George W. Bush continues to strut around the White House as if he will depart on January 20, 2009 on a triumphant note – and not as the worst and most unpopular Presidents in U.S. history. You have to admire George’s uncanny ability to shut out the real world and create his own alternate reality, where the nation’s economy is humming – thanks to his tax cuts for the wealthy – and our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are going according to plan – thanks to his brilliant leadership.
Barack Obama lives in the real world where outrageous political corruption and slavish devotion to failed ideology leads to the suffering of flesh and blood human beings. The cable TV pundits are wild with advice for the President-elect, what he should do first, who he should appoint to what Cabinet post and so on. Office pools predicting the final composition of Obama’s cabinet are enjoying enthusiastic support and faring far better than the average 401K.
Meanwhile, King George is ramping up efforts to rat-fuck the nation one last time. While the country celebrates Obama’s victory and enjoys a resurgence of hope and anticipation, Bush and his cronies are changing rules and re-writing regulations to make it easier for the FBI to spy on American citizens, dismantling environmental protections in place since Bill Clinton enjoyed blow-jobs from Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office, and basically standing around playing pocket pool while JPMorgan Chase and other big banks use their bailout windfalls for mergers and acquisitions rather than loans.
We expected nothing less from Bush than a last gasp orgy of ideological intercourse, one or two final lost weekends where the rich and well-connected get richer and American taxpayers get saddled with the bill. The big bailout (paid for with our hard-earned money and our kids’ future, don’t forget) wasn’t supposed to play this way, and we can only hope that an Obama Administration will tweak the bailout to make it work the way it was intended. This is important. The country’s leaders need to understand what made the financial system run off the rails, identify who was culpable, and enact legislation or create regulations to make sure it never happens again. Unfortunately, with the likes of Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers circling Obama’s camp like birds of prey, it’s possible that Obama, in the end, will do nothing to upset the status quo.
That would hurt, not to mention insult, all the people who supported Obama’s campaign by donating money, knocking on doors or making phone calls; people didn’t work their tails off for Barack Obama only to watch him fall victim to the Clinton Syndrome. Remember? Clinton entered the White House on a wave of hope, but after encountering some early opposition, promptly pitched his tent in the valley of corporate interests and became a shill for Wall Street flim-flam. Despite his rhetoric and good-old-boy charm, Bill Clinton was no friend of working Americans. Frankly, when he wasn’t screwing someone other than his lawfully wedded wife, he was screwing us.
It’s natural for TV pundits and citizens to focus on the economy in this time of uncertainty and spreading financial distress, but personally I would like to hear the President-elect say something about restoring the rule of law at home and abroad. It seems to me that an affirmation of bedrock American principles is not only necessary, but a precondition for solving all the other problems we face. Are we going to allow Administration officials to ignore Congressional subpoenas or not? Are we going to continue violating the human rights of detainees? Are we going to turn a blind eye to Israel as it continues to violate every treaty it has ever entered into with the Palestinians? Are we going to allow further erosion of our civil liberties in the name of a false security? From there we can debate the best way to create a more just and equitable society, deliver health care to those in need, and get the hell out of Iraq, with or without “honor.”
I don’t think such introspection and reflection will happen, but it’s nice to hope.
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