Barack Obama galvanized a large slice of the American pie, people who, for a long time, felt disenfranchised. He achieved a miraculous win that seemed to be redemption for people of color and for people who had suffered through 8 years of the Bush’s Big Adventure. For a brief moment, in January of 2009, as seems to happen every time the Presidential race gets down to the final minutes, the American public seemed genuinely interested in who governs us.
And then, the honeymoon was over - and it’s back to “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives.” I understand, politics are boring, certainly compared to Polar Bears found in the desert. Who can compete? But I insist you look at the back scratching in Congress and realize that no desperate housewife could match the cat claws of the Democrats and Republicans.
As Obama’s Stimulus Package has shown, there is no “reaching across the aisle” in the House of Congress. Not one Republican voted “yes” on the largest bill ever to come across their endangered species wood desks. Not one Republican was able to say that he supported the Presidents bold initiative. Several Democrats even turned their back on Obama in the hour he needed the most support - during his first crucial weeks in office.
I can understand the Republicans voting “no”. They were the ones who pushed a war that was/is unjust and sent the country down into an economic sinkhole- wallowing in the mire. They were the ones who fed the giant albatross--on the crumbs usually reserved for the poor--as the maligned bird dragged us all into the ocean deep. Voting “no” was just their way of never having to say they’re sorry.
But what about the Democrats - could not one of them have mustered the strength to inform its constituency over the last 8 years that we were headed for economic peril? Did not one have the foresight to alert its citizenry about the upcoming depression? Now, with no time even to read the thousand-page document, the Dem’s are gung-ho that we must spend, spend, spend our way out of debt. Thanks for the heads-up Democrats! Were you too busy predicting the end of the ice caps to mention that we were broke?
Here’s another thing that confuses the hell out of me.
On one hand the Democrats lambasted the Republicans for using fear to manifest it’s destiny (WMDs, Anthrax, Terrorists on every corner), BUT, with only three weeks under its belt as the new leaders, the Democrats, have unleashed a far greater fear on our country. According to them, we are about to enter a depression and the culprit, the reason behind the end of our Republic is--the consumer—apparently we’re just not spending enough. I liked it better when I could blame the terrorists.
Is the sky truly falling are we just victims of poor governorship?
I would like to believe that sending 17,000 more troops into Afghanistan would find Osama, root out all the terrorist cells and lead us into an era of peace, but I am confident that the opposite will be true. Obama’s new surge will only lead to more children becoming orphans, more women maimed, more families torn apart, and the creation of new enemies. All this while Osama, if he is even alive, hides out somewhere smoking a hookah and drinking a Sprite. And, dammit, they’re names are just too similar, this could be a drawback if they do ever meet.
“It’s Osama season.”
“It’s Obama season.”
“It’s Obama season. Now quick, shoot the rabbit.”
That Osama fellow might be more of a wascally wabbit then we previously have given him credit for.
Obama has his hands full. Putin calls it the perfect storm. We are involved in two wars we cannot get out of, our country is broke, we’ve outsourced all the jobs, nature is unleashing her hell, parts of space satellites are falling out of the sky, and there is talk of another writers strike in Hollywood. Who can lead us through this tempest? Who can walk on water while sinking a thirty-foot swish? Who can make a rainbow?
Obama can. Obama can because he went to Harvard U. and smells good.
They sold us a President like the way they sell us a new car. We kicked the tires, looked under the hood, admired the paint job, but we really didn’t know what the hell we were doing.
And that’s the American way. Just the facts, Jack---just the watered-down, one-sided, totally spun, facts, Jack.
America is like a big riverboat heading down the Mississippi. It is the same one-sided flim-flam game that has always been played in the parlor of our steamship, as it rolls further and further down the river, that we find ourselves privy too—like it or not. And before Obama deals another hand, I would really like to cut the cards, just once—just once.
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obama stimulus package 
They sold us a President like the way they sell us a new car. We kicked the tires, looked under the hood, admired the paint job, but we really didn’t know what the hell we were doing. 
