The
winner basks, the loser smarts. We get to carry out the trash.
As a bonus, now that the Coliseum-like circus of the Presidential
election is over, we get to deal with the reality that is America in
the fading days of the Bush presidency.
Reality has been around throughout but subject to the effervescence of
the election; we really haven’t grasped the seriousness of our
position, of the precipice on which we sit. But we will.
It seems so long ago now when the banks begged like beaten dogs for
our bailout money. Congress, while going through the motions of
feigning angst and teeth-grinding, gave our money to them despite
public demands – screams - to the contrary.
They wrote the robbing of the people into history not as the “Bill to
Bailout our Big Bastard Banking Buddies” as it should have been, but
gave it the soft Summer’s Eve title of “Emergency Economic
Stabilization Act of 2008" – how grand, how magnificent, how noble,
how governmental. How recent and how long ago and how utterly
worthless an expenditure.
The banks were irrevocably screwed going into this meltdown and they
continue to be, regardless of the generosity of the public funds Bush
and Congress threw their way. Oh, a couple of big shots on Wall Street
may not be able to be seen in public over Christmas smoking their
ludicrously large Cohibas, but be under no doubt our money has been
well used. At least the bankers think so - they’re like dogs in the
park rolling in poo with happiness.
The election extravaganza distracted us from noticing the
fast-accelerating Winterization of our newly fragile economy. Banks
aren’t lending, houses are sitting empty and unsold. Unemployment is
rising and the economic Colorado River of consumer spending has slowed
to a trickle. Even though the average taxpayer bailed out the crooks,
the poor fool who did the bailing is practically homeless. Indeed many
are.
Once the Holidays are over expect the reality of the deep freeze to
set in. And a deep freeze it will be as even the aforementioned
trickle threatens to dry up. Investment funds have been not so quietly
withdrawn from the marketplace, the investors left licking their
wounds. Hedge funds have lost their shirts – yours actually. Mortgage
lending has all but stopped. Home equity lines have been withdrawn,
credit card limits axed and the banker nearly pees himself with
laughter when you ask for an overdraft. Mark my words, when retailers
go cap in hand to their banks in January for funding to ride out the
Spring slow season it is widely expected that they will get what we,
the people, should have given the Wall Street bankers when they came
abegging to us; the door. Or more appropriately - the finger.
Obama will be stepping into a stinking bloody morass with the Middle
East conflict. 4,741 U.S. war dead in two theatres and upwards of
30,180 maimed and wounded. Untold tens of thousands suffering from
post traumatic stress from repeated and unwarranted deployments in
Bush’s desperate attempt to avoid reemploying the draft. The expense
is monumental.
Without rehashing the whole debacle we can see that what should have been a quick in and out of Afghanistan turned into a ego-fest of Bushlomania as we trekked through Iraq and pounded whoever got in our way from Baghdad to Syria. And Bush still never caught Osama.
After 20 months of speculation, debate, talk shows, scandals, experts
and taking heads, what have we learned? We learned that until election
night those overpaid yet handsome and pretty ladies in TV land know
just as much as we do about the outcome; nothin’.
Let me be the first to welcome you back to reality. A reality that
marks the turning point in American history and politics as we welcome
Barack Obama as the next President of the United States. A job well
done.
Until next time.