We Just Might Make It
It is so easy to get depressed and just want to give up. The dishonest lunatics on the right-wing fringe look like they are marching lockstep towards disaster. Bush II and his drunkard, lawyer shooting VP was nothing less than a horrible national embarrassment, and their policies were a full blown tragedy.
Because of years of corruption and greed most of the sensible regulations enacted after the great depression of the 1930’s were eliminated in the name of the semi-religious theology called deregulation. Of course the entire world wide capitalist regime bubbled over and burst. The heartbreaking part is the lives of all the hard working people who have lost their jobs, health insurance, marriages, and had their homes foreclosed upon.
The world was ready for hope and change, and many of us thought that was what we were getting in Barack Obama. But it turns out he is just somewhat better read and a little more articulate than Bush Jr. He was advertised as the U.S. Senator with the very most liberal voting record of any, but his policies have turned out to be what one would expect from a rational center right Republican president who might be just a little bit on the take.
He has totally done a 180, reneging on most of what he campaigned for. He has not ended the wars, rather he has significantly increased the warfare. Obama has not closed all of the secret government jails. He didn’t get universal health care enacted, not single payer, nor the government option, and not even a social security buy-in. He hasn’t gotten significant reform enacted to prevent future economic depressions or recessions. The banks are back healthy and are again awarding humongous bonuses thanks to billion dollar bailouts from us taxpayers, but the lost jobs of the middle class have not come back. The President’s spokesman Rahm Emanuel called the progressives and liberals “fucking retards.” Obama has greatly increased tax payer funding for nuclear power plants. The Hispanics and the Blacks don’t see that he has done much to help them either.
Now after only one year on the job, not only do the racists and right wing fanatics hate him, the well educated progressives and liberals are coming around solidly against him too. It is difficult to think of any substantial policy change that the Obama administration has been successful in enacting. It is easy to feel that maybe America has become downright ungovernable.
But there are still a few honest and bright people out there. Too bad almost all of them are sensible enough to not have any desire to run for political office. Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Krugman, and Michael Moore all clearly see the reality of what is happening. Will the good guys be strong enough to win out over the lunatic right wing fundamentalists? The jury is still very much out on this one. Only time will tell. I for one am going to keep fighting for social justice and honesty in government.
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