How Bad Could It Get? Who Knew?

This afternoon I looked through some of my old blogs relating to the Bush administration. I knew as soon as I did it that it was a big, fat, depressing mistake. Below is my blog from Nov. 8, 2006, the day after the midterm elections. What it foresaw was rosy, compared to where the nation stands on Oct. 5, 2008. We’re not behind 150-14. We’re behind a trillion to nothing. Here’s the blog. 

“The Tuesday elections have proven to be a repudiation of George W. Bush and his administration. Democratic and independent candidates carried the day, and Republicans no longer possess a conservative majority in Congress.

“Either way, the nation was going to lose. We’ve lost already, and it’s only the first days after Election Day. Bush has a team that knows how to get around Congress, if it has to. If the Bush team doesn’t have a Republican Congress to “work with,” then the team will work without Congress. Loss of a Republican congressional majority has been a repudiation, but only a vocal one. Bush, Cheney, Rove and Gonzales will continue on their same path, maybe with more machete work to do on balances of power put in place in 1789, but continuing all the same.

“It is this inevitability that is so depressing. It’s like the nation is behind, 100-0, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, there’s no mercy rule, and nobody can leave until the fat lady sings. If the Congress had remained Republican-controlled after the elections, who knows what the final score might have been? Now that Republicans have lost control – I don’t say, “Democrats have gained control,” because it’s not that black-and-white (or red-and-blue) – but now that Republicans have lost control, the final score, when Bush is finally carried off the field in 2008, may be 150-14.

“Surely a non-Republican Congress can scratch out a couple of scores in two years, but most of the drives won’t get inside the 40-yard line, against an opponent that knows how to use the rules so well.

“But who cares? What good are 14 points in the last quarter of a game that was over at the half? In the Congressional locker room, what will the coach say? ‘Folks, you did your best.’ Well, rah rah rah. The stories in the morning papers, when the gun finally sounds in 2008, will be about which nation is bloodied the worst, Iraq or America.

“And all we can do is sit in the stands and watch. Can’t leave, can’t get away, can’t go home and fix a martini and turn on the TV and try to forget. Wait til next year? Sheesh. Who wants to watch 2007 in America?

“I have nothing against Republicans, or Republican or conservative philosophy and ideology, or honest Republican elected representatives, or evangelical Christians gay or straight, and I am not energized by the prospects of a party that counts John Kerry among its leaders. I am just an American, sitting in the stands, rooting for a country that is behind 100-0 with a full quarter left to go. Remember Andy Griffith’s funny monologue, ‘What it was, was football’? A well-oiled fellow next to Andy in the stands slaps him on the shoulder and says, ‘Buddy, have a drink,’ only Andy says, ‘drank.’ To you, my seatmates in this stadium from hell, I slap you on the shoulder and say, ‘Buddy, have a drank. Have several.’ “ 

One thing has changed, this afternoon, from that November day two years ago. I am energized by the prospects of a party that has made Barack Obama its candidate for president. I think he has the makings of a patient leader and, equally important, a coach who knows the value of values, and who teaches that principles are principal. God knows we face a rebuilding program.

8 Responses to “How Bad Could It Get? Who Knew?”

1. Silhouette says:

   October 5, 2008 at 7:28 pm

   Let's also hope that Obama has the promise of a good student and takes on two very good teachers to assist him in the next four years: The Clintons.

   With our ship the USS US sinking as fast as it is, it will not be saved by one helmsman. We need all hands on deck.

   Electing McCain/Palin would be like taking on two pirates who will light the thing on fire and laugh as its mast sinks below the surface. Their only allegiance is to the GOP rogue ship “Moneymaker”.
2. JSpencer says:

   October 5, 2008 at 8:12 pm

   “How Bad Could It Get? Who Knew?”

   Well, quite a few of us actually. So many of us were horrified when GWB won… not once, but twice, because we KNEW he and his handlers were going to make a terrible mess of things, and guess what? They did. I mean, just how gullible and blind could people be? I guess the answer to that lies in the willingness of so many to once again reward the GOP for the utterly miserable legacy they've created. Silhouette says it as well as anyone.
3. superdestroyer says:

   October 5, 2008 at 8:17 pm

   Of course, this is probably the first time that anyone on the left has had the sense to criticize Pelosi and Reid. When Speaker Pelosi decided to push everything into 2009 because she assumed (correctly) that she would have a Democratic President, she pushed off everything for two years. Even in September 2008, Speaker Pelosi could not complete the budget work of the House and pushed it off for six months. In the most important vote of her term, she failed to whip the Democratic vote and sent the bailout bill to the floor not knowing if it would pass.

   Maybe all the people who are singing the praises of Senator Obama will learn the lesson of being realistic when it comes to politicians and the ability of the government to solve problems.
4. JSpencer says:

   October 5, 2008 at 8:35 pm

   SD, most democrats know Pelosi isn't the messiah either.
5. superdestroyer says:

   October 6, 2008 at 5:23 am

   Jspencer,
   Maybe you should remind all of the progressive pundits who wrote about how Congress will work harder and longer and that there will be lots of hearings asking hard questions. How does the promise hold up to talking two days off in the middle of the debates about the Wall Street Bailout and having a grand total of two days of hearings. How did the promise of hard work match with the Democrats inability to pass a budget?
6. Don Quijote says:

   October 6, 2008 at 8:58 am

   “How Bad Could It Get? Who Knew?”

   The Onion did!

   WASHINGTON, DC–Mere days from assuming the presidency and closing the door on eight years of Bill Clinton, president-elect George W. Bush assured the nation in a televised address Tuesday that “our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over.”

   “My fellow Americans,” Bush said, “at long last, we have reached the end of the dark period in American history that will come to be known as the Clinton Era, eight long years characterized by unprecedented economic expansion, a sharp decrease in crime, and sustained peace overseas. The time has come to put all of that behind us.”

   Bush swore to do “everything in [his] power” to undo the damage wrought by Clinton's two terms in office, including selling off the national parks to developers, going into massive debt to develop expensive and impractical weapons technologies, and passing sweeping budget cuts that drive the mentally ill out of hospitals and onto the street.

   During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.

   “You better believe we're going to mix it up with somebody at some point during my administration,” said Bush, who plans a 250 percent boost in military spending. “Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having a military?”

   On the economic side, Bush vowed to bring back economic stagnation by implementing substantial tax cuts, which would lead to a recession, which would necessitate a tax hike, which would lead to a drop in consumer spending, which would lead to layoffs, which would deepen the recession even further.

   Wall Street responded strongly to the Bush speech, with the Dow Jones industrial fluctuating wildly before closing at an 18-month low. The NASDAQ composite index, rattled by a gloomy outlook for tech stocks in 2001, also fell sharply, losing 4.4 percent of its total value between 3 p.m. and the closing bell.

   Asked for comment about the cooling technology sector, Bush said: “That's hardly my area of expertise.”

   Turning to the subject of the environment, Bush said he will do whatever it takes to undo the tremendous damage not done by the Clinton Administration to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He assured citizens that he will follow through on his campaign promise to open the 1.5 million acre refuge's coastal plain to oil drilling. As a sign of his commitment to bringing about a change in the environment, he pointed to his choice of Gale Norton for Secretary of the Interior. Norton, Bush noted, has “extensive experience” fighting environmental causes, working as a lobbyist for lead-paint manufacturers and as an attorney for loggers and miners, in addition to suing the EPA to overturn clean-air standards.

   Bush had equally high praise for Attorney General nominee John Ashcroft, whom he praised as “a tireless champion in the battle to protect a woman's right to give birth.”

   “Soon, with John Ashcroft's help, we will move out of the Dark Ages and into a more enlightened time when a woman will be free to think long and hard before trying to fight her way past throngs of protesters blocking her entrance to an abortion clinic,” Bush said. “We as a nation can look forward to lots and lots of babies.”

   Continued Bush: “John Ashcroft will be invaluable in healing the terrible wedge President Clinton drove between church and state.”

   The speech was met with overwhelming approval from Republican leaders.

   “Finally, the horrific misrule of the Democrats has been brought to a close,” House Majority Leader Dennis Hastert (R-IL) told reporters. “Under Bush, we can all look forward to military aggression, deregulation of dangerous, greedy industries, and the defunding of vital domestic social-service programs upon which millions depend. Mercifully, we can now say goodbye to the awful nightmare that was Clinton's America.”

   “For years, I tirelessly preached the message that Clinton must be stopped,” conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh said. “And yet, in 1996, the American public failed to heed my urgent warnings, re-electing Clinton despite the fact that the nation was prosperous and at peace under his regime. But now, thank God, that's all done with. Once again, we will enjoy mounting debt, jingoism, nuclear paranoia, mass deficit, and a massive military build-up.”

   An overwhelming 49.9 percent of Americans responded enthusiastically to the Bush speech.

   “After eight years of relatively sane fiscal policy under the Democrats, we have reached a point where, just a few weeks ago, President Clinton said that the national debt could be paid off by as early as 2012,” Rahway, NJ, machinist and father of three Bud Crandall said. “That's not the kind of world I want my children to grow up in.”

   “You have no idea what it's like to be black and enfranchised,” said Marlon Hastings, one of thousands of Miami-Dade County residents whose votes were not counted in the 2000 presidential election. “George W. Bush understands the pain of enfranchisement, and ever since Election Day, he has fought tirelessly to make sure it never happens to my people again.”

   Bush concluded his speech on a note of healing and redemption.

   “We as a people must stand united, banding together to tear this nation in two,” Bush said. “Much work lies ahead of us: The gap between the rich and the poor may be wide, be there's much more widening left to do. We must squander our nation's hard-won budget surplus on tax breaks for the wealthiest 15 percent. And, on the foreign front, we must find an enemy and defeat it.”

   “The insanity is over,” Bush said. “After a long, dark night of peace and stability, the sun is finally rising again over America. We look forward to a bright new dawn not seen since the glory days of my dad.”
7. DLS says:

   October 6, 2008 at 5:01 pm

   None of you knew anything. Resentment back in 2000 was just pathology (disease).

   What could not be predicted has since happened, of course, and it's worse than anything reasonable people ever expected. The Economist not only addresses the two Presidential candidates this year in this week's edition, but also discusses the Bush legacy as well as the state of the Republican Party. It's certainly bad enough to merit the term “bad” in anybody's lexicon (not dyslexicon) or nomenclature. Read it for yourselves here:

   http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/dis…
8. DLS says:

   October 6, 2008 at 5:05 pm

   P.S. McCain v. Obama

   http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.c…

   and [economists favor Obama over McCain -- whom they favor over Bush],

   http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/dis…

   which leads to… [scroll to bottom for more]

   http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/dis…