Wednesday, November 7, 2012

So, Now What?
    With elections over, we remain with two conservative parties, one hard and the other mushy, agreed on the course of the economy and the empire. The hard Reps, unable to overcome their debilitating chauvinism in a country becoming ever more diverse, are fading. The mushy Dems, by offering voters an acceptance of that diversity and not much more, are holding their own.
    The campaign of Obama and the Dems proffered only cough drops and band-aids for our awful problems. Even the old Dem rhetoric promising succor to the poor and working classes was abandoned in favor of brainless bathetics like “Forward.” Their message was, “we won’t screw you as badly as the Reps will--unless, of course, our bankster buddies make us do it.”
    Among progressives there are those who believe that Obama will now betray his Wall Street mentors and financiers and start spreading the wealth instead of concentrating it. They also expect him to somehow provide jobs, eschew new wars, get serious about the environment, and generally act more like Franklin Roosevelt than Herbert Hoover. Some even say they’re willing to “pressure” him to do so. That’s not going to happen because they have no pressure to apply.  Why should Obama heed progressives who automatically heel to him and the corrupt, business-as-usual Dems?
    My guess is that Obama will enjoy a pleasant four years of non pareil perks and self regard.  With a GOP Congress staring scimitars at him, he’ll be able to talk about all the great things he'd do if only John (When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking) Boehner would let him. No doubt, he’ll spend many hours considering the splendid offers of corporate directorships and speaking fees he’ll be getting  after 2016 as rewards for his service to his betters. He should soon be as flush as Al Gore and Bill Clinton.
    Unless the country has gone totally brain dead, resistance will grow as the rest of us become immiserated to make the fat cats sleeker. The only hope for the success of such such a movement in bringing a new direction to the country will be if it becomes massive, strong and clever.  The time to start building it is today. Unless you’ve got something better to do.