Ramblings

The results are in, we have no more candidates, but now have a President Elect Obama. He was not ‘my candidate,’ but he will be my President. As President, I will support him as I believe we should all support our President, 100%.

I guess I better offer my definition of support. I will support, or not support, whatever initiatives he brings forward based on my opinion of what is best for the country. I will question and debate those initiatives freely with anyone who cares to engage. I will continue to invest more of my time into educating myself on the facts before reaching a decision. I will criticize him when I consider it appropriate, but when I do so, it will be without malice, it will be performing what I see as my duty as a citizen. As I said in my last post, this bear has been awakened and will not go back into hibernation.

Here goes with my first criticism. Having campaigned on change, implying that he was an outsider and would lead on a bipartisan basis, I find his early appointments disturbing. Two of his first appointments, Rahm Emanuel and John Podesta are both strongly partisan Washington insiders. From a man who claimed to want to heal the divide in our nation, these choices run up major red flags for me. The divide in our nation is huge, and does need to be healed, but highly partisan staff selections, aka politics as usual, is not going to do it. Obama has already made history as the first black President. Only time will tell if that is the most significant historical aspect of his Presidency, or if it becomes more of a footnote, overpowered by the positive change he can produce.

The issue that shocked me fully awake, our nearly doubled dependence on imported oil since the first oil crisis, proved to me that the problem came not only from ‘the other side’, but that even ‘my side’, were every bit as much to blame. The economic meltdown that has happened since is exactly the same, both sides have played their parts in allowing this crisis to occur. The voters assigned much of the blame to the republicans, every bit of which was richly deserved. They did not, however, assign the democrats the substantial share they deserve. That this fact almost certainly changed the outcome of the election may be good or bad, only time will tell for sure.

What worries me most is that Politics as Usual was once again successful. We have apparently bought the hype, the billions spent on spin machines has once again kept our eyes on false issues, partial truths, the product of our electoral process. We the people do indeed have the power to end Politics as Usual, by demanding honesty, integrity, and accountability of our elected officials.
If the response I have had on this blog is any indication, obviously that is not going to happen. It was 4 months ago today since the last comment was posted on this blog, and that one was by me. As my mother used to say, “so be it.”

Do you detect a touch of bitterness in some of my words? I have tried to keep it out, but do confess to feeling more than a touch of bitterness. Let me be very clear, it comes not from the result of the election, but from the manner in which it occurred. I care very little which decisions and courses of action are selected, but care very much about the reliability of the information upon which those decisions are made.

More of my ramblings will be coming, I guess. They do help me clarify my thoughts, and at least give me the satisfaction of being able to say that I tried. Our corrupt and greedy establishment has managed to awaken me from my hibernation with such fervor that I will never be able to return to that blissful state.