The Good Old Days

Here we go, back to the good old days. The days of constipated congress providing rhetoric in the guise of leadership. The days of electing representatives because they can chant simple NASCAR slogans and know who the right baseball teams are, regardless of their record or competence. The days of hopelessness for tens of millions of Americans that are, now, far less likely to afford healthcare for their families. That reduced likelihood brought to them, in large part, by the same folks that will cheer the day they reduced it and killed the last spark of hope for the Obama administration. An administration that started with a mandate to quell the politics of fear, change the jaded narcissism of Washington, and bring a light to the end of the tunnel.

Why are we here? For the same reason we were in Washington a year ago watching a slight feather of hope step into a wind-tunnel of political quagmire. Because Barak Obama has dignity and vision, without the snarky jingoism of the Cheney gang. Our President has refused to sing the song his predecessors sang with impunity: "Blame It On The Boss Passed Over". By allowing the dire scope of the disaster to be downplayed in the name of optimism and the thin chance of generating economic confidence, Obama lost his window of opportunity. Have you heard him crow about finally bringing an end-game plan to the two wars started by W's "Stop pointing that gun at my dad!" homage to Tarrantino. Thousands of lives and trillions of dollars will be spared, yet not one "Mission Accomplished".

So when our fragile, gasping, underperforming healthcare system requires fixing, we don't hear "This guy just took us out of harm's way and saved us a mint." we hear "Typical big-government tax and spend." Who steps up? Did Biden get out there and paint his boss' back with Bush-fixing teflon? Did Pelosi point out the implications of NOT fixing healthcare, so her boss could do the big-picture, greater-good speech? Did Obama himself ever make enough sense out of his proposals? Enough jingoistic, small-word, proven-effective-by-Rove sense to rally the citizens that put him in office (and they WEREN'T all Democrats)?

Irony is common in our world, and, if you look for it, easy to find. The irony that a Republican sitting in what was Ted Kennedy's seat, who voted for universal healthcare in Massachusetts, and ran against a Libertarian named Joe Kennedy will help defeat meaningful healthcare reform is a little much. You can't blame him for winning. Indeed, you can clearly lay blame at the feet of the Democrats for falling asleep at the wheel, wallowing in the hubris of 2008, and failing to snap the neck of their opponents as the Republicans have done for the last 10 years.

It's just a damn shame. Hope - crushed. Optimism - put on hold for the very rich, or those foolish enough to believe big business has their best interest at heart. Insurance companies - protected from having to increase the roles of insured into those nasty, high-cost, poor folks. America - welcome back to 2004. I had so much hope we had grown the fuck up...