It’s time to stop whining about who is responsible for creating jobs for Americans. The press and the GOP-TP’ers are waiting to pounce on the “jobs proposal” by the President as if that is supposed to cure the pervasive and increasingly embarrassing malaise in this country due to a shift in the economy. We seem to be standing like helpless children, wanting a solution to appear effortlessly and spontaneously like magic and give us back our toys, while our lives seem to get worse.
Blame seems to be the balm that temporarily heals the nasty wounds created by the loss of our “things”. The pain is real as thousands are without employment; thousands have lost their homes and many of those are homeless; thousands are hungry; and still we wait for an answer to magically materialize and save us from ourselves.
Our elected leaders seemed determined to do nothing but debate about who is to blame for this thing, this loss of our stuff. Any attempt to really solve the problem is shouted down, not out of a measure of real value but rather out of a political necessity to win at all costs. The rhetoric has escalated to the promise of a magical return to yesterday when all was well. These messengers revel in their self-proclaimed close association with a deity, as if they then transcend all others, knowing where to find the magic that cures this “boo boo”.
The media have found job security in a twenty-four hour churning of meaningless banter that feeds this malaise. Yet we, like a junkie, can’t or won’t unplug because we might miss something, something really important like that magical moment when all is well again. We’ve become dependent on the media to tell us what is happening and who is dumb or dumber. There is no good news just bad news.
The reality is that there is no magic solution; No, Michelle, the economy can’t be turned around in one quarter; No, Rick, what you say worked in Texas, didn’t and won’t again; No, Mitt, you do have to stand for something; No, Mr. President, you do have to stand up for something. In reality we have to take responsibility for being duped by the banks, the politicians, wall-street and the media. We drank the kool-aid and took the magical ride. Now we all are back in a real world.
The answer isn’t what “they have or haven’t done or can or can’t do”. We simply have to make lemonade out of the lemons we have. Americans have a rich history of leadership in innovation and creativity. Many of our successes have been the result of the necessity of our survival. The reality is that thousands of Americans are doing well; thousands are eating so much they are obese; thousands are still shopping and incurring debt; thousands are figuring out how to change their lives so that they can pick up the pieces and go on with their lives; thousands are helping others pick up the pieces of their lives; and, yes, there is a lot to do and many are suffering real pain.
How is it that we now view ourselves as poor beggars, requiring someone to hand us the magic potent that cures our malaise, lifts us up and back to yesterday when we had all of our stuff? That’s not going to happen. No matter the circumstance we have to keep moving. No one will come to your rescue, except you. Life for many could be so much better if “we” could ignore “them” and do what “we” need to do for ourselves and others and if “they” would do what “they” should be doing. There is wisdom in the old hippy bumper sticker “If the people will lead, the leaders will follow.”
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Eighteen Million say “I told you so!”
Each day there are more articles being circulated entitled “Hillary would have made a better president” and “I should have voted for Hillary”. These high powered pen poised makers of a paper mache president are capitulating with rapidity as the test of the presidency of Barack Obama intensifies and he continues to disappoint his followers. Some commentators are now capable of admitting that they were so taken with his oratory that they failed to sufficiently consider his lack of accomplishments prior to his run for president.
When Hillary was defeated in the primary, the disbelief of the reality of this world was painful to endure. Hillary supporters met in groups, venting anger and pain in private safe places as we collectively worked through what had happened. Like many generations of women before us, we healed the gapping wounds of disappointment, collected ourselves and marched out to support the “winner” for the greater good of all. Hillary supporters rallied behind Obama, because Hillary not only said that was the right thing to do but she was working hard for the success of the Democrats. Her campaign magnified the hope, the pain and the disappointment, of generations of women. Many saw her grace, resilience and power, even in defeat, as a model for the next generation of women.
Now as Secretary of State, she has distanced herself from Barack Obama and yet found a useful and powerful place in which she can work productively for a country that disappointed her and a generation of feminist. She continues to be focused on her job with precision as this inexperienced orator, once so praised by all as their savior, flounders as many of us predicted.
It’s too late to elect Hillary. That bus left the station two and a half years ago. Now, the powerful commentators are bailing on Obama, just as they bailed on Hillary. They run away, not from Obama, but from their own failures. They too were weak, too weak to support a woman who was powerful and who had been tested by the political system. As the realization that Obama is weak and ineffective solidifies, as the savior’s image fades, the anger of being wrong turns outward as they look for a scapegoat for their wrong call.
So, we are doomed? I don’t think so. I wasn’t doomed before Obama and his failures certainly won’t define me. Now is not the time to throw Obama under the bus, it’s the time to understand that not only do we drive the bus, we are the bus.
For decades, I have decried the obvious, “Democrats have no backbone!” Now the staunch Obama followers are crying out “Lead us to the promise land!” He can’t. Congress can’t. It’s up to us to step up. Do we have the backbone to lead?
It takes more than, voting, contributing money and opining about the obvious flaws in our leaders to create change. We must change from the followers to the leaders. Remember the old sixties old bumper sticker “If the people will lead, the leaders will follow.” It’s time to change our focus from the lack of leadership, to creating the change we need in this country.
Abdicating our responsibility to participate in the change we want to create leaves a void for those who do have courage and a backbone to step to the front and take control. Thus, we are faced with talking heads that spew thoughtless mean spirited diatribes appealing to our base senses of fear and greed which are used as a wedge to further divide and decimate our civilization.
“They” can’t be silenced because their disruption is news; their stupidity is news; what they are not is news; and as we are beginning to realize, “the news” is the new porn industry and it sells. The news makers threw Hillary under the bus as their misogynist torrents filled the air waves, creating wave after wave of “news”. The media created Barack Obama and elevated him to his majestic throne and now they are feasting on his failures, just as some of us predicted two and half years ago. It’s not Barack Obama or the Democrats who need a backbone, we need a backbone. We are not powerless. We are powerful. We must not abdicate our leadership to those who have the backbone to stand up and speak to the fear that emboldens the speaker and seems to empower the fearful. There is no silver bullet. There is no magic pill that cures all our ills, and alas, no savior to lead us in creating the change we hoped was possible.
Each of us has the power to create what we need to live comfortably, not just for ourselves but for the rest of the world. The question is “Do we have the backbone to stand up and take responsibility for making our lives and the world a better place in which we can all live?” Can we follow the example of Hillary Clinton and go about our jobs with focus and persistence, creating the change we need? I continue to have hope.
When Hillary was defeated in the primary, the disbelief of the reality of this world was painful to endure. Hillary supporters met in groups, venting anger and pain in private safe places as we collectively worked through what had happened. Like many generations of women before us, we healed the gapping wounds of disappointment, collected ourselves and marched out to support the “winner” for the greater good of all. Hillary supporters rallied behind Obama, because Hillary not only said that was the right thing to do but she was working hard for the success of the Democrats. Her campaign magnified the hope, the pain and the disappointment, of generations of women. Many saw her grace, resilience and power, even in defeat, as a model for the next generation of women.
Now as Secretary of State, she has distanced herself from Barack Obama and yet found a useful and powerful place in which she can work productively for a country that disappointed her and a generation of feminist. She continues to be focused on her job with precision as this inexperienced orator, once so praised by all as their savior, flounders as many of us predicted.
It’s too late to elect Hillary. That bus left the station two and a half years ago. Now, the powerful commentators are bailing on Obama, just as they bailed on Hillary. They run away, not from Obama, but from their own failures. They too were weak, too weak to support a woman who was powerful and who had been tested by the political system. As the realization that Obama is weak and ineffective solidifies, as the savior’s image fades, the anger of being wrong turns outward as they look for a scapegoat for their wrong call.
So, we are doomed? I don’t think so. I wasn’t doomed before Obama and his failures certainly won’t define me. Now is not the time to throw Obama under the bus, it’s the time to understand that not only do we drive the bus, we are the bus.
For decades, I have decried the obvious, “Democrats have no backbone!” Now the staunch Obama followers are crying out “Lead us to the promise land!” He can’t. Congress can’t. It’s up to us to step up. Do we have the backbone to lead?
It takes more than, voting, contributing money and opining about the obvious flaws in our leaders to create change. We must change from the followers to the leaders. Remember the old sixties old bumper sticker “If the people will lead, the leaders will follow.” It’s time to change our focus from the lack of leadership, to creating the change we need in this country.
Abdicating our responsibility to participate in the change we want to create leaves a void for those who do have courage and a backbone to step to the front and take control. Thus, we are faced with talking heads that spew thoughtless mean spirited diatribes appealing to our base senses of fear and greed which are used as a wedge to further divide and decimate our civilization.
“They” can’t be silenced because their disruption is news; their stupidity is news; what they are not is news; and as we are beginning to realize, “the news” is the new porn industry and it sells. The news makers threw Hillary under the bus as their misogynist torrents filled the air waves, creating wave after wave of “news”. The media created Barack Obama and elevated him to his majestic throne and now they are feasting on his failures, just as some of us predicted two and half years ago. It’s not Barack Obama or the Democrats who need a backbone, we need a backbone. We are not powerless. We are powerful. We must not abdicate our leadership to those who have the backbone to stand up and speak to the fear that emboldens the speaker and seems to empower the fearful. There is no silver bullet. There is no magic pill that cures all our ills, and alas, no savior to lead us in creating the change we hoped was possible.
Each of us has the power to create what we need to live comfortably, not just for ourselves but for the rest of the world. The question is “Do we have the backbone to stand up and take responsibility for making our lives and the world a better place in which we can all live?” Can we follow the example of Hillary Clinton and go about our jobs with focus and persistence, creating the change we need? I continue to have hope.
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