This is not art. This is not literature. Nor is it meticulously written, meant to please, driven to impress. I couldn't care less. This is my rant!
I am tired of listening to those who describe themselves as "progressive" bellyache about President Obama and his lack of balls. Of course, those who screech the loudest couldn't carry President Obama's water, but that's neither here nor there. Let them try being a commander in chief with tremendous limitations on their domestic power, especially in times of great economic catastrophe. And the ones who scream the loudest don't realize how much they have been helped by the man who supposedly personally disappointed them and the self-titled "base."
There are those within my immediate community who spill syllables that drone about how Obama has no courage and how he has sold "us" out. Yet, many of those spewing their disappointment have benefitted these last two years by this "weak" man whose manhood they constantly challenge. It was because the President had the courage to make a deal with the Republicans in 2009 that saved extended benefits for hobos like me. Yes, he backed down on the tax cuts for the wealthiest in exchange for allowing those who have had the misfortune to lose their job to continue breathing.
Those who continue to denigrate the one man who stands between most of the country and the dark ages do not seem to get it. It is one thing to disagree with someone who fundamentally is fighting in your favor, but to become the mirror image of the ideologues on the other side is inexcusable after the age of 30. After 40 one is responsible for one's own face. Mindlessness is mindlessness no matter how much you dress it with your own ego.
Consider the 99'ers. They are usually over the age of 50/55. They face a future of being laughed at by young faces working in employment agencies because for them they are unimaginably old and useless. That is the result, despite possessing outstanding experience that would be an asset to most workplaces. The new mantra -- "We have nothing for you. Go home" echoes in the skulls of so many who wish to keep floating, not drowning.
This is not literature. This is not art. This is anger and frustration not being channeled into the so-called tea party, a grass roots movement solely based on the billions of the Koch Brothers and the machinations of large brains. I dream about the other side of this nightmare.
I am sure my 18-year-old daughter will vote for President Obama and so will 99.9% of her friends. It will be their first presidential election. I am convinced that the President has learned the full extent of that phrase, commander in chief, when faced with an opposition that would rather let the country and the world sink into the depravity of another depression, lest they disappoint the tea party and Brothers Koch.
So, my dear friends, the book remains open. I am reading it until the end.
How effective was the use of the stimulus money? How many jobs did it actually create? Wouldn’t government-sponsored infrastructure development have done much more? Some people would be back to work, more money would have flowed into the economy via those salaries and roads, bridges, etc. would have received much needed repairs.
How many former Wall Street insiders have served in his administration? Are these the best people to enlist to make economic policy after some of them helped devise the system that brought this nation to economic collapse? Oh yeah, how are we doing with “Too Big to Fail?”
The latest cave is Elizabeth Warren’s removal from consideration as head of the new Consumer Agency. We will have to see how the GOP reacts to Richard Cordray. If he is as well qualified as he should be, they won’t approve him either.
Has the President done some good things? Yes, of course, but he could have and should have TRIED to do more. The administration's centrist views leave many without a voice; nobody representing them. Obama was the Hope and Change candidate. Not much change yet and hope is fading fast!
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