We can handle the truth.

One thing that has always distressed me about Obama - past all the obvious "Hope" Change" nonsense we all endured and continue to endure - is the neutering of any hope for real change. Obama is a front man. Oddly the 2 people tagged last year as agents of the status quo, Clinton and McCain, have both always shown more independence in their respective realms than Obama. To be sure, both McCain and Clinton were beholden to a number of special interests last year and are politicians - larded up with much of what that implies. All politicians "front" to a degree for those who pay their way.

What should be obvious to all now is that Obama not only fronted for those who paid for him - he concocted an entire alternative reality to cover for and distract from those who paid for him. A reality of moonbeams, rainbows, redemption, and the perfect slogan for a nation to tired, self -involved and scared to be bothered by difficult questions: "We are the ones we've been waiting for." A statement that collapses in on itself in any realm other than psychotherapy and came to mean "I am the one you've been waiting for" at every Obama rally. It is a sentence that sublimely deifies learned helplessness.

Much has been made of "Obama is trying to do too much." This is true. The reason is not the avalanches of spending and policy statements however. The "too much" on Obama's plate stems from simultaneously trying to govern for the benefit those who paid for him and satisfy those who believed his concocted reality. He being the essential believer.

So we get Goldman Sachs driven bank bailouts AND credit card reform. A trillion dollar deficit (in one year!) plan AND lectures about fiscal discipline. Immediate attacks on Pakistan, stepped up assaults in Afghanistan, AND apologies around the world...for previous attacks and assaults.

Nowhere is this Administration dual personality so evident as it is surrounding the Bush era torture abuses. Obama: We will not prosecute possible crime AND we will release the memos. This caused a rift with the CIA and continues to strip Pelosi of any credibility, if that is remotely possible. And so it goes when a President tries to play both sides to keep his poll numbers up.

Wednesday the balancing act stumbled. 2 weeks ago Obama insisted he would release another round of photos that the ACLU had sued over. Yesterday, Obama flip flopped and will now not release the photos. He gave reasons that are comforting and largely dishonest. The most prominent being that it would "inflame" Muslim extremists, hurt the military, and damage America further in the eyes of the world. These reasons were oddly preceded by "they weren't that bad, anyway"

Of course, not releasing the photos will also "inflame" the inflammable. The military is actually damaged by the "cover up" as well- if few participated there is nothing to fear and if it was systemic abuse then something should be done. Covering up merely promotes the cause of America Haters the world over. As for the alleged damage to the country - don't believe it. Obama is concerned about damage to himself. He's in the oval office now and does not want anything to interfere with the "reset buttons" he keeps pushing. He will be the saviour, by God, history and reality be damned. It may be hard for Obama and his deluded team to accept but history did not "reset" on January 20th. He does not get to shake the etch-a sketch in the real world.

The damage has been done to the country and it stems from policy not photos.

Avoiding a full accounting holds little sway with me. By that logical we ought not to have found out about the concocted "yellow cake" either. Or Powell and Cheney's misinformation about Iraq's connection to 9/11. Or the Downing Street memos. The wiretaps? Keep them secret. All did "damage" to the country. All enraged. They damaged the CIA, the military, and the White House.

Would it be better now for a majority to still think the Iraq war was about WMDs, Saddam was in on 9/11 and whatever is done in our name is A-Okay?

Obama, by not thinking through the release of the torture memos, realized too late the shit storm they would cause. His flip flop on this round of photos is nothing more than self preservation dressed up as considered thought. He does not want to be harangued into an investigation. That simple desire is the alpha and omega of yesterday's turn around.

Finally, I am sick of being treated like a toddler who has to leave the room when the grown ups make the big decisions. We are not infants. "You can't handle the truth!" is a great movie line - but it simply is not true for most of us. It is the excuse of the elite to excuse the elite.

We are still a vital people. We can handle the truth and we ought to know it.