Without George W. Bush this probably would've never happened. He dropped us through the worst eight political years of my lifetime, and we needed a pick me up. And we got it. After the Florida fiasco we needed to feel like our voices matter, so YES WE CAN! After years of an un-cultured, arrogant,un-educated, rich kid, cowboy(who never actually faught in war). We saw the worst things about our country glorified. 2001 to 2009 will always be the years where America showed itself to be a collective of self-righteous, spoiled, self centered, unsophisticated brutes who evoke the name of Jesus and God to fit our own selfish needs.
All this time we've been living in unregulated excess and meeting every problem with a closed mind and a fully loaded assault rifle. We have been doing nothing but spending money, shooting people, getting "c" on our report card, and bragging about it. No wonder 50 cent has been so popular. And we've been paying for it. So many people have lost their lives, homes,jobs, dreams, and faith these past years. From September 11th to Katrina, from Iraq to the Gena Six, but until it hit all of us in the pocket this past year( $700 Billion Bailout) we still all tried to front like it didn't matter. People, we have had an attitude that doesn't only say "if you're not American than fuck you" we've had the attitude of "If you can't further my pocket or my politics, fuck you". I mean we have two Patriot Acts to prove it. This will for every be the America of "If you're not with us, you're against us" and it sucks the most because by now we should know better, and we do know better.
So Barack came and said we can disagree respectfully, Barack came along and promote unity and diversity all in one man. I'm in Canada right now and they are all celebrating as if it happened to them. They party from England to Kenya to Mississippi to Hawaii this week, instead of fear we have respect, instead of envy we have admiration.
Before it all comes together, things fall apart.
So thanks for showing us how low we had gotten Bush Administration, now WE need to take responsiblity for our part in that and take our repsonsibility in going forward. I don't want the good old days of America, I want the Best of America, and that we have yet to see. We surprised eachother this week, let's keep it up.
Now's the time.
WE STILL CAN!don't forget.
I am sorry Bernie Mac was not here to see this.
Mjh
interesting take. i definitely think that America as a whole wouldnt have been so anti mccain, (actually they were anti republicans i think) if W hadnt been such a disappointment, he was looking out for himself not the country or even his party
MJH, I would have give the United States a little more credit for electing the first African-American President. This country has made great strides to overcome its racial segregation past. It was I think more in part on the youth and post segregation era that elected Mr. Obama. Though some may argue that it was solely Mr Bush who cost MaCain the election. Our nation had a young president before who reached out and broke the belief that a Catholic could not be elected. As a US citizen who has lived abroad, I know first hand that most of the world hate US citizens, not Americans. Sometimes we get a little carried away when we refer to ourselves as Americans, because there are Canadans and Mexicans as well. The view I saw in Europe was if your from Canada or Mexico you were ok but god you tell them your from the US and quick to think we are all from Texas. I still remember sitting in a London Pub having a nice Pint, and a bl.oke comes up and starts making conversation. Along the converstaion he says "you don't sound American" I said well what do I sound like "you sound Canadian" I laughed well I am from Montana close enough to the border I suppose. He thought I should have sounded like W.
Do you feel that these bailouts will help? My view is they as they have shown only really benfit the banks thus far. I was upset when AIG took my tax paying dollars for a Mega retreat. While the CEOs are keeping their million dollar homes, the working man is loosing his. My view is give the working man the money so he can pay his home off the banks get the money back in the form of paid off loans solution fixed. I may only have an Associates Degree and not a PHD but heck it isn't rocket science is it? Would you agree.
Don't sleep on Texas. They got some revolutionary minds there too, but I hear you about our rep overseas. It's funny that of friend of mine is in the Czech Republic and he had people congratulating him on Obama's Presidency even though they didn't know if he even voted. The same thing happened to my wife and I while in Toronto, people would say "oh you're from the states, congratulations".
Love-Health-Awareness-Wealth
Mjh
I have to agree with a couple other people.
1st: bush didn't loose the election for McCain-- his campaign was poorly run and Palin didn't help either.
2nd: Barack was able to tap in to what the American people really want and need right now.
The post is really more in jest, it's not about W, as much as it is about the state of affairs in the country. As the Black Thought once said "Before it all comes together, things fall apart". I fee like Barack won for all the reasons that you intelligent people have mentioned, but I think that we as United States citizens have to acknowledge the mess we are in and how we got there. The post was to just illustrate how low we had allowed ourselves and how much work we had to do to clean it all up. It was originally written in the wake of Barack's Grant Park celebration, after calling everyone I knew, I sat down and wrote this blog with the idea being "after we celebrate stay awake".
It's like you said akes88, 2nd: Barack was able to tap in to what the American people really want and need right now.
We needed a pick me up, someone we could trust, someone we could relate to, someone new.
How Barack really won the election (aside from the fact that I believe he was the best person between the two) was the very thing that Palin ridiculed him for. Barack is a community organizer, his fundamental understanding of the power of the people helped him to revolutionize the way people run for political office. He improved on the system of campaigns and raised the bar for everyone.
As far as the bailouts, I think it's a flawed concept from the start. The CEO's have everything to gain, it's like we are rewarding them for bad business. I myself don't have a plan for how the money can go directly to those in need and bypass these white collar criminals, but I mean cheating people out of their money is what white collar criminals do. We think we can trust them because they have suits and degrees but that's nothing to them but a ski mask and a gun. These are the tools that these people have been using to rob us for decades. Keeping the money on the right path is going to be a job all by itself. I can't imagine that any President will be able to get anything done, while trying to make sure that the tax payers' money is safe around these crooks.
Love-Health-Awareness-Wealth
Mjh
How Barack really won the election (aside from the fact that I believe he was the best person between the two) was the very thing that Palin ridiculed him for. Barack is a community organizer, his fundamental understanding of the power of the people helped him to revolutionize the way people run for political office. He improved on the system of campaigns and raised the bar for everyone.
well put, and it totally boggles me when people act like they cant grasp the concept of a community organizer or the importance of motivating a community around an idea to get things accomplished.
i wonder if mccains campaign was run really badly, or if obamas was just sooo excellent, i mean if mccains same campaign was waged against kerry in 04 or gore in 00 i dont think there would be such a disparity in the two campaigns, obama changed the game, with technology as an aid, campaigning will never be the same
H
I would agree with you that Barack Obama certainly used the fact that he was a community organizer to his advantage because he was able to understand the people and know what they thought. Unfortunately, those same people he was "organizing" infected him with the ignorance, greed, and selfishness of people. These people he was working with wanted money from the government without paying taxes; they wanted aid programs from the government without paying taxes; they wanted the money of the wealthy and successful without earning it; they wanted jobs when they weren't skilled enough or not hardworking enough; they wanted the money that drove the big businesses, the same ones that the economy relies on without having the same business success; they wanted loans and mortgages without having to pay for them. And unfortunately, Barack Obama is going to further plague the entire nation with these same ridiculous desires.
Although John McCain was just as terrible on the economy and government intervention, he at least understood that the government can't do anything and that fairness was not taking money from those who had earned to give it to those that did not. But Barack's ideas promised what the people wanted because he had got it from them. Unfortunately for the people that thought Obama was going to bring change, we are only going to fall deeper into a depression and continue the American walk on the road to serfdom.
Government has no other end, but the preservation of property. - John Locke
those same people he was "organizing" infected him with the ignorance, greed, and selfishness of people. These people he was working with wanted money from the government without paying taxes; they wanted aid programs from the government without paying taxes; they wanted the money of the wealthy and successful without earning it; they wanted jobs when they weren't skilled enough or not hardworking enough; they wanted the money that drove the big businesses, the same ones that the economy relies on without having the same business success; they wanted loans and mortgages without having to pay for them. And unfortunately, Barack Obama is going to further plague the entire nation with these same ridiculous desires.
I dont believe any of that is true. Why should I?
Mjh7, I think if we want to change our state or status is to pull the country out of these free trade deals. With our new new min wage climbing to $7.75 (higher in other states) we can not compete against the way lower wages in China and other countries. I like to call it the Walmart Paradox " We shop to save on low costs, products are imported because they are cheap. Jobs in the States are cut forcing wages down and forcing families to shop for cheaper prices." Its A leads to B to C and back to A again.
I don't see why big business doesn't support the Trickle up motion. If the lower classes have more to spend, most generally do. The sales go up ie profits also rise. The more profits the more they earn. I think that if the governement gave the people the money with the stipulation that it was house and house only. The loans get repaid the banks take that the income recycle it back to the people in the form of new loans. But sadly we are a society of greed, bent on doing what I can to get your money. I voted for Barack because I saw the change he wants. I credit him by announcing no Ear-marks or pork. I fear because the track record on democrats isn't good for Pork and ear-marks.
With our new new min wage climbing to $7.75 (higher in other states)
in Indiana its as low as $6.45 and in Cali its $8.50 im wowed by the disparity in cost of living across the US
the Walmart Paradox " We shop to save on low costs, products are imported because they are cheap. Jobs in the States are cut forcing wages down and forcing families to shop for cheaper prices." Its A leads to B to C and back to A again.
I don't see why big business doesn't support the Trickle up motion. If the lower classes have more to spend, most generally do. The sales go up ie profits also rise. The more profits the more they earn. ... But sadly we are a society of greed, bent on doing what I can to get your money.
yeah i feel im one of those people who favor small business over monopolies like Wally World (colloquialism for wal mart) however, wally world is like a drug, when we are all scared about job security and saving in this economy I know i opt for the cheapest of the cheap... this is another example of how capitalism is pollution for economy and morale.
H
This is absurd. How can you criticize Walmart for supplying low prices to millions of those with smaller wallets? How can you criticize Walmart for employing over 2 million people?
Don't you realize that the minimum wage is one the reasons there are so many unemployed and why there is outsourcing in the first place. If businesses have to pay more for a person's services than they are worth, then they must cut back by laying off some employees. Every time the minimum wage goes up, businesses have to lay off more employees to stay afloat. If the minimum wage was abolished, there could be healthy market competition where businesses could hire more people. Even if these people wouldn't be payed as much they would still receive pay for employment, rather than having milions without work because they are too expensive. then, without the minimum wage and more people employed, businesses could perform better, make larger profits, and eventually compensate their workers. Simple economics that misinformed people are ignorant towards. Unions further aggravate the situation.
Viva la capitalismo
Government has no other end, but the preservation of property. - John Locke
If businesses have to pay more for a person's services than they are worth, then they must cut back by laying off some employees.
The United States wealth building strategy is so dependent on plantation structure.Meaning less worker rights, hundreds to thousands of people who's life revolve around work. This is why they just ship slavery overseas as it becomes illegal in the U.S.
In other countries, Walmart has housing projects with sub standard living conditions for their employees who work around the clock with no rights and no protection for your health or families.
Meanwhile, you ski down hill in website pictures and live off the convenience of minim wage labor and truly believe that the people who supply your lifestyle earn more than their worth.
This bailout teaches us that the people making more money than their worth are the owners of the banks and the owners of the fortune 500 auto companies. They run their companies into the ground and get a bail out. If the waitresses at my job ran their business like GM has, it would hurt their pockets, if you go to Walmart and have a complaint about those people cleaning up after you and supplying your lifestyle you can complain to a supervisor, when white collar criminal ceos fuck up we give them 700 billion bucks that does nothing. And who do they answer to.
Are you trying to tell me that the Waltons are going broke because of the rise in minim wage? Tell me about the mom and pop business that can't keep up with rising minim wage, so they outsource jobs. If people didn't have to pay minim wage, some companies wouldn't pay people money at all. I think it's ridiculous that we act like heirs to fortune 500 companies have to turn a profit of Billions a year, but it's crazy for people who work a 40 hour week to be able to earn $1600 a month.
It's no secret what would happen without minim wage and without labor unions, just look at the unregulated tobacco, sugar cane, rice, and cotton industry . It makes no sense to praise those who start businesses and piss on those who keep businesses afloat.
Irish, homey you hit the nail on the head. I like your thinking in terms of these bailouts.
Love-Health-Awareness-Wealth
Mjh
"The belly full, but we hungry. A hungry mob is an angry mob" - Bob Marley
H
most people who make minimum rt now, have a 2nd job, or find it hard to make ends meet, taking the joy out of life, so making even less is out of the question, and great point that some prolly wouldn't even pay people money!!! for a while didnt the porters get "porter bucks" certificates the owners gave them that they couldnt spend anywhere but in the owners shops... u r excellent, and put it better than i ever could have, keep schoolin' 'em!!!
It is true that it is difficult for these families to make a living but they are doing far better than the thousands of unemployed. I would value more people having employment and an opportunity to work for a living rather than having the unemployed mooch off of the government (aka taxpayers).
Government has no other end, but the preservation of property. - John Locke
I know people who have and are using government aid. Non of them mooch. I suspect there are some that do, but I choose to think the best of people, and in less i know personally that they are abusing the help, then I think they actually need it. (I also assume the screening process does its job because often times its quite a rigorous run around) Of course we wish everybody could do better. Funny how many people think its a horrible idea for the most wealthy to be a little bit less wealthy so that everyone can be a bit wealthier, but then they may suggest that we make the middle class even less wealthy to make everyone more wealthy. Just like that PSA back in the day with the hungry fish swimming in the empty fishbowl, then right next to it there's a fishbowl with no fish but food being poured/wasted into it... that's how the earth is with people and money. there is plenty of money to go around but because of greed and capitalism, there are vast abundance of it in some areas and vasts shortages in others... but people dont want to share that paper. screw it, i say lets go back to the barter system :)