A confluence of events has arrived here and now. The last eight years of hell, as several European and Asian leaders have suggested, albeit off the record, are coming to a close.
America’s recent rape of the muddle east, Cheney’s efforts to steal their oil, and at the same time, to enrich the coffers of George’s and Dick’s best fiends, has almost come to an end. But not yet. As we watch with mouths agape in shock and horror, their thieving ways don’t just continue, they accelerate. Health care? Ha. Children’s health? Bah! Environmental protections? Dead! Pristine forests? Cut down. Off shore fisheries? A perfect place for a dirty underwater oil well. And alternate energy? HAH! you want them to ruin their fiends’ bottom lines? Food inspections? Imported drug inspections? Lead and lead paint in kiddie toys? The Administration’s response can be summed up thusly: Go Cheney yourselves.
That leaves the obvious question. What should Obama, as president, concentrate on, and to what extent?
Reaching for the ground is the simplest. Like a drunk hitting the floor, it takes almost no effort to achieve tiny, worthless, minimal goals. If Obama aims for a safe result, a too well-grounded small change in policy, he will earn the wrath of millions of voters in an instant.
The moon is something completely different. John F. Kennedy energized and excited a nation with his simple goal – a man landing on the moon before 1970. We achieved it, solving thousands of complex problems in unique and incredible ways. Each one of those problems has led to new businesses, new computing power, high tech plastics and ceramics, and much much more.
What are the key problems we face?
a) Muddle east wars and strife, and related terror threats.
b) Energy.
c) Looming Economic Disaster.
d) Rising unemployment.
e) BushCo’s numerous high crimes and misdemeanors.
f) Iraq And Afghanistan
Let’s dream for a bit:
a) Muddle east wars and strife, and related terror threats.
To put it bluntly, our mideast policies have been a clusterfuck, a disaster, a mess, and a problem for more than 50 years. We took down a thriving democracy in Iran and they still hate us for it. We installed Saddam in Iraq, for which they hate us, then threatened him, causing untold loss of life in Kurdish regions, And we supported both sides in the Iraq – Iran war. Then, as the GOP likes to say, we “failed to finish the job” by taking Saddam out the first time.
Our blinders with respect to Israel are the root cause of the problem. Either we treat Israel as a mature, separate nation, who is an ally and a friend, or we continue along this deadly, dead-end path we have taken for 20 years. The former may scare some AIPAC jerks, but it is the only path available to us.
The instant that we start treating Israel and Palestine equally and fairly, the root cause of most acts of terror will end. There will be no more need for revolutionary acts, since both sides would have won. Convincing Israel of this, however, is more than problematic. (even though a growing number of Israeli citizens and Op-Ed articles agree on this point)
The House of Saud is like a house of cards. Their internal fissures are growing, the modern world affects only the very top spoiled princes, while the majority of the tribesmen are seething. We repeat the mistake we made with Iran; we looked to the Shah as the only partner, and took his views at face value. We were wrong then, and we are even more wrong now.
THE SOLUTION: We must change how we deal with Israel, Palestine, even Saudi Arabia. Real-politics would be welcome around the world.
b) Energy.
c) Looming Economic Disaster.
d) Rising unemployment.
Actually, these three are so connected, that splitting them seems inappropriate.
Not only must we drop our Oil addiction, we must start an Apollo-like crash program to achieve energy independence for the present and future generations immediately. Only a massive program, with multiple prongs will do it. Our only mistake would be to not have dreams that are big enough.
Interestingly, all three topics are connected in a positive way. Rising unemployment? How about hiring former GM and other union workers to design, manufacture, and install solar panels on every building in America, even those Wasilly, Alaska outhouses? Storage technology must be improved, not just incrementally, but like the Moon shot, we need a whole new orbital path. Fusion? fine. Wind? absolutely. Tidal power? You betcha. Geothermal? What? use free energy? Sure! But only while we rebuilt and modernize our ancient, inefficient power grid.
The instant that millions of Americans recognize and accept this huge goal, the future becomes far more welcoming. With good leadership, we all can grasp what each of us needs to do, and we all will jump on board. That horrifying economic chasm we now face will be avoided because all of our energies and efforts will actually benefit lower and middle class people. New, respectable jobs will be there. Pride in one’s profession, a real wage, and obvious benefits will transform this nation’s working class, and allow us to live in a new golden era. As importantly, as a side effect of having a defined, recognizable goal, we will all imagine a new brilliant future, and we will have comfort from the knowledge that when we put our minds to it, we do succeed.
The more energy independence we achieve, the less important the muddle east becomes. Excising our oil-based economy and replacing it with a far more advanced high tech economy, will prevent us from muddling around there in the bloody ways that we have in the past.
e) BushCo’s numerous high crimes and misdemeanors.
From his faith based initiative, to his torture policies, Bush and his cronies have raped America, robbed her blind, and enriched their top fiends and campaign donors.
Forget President Elect Obama for this instant. The issue is simple. Either there is the rule of law in the United States, or there is not. One path leads to justice for all; the other to madness and chaos.
BushCo are guilty of many things, especially the destruction of our constitutional rights and protections. The idea that America was the key source of torture is still alien to too many Americans. “We can’t be guilty. We are the USA!” and “Hah! Only Traitors and anti-Americans and lovers of Terror say we are war criminals.”
Alas, the truth hurts. Not as much as our torture damaged the bodies, minds, lives, and families of innocents, but it will hurt.
Perhaps the easiest way to view the future indictment of Team Bush is like this. If a murderer wishes to avoid a conviction and sentence, simply because the victim is already dead, who in their right mind would accept that defense?
Similarly, using the lame excuse that once Bush leave office, we should ignore the many crimes committed by those in office, starting with the president and his Vice. . . president, is a duty we can never shirk. They committed crimes. They must pay for it. Period. There is no other choice available to us, not if we wish to protect and uphold our system of laws, and most importantly, our constitution.
We as a nation are at a crossroads. Either we grasp the future with both hands and aim far beyond our reach, or we can sit back and witness the continuing rape of our economy, our ecology, and our future, while our tax dollars repay Wall Street’s unconscionable gamble and self dealing. To be blunt, no company is ever too large to fail. If they are badly run, they should wither and die. What is truly disgusting is that these continuing bailouts do nothing for our future. They simply maintain the executives, who already greatly profited from their greed and lies, in the style in which they have become far too accustomed.
Call me a lunatic, but I say we aim for the Moon.
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