1 Boring Old Man

As the economic indicators begin to improve, and the Stimulus package begins to be actually felt in our communities, we’ll be entering a new phase in our political and economic life. What we’ve seen in the aftermath of the Bush Administration is the emergence of a new kind of leadership for the large segment of our populace that self identifies as "the Right" or "Conservatives." I would call it the Irresponsible Right, though the term is filled with my own bias. It seems as if the Mantra of the group has made a substantial shift in the few months since Obama’s Inauguration.

Previously, it seemed like the battle cry had to do with Abortion, Stem Cell Research, and anything that had to do with Homosexuality. But I don’t hear much about that any more. Now it’s about Socialism, Communism, Fascism – things about Big Government taking over people’s lives, raising taxes, etc. I can’t help but wonder where all this is headed. I used to look at Rush Limbaugh’s website once a week, but I can even stand to look at it any more, it’s so ludicrous. I used to stop for a few minutes of Fox News if a public television was nearby, but now I just keep walking. There was a time when I enjoyed reading the blogs debunking the most recent outrageous Palinism or John Boehnerism, but it’s not funny to me now – it’s frightening.

The graphs on the right are the early signs of a major accomplishment – one to be proud of. By any measure, it’s getting close to a time when we should be giving a standing ovation to the people who have turned this thing around in six months [or at least stopped the major bleeding]. And what we read about in the news is "teabaggers" and not so vaguely disguised racist comments.

Somehow, I’ve lost the thread of what we’re even arguing about. It feels more like fighting for the sake of fighting, a power struggle for the sake of power. And I’m not even able to articulate what the Republican Party is fighting for. What is their idea about the health care crisis? What do they think about the "derivative" markets? What would they do about our crumbling infrastructure, or the War in Iraq, or the problems in the Middle East? How about Unemployment, the National Debt? I hear them screaming at the top of their lungs about everything that the Administration or the Congress tries to do, but I don’t hear the alternatives.