It is the
day after the rout, and I have been in an all-day funk. I simply cannot believe
that my fellow Americans re-elected the worst president of my lifetime.
Obamacare, Solyndra, Fast and Furious,
Benghazi, sustained unemployment, massive deficits, falling wages, depressed
housing, high taxes, failed energy policy, failed economic policiy, failed
Middle East policy, failure everywhere. What does it take to recognize
incompetence? Yet, there they were: the adoring crowds, tears of joy steaming down
their faces. White males, married women, seniors, Evangelicals, plus most of the people in the country's red-colored geography voted Republican. But they were no match for the massive one-sided turnout in the blue states of the Northeast, the Rust Belt, and the West Coast. We have seen it before: there are two Americas. Except for a handful of battleground states, both red and blue states went to huge majorities.
How do we explain a solid Republican majority in the House and a preponderance of Republicans in governors' mansions, facing an impregnable Democratic majority in the Senate and a plurality of blue voters for the presidency? Is the nation doomed by unbreachable divisions?
Will it ever change? What are chances the two extremes will come together to solve the huge problems we face? On the one hand we have a president who has divided the country by demonizing the rich to justify his redistributive policies and create a permanent dependent class of reliable voters. On the other hand, we have a Republican Establishment that cannot shake the image that it spurns the pleas of immigrants, unmarried women, and the poor, while favoring millionaires and fat cats on Wall Street. This is not a formula for comity.
The last four years have not been good. But they will look great compared to what is coming. We are faced with Taxmageddon, Sequestration, rising taxes, increased spending, more business-killing regulations, a $20 trillion debt, and an unrelenting march to a European-style socialism. Yet, the media, with few exceptions, will continue to mute its criticism. It will not find fault with the Senate nor the White House. Instead, with Bush fading in the distance, it will blame the intransigence of the House and the greed of special interests as we sink into a longer and deeper recession.
Until yesterday I was an optimist. Today?
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ReplyDeleteThe worst president in your lifetime? George Bush was better? Come on. A tax cut that has had terrible,long lasting ramifications; 2 wars one of which was totally unnecessary with consequences that will haunt us for a very long time; an economic policy that nearly plunged us into a depression. While blaming Bush is getting old, it did take eight years in the making and shows how disastrous his presidency was.
ReplyDeleteI am now, however, optimistic. I believe that this election has sent a clear message to the Republican Party that its extremist elements and pigheaded non-negotiable stances will not be tolerated. The Republican Party did not do well in the Senate and lost 9 seats in Congress. The positions taken by people like McConnell, Cantor and Norquist, to name a few, have been largely rejected. It will be much more difficult for the republican extremists to control and intimidate the more moderate members and just maybe, things will get done.
Another realization that surfaced was the awareness that Fox news is an advocacy site, not a place for news. Yes there have been some big problems that need to be investigated and corrected, but politicizing them was Fox's agenda. That is why other news channels didn't stream the events all day long.
And finally, Rush, Hannity, Savage, Levine,Grant are being viewed for the buffoons and masters of the half-truths that they are.
Yes, I am optimistic and I'm stil a Republican. I hope that party comes to its senses.