Old Retired Guy Blog

November 5, 2008

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The Morning After

It was a long, tough political race.  The Republican ads were really vicious near the end.  Fortunately, after 8 long, horrible years, enough American voters were smart enough to replace George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and many of their Republican allies with a set of decent leaders.  Unfortunately, the Bush administration, surely the worst this country has ever known, has left us with unwinnable wars in godforsaken parts of the world, a failing economy that is second only to the Great Depression, and a population that is wondering how it can survive.

I'm elated with the results of the election, but I am still very worried about the future:

• The McCain/Palin ticket did such a good job of stirring up hatred of Barack Obama; some right-wing crazy (that sounds redundant) might decide to cast a late vote with a gun.
• The Republican party is overrun with people who have no interest in finding solutions to help this country move forward.  Their main goal is to prevent so-called "liberals" from accomplishing anything.  They will do their best to block everything that might improve our situation and will try to blame all of the problems that they created on the new administration.
• Very powerful lobbyists from big oil and big business will be pushing hard to ensure that legislation helps them, not the American public.  Powerful drug company lobbyists will be pushing hard to insert their will and their goals into any proposed health legislation.
• The Bush administration has installed so many company stooges into the regulatory agencies that it will be difficult to get meaningful regulatory functions started again.
• As the last couple months of the Bush administration draw to a close, Bush and friends be issuing large numbers of executive orders to inflict as much right-wing pain as possible.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  In the mean time I'm reading Dreams of My Father, the book that Barack Obama wrote in 1995 when he was offered a book contract after being elected the first black president of the Harvard Law Review.  It's a fascinating memoir about his formative years as the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas.

After that I'll read The Audacity of Hope, which he wrote in 2006.  According to the cover notes, in this book Obama calls for a new approach to politics and sets out his political convictions.  Having seen his honest and positive campaign style in the face of a tirade of personal attacks by Republicans, and his ability to maintain a cool even demeanor while debating with an opponent who told bigger and bigger lies as the election approached, I believe that he can bring a new way to Washington.  Unfortunately, he can't do it alone.  He'll need the help of many compatriots who can work on this task without succumbing to temptations of corruption that often trap people in power.

If you're wondering what kinds of things the Obama Transition Team is working on during the run up to the January 20, 2009 inauguration, visit the team's website, Change.gov, and find out.

End of The Morning After Entry
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