A Year Later

Well, looking back on the past year is a bit revealing.

I voted for Change. Absolutely I did. I would argue that I voted more for Change than I did Barack Obama, really. Though I felt strongly about him as a candidate for President, I felt more strongly that quite literally ANYONE had the ability to be better than Bush. Of course, that changed to ALMOST anyone once McCain and Palin became the opposition, and so for certainty’s sake, the Obama/Biden ticket was my winner. I voted primarily for a leader that would take the threatened environment and our global warming situation (which has tragically become a politicized issue rather than a scientific one thanks to the right) seriously and help our nation return to the global stage with a modicum of respect in regard to the issue. In years past I had considered voting Green Party, but unfortunately the close calls of the previous Presidential elections made me uneasy to say the least. Obama was more or less endorsed by the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations, so I was comfortable with my decision there. In reading his books I developed a respect for the man as a person who grew up much like many of us. He wasn’t perfect, he wasn’t the model child or citizen America seems to want in office 24/7. He was human. His political life was one I saw as admirable: His record spoke volumes of a man who took special care to bring all sides to the table in hashing out solutions, a master in the fine art of compromise, which is an art I hold in high esteem. His campaign ads, while not entirely free of negativity, were FAR more informative than not only the opposition’s but than pretty much any other political ad I had ever seen. His use of the internet to reach the masses was (and still is) unparalleled. Yep, I was hopeful; not because of a campaign slogan or because I had “drunk the KoolAid (Steven…), but because I knew more about this guy than any other candidate for public office I had ever voted for, and I saw through the BS, of which there was an overabundance (Birthers, the Muslim claimers… Steven).

So after a year how do I feel?

Before I talk about disappointment too much, I’d like to say I’m still much happier than I would have been had we replaced Bush with a businessman/investment capitalist, a devoutly religious candidate, a global warming denier, a nationalist or an old person… Yes, an old person. I’m sorry if that offends my older readers or friends, but I tend to think that a younger mind in the White House right now will have a little more awareness of the issues important to me than somebody who fits the more traditional “fatherly” role of President.

On the other hand, I’d like to agree with comedian Bill Maher on at least two points: First, hate the Bush presidency as I did, his attitude was utterly lacking compassion or compromise, and therefore he got what he wanted. I realize that just a few sentences back I revealed my regard for compromise, but after watching the debates and the concessions I realize that in politics it’s “give ‘em an inch and they’ll take a mile.” Obama started his domestic agenda with a compromise on the table, rather than starting with the hardball and working TOWARD compromise from there. As a result, even the healthcare bill is watered down and little better a solution that what we currently have. “Medicare For All” would have been a great place and proposal to start with. Cries of “Socialism” and “Commie” and “Nazi” (see my previous diatribe on the absurd marriage of those concepts a week or two ago) be damned. Access to medical care is, now that we have medical care that is better than sticking a leech on a needy appendage, a basic human right. We have wealth nearly beyond measure in the US, yet our neediest go without medical care. Disgusting. President Obama, I need you to step up and make the health care proposal one that leaves absolutely NOONE without access to the best care possible. Take a page from the Bush playbook and just do what needs to be done. Piss somebody off. Legitimately (and ignore the idiots who believe that it’s their “God-given” right to see your school papers, that you are a closet Muslim, that you want to impose Communist rule and abolish our Republican Democracy and that you weren’t born in the US).

The other point upon which I’d like to agree with Bill on is that we need change NOW. When climatologists around the world say we are on the brink of irreversible climatic change and we need to curb emissions and clean up our act NOW, we shouldn’t be arguing about climate bills or “solutions” that propose to curb CO2 emissions over the course of the next 10-20 YEARS. This is ridiculous. President Obama, please demand that the change is swift and enacted immediately. Accept no weak bills. We cannot afford to let this issue be put off any longer. The consequences of inaction are far worse than those of passing real change and being wrong about our environmental impact (which, according to 95% of climatologists, we are NOT).

Off to pick up the kiddo at school. Stay tuned.