I am appalled at the apparent lack of patience of the American voters. A new CNN poll says that 52 percent of those polled say the President should not be re-elected. My goodness! The man has only been in office for a year. He inherited a mess from his lowly predecessor and he has tried to do what he promised us he would do. Presumably, that is why he was elected.
Everything he has tried to do has been blocked by the Republicans, not so much on principle as on a desire for regaining power. He promised to reform the health care system. He spelled it out and that is what he tried to do. It was blocked of course by the Republicans and some Democrats all of whom were bought off by the health care industry, which does not want to give up its golden spoon. He promised to continue to get out of Iraq and to ramp up the Afghanistan war to accomplish what was originally planned there. He has done both. He has had to deal with the bank bailout put in place by his predecessor, not an easy task, and he has not dealt with it very decisively.
He probably went into the presidency wearing rose colored glasses, thinking he could accomplish his goals quickly and not realizing that he would be so vehemently and vilely opposed by the Republicans and their minions. He may not have realized the undercurrent of racism that still permeates the United States' society, especially among the well educated middle and upper classes. He wanted so badly to establish a bi-partisan atmosphere and reached out to the wolves in sheep's clothing, who talked of bi-partisanship, only to have his hand bitten badly.
There was a tremendous element of uncivilized behavior lurking underneath the surface that has been unleashed on this country. It has been lead by the
Palins, Becks, and
Limbaughs and Congressional Republicans, along with the right wing Christian fundamentalists, who will stop at nothing to influence their sheep. They gleefully celebrate when they accomplish a deed that sets the country back. They pray for the deaths of politicians and celebrate when a death occurs. They advocate pre-emptive wars and the illegal killing and torturing of the opposition, things this country has never stood for. They oppose helping our neighbor, devastated by an earthquake, and politicize efforts by the government to provide aid. In short they generally oppose civilized behavior.
It is a "very fine mess, we have gotten ourselves into, Ollie." I am afraid for this country. It is so easy for mob rule to become the law of the land. So easy in a weak moment for an incompetent and unstable person like a Sarah
Palin to be elected and initiate unconstitutional changes to the government, destroying the last 200 years of nation building that has gone on in this country. It happened in a weakened post WW I Germany, and before the German people knew it, they were taken down the road to destruction.
Let us continue to put our faith in the voters and hope that saner heads prevail. The U.S. has been through dark days before. The President has three more years to serve. The economy is starting to turn around. The Republicans are making use of the stimulus program and taking credit for it. If it continues to work, maybe they have been cutting their own throats. It is amazing what some money in the pocketbooks of our citizens can do, when they go into the voting booth. "It's the economy, stupid"
