away whatever credibility and moral standing the U.S. had built up in that part of the world under previous Democratic and Republic administrations alike.

Hopefully, the day will arrive -- and soon -- when people's perception of Obama matches the reality. That's all I ask.