Waiting for January 2009

Why do I feel as though I have fallen through the looking glass? So many things seem so distorted. We have a POTUS who'd be quite comfortable considering me a traitor, because I absolutely disagree with his handling of the Iraq War. I was against going into Iraq, particularly because we had not finished the work we'd started in Afghanistan. And I do not support a precipitous exit.

I am far from a foreign policy expert, but I could tell that we were making a mistake by focusing our attention unnecessarily on Iraq. I also thought that the mutterings for democratizing Iraq were silly, especially since we had more than ample opportunity to continue supporting the fledgling Afghan democracy. I am still bothered by the fact that we appeared to stop searching for Osama bin Laden. Frankly, I am offended that the man is still alive. I am offended that the POTUS and members of his team managed to convince people that Iraq and 9.11.01 were directly related (people still believe this drivel, and it was downright disturbing to hear the POTUS allude to that bogus link again just last week).

I long concluded that the VPOTUS was simply out of his mind. I am still stuck on the fact that the man the VPOTUS shot apologized for the pain and stress suffered by the Cheney family. I don't want to know what that type of power is like. However, it provides me with nothing that exudes comfort or security. For the VPOTUS, it seems to be about unilateral power and complete secrecy. Need I mention the whole Valerie Plame Wilson imbroglio? Simply put, I feel like the VPOTUS and his closest cronies are looting our nation in ways that would make the looting that took place in the 'hoods of the 1960s seem tame. And I will add that the Constitution is getting beat like it stole something.

Never in my adult life have I felt so sad for my country. We have put in power people who seem only to feign care about the interests of the nation, foreign or domestic. We have put in power people who have die-hard supporters who look like marionettes (remember the scene in the movie "Chicago"?) dancing about and blathering the accepted talking points ("we're fighting them over there, so that we don't have to fight them over here"). We have put in power people who demonize dissent. I would say that I cannot understand how the American populace could put the present POTUS back in office for another four years of madness back in 2004, but then I have to remind myself that the POTUS' opponent was far from appealing, nor did he seem fearless enough to do what he needed to do to make the truth plain.

Therefore, I am really looking forward to that cold (I assume) day in January 2009, as the new POTUS walks down Pennsylvania Avenue. I am almost to the point where I don't care who that person is, as long as I know the current POTUS will never be at the helm again. I can't help but think of the old line "I can do bad by myself." The POTUS has fleshed out the meaning of that colloquialism in spades.