Why I've Been So Hard On Obama, And Why You Should, Too

I am not a conservative, nor am I a liberal.

I was anti-Bush for the last 8 years and I've been a supporter of Ron Paul and Arlen Specter. I've been a fan of Al Franken and for legalizing same-sex marriage.

I am the undefinable, the unpredictable, the opinionated and free-thinking independent.

The last 8 years taught me something, something I thought would be remembered after 1-20-2009: That our leaders, no matter what we may personally think of them, must always be questioned, that it is our duty to not just accept what we were told but to think about if what they want to do is not only best for this country and ourselves, but if it was even feasible.

In 2002, Bush had a 62% approval rating. He had enjoyed support from his base through 9/11, which then put him over the top as we all said we wanted and needed faith in our leader, despite how we felt about him. By 2003, we was ready to declare war on Iraq, a decision that millions across the country, and the world, felt was wrong and stupid. We were told we were fools, we hated America, and that we were traitors. We were given a $300 check in the mail during his first term because we had a surplus and to help stimulate the economy. In the end, many said these moves were stupid and we were still told to sit down and shut up.

Here is it, 2009, and I see history repeating.

We were told that a Stimulus Bill, a bill that was meant to help us, needed to be passed and updated in order to save America. This bill was bigger and thicker than the USA PATRIOT ACT and was passed even quicker than that document! We have a president with a 65% approval rating going into his 100th day in office, and we have seen his leadership restore some faith in this country once again. All this, despite the fact he still favors warrant less wiretaps, will not punish those who committed war crimes in our government, ignored the dissent of what he considered a minority, and has had many of him nominees drop out because they were corrupt.

Let us also not forget this:

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We are at a time where we face an economic meltdown, 2 wars, climate change, a problem with Social Security and Medicare, AND a possible (albeit kinda dumb) pandemic of Swine Flu. It's early in this administration, and dissent is still needed now. The time to ask questions is when no one else is, and right now the only dissent heard is dismissed as a bunch of insane conservatives. Even that has begun to change, even if only a little bit, with Obama-fan Keith Olbermann even attacking Obama for the stance on Wiretapping Americans.

But asking questions about Obama doesn't mean I hate the man or "want him to fail". I want Obama to succeed and to do well. I did vote for the man. His success is the success for everyman, woman, and child and future generations, and by showing dissent, by asking questions, we ensure that we see and understand what is going on. Some take my dissent as being "dissent for the sake of dissent", when I simply don't believe so. If everything was going fine, if there weren't any problems with what he was doing, I would simply let it go and move on. The problem, though, is that there are things that must be asked and doing so is what we need to do.

"We should have faith in our president, you know? We can't know everything about what's going on, and we don't have the type of information he does. We should just trust him to do what's best for us." I heard this in 2002 and I'm hearing it now. This is what I'm worried about, and this is why I show dissent.