On November 5, 2008, The Onion, a journal of satire, ran this quirky but all too-poignant headline: Black Man Given Nation’s Worst Job.
The story went on to note this newly elected unfortunate (Barack Obama) inherited a broken economy, crumbling infrastructure, and horrible messes requiring a clean up, especially messes of the international variety. All were left behind by a predecessor who was quick to drop out of sight. A quote in this piece ran: “It just goes to show you that, in this country, a black man still can’t catch a break.”
If Mitt Romney wins on November 6, 2012, which now seems vey possible, might The Onion run a story on November 7 headed: Mormon Given Nation’s Worst Job?
If it did, such a headline would be even more accurate and poignant than the headline noted above.
Time to be honest, folks. The American economy is barely slouching back from its 2008 plunge. Its fat is gone and we are close to the bone at a time when a fiscal cliff makes it absolutely certain that most, and maybe all of us, are soon going to take very nasty hits. Europe is falling apart economically and increasingly politically as well. The tigers of Asia are losing their purrs. And the Middle East, in case you haven’t noticed, is exhibiting terrifying similarities in 2012 to the Balkans in 1913.
Alas, there are no easy fixes here. Maybe no fixes at all in the near- and mid-terms. No matter who wins the next election.
That’s the truth of it. We must simply learn to love one another more, and work together better, in order to shorten the duration of what is certain to come. Or else…