One Year Left. Looking to the Future...

We have about one year left of the catastrophic Bush presidency. And, unlike Ronald Reagan, historians are not going to be able to make this skunk smell like roses. Just a few key words and phrases defining Bush's presidential legacy (not in any order of ranked consequences):

* Nine trillion dollar debt
* IRAQ
* Israel/Palestinian-Arab conflict grows more dangerous
* Environmental devastation / ignoring facts and science
* Excusing torture, ignoring the Geneva conventions
* Wire tapping, trampled civil liberties
* Weakening the separation of church and State
* The "Decider's" executive Presidency / preemptive "signing statements"
* Fear mongering, fueling divisiveness among Americans
* Subprime fallout
* FEMA / Katrina debacle
* Vetoing children's healthcare
... and, coming soon, recession or another Great Depression.
Bush's deceptions, lack of leadership, cronyism, plain embarrassing stupidity and utter absence of true American values have been documented exhaustively. Especially in the alternative and online media worlds.

But, most people still seem to feel disconnected from the Iraq war, the loss of liberties and even the decaying economy so far. Or, maybe it's just a general paralysis and helplessness that after seven years being stuck with a radical regime run amok, nothing can change after the "shock and awe" inflicted on us.

The economic storm clouds are growing darker, however, and most Americans are going to feel the very real and personal effects of the Bush presidency where it counts, their wallet. Maybe that will finally wake the rest of the country up! Sorry, shopping is just not going to cut it this time.

As many have predicted, the sub-prime debacle is inevitably seeping into the economy while the national debt is helping to crush the dollar and (along with oil prices & forced interest rate cuts) raise inflation. Despite Bernanke's reassurance that we will not return to 70's "stagflation" or recession, we are headed in exactly that direction.

It's always darkest before the light. 2008-2009 might be the gloomiest years before the "Great Repair" begins. New technologies, continued innovation and greater environmental awareness combined with electing visionary, libertarian and humanistic leadership might propel us back in a constructive direction again. Phoenix rising? The Phoenix's head is critical, though. Only a true humanitarian and world visionary -- a "Uniter," not a "Divider/Decider" -- will do.

How different the world would look if Al Gore had been at the helm the last four years -- lost opportunities. We dream of the benefits to the environment, forward thinking economic policies, universal healthcare, honorable and visionary leadership, humanistic policies, new energy technologies and leadership partnerships around the world. I'm not saying America would necessarily be a utopia, but it would sure beat where we are today! But, we cannot linger on "what-if's."

We need to look to the future and how America is going to pull itself out of the current political, social and economic morass created during the past seven years-- and the remaining year of damage and "terror" left for Bush and Cheney to inflict. Unfortunately, it's not over yet and the Democratic Congress cannot be trusted as a effective check and balance.

How will the country deal with the massive economic, social and political hangover from the detrimental Bush presidency? As we head into the "prime time" election season, we need to carefully look at the real solutions candidates offer us. Not just the media fluff, simple sound bytes and smoke and mirrors.

Electing any of the leading Republican candidates would obviously spell the continuing ruin and downward spiral of our great country. We cannot take anymore. But, will a democratic President be able to pull us gracefully out of the Iraq war; reestablish American values of freedom, innovation, liberty and justice; while simultaneously help save the American economy from the brink? The Democratic Congress has seemed quite ineffective so far.

Bush's Presidency has been so horrible, that many people even question the basics of the American political system. But, maybe the system itself, with campaign reform and a few other slight adjustments (eliminating the Electoral College and allowing more third party voices), can still help right this ship.

It's time to look beyond the Bush disaster. Can our institutions be salvaged? How can we put the country back on track again? Will electing a democrat take care of our worries?

Where do we go from here?

Comments

[Desiderata]

We will not have such an opportunity for repair. There will be no election. What is going on in Paskistan now is the template for the near future of our own country.

Bush will find a reason to declare a national emergency. He will, then disband Congress and the Supreme Court. He will round up resisters with his private Blackwater army and put the political prisoners in the mysterious camps that have been built over the last few years in this country.

He and Cheney and their government of thugs have no choice. In order to avoid the arrests and prosecutions that loss of power would make them vulnerable to, they will end the American Republic and Bush will become America's Caesar.

Think this won't happen? How much of it already has?

[Annisee]

"Only a true humanitarian and world visionary -- a "Uniter," not a "Divider/Decider" -- will do.'


Dennis Kucinich.

[wldnswmmr]

It will be interesting to see the tone of the comments to this post. A year ago, I think many of us might have shared the tentative optimism described here, but a year of Democratic Vichyism has probably tempered such hope. There is a widespread feeling that the two major parties are both heavily influenced by corporate lobbying, and that Congresspeople are more interested in their own tenure and perks than they are in improving the institutions of the government. As for the electoral college change, that is a Constitutional amendment that would take years to enact; in the meantime, we're going to see the same Red/Blue games we have always seen, triangulation and the rest of the sorry spectacle of American national elections. The one thing that might awaken the American populace out of its jaded stupor is the economic meltdown you suggest. The "fundamentals" are there. It seems all that is needed is for Bush and Congress to maintain the status quo to ensure it comes about.