You're The Problem, America ...

You're The Problem, America ...


A few weeks back, when Secretary of State Kerry was defending the administration’s impenetrably “nuanced” position on the Israel/Hamas unpleasantness, he, in a fit of pique, asked rhetorically if the US wanted to go back to the Bush years. I must confess a twinge of sympathy for the man. We voted for this nonsense. Twice.

This is not directed to anyone who voted for McCain in 2008 or Romney in 2012. This is for all “undecideds,” independents, purist holier-than-thou conservatives and delusional Ronulan libertarians who think perfect Randian objectivism and our current society with its attendant welfare state can co-exist. What, exactly, did you think was going to happen with this President leading this incarnation of the Democratic party which essentially tore this country in two over the Iraq War? Your support of the Dems and belief in the erstwhile “missteps” of the Bush administration or your abstention at the voting booth caused this mess.

Do not blame the media. Do not blame the “hype” which oversold this man to you. One word: “Google.” That’s it. Even a cursory look at President Obama’s background would disqualify him from a lowly “secret” security clearance - never mind the rarefied air of an SCI clearance.  It’s the subtext of virtually every press conference or interview with an admin official. You can read it in their faces when asked about ISIS or Afghanistan or Hamas: “What exactly did you think I was going to do?”

Iraq. The accepted wisdom on the subject, accepted even by some conservatives who were upset over the lack of WMD stockpiles and that fostering a consensual society in the Middle East wasn’t over in two weeks at the cost of $3 million and no casualties, was that it was THE. WORST. THING. to happen. Ever. Was there any doubt he’d declare victory and just leave the field? Vietnam and now Iraq - two wars won on the battlefield which were then lost due to a certain party’s predilection toward defeat as the only form of martial virtue. We can only thank God that the America of the 1950s was the society that it was - otherwise we’d see a “united” [read: totalitarian slave state] Korea.

Afghanistan. When listening to Obama rail about Afghanistan as the “real” war - what amount of credulity would be needed to take the man at his word? To say the man is deeply skeptical about America’s role in the world is to understate the facts. We can expect dyed-in-the-wool Dems-wealthy champagne socialists and the intergenerational poor to pull the lever for the guy with a “D” next to his name; but all others on the fence that voted for this nullity cannot be let off the hook so easily. Democracy only works if voters inform themselves, not rail about how no member of the media came to your house in October 2008 or October 2012 and gave you a PowerPoint presentation on the man’s ideological background.

The “recovery.” Never has a man done so little with so much and claimed more undeserved credit. Here’s the thing:  If President Obama, the Congress and most of the government simply went home in January 2009 there was going to be a recovery. And the recovery would’ve been much stronger than the meager one we experienced.  It’s a dirty little secret that the government doesn’t want you to know about- the free [ish] market economy is pretty much on autopilot. The government’s main role is to cut taxes, lessen regulation and watch prosperity follow. However, the President knows he can borrow a trillion dollars, impair the sinews of capitalism, pay back his union and public sector constituencies and still call it an “investment” [remember , the government doesn’t spend, it “invests”] or a “stimulus” package.

Healthcare? Where to begin? There are no perfect options. The pre-ACA system had flaws. Most of these flaws were due to government and insurance company interference in the market- hence you don’t know what anything really costs.  However, paying completely out of pocket or a barter system [per Sharron Angle] are not going to work for most of us with 21st Century medicine. I understand that malpractice liability, government regulations and mandates and insurance company overhead may inflate the price of surgery- but I can’t see retaining a world class surgeon for an operation on a payment installment plan or having providers market themselves like car dealers in order to win your healthcare dollar. So the status quo was as good as could be hoped for.

But President Obama and Hillary Clinton ran on the premise that most Americans, specifically all the ones with the with good sense to vote for them, could pay less in taxes, create no more doctors, not ration care and cover EVERYBODY! Voters - electioneering perfidy and mainstream media obsequiousness aside - does this sound even remotely credible to you? Be adults. Engage your critical faculties and vote accordingly.

Michael Dansen is the nom de plume for a political media professional based in Washington, DC.