Hana King | Features Editor
Kinghm@imail.losrios.edu
For what seems like an eternity, the country has been under the trance of Obamamania. It’s hard to recall the pre-Obama era of American politics, but perhaps that’s because we’ve all worked so hard at repressing the last eight years. After all, Mr. Bush’s atrocious grammar, eco-unfriendly policies and that bloody, money-gobbling war have been enough to make anyone want to build a makeshift bomb shelter in their basement and hide out for a while, but on Jan. 20, in the nations capitol, over 2 million people gathered in the light of day, and partied well into the night to celebrate the dawning of a new administration.
Now that the short-lived honeymoon is over, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty. Obama made a lot of promises during his campaign and he didn’t waiver on his promise of change during his inaugural address, telling the crowd, “Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real, they are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met.”
Call me a cynic, but after growing up in the Bush era, I’m hesitant to get my hopes up. That’s not to say that I didn’t vote for the guy, or still don’t proudly display my “Obama” button on the front of my twenty pound backpack, but my nagging fear is that things won’t change.
Despite my skepticism however, so far so good. One of President Obama’s first orders of business was to overturn the controversial Mexico City Policy, established by the former administration. The policy prohibited organizations like Planned Parenthood from receiving funding to provide overseas abortion and health care services to women.
“Denying women choice about their own reproduction is a basic human rights issue,” says City College English major Sarah Meyers.
After a series of similar maneuvers that seemed to chip away at the foundation of Roe v. Wade (let’s not forget that it was almost overturned in Montana, and the narrowly avoided Proposition 4 ballot initiative), it’s good to see at least a small —dare I say it?—change.
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