Now that the dust has settled from the inauguration the challenges of governing the country have begun. We have seen many things over the past 30 days: we have seen the Ledbetter bill for women, we have seen SCHIP's for children, and we have even seen the largest spending bill in the county's history for men women and children. But is it all for not?
The Democratic Party won a convincing election last November. In doing so they increased their majorities in both the House and the Senate, along with recapturing the White House. These victories answered the question of whether the people were pleased with the current direction of the country; obviously they were not. But the question remains, is this direction any better than the last? Only time will tell if the Democrats have the vision to lead this country out of these dark times.
This reminds me of a story based in a galaxy far far away.....
In Star Wars, the Republic thrived and they lived in their Golden Era of prosperity (see the 1990's). In this era businesses grew, welfare was reformed, housing regulations were relaxed, the country had a surplus, and partisanship grew; and there was peace. Some would say this era lasted for eight years, but as this era came to an end the country decided to move in a different direction. A direction of compassion and conservatism now reigned; during this new era deregulation continued, excessive tax cuts were handed out, citizens became irresponsible, and the partisanship grew. During these so called "good times" there was an evil lurking in the midst of us all. That evil had two heads and it attacked us in two ways. The first attack was in the form of a terrorist attack on 9/11 and the second was our economy. Unfortunately these attacks were almost eight years apart and neither political party was able to protect the citizens from the pending destruction.
The era's leaders had an opportunity to be flexible in their philosophy, be sensitive to America's needs, and create a broad vision for America's long term prosperity. They failed. They pushed uncontrolled tax cuts and a stringent conservative philosophy that only displayed signs of flexibility in areas that directly benefited their initiatives. While these leaders prevented any more terrorist attacks during their reign of power they were unable to prevent the dark times from spreading throughout the galaxy that is America.
So America responded by demanding new leadership and a new direction of Hope and Change.
Our new leaders have an opportunity to be flexible in their philosophy, be sensitive to America's needs, and create a broad vision for America's long term prosperity. Will they succeed? Or will this era be filled with short-sighted vision, old partisan tactics, and a check list of old scores to settle (see Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Frank)? Remember the power is in the Force. Now our story doesn't have any Jedi Knights, light sabers, or evil empires to concur (see North Korea, Iran, or Russia), but we do have "The Force". This country has the force and it lives and breathes in all its citizens; it shapes us, molds us, and binds us together as the most powerful force in this world. That is something that we cannot forget. We have to think it, believe it, and pass it on to our children. Because if we don't, the dark days of greed, selfishness, partisanship and despair will replace hope and optimism.
Let the force that lives in all Americans guide us to challenge our political parties and force them to think of what is best for this country and not what's best for their political allies as they seek to bring prosperity to all American. For if they don't........we will use that Force to force their asses right out of power. May the Force be with you.
Save your pennies.......
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