In his diminished role as valet for the economic and military elite he serves, Obama has swept the gross miscalculations, embarrassments, and criminal messes caused by the excesses of the America’s elite under the rug.
Normally, Obama works discreetly, as when quietly continuing various national states of emergency, or conducting deals with PhRMA. He may even tell us what he is doing in direct, declarative, candid and politely calculated sentences, as when he reversed himself on illegal wiretapping, offering boilerplate national security justifications. Occasionally, he will marshal more robust campaign-style intonations, e.g., at his Nobel acceptance, when defending starker imperial prerogatives, offering resolve and stuffed magniloquence in lieu of remotely credible justifications.
His modus operandi is clearly not change, but carrying on the status quo with discretion, sweeping unsightly things under the rug, or obscuring them as much and as circumspectly as possible. Keeping up appearances is his special sleight of hand, a Jedi mind trick of a deceitful and morally weak man having grave consequences beyond himself, God, and the fencepost.
By abstracting the purposes of imperial aggression, he robs other humans of their self-determination and their very lives. By denying due process to Guantanamo detainees and other secret prisoners, he denies justice and humanity. By hiding the transgressions of previous imperial stewards, he defrauds the Constitution. By sweeping the banking crisis under the rug, he plunders our wealth, our jobs, our standard of living, and endangers us further, as the underlying debt has still not been resolved. His pretenses to passing credible healthcare will only make us poorer and sicker. In his impeccable service to the American elite, he is driving the rest of us into a condition of sub-humanity, making us weaker, poorer, sicker, morally degraded and hopeless.
People will argue that it is unfair to cast aspersions on his motives. Blame the policy, not the man. He is just acting in ways he honestly feels are best for the country. That is the argument for “authentic” perdition. Heckuva job.