2009: The (Hallucinatory) Year That Was
Looking back at President Obama’s first year in the Whitehouse

March 27, 2010 – Has it really only been a year since Barack Obama was elected as the 44th US President? On hindsight, nobody could have predicted how things have turned out since last spring. There remains a lot of work to be done before America and the world recovers from The Rather Prodigious Recession of 2009, but for now at least, it seems we’re moving in the right direction.

The economy seems to be on the right track. Inexplicably keeping his cool through the first quarter of 2009 that essentially saw the Dow halve in value while the flock of media vultures condemned his not-two-month-old policies for the collective sins of the past eight years, President Obama somehow managed to make the far-sighted decisions that have only recently started coming to fruition. By channeling Truman’s “The Buck Stops Here” motto in a historic early April speech, a stern President Obama forever put an end to the bickering negative slew of CEO witch hunts and fashionable blame-the-government speeches that wracked early 2009, stalling progress in spite of its dire need. Instead, by refocusing America’s workforce into rebuilding its disintegrating infrastructure, Obama created tens of thousands of jobs while paving the way for a more competitive America – thereby investing in a much more stable global economy which doesn’t hinge on trillion dollar trade imbalances and international vendor financing to fuel both the American Dream and double-digit emerging market growth. Rising literacy levels and the fact that the Ford Fiesta has somehow replaced the Hummer (thanks in no small part to P. Diddy’s “Green or Die” campaign) as the “street-cred” car to drive is just icing on the cake.

Equally promising is America’s improvements in its foreign relations, not just with its enemies but its allies. Obama’s second visit to Ottawa in late 2009 was a significant step forward in US-Canada relations, which had thawed somewhat in the wake of Chrétien’s opposition of the Iraq War, and the seemingly genuine rapport between President Obama and Prime Minister Ignatieff hints at stronger cooperation in the days to come. Downing Street and the White House transcended their initially lukewarm relationship, and have worked hand in hand in stabilizing the global economy. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, building on the inadvertently humorous goodwill resulting from her “overcharge” button gaffe with Russia, went on to push the reset button on relations with China. Cuba followed.

In a truly historic move, Barack Obama ran the cleanest, most successful campaign in NBA history – using the internet as a medium to reach All-Star voters in a way the likes of Gilbert Arenas and Chris Bosh could only dream of, the Baller-In-Chief was voted in as a starting guard in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. Donning a Chicago Bulls jersey, Obama dropped 31 points on a hapless, dejected Kobe Bryant en route to a 122-98 blowout victory over the West. Yes he can.

Disney woke up one day in realization that The Mickey Mouse Club never really was about Britney and Justin and Christina to begin with, found itself shocked at the cultural damage it had wrought over the last decade as a pop tart factory… and resolved to someday make children’s cartoons once more.

Polar bears are still on the endangered species list, and fruit fly research continues unabated.

Will all this come to pass? If he even accomplishes half of what he sets out to do, Barack Obama will already have proven himself to be one of the greatest world leaders in history. More importantly though, does it even matter? The truth is, despite the efforts of frenzied media pundits who will try and convince us otherwise, it isn’t as important that Obama finds the right answers as it is that he asks the right questions. And, by surrounding himself with an intelligent and capable team helmed by Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and consigliere Rahm Emanuel, one that is unafraid of constructively criticizing their leader’s decisions, Barack Obama is ensuring that he does. Whatever he may or may not actually accomplish, by asking the right questions, Obama is already light years ahead of the detachment, distraction and denial that has permeated the White House for the past decade.