We're what, 3 days into the Obama administration, and already it's begun. The bitching, the fearmongering, the blanket statements born of ignorance and failed ideology. I'm detecting a new tone, one that strikes a chord of utter revulsion: the drawing of "sides", the blunt statements of hope that this president and his policies fail.
I've tipped a cap to friends who I believe represent one of, perhaps THE, crucial element of a democracy: the Loyal Opposition. To make this thing we have work, there must be dissenting views, views that have the ability to impact the decision-making process in a lawful manner. Without it, we fall into the bottomless pit of intellectual dishonesty, of groupthink. This is basic civics, y'all, the shit that I fell asleep to during my PoliSci 101 class. The key word here is "loyal". One makes their opinion known, casts their vote, and (here's the important part) hopes for the best regardless of the decision.
Look, if you've read any of my rants here you know that I'm not a fan of the recently deceased administration. Most of what they did over the past 8 years...well. But here's the thing: even though I disagreed with 90% of Team Bush's decisions, I hoped that those decisions panned out. Because to hope for failure is to hope for what one should despise: loss of jobs, loss of homes, loss of limbs, loss of life. The savage in us hopes for ruin to come to one's enemy regardless of the cost to others; the true citizen may disagree with the means, but surely we all want the same outcomes. I'm sure that there were folks who wanted FDR to botch World War II, who wanted Lincoln to lose the Civil War, who wanted the Continental Congress to fuck up the Revolution. I'd lump 'em all in the same category.
It's been noted that a lot of Obama's inaugural speech mirrored sentiments echoed by past presidents, many of them Republicans. And of course there's been the snickering from those who voted against him, even from some of those who voted for him. It might be good to remind those folks who are so intent on perpetuating dischord, the Limbaughs, Coulters, Ralls, and other fringe nutcases who seem to not get the whole "e pluribus unum" thing, that there's a deeper reason why Obama's words echoed Bush's, Bush's words echoed Reagan's, Reagan's echoed Kennedy's. One can say that not everyone wins when a President succeeds, but when one fails, surely we all lose.
