The Wizard of Oz

If I remember the movie correctly the Wizard of Oz was a fraud, but belief in him gave the cowardly lion, the scare crow, the tin Man and Dorothy the courage to develop a plan and follow a path. And they ultimately found that they always had what it took to solve their problems.

I think there is probably more truth in that then almost any other fairy tale I have read. Though to be totally honest a lot of fairy tales have a very dark side.

The current Wizard of Oz is President Barack Obama. No, I am not saying he is a fraud, but like all idols upon which we hang all our hopes is likely to disappoint at some time. Currently many of my liberal friends are shattered that he is moving to suppress photos of alleged prisoner abuse by our soldiers in foreign lands. Others were upset he shook the hand of President Chavez. Then there is the reinstitution of military tribunals. Or that he is throwing money after the economic situation, and creating an even bigger deficit than the one Bush left us.

And this morning I was reading on Real Clear Politics that barring some dramatic breakthrough or a military strike from Israel, Iran is going to become a nuclear power. According to a National Security Network report, "During the eight years of the Bush administration, unnecessary saber-rattling, coupled with a refusal to talk to Iran, did nothing to make America more secure. Indeed, Iran made enormous advances both in nuclear technology and regional prestige."

And if you believe that Iran is just going to lay down its hopes of being a major power in the region and skip down the yellow brick road with the rest of the world you do believe in fairy tales. In fact maybe you are delusional.

The presidency of the United States is not a magic wand. It is not even the Emerald City. It is a huge burden and to an enormous degree has more control over the holder of the office than that individual has with the office supposedly at his command.

In his first 100 days in office President Obama has done an enormous amount to turn around the misguided policies of the previous administration even though they are still out there lobbying that they did everything right. But now is not the time to sit back and begin critizing what he has not done. Now is the time to realize we have power ourselves. Like the lion, and the tin man and the scarecrow we have heart and courage and brains.

Like Dorothy we have always had the power to go home to an America we are proud of. It just may not always be a straight road and it may not be paved with gold like immigrants to our shores once believed. But it is our best hope currently for a world that works for everyone.

Stop yelling at the Wizard! Stop listening to the wicked witches like Cheney and Rush and Ann Coulter. Believe we can do this.