Cooling time
I'm back from a couple months off, having allowed myself some time to cool off from November's disaster. I feel better about things, and I'm not sure if it's just the "time heals all wounds" adage, numbness settling in regarding the horror of 4 more years of Bush and co., or that I'm feeling that things aren't as bad as they seem and that I'm optimistic about the future.
I do believe that, eventually, what has come will pass and the assholes who have taken over this country will fade away (even if they don't end up in prison, like they deserve). The thing that worries me, though, is the damage this country will suffer because of their actions.
A major terrorist attack might not happen for another five or ten years. But we have to realize that it's going to happen. And we'll have to wonder why we didn't eliminate Al Qaida in Afghanistan instead of turning to Iraq; why we went to Iraq and started a devastating war on false pretenses that will create more terrorists who will want to hurt this country; why we shunned the rest of the world who didn't agree with us and decided to work on our own.
Our nation's debt level is staggering. The new warfare will be economic, as major economic forces such as China and the EU can use their stake in our debt as leverage against us. The party that has claimed they are the party of fiscal responsibility is anything but. They assailed the Democrats for years for being "tax and spenders," but they are spend and spenders, budgeting more and more with less and less revenue. It has to stop, but, of course, politicians are only willing to sacrifice things they don't like and nothing that might harm them politically.
Let's face it. We are in an era of one-party rule. The Republicans slashed and burned their way to the top and the Democrats rolled easier than a bowling ball. When the give and take of two parties compromising and cutting away the excesses that result from either party's ideology trumping reason (in essence, each party saving the other from itself) gives way to one party calling all the shots, bad things are going to happen. Poor decisions and law will be made when both sides don't have the ability to make decisions.
The 90s were, in a weird sort of way, a golden age for politics. A Democratic President and a Republican Congress accomplished a lot of things and, while I don't agree with a lot of things that came about, it's hard to disregard the 7 or so years of economic prosperity and relative peace.
The Republicans, though, were unhappy with this sort of bipartisan government and wanted it all. They set out to destroy and unseat Bill Clinton, one of the most popular presidents ever. It almost succeeded. After that, and the debacle of 2000, 9-11 and exploiting national tragedy to further a political agenda, the 2002 and 2004 elections, they have it all.
They will (or should) be forced to play out their hand and deliver all the promises they said they could deliver once they took control. They made a lot of promises to people extremist in nature, who don't understand or care that democratic politics involves compromising and not getting everything you want. This idea of compromise will be lost on those who want gay marriage eliminated, abortion rights erased, all traces of skin covered in movies and television, and mandatory prayer in schools. They don't believe in compromise. They are right, everyone else is wrong, end of story. The Republicans can keep beating the drum and promising, but eventually, they have to deliver to these people.
So, this will pass. When? Who knows. If it doesn't pass, well, we're all in a lot of trouble.
I do believe that, eventually, what has come will pass and the assholes who have taken over this country will fade away (even if they don't end up in prison, like they deserve). The thing that worries me, though, is the damage this country will suffer because of their actions.
A major terrorist attack might not happen for another five or ten years. But we have to realize that it's going to happen. And we'll have to wonder why we didn't eliminate Al Qaida in Afghanistan instead of turning to Iraq; why we went to Iraq and started a devastating war on false pretenses that will create more terrorists who will want to hurt this country; why we shunned the rest of the world who didn't agree with us and decided to work on our own.
Our nation's debt level is staggering. The new warfare will be economic, as major economic forces such as China and the EU can use their stake in our debt as leverage against us. The party that has claimed they are the party of fiscal responsibility is anything but. They assailed the Democrats for years for being "tax and spenders," but they are spend and spenders, budgeting more and more with less and less revenue. It has to stop, but, of course, politicians are only willing to sacrifice things they don't like and nothing that might harm them politically.
Let's face it. We are in an era of one-party rule. The Republicans slashed and burned their way to the top and the Democrats rolled easier than a bowling ball. When the give and take of two parties compromising and cutting away the excesses that result from either party's ideology trumping reason (in essence, each party saving the other from itself) gives way to one party calling all the shots, bad things are going to happen. Poor decisions and law will be made when both sides don't have the ability to make decisions.
The 90s were, in a weird sort of way, a golden age for politics. A Democratic President and a Republican Congress accomplished a lot of things and, while I don't agree with a lot of things that came about, it's hard to disregard the 7 or so years of economic prosperity and relative peace.
The Republicans, though, were unhappy with this sort of bipartisan government and wanted it all. They set out to destroy and unseat Bill Clinton, one of the most popular presidents ever. It almost succeeded. After that, and the debacle of 2000, 9-11 and exploiting national tragedy to further a political agenda, the 2002 and 2004 elections, they have it all.
They will (or should) be forced to play out their hand and deliver all the promises they said they could deliver once they took control. They made a lot of promises to people extremist in nature, who don't understand or care that democratic politics involves compromising and not getting everything you want. This idea of compromise will be lost on those who want gay marriage eliminated, abortion rights erased, all traces of skin covered in movies and television, and mandatory prayer in schools. They don't believe in compromise. They are right, everyone else is wrong, end of story. The Republicans can keep beating the drum and promising, but eventually, they have to deliver to these people.
So, this will pass. When? Who knows. If it doesn't pass, well, we're all in a lot of trouble.
1 Comments:
Excellent post! I had pondered not checking your blog anymore, since you sort of disappeared without a trace, but I'm glad I didn't!
The media has always been ruled by white men who never told us the truth and yet the truth always came out. Like Hitler, like Nixon, in retrospect people will come to understand what a trainwreck this administration was. Of course, this knowledge won't stop us from making the same mistake, but a new crop of leaders will need to learn the lesson, lest they forget.
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