Monday, January 18, 2010

Anniversary Blues

Frustrated, exhausted, overwhelmed?

Want to withdraw from American political life? Give your emotions a rest? Let whatever happens, happen without you? Read a novel? Watch the NLF playoffs? Take a walk?

For many moderate, liberal and progressive Democrats, the past year has been draining, troubling and not a whole lot of fun.

Not as outright scary as the Bush years, but not what we had hoped for. Relief yes.  Exaltation no.

We’ll know soon if the Obama agenda will suffer its biggest hit yet with the loss of the U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts. If we squeak out a victory there, we’ll take a breath. Then hope for an uptick in the economy and maybe some good news in Afghanistan.

Politics is like this for us in America. Sometimes it wears us out. But we hang in. What choice do we have?

1 comment:

  1. Once again - The death of a Kennedy affects us all!
    I wonder if Joseph Kennedy Sr - with all of his hubris could ever have imagined the impact that the lives of his sons would have on this country.
    But - it's not the lives of his sons that made the ultimate impact - but thier deaths.
    In 1963 an assasin's bullet - ripped the innocence of our naive lives. The death of President Kennedy - brought Lyndon Johnson into power and the escalation of the Vietnam war.
    That war - which brought divisions to the democratic party - brought Robert Kennedy to the doorstep of the presidential nomination. The unthinkable situation of a sitting president foced to retire over those divisions actually occured.
    When Robert Kennedy was killed - the resulting election brought Richard Nixon into power - and the Watergate saga.The divisions of party as a result of that fight are still being felt to this day.
    And once again - after the death of Senator Edward Kennedy - the "Lion of the Senate" brings on an event that once again stuns the nation.
    The irony of it all.Teddy worked for universal healthcare for his whole senatorial life - and that a republican would replace his seat. That seat was owned by hmself and John Kennedy all the way back to 1952.

    Ask Not . . .

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