"Obama is just like Bush"

Okay, here's an example of something that drives me mildly crazy. TPM mainpage headline: "Disappointed Open Gov't Experts: Obama Is Going Down Bush's Path". Click on the link, and the page it takes you to has a less incendiary headline: "CIA Stance On Torture Tape Docs Suggests Obama's New Open Government Era Won't Materialize". No mention of Bush at all. Read the article, and you get even more of a climb down:

Obama's approach to issues of secrecy on national security doesn't mimic Bush's alone, it appears. Rather, said Olmsted, it's broadly in keeping with "every other presidential administration" of modern times. But, she added, "it's disappointing, because President Obama promised a whole new era in government transparency, and here they go again concealing this information." (Emphasis mine.)

So the bottom line is that people are disappointed that Obama told some lies during his campaign. Fair enough, although I honestly think that's kind of no duh myself. But to go from that to "he's no different than Bush" seems like PTSD, doesn't it? I mean, I remember the Clinton administration fighting tooth and nail to prevent the most innocuous information from being released. They seemed to do it on reflex. Then again, I guess that's the other disappointed comparison I hear a lot of: Obama is just like Clinton (i.e., a servant of the corporations). Even that, I think, is a form of PTSD. Must we constantly relive the traumas of the past? Time for new trauma! Boycott Obama Motors!

"Fremont is falling apart"

Okay, this is an example of another thing that drives me crazy. Fremont Universe announces that the Triangle Tavern is closing and being replaced by a '20s-gangster-theme-bar called 9 Million in Unmarked Bills. Now, admittedly this new bar sounds like a place I will stay far away from. But you know, I've stayed far away from the Triangle lately too.

However, the thing that drives me crazy is the comments: "I think my neighborhood is starting to slip away from me." "The Triangle was doomed when Fremont was transformed into a yuppie corporate office park." "This neighborhood is falling apart."

I'm trying to remember when these complaints about Fremont started. It was sometime in the '90s, I think, probably around the time that property prices started going through the roof. In short, it's been going on for well over a decade now. I'm not sure which is more maddening: that these same comments have been repeated over and over for fifteen years, or that the people making the comments on this post have probably only been living in the neighborhood for five years.

It's true that Fremont has been gentrified. The thing is, it's been true for so long it is no longer worth commenting on! This longing for the golden past before gentrification is really, really tired. From a personal standpoint, it's also tiresome because I actually prefer the gentrified Fremont to the golden age Fremont. I like having restaurants and bars and bookstores and record stores (well, only one now) that I can walk to. We could use a movie theater too, damn it. But that's just me. The main point is that Fremont is not slipping away or falling apart. It is gentrified, plain and simple, and has been for quite a while. Get over it.