Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Put Up Or Shut Up

A long long time ago it seems, I suspected my friend Barry of being the best poker player I'd ever seen. If tomorrow night's State of the Union isn't the ultimate call on legislative branch, then we may be witnessing the resurrection of Herbert Hoover. It is what the repubes have been calling for and surely now that they would be getting they will refuse to claim ownership just as they say Barry has refused to claim ownership of the mess he inherited and by their standards, has contributed to in grand fashion. On the other hand, this could also be a mighty dare to the Democrats who have failed utterly to congeal around their savior for the benefit of their president, their party, their jobs, and certainly their constituents. They have had all the power they've needed to enact the measures promised by candidate Barry but they squandered it utterly. They still have the power since as has been observed, the GOP never needed 60 senate votes to do anything.

I struggle with the historical reality that 1st year presidents don't generally do very well but the inability of Barry and his team to get the wheels of government moving in a generally forward direction is disheartening. It's not uncommon for initial cabinet members to be swept away. It may be a bit early for that by past standards but, starting with Geithner, it could be time for such a cleansing.

As a politics junkie I usually look forward to the State of the Union address. I suffer through the anchors and their crowing at the pomp and majesty because I truly don't give a rip about that crap. I want some content. Right now I'm more concerned than ever and I more or less will be happy if at the end of Barry's portion I'm just not disgusted. My confidence is waning. How long will it be in the speech lead-ups until a bunch of pundits declare in unison "he needs to hit a home run/score a touchdown (hail mary pass)"?

As someone who was pivotal in getting this blog off the ground often said to me, "UGH!"

1 comment:

KwaveD said...

I am quite sure it will be a pile of stinking horseshit designed to score political points with the progressives with little to no substantive content. This admin is bought and paid for. For those that still hold out "hope" remember the old adage --- those that live in hope die in despair.

The "change" that *I* wanted, that *I* hoped for is now so much confetti on Wall Street after bonus day. This situation is akin to a man in a shiny new suit having a garbage truck dump its load on his head. It was clear, at least to me, from the moment Geithner was appointed to Treasury. Did you see him talking out of both sides of his mouth today? A performance that was only marginally overshadowed the wink,wink self-serving tongue lashings he received from the members.

Any hope of restoring this republic to the people lies squarely and solely on the people. The fix is in fellas, and to continue as we are thinking that dems over reps or reps over dems will "solve" OUR problems in the streets in so much smoke and mirrors.