On Obama

When it comes down to it I’m not all that hopeful about what the Obama and the Democratic victory means. I appreciate the significance of Obama’s personal achievement and I’m pleasantly shocked that lies, innuendo, racism, fundamentalism and general redneckery did not triumph; perhaps the U.S. is a slightly better place than I thought. Obama was the smarter, saner, more capable and non senile choice for president, plus anything that keeps that flaky gun toting fundie bitch away from brief cases, launch codes or buttons is a good thing. But besides the obvious reprieve from Holy wars and a attempt to bring on Armageddon in our life time, I don’t see it really makes that much difference which party won. In my opinion both parties are filled up corporate thralls, both parties have little vision or commitment with regard to global warming, and neither acknowledges that peak oil will soon to become a crisis that a bankrupted, energy glutton America is not ready to handle. Neither choice even approached a progressive view point.


The way the financial crisis evolves will differ little with Obama’s influence than it would have from McCain’s; it’s too big and has a life of its own. Neither Obama nor McCain have the balls to stand up to their corporate overlords and say Fuck You! We are in charge! Likewise I can’t see either telling Americans the truth about the debt, the chance of U.S. default, what happens when the Chinese stop loaning them money, and that hyperinflation and eventual dollar death are a reasonable expectation unless the U.S. cuts its spending to the bone. Bankruptcy from new entitlements is little better than bankruptcy from wars.

Obama’s personality and charisma carried the day but now he has to face 4 years of financial turmoil, more demands for bailouts, snowballing deficits, more homeless, more tent cities and realization by the public that a high energy future is not a birth right; all of this on top of the increased expectations promoted by his platform. If they hadn’t fought so hard and dirty to win, I’d swear McCain threw the race so Obama could be scapegoat for the next 4 years.

I truly hope it was personality rather than his platform that got Obama elected because it’s pretty obvious that the cupboard is bare and his promises will quickly be reneged on; at least he can hold onto his personality. Obama is not some kind of superman who can just ignore reality and it’s my belief that he is just as likely to go down in history as the sitting president when the U.S. Empire collapsed (no fault of his own) as he will for his racial triumph.

I hope he will soon level with his voters about the future rather than feed their delusions.

I hope this will convince people to temper their expectations

I hope he can at least nudge them towards a more sustainable future. (Until they've had to suffer shortages I doubt they will even accept a nudge.)

I hope he can improve American’s international image, and work to lessen tensions rather than fan them like the last fools

I hope he’s able to quell the fears the redneck racist fundies were spreading about him so that race will not be an issue again.

I hope he does reopen NAFTA and we are smart enough to get control of our energy supplies like Mexico did and rewrite chapter 11

Most importantly I hope he survives his term. Should anything happen to Obama while in office, the 911 conspiracies will be minor in comparison and the potential for L.A. riots across the country considerable.

So in the end when you measure my hopes against what we can really expect from a politician (even Obama)you can see why I don't expect much.Recommend this Post