Come January 20th, we have the chance for a fresh start. After eight years of perhaps the worst, most incompetent, and nakedly criminal President in this nation's history, we've elected a President who just might be able to undo some of the damage done to our economy, our security, and our international prestige. It's going to take a LOT of work, and things certainly aren't going to improve overnight...but at least we have the promise of better days ahead.
In looking back at the past eight years, some would say that we have much to be thankful for. Indeed, The Worst President EVER © is leaving quite the impressive legacy, as detailed by mi compadre John Cobarruvias in this by no means exhaustive list of things we really should be more "grateful" for:
- For the squandering of the $250 billion surplus.
- For the $450 billion deficit.
- For the $9.6 trillion debt.
- For the attacks on 9/11.
- For the 4000+ lives lost in attacking the wrong country.
- For the 27,000 wounded soldiers.
- For the sinking economy.
- For the lame duck president.
- For the rise in unemployment.
- For the 3000 point loss in the stock market.
- For the highest rates of insurance in the nation.
- For the deregulation of electricity resulting in rates doubling.
- For the deregulation of college tuition resulting in a 150% increase.
To this list I would also add:
- For he assault on the Constitution and the rule of law by the man who swore to uphold both.
- For enabling the deregulatory environment that brought us the subprime mortgage crisis.
- For the reality that this country does, in fact, torture.
- For the wrong war in the wrong place for the wrong reasons.
- For the erosion of protection afforded to workers and the unions who represent them.
- For rewriting and softening rules designed to protect American workers.
- For working to redefine abortion so loosely that it might be defined as anything up to and including even thinking about abortion.
- For introducing rules allowing health care providers to deny care if the procedure in question happens to violate their religious and/or moral beliefs.
- For killing perhaps hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians in the name of keeping us safe.
- For working overtime to deny women effective birth control and family planning services.
- For entrusting important scientific policy decisions to partisan hacks more firmly grounded in ideology, theology and religious bigotry than scientific knowledge and training.
I could go on, of course, but I imagine you get the idea. After eight years of theocratic, self-indulgent, and highly-partisan political hackitude (and yes, I DID just invent a word), that has woven layer upon layer dross into the fabric of our government, the damage simply can't be undone by January 21st. In some cases, some of the damage may never be undone, though I have faith that the Obama Administration will be populated with those experienced and competent enough to do the right things for the right reasons. Nonetheless, eight years represents a LOT of damage in need of being undone.
Of course, human nature being what it is, I'm not naive enough to think that a mere change of Administration will turn Washington into the Shining City on the Hill. Progress will be made, perhaps even more than we have a right to expect, but there are those who will provide significant pushback in an effort to slow reform. Such is the nature of the beast.
WE DESERVE BETTER...and it's about damn time that we got it. Not that we don't have a lot to be "thankful" for from the past eight years, though....
