Obama doing better than critics give him credit for

   It's still a year until the midterm elections, but I think with the new year upon us, it's as good a time as any to pause and take a look at how President Barack Obama is doing halfway through his second term.
   The president has received his share of criticism (mostly from Republicans, who wouldn't agree with him if he said the sky was blue), but that's nothing new. Every president has his share of critics. George W. Bush did (me among them). Bill Clinton certainly did. Even Ronald Reagan, the patron saint of modern conservatism, had his share of criticism, even scandal. Anyone remember Iran-Contra?
    Obama certainly hasn't been perfect during his five years in office. Like any president, he's made his share of mistakes. But for my money, he's certainly done better than his critics have given him credit for.
   Obama has faced harsh criticism from the moment he declared his intention to run for president in the 2008 election. His detractors criticized his relatively brief time in the U.S. Senate. They questioned his fitness to even run for the office by falsely claiming that he wasn't a natural-born U.S. citizen because he was supposedly born in Kenya. They have criticized him for his landmark achievement, the Affordable Care Act, claiming that it brought us one step closer to socialism. They have even implied that he is a liar and a murderer because of the attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya.
   While some of the criticism is justified, most of it is just sour grapes from a party that has failed to beat him in the past two presidential elections. In fact, let's take a look at each of these criticisms and what he's actually accomplished.
   Brief U.S. Senate Service: This is really a non-issue. Critics would have us believe that Obama's relatively brief stay in the U.S. Senate somehow makes him inexperienced, and thus not qualified to be president. These folks forget that he also served two terms in the Illinois Senate before running for Congress. And even if his stay in Congress was brief, so what? Lots of former presidents have used the U.S. Senate as a launching pad to the White House. John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson are just two that come to mind.
    And don't forget that his predecessor, George W. Bush, had NO federal government experience before winning the White House. He was only governor in a state that has a "weak governor" system, where the real power rests in the office of the lieutenant governor. Come to think of it, even Ronald Reagan had no federal government background before becoming president. And President Dwight Eisenhower? He had NO political experience at all before becoming president.
   The "Birther" debate: This is perhaps the longest running of the Obama conspiracies. "Birthers", as they've come to be known, believe the president is not a natural-born U.S . citizen as required by the Constitution, and therefore doesn't qualify to hold the office. This comes from the fact that his father was born in Kenya. Therefore, the logic goes, because his father wasn't born in this country, and because young Barack did spend some of his childhood in Indonesia, he's not a "natural-born" American.
    Hogwash. Here are the facts: Barack Hussein Obama was born Aug. 4, 1961 in Hawaii. His long-form birth certificate, which his critics demanded he release, proves it. Since Hawaii became a state in 1959, that makes Obama a U.S. citizen. Next?
   The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare): This is Obama's signature achievement. It is the first real, meaningful reform of our health care system in decades, and his critics hate it. They say that it will bankrupt the economy and the average citizen. They say it won't work. And worst of all, they say it represents a government takeover of the health care system and a move toward socialism.
   Newsflash for these folks: The government has been involved in health care since at least the mid-1960s. Remember Medicare? That system isn't perfect either, but it has provided vital health care to the elderly for decades, and generally works pretty well.
   It's too early yet to know just how well the Affordable Care Act will work. It's only been operational since October. Is it perfect? No. Were there mistakes made with the implementation of the federal Web site? Yes. Did Obama err when he told people that they could keep their existing plans and doctors if they preferred? Yes. Was it an intentional lie, or an attempt to mislead the American people? I don't know, though personally, I don't think so.
    What I do know is that with this legislation, people who have never had coverage have a chance to get insurance. Is it perfect? Hardly. But it is a real step forward in fixing a system that has been broken for decades. And if Republicans don't like it, I suggest they come up with an alternative plan instead of just complaining about Obama's solution.
   Benghazi: This is perhaps the most serious scandal of Obama's presidency. On Sept. 11, 2012, the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked, resulting in the death of four people, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. According to the Republican narrative, the attack was orchestrated by al-Qaida. Republicans believe Obama knew this from the beginning and chose to blame the attack on local militants who were upset about a video that was critical of Islam. Worse, they believe he refused to send help when asked, resulting in the four deaths.
   Sounds damning, right? Except a recent story by The New York Times backed the original version of events. According to the Times piece, the video WAS the initial spark that prompted the attack. Al-Qaida had nothing to do with the violence which was, in fact, perpetrated by local militants. And as for why no help came? Because they were prevented from helping by armed guards who turned rescuers away.
   Benghazi critics would have us believe that Obama knew the cause of the attacks from the attacks from the beginning and lied about it, that he callously chose to sacrifice four American lives for some unknown ulterior motive. But The Times story proves it is the GOP's version of events, not Obama's, that is fiction.
   So what has Obama accomplished during his five years in office? I think his legacy begins with the Affordable Care Act. Its passage was a monumental achievement, and its impact is yet to be determined. Apart from that, Obama can point to his decision to dismantle the ill-advised "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for military service members, the rescue of the auto industry through a massive government bailout and an economy that appears to be slowly righting itself after the 2008 recession, despite lingering joblessness. The move toward full equality with his declared support of same-sex marriage is another accomplishment he can be proud of. And let's not forget the winding down of our two front war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the recent deal to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons. Taken altogether, it's not a bad job for someone critics said was too inexperienced to be president.
   Has Obama been perfect? Of course not. His declaration that "If you like your current prescription plan and your current doctor, you can keep it, period," was a huge misstep, though  I don't think it was an intentional lie. His efforts to raise up the middle class and the poor have often met with mixed success, though that is more the fault of an obstructionist Republican Party than anything Obama has done.
   Obama was elected on a promise of bringing "Hope and Change" to America, and to his credit, he's tried. Still, despite not getting everything he had hoped for, I think he deserves more credit and has done a better job than his critics are willing to give him.