Poliholics

Mr. Obama,

I have no doubt in my mind that you are exactly what this country is looking for. Although the challenge is immense and the failure to successfully confront it is potentially dier, I know that you are the most capable to lead us out of this mess.

With that in mind, this letter is just meant as a healthy reminder to always remember your promises. 

Every four years we hear all kinds of promises from presidential candidates and during their terms we mock their inability to meet any of them. But you have run on the platform that you aren’t like them. You’re different. You actually truly care about the people. And for once in a generation, we believe you. 

So now is the time to start living up to those expectations. One fantastic step you took was the weekly video updates on change.gov. Brilliant and right on point. 

But your first true test is the bailout package and making sure that in the end it helps the average American taxpayer. Take full advantage of this opportunity to show the people that lived up to their end of the bargain that you’ll live up to yours. 

And avoid interns in the White House. They can ruin your career worse than any war or even torture can. 

Sincerely,

A cautious optimist

Now that the show has finally come to a close, I wonder what happens to Senator McCain. Will he continue dominating legislative influence as a senior Senator or end his political career and retire? More likely the former.

What I’m more curious about is whether he will revert back to the John McCain we once admired or continue serving as candidate McCain, the guy who fought bills that Senator McCain had supported.

Only time will tell I suppose, but I am really hoping his transformation was merely a product of the Republican party and Steve Schmidt and will dissipate. We saw with McCain’s campaign that the best and strongest of our political leaders will give in in exchange for power. And that doesn’t bode well for the man we put in charge.

Let’s hope he can transcend that. I’m not sure whether he will, but if anyone can it’s him.

Here the pundits go again, trying to demonize a methodology of government that is ironically much more benevolent than the one in place. They’re trying to fool us. Luckily, we aren’t as brain deficient as they think.

A seven hundred billion dollar bailout package to the wealthiest banks in the United States was issued, and you call that SOCIALISM?! Last time I checked, socialism involved the government regulating the companies and nationalizing them, so that the money ended up in the hands of the people. 

Instead, the money is essentially a blank check from taxpayers. And the FOR column on the check is blank as well, which is the most potentially dangerous part. Anonymous leaks from high-level management in these companies are reporting that the banks not only have no interest in investing the money back into the people, but are using our money to buy out other banks and capitalize for themselves, eliminating competition and allowing them to exploit us on a whole new level. 

Meanwhile, they are printing the money to pay for it and running up our deficit into territory that has not been charted in world history. 

Socialism. That’s hilarious. It’s called corporatism. Or oligarchy. But so, so so so far from socialism. True Kenyesian socialism is PG&E. To tell the truth, it’s our fire department, police department, schools and much of agriculture. It’s all over our society. So stop demonizing the word “socialist”. 

Sweden is one of the closest countries to pure socialism that exists. Oh yeah, and coincidentally they have the highest standard of living in the world. I highly doubt their taxes are going to the big wigs to go on shopping sprees.

The truth is, if the bailout package were socialism, we’d have the money directly or indirectly in our pockets by now instead of watching it disappear into oblivion thanks to the media’s neglect and the government’s indifference. 

If anything needs reform in this country, it is our perceptions of right and wrong. It’s wrong to spend half of our entire budget every year on our military. It’s right to adopt new socialist policies that give everyone healthcare and food. And if we keep mixing up the two, we will become obsolete in a world full of new ideas of welfare, equality and the pursuit of peace.

But, as they say and I repeat in the most cliche way, the war is far from over.

We still live in a nation that breeds ignorance and spews hatred (as we most recently witnessed in the passing of Proposition 8). The world is not saved yet, by a longshot. We depend upon 25% of the world’s resources and lead the world in pollution rates. People are still waiting hours in hospitals and many are dying of perfectly curable diseases. And while the world will give us a second chance with regards to our reputation, we have a lot to live up to if we want to change our image. Pretty soon, Obama’s character will not be enough to impress. And from there, the work comes. 

We still have a tragic, vicious war going on in the Middle East. We have a military-industrial complex that requires indefinite war (and to be truthful on this point, it seems the new President isn’t much of a change on this front). We also have a deficit the likes of which no nation has ever witnessed- one that many economists argue will be the inevitable demise of this country. Neither party seems to address this issue either and the media does a fantastic job completely ignoring it. 

So there’s much to be done. The road is long and hard and the goals are not only difficult to achieve but dier if not reached. But as President Obama exemplifies, we Americans are capable of things that often surprise ourselves.  Our tenacity and determination allows us to face new challenges like no other country, and as a nation we can always overcome. 

But we have to face these realities first as well as begin to live within our means. Unfortunately, that seems to be a lot to ask of people. But it is something that we will learn the easy way or the hard way. 

Of course, for now we savor the moment. We have won this fantastic battle… but it was far from Waterloo. Soon, we will have to live up to our promises as a movement and rewrite the ways in which we operate.

I apologize for having no post at this time. I’m just speechless. There are no words. And so I leave you today to think about what just happened to this country and the implications. This is not just a historic day for America but for world history. What just happened will drastically change our status in this world and quite possibly save this country in the 21st century. 

What it means for world relations, race relations and class relations in this country cannot even be put into words. What it means for people without healthcare, for the economy, for social justice… for me and for you is indescribable. Today is a day of heavy reflection. We breathe a sigh of relief and move forward, a nation born again and ready to be a righteous and admirable world leader. 

As Bill Clinton put it, the world is much more inspired by the power of our example than by the example of our power. Yesterday, we decided Yes We Can, and with that we move forward as a nation inspired and ready to inspire.