By James W. Breedlove
And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. (Rev 12:7-9)
He said he would do it and he did it. With a steadfast tenacity and an eye on the prize President Barack Obama has subdued the vaunted GOP dragon after some 15 months of battle.
In Christian symbolism, the dragon has often been associated with the serpent also known as Satan. Cast out of heaven by St. Michael and his angels, the enraged dragon consumed by selfish desire, blindly strikes out against the vulnerable innocents in an effort to satiate these desires. In reality, the dragon’s efforts to deceive and devour tend to feed its hunger rather than allay it; the more he gets the more he wants. Because of the resultant chaos and its destructive power the dragon has increasingly represented the evil inherent in the world and the perpetual conflict between good and evil.
It was onto this age old battlefield of conflict and controversy, where the GOP consistently bedeviled Democrats, that Barack Obama became President of the United States of America. Several generations of democratic presidents and presidential contenders have been smeared, slandered, and attacked with insidious innuendo and outright lies. Their response was to take the high road without fighting back. The result has usually been that the scurrilous underhanded tactics used by the GOP dragon have made them victorious on critical issues even when they were not the voting majority.
For over a year it seemed that the historical tactics of the GOP dragon were working as the relatively inexperienced but calm, cool and collected Barack Obama took over the White House. Certainly the total shock of a black man vanquishing the GOP presidential candidate by an electoral margin of 365 to 173 was the last straw. The coordinated muckraking campaign the GOP dragon unleashed was only exceeded by the breadth of change that Obama undertook.
In his speech accepting the Democratic nomination Obama meticulously outlined the critical problems facing Americans with the war, the economy and the inability to enjoy the American promise because of the total failure of Washington’s broken politics.
Obama’s specifics for addressing the American Promise was to: cut taxes for working families, end America’s dependence on foreign oil, provide every child with a world-class education, guarantee affordable healthcare, reform bankruptcy laws, protect social security, and provide equal pay for an equal day of work.
President Obama did not get the usual time to transition into the presidency. His administration had to immediately deal with the relentless decline in the economy that began in late 2008 and whether or not to bail out the financial institutions. Getting the $787 billion dollar stimulus package through congress presaged the partisan rancor that followed.
Not a single Republican in the House voted for the package, and it took the votes of three Republican senators to avert a filibuster fight.
Partisan hell broke loose when health care reform was introduced. As various bills made their way through Congress over the summer and fall of 2009, there was practically no bipartisan support.
Congressional Republicans were in lock-step agreement to stop any health care measure that Obama backed.
Buoyed by the special election win of Scott Brown to the senate seat of the late Ted Kennedy the GOP dragon went into overdrive mode to derail healthcare reform. The party of NO had dedicated itself to prevent Black President Obama from achieving success where no other (White) president had succeeded in over 45 years.
But they underestimated the resolve of a determined Obama.
He rolled up his sleeves and went back into campaign mode to talk directly to the people about the failed status quo and the need to look to the future. After the bitterest of debates, the House passed the health care legislation late Sunday night on March 21, 2010 ensuring that whatever any adverse political price, history will show President Obama as one of the few presidents who found a way to reshape the nation’s social system.
Mr. Obama proved to the skeptics in his own party and to the GOP dragon that he is willing to fight for something that he believes in no matter the potential political consequences.
And if winning the healthcare battle over the GOP dragon was not enough five days latter Obama concluded a new strategic arms treaty agreement with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Two huge wins for Barack Obama at home and abroad in a span of six days.
President Obama, you have taken the best hits the GOP dragon could muster and prevailed. You have shown that you are a domestic and international leader but most importantly you have proven that you can deliver on what you promise and that you will stick with a task, no matter how treacherous the obstructing dragon, until it is finished.
But the GOP dragon shall rise again. They will be forever dogging your footsteps, looking for an opening to launch another attack.
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