by Paul Krza
The year is 2013, one year into the new Cheney administration. Dick is on the radio, chatting with his most understanding pal in the media, Rush Limbaugh, about Dick’s newly launched effort to spy on and round up “dissidents” who have been out in the streets opposing health care repeal, a new draft and cuts in Social Security.
“I know this is tough,” Limbaugh says. “But with those idiots and liars out there, the last thing we want is to let them regain power.”
An unlikely fairy tale? Needless worry about the future? Perhaps, but after living with a party in power that gave us Nixon, Reagan and Bush – Watergate break-ins, lies, Iran-Contra and loads of fear – it’s a depressingly plausible scenario.
How could this happen?
One, the guys on the right and in D.C. continue to pound away on the airwaves, raising fears about communists in the government anxious to strip wealth from hard-working regular folk and hand it out to those lazy welfare-cheating bastards and illegals, all aimed at bankrupting the good ol’ USA.
And two, when the Democrats and others who in 2008 lined up behind Barack Obama stay at home next time around, dismayed that he hasn’t whipped out quick miracles to stop war, brought prosperity and fixed all the other evils that confront the country.
It’s the second element that concerns me most. The spewing and foaming right, on its own could self-destruct into its vortex of hate and intolerance. But aided and abetted by a slew of Obama no-shows, it might just develop into a viable alternative for people hungry for real action.
The time is here, I think, for some perspective. Obama is no miracle-maker – he never was. In fact, it was right-radio that tagged him as “the messiah” during the campaign. When the messiah doesn’t do miracles, then, well, he’s a failure.
And on the left, there’s understandable dismay, mostly over Obama’s disconcerting plans to escalate, rather than quickly end, the war in Afghanistan . He was a peace candidate, folks will remind us, when he ran for office.
Then there’s the economy. On the left, the worry is that he’s loaded up his economic team with too many Wall-Streeters and wheeler-dealers.
My view: Obama ain’t perfect, but he’s more than the best that we can get. He’s a smart, savvy guy who knows what’s going on and is doing what he can with what he got handed and with the world as it is, not as we would ideally like to see it. And he will be there in the coming years, in that spot of premium power, when the big deals, the major crises and the decisive decisions go down. He will be the kind of person we will be glad is in charge at those yet unknown but key times.
Perhaps we have already forgotten that sense of relief, when no longer was Bush (or Cheney) in charge. That feeling alone should pump us up for another four years with Barrack at the helm, steering us further from
the international shoot-first Bush/ Cheney doctrine and wild-eyed capitalism responsible for our economic malaise.
How likely is a Cheney run? Recently, Newsweek’s editor, Jon Meacham, was actually suggesting he should, saying it would give the country a dramatic choice between two distinct philosophies. Trouble is, we’ve already had a big dose of Dick (Cheney). Peace in our time? It’s certainly not going to happen with Cheney in the captain’s chair, that’s for sure.
No, Obama is not the lesser of two evils. And, yes, it does make a big difference who is president. So mark your calendars now: Obama in 2012.
Enchantment endearment
There’s also a load of dismay these days in New Mexico over Bill Richardson, a lot even coming from Democrats.
Well, Bill is no angel – in fact, he’s abrasive, domineering, egotistical and impatient. Still, my gut feeling is that he’s not a crook. He’s simply not the kind of guy who would steal public money, like, say, Manny Aragon.
In his zeal to get things done, people he employed may have cut corners, or worse, saw opportunities to line their pockets. If that happened, these scoundrels should be punished.
But let’s at least pause to rightfully give him big credit for the groundbreaking stuff he’s done for New Mexico – the Railrunner, Spaceport and film industry. On those counts alone, he’s a big-time history maker.
Sure, he spent some bucks, those tight-fisted Republicans whine. But like with Obama, let’s remember their last guy – Gary Johnson, a nice enough fellow with some good ideas but somebody who didn’t do much for the state.
It reminds me of the hospital in the town where I once lived. Critics complaining of lousy care were told, hey, we’re the lowest-cost hospital in the region. Translation: Cheap, and dangerous. Sometimes you have to dig deep to get things moving. Bill did, and we should thank him for it, no matter what comes down the indictment pike.
Mr. Krza's views do not necessarily represent those of the Mountain Mail.
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