Because You Never Asked

PRESIDENT OBAMA: THREE THINGS WE WANT

(1/09)

     I sit down to begin this essay on January 20, 2009, at 8:07 AM. Later today, Barack Obama will be sworn in as president of the United States.

     With the euphoria for this man reaching levels perhaps not seen before in American politics, I remind the reader we have not elected Jesus, Moses --- or Houdini. We’ve elected a man of flesh and blood with no known avenues of communication to any Higher Wisdom or Authority. He is a politician, a seemingly magnificent one, an obviously bright and intellectually prepared one (we cannot minimize that last thought, given the last 8 years), who seems to be the right man for this difficult juncture in history, a moment in time made critical by the last 8 years of anti-government in the United States. Make no mistake about it: Obama is the product of Bush-Cheney&Co., and if he turns out to be the man we all hope for, we’ll finally have something to thank them for.

     I originally thought to call this essay “President Obama: Three Things I Want”, but soon realized how timid that would be. I feel comfortable in saying the three things I shall call for here represent the core beliefs of just about everyone who voted for Obama without trepidations, which is how most people voted for him. From here on out, I will only use the pronoun “we” and its derivatives in making “our” demands.

     It might surprise the reader when what we loosely refer to as the “economy” is not included in our list of three. An economic system with a personality so prone to greed, adolescent materialism and competition, will always be in danger of consuming itself in its own flames, like a reckless running back who dazzles us for 2 or 3 years until he is finally taken off with his kneecaps dangling down around his swollen ankles. Yes, President Obama, you’ve been left with a basket case, one that any new president would have to contend with. In a way, it is not even an issue, especially for the 99.9% of us who have very little idea as to how this happened and how to fix it. Get to work on it Mr. President, see what you can do, be diligent, be fair, we know you’ll try your best, we’ll have our fingers crossed.

     In any event, the first two of our demands are somewhat related to the economy anyway.

     Our three demands: 1) Military disengagement in the Middle East, and a whole new face to American foreign policy; 2) Health Care; 3) prosecution of possible criminal acts in the previous administration.

     In spite of the perhaps unprecedented expectations Barack Obama has raised, each of these issues have the seeds of discontent and disappointment sown within them, seeds that could sprout and bloom if the new president turns out to be merely a cosmetic change from the same old same.

     1) In the essay “Mumbai-Bombay or Obama’s Waterloo?”, we cover this subject in depth and any of you approximately 6 billion people out there who are not familiar with this ever growing mass of philosophical patter, are urged to read it. It’s main thrust is our uneasiness with the new president’s propensity to trade Iraq for Afghanistan. This is something like trading a headache for nausea, and the longer Obama holds onto this notion, the more he will own it, the more difficult it will be for him to cast it aside (see the referenced essay).

     But this issue is bigger than just Afghanistan, and much of it could even be described as emotional. We no longer want our country to be seen as this warrior nation imposing its will by force. We no longer want to be fighting all over the globe in a world that is basically at peace. In a post Cold War world, where the United States has been left as the singular military force on the planet, there is a great temptation to fall into this trap --- but only for the “Palinesque” intellects amongst us. The ill will incubated by such an attitude is a stronger force than anything military can control, and will eventually return its cargo of karmic negativity.

     But this is much more than just an emotional issue. In a sense, the United States has still not redesigned its whole military mechanism to reflect a post Cold War world. We demand this restructuring begin immediately, with the logical inference of substantially less taxpayer money being spent on it. We are still spending massive amounts of money developing weapons systems and military hardware for enemy armies that don’t exist. We have become a nation led by Don Quijote fighting windmills.

     And there are some very logical places to reinvest these misdirected expenditures. Some of it --- really, whatever it takes --- could be used to make our intelligence gathering apparatus more effective. This is where the front lines are in the war on terror and it would be both more effective and cost efficient to deal with this security threat in such a way, without even mentioning the savings in human life and misery.

     But even more relevant is the old (it never goes away) “guns or butter” debate. Every single dollar that is overspent on a military apparatus, is money thrown in a bonfire. It is like buying a brand new car and not using it. Almost all of us here in “Obamarama” are laymen with regard to the expense and maintenance of a suitable military force, but are we totally out of line in suggesting that a proper restructuring of such, meant to deal with the reality of a post Cold War world, could cut the Pentagon’s budget substantially? In half? If some “expert” (not you Sarah) thinks we are out of line here, we’ll listen.

     In any event, the savings should be significant --- and there is such a logical place to reinvest it, without loss of jobs.

     One thing we feel secure about is the new president’s commitment to clean, safe, renewable sources of energy --- put simply, to getting us off the fossil fuel standard. This is a high tech, cutting edge task America’s private sector is well suited for. Unfortunately, instead of paying these folks for useful projects, we’ve been paying them to build military systems, billions and billions of k-chinging dollars we get almost no return on. By restructuring the Pentagon as a response to a world without the Berlin Wall, we can take some of this money and use it for more relevant things. Instead of indebting the nation with more “stimulus packages”, we can take tax money already in the public coffers and shift it somewhere useful. Being that our most high tech industries are often being paid to make “missile shields” and the like, shifting them over to a different high tech task should be a fairly seamless transition.

     Mr. President, we beseech you to not get bogged down in the world of the Bush family, a dinosaur world suited for their own personal interests. “Make love not war”. Its time has come.

     2) Picture a bicycle with hand brakes that are not aligned properly and keep rubbing against the wheel even when not being used. This is what health care has become to our economy and it is making it very difficult to peddle with any degree of efficiency. It’s gotten to the point where the bike can hardly be ridden anymore, and there is no question President Obama will throw his best Sunday punch at the problem.

     The way we deal with health in the United States can only be described as a disaster. There is nothing speculative about this statement. It is a documented fact that we spend much more on it than anyone else, and are far down the list with regard to whatever indicators are used to measure a nation’s health. For way too long --- since the days of that loveable chap named Richard Nixon --- we have been held hostage by a market “ideology” that is just a cover for the self interest of those profiting from our sickness.

     What we want, Mr. President, is a health care system that is part of the Social Contract. We want our physical and mental well being to be our birthright as citizens of a great nation. If we cannot do that, we are not a great nation. We are sick and tired of the simple minded propaganda that has gotten us into this mess. It is unavoidable in any organized society --- and even more so in a huge, complex, technologically advanced and interconnected entity --- for their to be elements of socialism (there, I said it). Every time we go play tennis in the public park, we are using socialism. Every time we ride across the bridge to the Jersey side, we are using socialism. Every time a policeman protects you from crime, or a fireman douses the flames, we are using socialism. We believe in both the free market and socialism, each in its proper place. There will always be some gray area as to where that place is, but with regard to the physical well being of our populace, we believe the verdict is in!

     Please, President Obama, we are not interested in any more half baked schemes to keep the private sector’s profits dependant on our ill health. We want medical practice off the “market”. No more bull.

     3) With regard to prosecuting criminal activity, it would be dishonest to not admit we despise Bush-Cheney&Co. They are to politics and government what salmonella is to peanut butter and our nation is very sick. What’s worse, it is not an innocent kind of sickness that came upon us by chance, but a self inflicted malady we can rightfully feel ashamed of. It’s not the “Japs” or the “Krauts” or the “Commies” --- we’ve done wicked things. We want our good name restored. We want to feel like the “good guys” again. (The author is well aware that being a “good guy”, for any imperial power, is only a relative thing, and that “good guys” and imperialism are somewhat exclusive concepts, but hey, you know what I mean.)

     Yeah, we hate the creeps, but revenge can never be the reason for doing what we want the new president to do. Revenge for revenge’s sake never leads to anything positive. There must be some higher, more enlightened reason to prosecute criminal activity --- and in this case there is.

     Due to the actions of the Bush Administration, we are balancing over a fulcrum moment in history. The way in which we swing will determine our future, perhaps indelibly. Our nation is governed by a set of sacred principles set forth in our Constitution. The Constitution is not a stagnant concept. It can be changed, but only with great difficulty. This is because it enumerates the most cherished attributes of what our nation holds dear. You can make any law you want in the United States of America, as long as it conforms to the Constitution and its sacred principles. That is why you can’t make a law that says, “in this city, only people of Irish descent can be policemen”.

     Our nation has also signed treaties which bind us to certain kinds of behavior in the theater of international relations. We’ve given our Word! If we don’t live up to these obligations, who could ever trust us in the future? Who could not accuse us of hypocrisy when we demand the same?

     President Obama, there is ample evidence to suggest grave crimes have been committed, crimes that attack the very core of our decency and democratic institutions. Sure, we know, you want to be a healer, you want to bring people together, you do not want to rock the boat at such a difficult moment in our history. But we feel if you do not deal with this malfeasance, you are doing just the opposite. You are not just rocking the boat, you are capsizing it. Inaction could set a precedent we might never recover from. It will invalidate who we are as a nation.

     What’s at stake here is far bigger and more relevant than just revenge. The whole fabric of what we hope to be is at stake.

     Post Script: I would like to relate the following story, which, at first, might seem irrelevant to this subject. I have a friend who is a very decent man, a hard working man, a person who gets along with one and all and shows no ill will towards anyone. He recently made a mistake and was caught driving under the influence without causing any harm. Being that he has little money, he has spent the last 5 weeks in jail, awaiting his trial. I’m not here to suggest my friend should be subject to no punishment, but the law must be the same for all. Mr. President, just because someone is rich and powerful, just because someone appears on TV and only wears the best tailored, most expensive clothes, does not mean they are immune from prosecution. In the name of my friend still wallowing in jail, I (we) beseech you to do the right thing.    

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Email: JerryG@postcman.info