Are you walking around in a daze today, like me, wondering what just happened? It seems like just yesterday we were basking in the joy that our fellow citizens had finally taken hold of their senses. The very same country that voted this guy:
into office (twice!) had, at long last, chosen hope over fear and substance over sound bytes.
[cross-posted at my blog]
It was a nice fantasy, wasn't it. But that's all it was. The harsh reality we've just learned is that many Americans don't really care how and under whose watch the economic crisis started - it's just too much fun to blame the people in power, whether they deserve it or not. We've learned that many Americans love to spew nonsense, like "Socialism", and "taking away our freedom", and "death panels", because its fun to say those things, even if they don't make any sense. And despite the fact that for the first time in our history everyone will have access to affordable health care, many Americans still don't understand, and don't want to understand, the implications of this far-reaching accomplishment.
Of course, the economy was problem #1 for the Democrats, but I think President Obama and the Dems also paid a huge political price for passing health care reform. Think about the irony there: Barack Obama is elected on a platform of change, and in his first two years, he and the Democrats in Congress pass the most sweeping reform of our ailing health care system in our nation's history, something presidents have been promising to do for generations. In other words, the Democrats are guilty of this unspeakable offense: they did what we asked them to do. For following through on their promises, they got voted out of office.
And people wonder why nothing gets done in Washington, D.C.