OTHER OPINIONS Obama's critics

By - The Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald

Posted: September 18, 2009 at 4:35 a.m.

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SYDNEY, Australia — When Barack Obama took office as U.S. president, it was apparent that changing the occupant of the Oval Office would change many things about America. And in the past year, that expectation has been confirmed in speech and deed: a new attitude toward the Islamic world and new strategies for peace in the Middle East; new energy policies linked to measures aimed at reviving the ailing U.S. economy; and now the attempt to deliver health-insurance coverage to all Americans, an issue that was central to Mr. Obama's presidential campaign. :

It is a tradition that presidents addressing Congress are heard in respectful silence, even by their fiercest political opponents. : No one heckles a president. Or at least no one did until last week, when a Republican congressmanfrom South Carolina, Joe Wilson, yelled out, "You lie!" during Mr.

Obama's speech.

Nor is this the only novelty the president has had to endure since he began urging legislators to deliver on health-care reform.

Outside many of the town-hall meetings he has attended have been protesters carrying guns. :

It is inconceivable that a white president would be treated in this way. The protesters are effectively saying that they do not accept the legitimacy of last November's election. : They do not represent the American mainstream, however much they purport to speak for it. If they nonetheless block the president's agenda, American democracy will be the loser.

Opinion, Pages 5 on 09/18/2009

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