Obama Aged a Lot in 2009: The Mask Came Off

He was once considered youthful and energetic, and as we close in on the first calendar year of his first term we see in front of us a president who has aged very quickly in just over 11 months. The razor crisps speeches from the campaign trail have turned into blooper filled, bore fests. The dark hair has started to turn grandfatherly gray. Today's Associated picture of Barack Obama in Kaneohe, Hawaii, leaving a movie shows a profile not recognizable a year ago. Even the glasses steal the youth American enjoyed just a year ago. The presidency has quickly taken its toll on Barack Obama, or maybe its the stress of his inexperience incapable of filling the shoes.

As the face and the hair quickly change, so has Obama's favorable ratings among Americans. It's an interesting parallel--the two faces of Obama. The one a year ago that represented hope and change. The one today old and gray and the knowledge Obama is a war president bought and paid for by Wall Street and other special interests. It's like the mask came off, and Obama was like the rest, just a lot more radical.