Barack I Hardly Knew Ye

Like most Americans of my political stripe I was thrilled when Barack Obama won the presidential election. I considered going to DC for the inauguration; it seemed fitting: I had been there for anti-war rallies, I had lived on the mall for three weeks in Resurrection City and I had marched and worked at the AIDS quilt displays. I wanted to be there in support of and witness to this historic change. I didn’t go, but I cried with joy as I watched the coverage.

Two years later I am only slightly less frustrated than I was under eight years of his predecessor, Dumbya. I’ve kept my mouth shut til now, but yesterday’s news that Obama is freezing federal salaries was the final straw. Like a straw, it was a tiny thing, hardly worth noticing, but it was enough to tip the balance (or break the back, if I’m to keep my triteness in order.)

Going after federal workers is just absurd. No one has ever entered federal service to get rich. One of the reasons the nation’s best people do NOT work for the government is that the salaries can’t compete with those in the private sector. To freeze these salaries is not only a slap in the face to people who believe in America enough to work for her, it is also a small, stupid gesture that represents a paltry 5% of the deficit.

More importantly, what it says to me is that Obama has been sucked into DC Think, that unique mindset that keeps otherwise smart people from seeing reality. Considering the way he’s going, it’s highly unlikely he will be reelected, so why doesn’t he just tell the truth:

-       - we’re out of money because we’re fighting two ill-advised, hugely expensive wars

-       - we’re out of money because we worship it more than anything else and so allow business and individuals to make more and more of it while sharing less and less

-       - we’re out of money because we’ve become a nation of selfish, impatient consumers who care about little other than our own happiness

-       - we’re out of money because generations of law makers have not had the integrity and guts to do the right thing

I don’t have the answers. I voted for Obama because he’s smarter than I and I hoped HE would have the answers. I think he does; he just seems to lack the guts to tell us and the political savvy to lead us. If I’m right, it can only bode disaster for the country. I think we might just need to adjust to the new reality. There will be less and less money for most of us, fewer and fewer resources for all of us. Welcome to the third world.