A Nation in Decline

With great hope, considerable enthusiasm, and dire need for changes, President Obama was inaugurated in January 2009 at which time the "official" [read understated] U.S. unemployment rate was 7.6% (http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2009/feb/wk2/art02.htm). After almost 2 years in office, the hope has vanished, the enthusiasm dissipated, and the need for change is even more dire. The November 2010 unemployment rate has risen to an intolerable and unconscionable 9.8%, increasing .2% since October 2010 and all signs indicate that the American economy is stuck idling in neutral while the president has become remote, disengaged, and, according to some reports, unhappy with his position. He should realize that his former supporters are disenchanted, disappointed, and unhappy with his performance, or lack thereof.

Obama has failed to deliver on almost all of his campaign promises and has gone from being the omnipresent face in the media to perfunctorily continuing the George W. Bush agenda. His failure to deliver even marginal improvement in the American Main Street economy is a betrayal worthy of former Vice President Cheney. Worse yet, America is in steep decline. With de facto unemployment near 20% and in deeper that imaginable debt, America is spiraling downward like detritus in a flushed toilet. And he who promised to rescue this nation after eight long years of Bush destruction is in a snit because the job isn't as he imagined. Worse yet, the alternatives are unacceptable and we have two more years of gridlock, stagnation, decline, and lack of leadership before the next election.

The two-party system has failed to provide a check and balance to incompetence and petulant behavior and a third alternative is now essential. This nation is in serious decline and is heading towards a metaphorical waterfall without a competent and engaged captain to steer it to safety. God help America because no one else in government either has the will or the wherewithal to do so.

The Failures of President Obama

President Obama was elected on a platform of change, but to date very little has changed. He inherited a mess from a grossly incompentent president and administration and the electorate believed that he was better equipped to fix the problems than his opponent. He came to be inaugurated with great promise, hope, and support, but to date he has failed to fix any of the problems he promised to fix. For example,

1. The economy: so far the only thing that has been fixed has been Wall Street with banks flourishing and the stock market climbing while Main Street remains in depression caused by job loss reported at 10.2% but more realistically 17-20% and climbing. Financial executives are licking their collective chops over the bonuses they will receive at year's end while the working class struggles to remain employed and meet basic expenses. An economy based on consumption is debt-ridden and cash poor with credit max'ed out. The coming holiday shopping season appears to be a disaster for retailers which will result in more unemployment and more pain and suffering for Main Street. Obama seems to have forgotten that it's the economy and his forgetfulness makes him look uncharacteristically stupid.

2. Healthcare: those of us who remember the congressional gnashing of teeth and warnings of impending socialism that accompanied the Medicare debate. President Kennedy couldn't get Medicare passed in congress and it took the strongarm parental bullying of Lyndon Johnson to get the congress to do what was right. The same demogoguery is being spewed by the opposers of doing what is fair and just for the masses but the strong parent is absent so legislation that should have been passed > 30 years ago now is dragging on and on and on. Nancy Pelosi finally rammed it through the House. Harry Reid is equivocating about maybe next year and appears too weak to find a way to accomplish what everyone agrees needs to be done. The White House stands by hoping that congress will do the right thing but doesn't take the initiative to get it done. If Harry Reid can't find a way to pass this legislation, then Harry Reid needs to be replaced as Senate Majority leader. If the White House doesn't stop dithering and engage itself in the debate, then it will fail miserably where others have failed, but will have managed to literally snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. In short, no heath care reform equates to a failure by Obama to fix a festering problem that should be a no-brainer.

3. Middle East: Obama and Clinton are letting Netanyahu pull a Shamir but pretending to want peace while doing everything to prevent the forward movement of the peace process. Settlements in occupied territory are patently illegal and a major obstacle to peace but Obama/Clinton have taken the bait from the Netanyahu hook and all the positive gains from Obama's speech in Egypt have dissipated. A Middle East peace solution isn't any closer to fruition today than it was under George W. Bush, et. al. Obama has lost the initiative and his Middle East equivocation equates to failure.

4. Afghanistan: as Obama dithers over what to do, what to do, Americans continue to fight and die, once again, in the wrong country fighting the wrong war against the wrong foe. al Qaeda is flourishing in Pakistan while America fights the Taliban in Afghanistan. bin Laden must be convinced we are a nation led by gross incompetents and Richard Holbrooke is a total disaster as special envoy. What we have gotten under Holbrooke's watch is a corrupt Afghan president who stole an election more blatantly than the Iranian president. Americans continue to fight and die in now record numbers while Obama contemplates his next move. Another failure looms.

5. Iran: moving closer to nuclear weapon capacity while Obama loses Arab support due to his naivete in the Israeli/Palestinian morass. Engaging Amadeenijad after the stolen election is a huge mistake and Obama is failing to move in any direction in respect of Iran. The Iranian mullahs apparently have copied a page from Netanyahu by feigning to want negotiation while continuing to do whatever they want in pursuit of their goals.

In sum, the Obama administration continues to flounder without accomplishing any problem solving successes and the electorate is growing disconcerted and angry. The 2010 election could result in a loss of congress for Obama's party unless positive results are achieved. For all the hope of change we had last year and on January 20, 2009, we now have misgivings, doubts, slow-burning anger, and conviction that we have met the new boss and he is the same as the old boss.

Farewell to Ted Kennedy

Sad somber day. I came of age during the rise of Camelot, when America was in a state of flux and social changes that lead to upheaval and created a different world that was in some ways better, in some ways not. I always had great hopes, but few of them were realized. Now the last of the Camelot knights is gone and the era is ended. I do not find any reason to hope for the best for this country now. Ah, Teddy, in many ways you were the best of the best. God bless you and keep you. You earned your reward.

Jesus and Mary Chain

From Lost in Translation

Listen to the girl
As she takes on half the world
Moving up and so alive
In her honey dripping beehive
Beehive
It's good, so good, it's so good
So good
Walking back to you
Is the hardest thing thatI can do
That I can do for you
For youI'll be your plastic toy
I'll be your plastic toy
For you
Eating up the scum
Is the hardest thing forMe to do
Just like honey

Haven't we all had an experience like Bob and Charlotte?
Haven't we all bee somewhere
With someone unique
And together we've wanted
Time to stand still
To live forever in the moment
Only to have it end
The pain is hardly bearable
The pain endures
But we do go on
We don't have any choice
But it's not the same
And it never will be.

Iran in upheaval

Let's not all get too smug about the political upheaval taking place in Iran. The demonstrations are protesting an alleged stolen election, not an overthrow of the government itself. Each and every sovereign nation has an inherent right to the government of its own choice, regardless of whether that form of government offends the delicate sensibilities of U.S. politicians. For congressional politicians to thump their chests by passing empty and hypocritical resolutions is reckless and shows how short some people's memories are. In 2000 this country had a disputed election and instead of the U.S. Guardian Counsel, known as the Supreme Court, reviewing the irregularities in Florida, it cast aside citizens' legitimate concerns and appointed George W. Bush as president.

As with Tienanmen Square, the Iranian protesters are not looking to America for support and do not want the U.S. form of government. What they want is for their votes to be counted correctly and a fair election. America needs to sit quietly and let this upheaval play out because America does not have any role in it and can only be an impediment to a just protest. Americans, especially American politicians, should get over themselves. The world knows the real story.

For Jim Amato, my friend and mentor

I read that recently the state of Washington recorded its first assisted suicide. A person with pancreatic cancer took a lethal dose of prescribed drugs as permitted by the state's 'Death with Dignity' law.

About twenty years ago, my friend and mentor, Jim Amato, was diagnosed with Hodgkins disease and his doctor gave him the prognosis that he had three months to live. Jim went home, thought it over, and decided he wanted a second opinion. Subsequently, Jim underwent treatment by another physician and his Hodgkins was thought to have been driven into remission. Jim and his wife, Mary, moved to Pompano Beach, FL not knowing what, if anything, life had in store for them.

Jim grew stronger and accepted a teaching position at a local community college where he quickly became something of an icon to those he taught. Jim's outlook on life was free and easy, but with a practical bent and with considerable caring for his students and friends. Jim's honesty, intellect, and common sense made him a valuable asset for many whose lives he directed on the right path, including my own. Jim cared for people and he loved life.

But Jim knew something that he didn't share with those who came into his circle of influence. Jim's time was limited and twenty years was the limit. How he knew this I do not know, but as the twentieth year of his remission approached, Jim's health began to fail. After a few holes of golf with one of his former students and now close friends, Jim chipped in the seventh hole from off the green more than 125 feet away. Jim's hip was bothering him badly and he called it quits. A few days later Jim saw his doctor and got the news he knew was coming.

Jim commenced a battle with cancer that lasted for over nine months. Jim fought bravely and never gave up. The Great Spirit finally called Jim's fight with cancer a draw and called Jim home, mercifully ending his agony. Jim had beaten Hodgkins and fought cancer to a stalemate.

During the twenty years from his original diagnosis, Jim touched the lives of many people, including mine, and directed many, including me, on the right path in life. Without Jim's mentoring, caring, and friendship, many of us would have been lost. During his twenty years Jim loved his wife dearly and made life a joy for all around him. In the process, Jim enjoyed life himself and delighted in the simplest of pleasures. He had a ball. Had Jim availed himself of the 'Death with Dignity' law, many people, especially me, would have lost the benefit of his being in their lives.

I will never forget Jim. Jim's footprints are imprinted on my heart forever. I, and many others, would be much less today if Jim had not come into our lives. Therefore, I cannot endorse or support this law or anything like it. Jim made a difference in many lives and now that he has passed into the next world a light has gone out on my tree of life that has left a permanent dark spot. I am what I am today because Jim did not accept the easy way out. He endured much pain and suffering in his battles and to endorse a law such as 'Death with Dignity' would be a dishonor to the person who made my life, and the lives of many, so much better.

Perspective

What is life?
It is a flash
of a firefly
in the night.
It is a breath
of a buffalo
in the winter time.
It is as the little shadow
that runs across
the grass
and loses itself
in the sunset.

Crowfoot - Blackfeet
(poetic format added)