Progressives all over the country are waking up from the nightmare of the Bush presidency and are asking themselves, “What did I eat before I went to bed eight years ago?” In point of fact, we have suffered from collective indigestion going back more than 30 years.
So let’s do the math. Starting with Jimmy Carter and ending with George W. Bush, we had 20 years of Republicans and 12 years of Democrats. To his credit, Jimmy Carter was and remains a good man. Unfortunately, he was an ineffective president. Bill Clinton was a centrist who was marginalized by the new breed of Republicans who were apparently out to avenge Sherman’s march to the sea. All in all, it’s been a long thirty years for progressive democrats. So now we are in control. Who do we blame now?
As I bang away on my computer, I begin to wonder what I will say about the things that have made my blood boil for so many years. We have a progressive president and with him, tremendous hope for a better future. Democrats control both houses of Congress and the prospects for Republicans at all levels of government are looking bleak for at least a few years. All is rosy, yes?
I realize that we have a lot to be angry about and a great deal of work to do. Obama won and he appears to be hard at work. It’s time to pick up the pieces. Like the residents in New Orleans, we have a catastrophe on our hands. It will take time to clean up this mess.
First, we must reverse the tide of perhaps the most corrupt administration since Ulysses S. Grant. I predict that we will continue to suffer the consequences of the Bush Administration policies for many years to come. Iraq and Afghanistan of course. Deregulation and de-enforcement throughout the executive branch of government will continue to be felt. Pick up a rock and find a Bush crony reaping the rewards of energy deregulation, bank bailouts and EPA waivers. The delousing from the Bush years will take some time and effort.
Second, we must expand our thinking and begin to play offense rather than defense on all maters of public policy: health care, social security, the wars, criminal justice, the economy, poverty, human rights. Each of these issues has a myriad of facets, which must be addressed in an honest and thoughtful way.
Third, we must all take action. “What am I supposed to do?” you ask. One simple if not obvious step is to begin thinking. Ask questions. Challenge conventional thinking. Cast aside slogans and rhetoric and dig beneath the easy debate.
In a recent post by Chris Hedges on Alternet, he reflected on the election and noted that “American political campaigns, which have learned to speak in the comforting epistemology of images, eschew real ideas and policy for cheap slogans and reassuring personal narratives. Political propaganda now masquerades as ideology. Political campaigns have become an experience. They do not require cognitive or self-critical skills. They are designed to ignite pseudo-religious feelings of euphoria, empowerment and collective salvation. ”
Talk to Your Elderly Aunt
When you have a chat with your doddering aunt and she talks about our “socialist” president, ask her what she means. Ask her to dig beneath the word she picked up from some pundit on Fox news.
Vote Your Proxies
Do you own stock on a public company? Vote your proxies. We have learned an important civics lesson in this presidential election. Now let’s pay some attention to the economic crisis and what we can do to help change it. Since there is a reasonable chance that your stocks aren’t worth a whole lot right now, try to do something useful with those shares. Vote against all of the directors in all of the companies in which you hold proxies. Just do it. As a whole, most businesses have been doing a less than stellar job of late. Send these directors a message.
Email Your Congressman
Write a letter to your member of Congress or better yet, call him or her on the phone. Don’t know his or her address or phone number? Visit http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/index.html You can find it there. You can also find links to your U.S. Senators there as well.
My point here is that now is the time for action. Stay pissed off. “The world needs anger. The world often continues to allow evil because it isn’t angry enough.”
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