No We Can’t

Obama continues to be the center of the news. He was before assuming office because of what people hoped he would do. Now that he is in office, he is because of what he still has not done.

Nine months of his administration have passed without anything concrete. Perhaps his nomination for the Nobel Prize was unreasonable, because certainly no one thinks he deserves it. Like Lech Walesa complained upon hearing the news: “Who, what? So fast?”

His biggest project, health care reform, is moving slowly, with notable opposition from conservatives who view the new system as the beginning of socialism in the United States. In fact, some yards of typical middle-class houses in the suburbs have banners with the phrase “No to Socialism.” Naturally, opponents of the reform do not know what the reform that Obama proposes consists of, but at least they know what socialism is.

If Obama had a Mexican political advisor, [the advisor] would have already recommended that he take a change in direction, like Cardénas throwing out Calles, Ruiz Cortínez pointing out the corruption of the government under Alemán, Salinas with the kinase or Calderón with the power outage from the energy company. Fox did not make changes in direction, but rather was hit with the rudder.

A fourth grade student asked the president last week why people hated him. He added: “They’re supposed to love you. And God is love.” Obama’s answer shows the problems that the American society endures. Obama answered that we should take everything calmly, in good humor and with a grain of salt.

The reference to salt refers to the Roman general Pompey who tried to make himself immune to poisoning by ingesting small doses of poisons to serve as a preventative antidote. He took the small doses with a small amount of salt. The supposed antidotes served him little as he was ultimately assassinated in Egypt where he was in hiding.

Not being as dramatic as a Roman general, Obama believes that the critics who speak out are frustrated and sore about having lost the election. Others are angry and worried about the prospect of losing their jobs or houses, since they owe mortgages to the bank. Obama has said that he is not giving up on his idea of change, that work is being done and what is happening is only the beginning.

“And when you’re president of the United States, you know, you’ve got to deal with all of that. You get some of the credit when things go good. And when things are going tough, then, you know, you’re going to get some of the blame, and that’s part of the job,” Obama concluded.

Not everything was as unpleasant for him as a child telling him that he is hated. A few hours after being asked why he is hated, the celebration of the day of Spanish or Latin culture went well. Spanish and Latin are euphemisms, however, because the Latins have not existed since Pompey, and the Spanish are on the Iberian peninsula and not in the Mexican neighborhoods of Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.

At the “Spanish Heritage” celebration, he accepted the invitation extended to him by Thalía [Mexican pop singer and actress] to dance after the Mexican artist consulted Michelle [Obama]. He shouted “Macho” as he danced and showed off his tropical rhythm and his dancing talent.

During his campaign, Obama utilized a motto whose origin is unknown. I thought it was attributable to a group of parents from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, who accompanied their children to a children’s world championship game of baseball in Williamsport. The motto, “Si Se Puede,” which they made famous, helped them win the world championship.

The PRI* with Robert Madrazo utilized the same motto, but did not win. Obama utilized “Yes We Can” and with this beat Hillary for the Democratic nomination, and afterward beat McCain for the presidency.

Now in the United States, in the face of widespread difficulties, the accumulated problems and the difficulties in initiating the proposed changes, it has been suggested that it would be more suitable for the successful motto to undergo a change and convert to “No We Can’t,” because everything indicates that–for the moment, at least–they want to, but they can’t.

*Translator’s note: the PRI, or Institutional Revolutionary Party, is a Mexican political party.