The past two months have been a dream. The American people have elected a black president. Beyond that, this president promises change and has lived up to it by getting us out of Iraq and rebuilding our nation’s damaged reputation. We can finally put the embarrassment of Bush behind us. We are saved.

Or are we?

Let’s wake up from this fairy tale and realize a couple things:

• We are still in Iraq and have no idea when we are getting out.

• Obama has probably offended more world leaders in two months than any other president in as short of time.

Many people let themselves get duped by Obama’s troop movements. The anti-war crowd celebrated the Obama administration, pulling a brigade from Iraq to send to Afghanistan. This looks good for the newspapers, but what has not been heavily reported on is the brigade the military is sending from the United States to Iraq.

So far Obama has played some very smart politics – seeming to fulfill campaign promises while turning around and quietly doing the opposite. All of this is to please the millions of supporters who may have voted for him based solely on his anti-war appearance, but that is just what it is – an appearance.

People who are against the war and still think Obama was the right choice are kidding themselves. This is a man who is not just prepared to continue the war in Iraq but appears willing to expand it to Pakistan and Iran. Remember, in the first week of his administration Obama endorsed an air raid on a sovereign country that killed around 20 people.

Only about four of the people were fighters, the rest were men, women and children who were caught in the path of the missiles.

As far as making an ass out of himself and the American people, Obama may have already surpassed the damage Bush did. Our previous president was known for his foul ups: his horrible way with words and the arrogant way he acted like the rest of the world does not matter.

The rest of the world hated him for it.

After sending back a bust of Winston Churchill, you’d think Obama could at least show up to the press conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. You would be thinking wrong.

The British PM gave Obama a pen holder that was crafted from the timbers of a warship. In return, Obama gave the prime minister 25 DVDs filled with American movie classics.

A priceless artifact in exchange for a collection that probably contains “Gone With the Wind.” I bet Brown was kicking himself for that trade.

Then there is the matter of the “secret” letter the administration sent to Russia about not helping the Czech Republic and Poland with missile defense in exchange for stopping Iran’s nuclear program. Not only did Russia turn down the deal, but the letter went public so the other countries knew we were bailing on them.

It is one gaffe after another with this guy – Bush’s pretzel choking incident is nothing compared to this stuff.

The longer he and his cronies are in office, the more our new president is looking to be just like the last one. Our next four years look like they are going to be filled with just as much blood-spilling and embarrassment as the previous eight.

Ted Hamilton is a senior magazine journalism major and columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].