Hoping That Obama Is Lying

I'm sure I'm not the first to recognize this, but as I sit back and think about our President and his first few months in office, I've come to an important conclusion. Never before in presidential politics have so many people been so invested in a hope, and a dream--and that hope and dream are that the man they voted for is lying to them.

If you are a pro-choice voter, then you hope the President was lying during his speech at Notre Dame where he suggested that the debate over abortion should continue. That's the last thing you want, as you see the pro-life movement gathering steam year after year.

If you are in favor of gay marriage, you have to hope that the President is lying when he says that he believes marriage should be reserved for one man and one woman.

If you are in favor of ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the military, then you're hoping that he is lying when he says his administration is not going to tamper with the current policy.

If you believe that the United States has alienated itself from the rest of the world through its ham-fisted pursuit of the war on terror, you're hoping that the President is lying when he signs Executive Orders reinforcing the practice of "extraordinary rendition", or the snatch and grab of suspected terrorists in other countries (started incidentally, but Bill Clinton).

If you believe that the US has trampled upon international law and the rights of those who took up arms against us as unlawful combatants, you are hoping that the President is lying to us when he says that the "newly constituted" military commissions are the best way to try these people.

If you believe that the US government took upon itself too much power and authority in pursuing a worldwide enemy dedicated to the destruction of western civilization, you are hoping that the President is lying when he advocates for sweeping implementation of the State Secrets Act to protect sources and methods of intelligence gathering.

If you believe that the US government has violated the privacy rights of law-abiding Americans by warrant-less wiretapping, and that those corporations who cooperated with the federal government should bear civil or criminal penalty, you are hoping that the President is lying when he says that such corporations should be protected from prosecution.

The list goes on, and on. But what we have is a whole group of voters who just KNOW IN THEIR HEARTS that the President REALLY WANTS to do the opposite of what he is doing and saying, but that the timing simply isn't right. So one thing or another is true. Either he isn't the man they elected, or he is lying to all of us. One or the other must be true.