The Good, the Bad, and Obama

First, some good news. This country has been through some really, really tough times in its history, and we have always gotten through them. Being a man of faith, I count that as grace from God, with more than a little bit of American character seeing us through, the stubborn refusal to give up on what is right and true, and the unyielding belief that this country exists for a noble purpose, one not dependent on the moment or on popular opinion. We will pay for our mistakes and make some more along the way, but in the end we will prevail.

Now the bad news. While I have read of such times, never in my personal experience have I seen the nation so superficial and concerned with trivial matters as now, and never before have I see our elected officials as disinterested in their sworn duty to the people as I do now. That’s in both parties, not just the ones in power now. While there are still some good men and women in federal office, they are fewer now than I have ever seen before. The majority have no concern about the cost they lay on the taxpayers, they care only for winning their own re-election by any means necessary. They care nothing for what is coming when Social Security collapses, what will happen when the world sees we will no longer keep our commitments to defend our friends and root out terrorists in their own training and recruiting grounds, or what will happen when the government finally asks Americans to pay for a system which rewards corruption and greed while punishing individual success and self-reliance.

And then there is Barack Obama. His minions shouted down those who dared to point out his utter lack of experience and poor choice of associates, as racists and hate-mongers. It quickly became ‘obstructionist’ for anyone to follow up on Obama’s promises or question how he would accomplish his grand vision, which was quietly and quickly deleted from his web site as each proved too difficult, too unrealistic, or a total impossibility. Perhaps he will grow into the job, but thus far he has shown remarkably poor judgment, a shallow understanding of the major issues, and an inability to lead in office to anything like the image he cast as a candidate.