The Loud Talker

You’ve done it. Your lifelong mission to attain higher office has reached its zenith. You’ve made it to the top of the mountain. But now that you are there, what will you do?

You can’t vote ‘present’ anymore, you can’t skirt the issues or ignore the tough decisions. All of these years have caught up with you and now you have to actually do something. In 1996 you went against your word and used legal tactics to gain a seat in the Illinois Senate. You were re-elected twice (you had no opposition in 2002 and 2002). You were elected to the US Senate in late 2004, and after only 145 work days you launched your campaign for the White House. Fast forward to November 2008 and here we are.

I hope Michelle is proud of her country now because life for you is going to be a heck of a lot tougher when you have to actually make decisions that carry consequences. You better start lowering that bar of expectations, set the tables, prepare the hopeful expectations of the masses that elected you. I don’t envy you, the pressure you are about to face is exponentially more severe than any president prior to you for both political and personal reasons. The dog has caught the car… now whatcha gonna do?

I’m still too pissed off to write much. Americans have voted for the wrong person for the wrong reasons. Obama is our president-elect because:

1. Our primary system prevented the most viable Republican candidate from being selected in the first place.
2. Florida voters gave McCain the push he needed in the primaries. Once again, Florida screws up.
3. Huckabee and his inflexible far right supporters kept Romney from being a contender when the economy was the main issue. McCain admitted his weakness on the topic yet voters still voted for him.
4. George Bush deeply angered his base, causing many voters to avoid voting at all. This is stupid for so many reasons.
5. McCain selected Palin instead of Romney as his VP candidate. While Palin energized many fence-sitting conservatives, she equally motivated Obama supporters. The Palin selection pushed Obama’s fund raising activities to record levels.
6. Obama outspent McCain 7:1. Obama received more funds from questionable and/or unidentifiable resources than McCain received in total. This after promising to use federal funding during the election… just one of the many lies and flip-flops that voters ignored.
7. The press provided significantly biased reporting. This is a biggie. Even Obama couldn’t afford the daily multi-channel biased reporting from ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, BET plus several Latino networks. By reporting only one side, by editing interviews, by repeating negative spots on the air, the casual voter, the average person that doesn’t do research only received one side of the story. This was reinforced by late night television. Letterman and Leno are both liberals and ripped McCain by overwhelming majority. Throw in Colbert, Stewart and Maher and the late night dog pile is complete.

So, what next? I found out last month that Samuel Adams is my 4th cousin 5 times removed and I recently started reading his biography. Adams is known not only as the name of a very good American beer, but he is the father of the American revolution. In 1748, while in his 20s Sam and some friends formed a newspaper called “The Public Advertiser.” The January 1748 issue included Adam’s first article, the subject was loyalty. Adams wrote that allegiance should be given to laws, not leaders. He told readers that just as men should not be ruled by mercurial emotions, citizens should be wary of cries of sedition and revolution. “It is a weak, feverish, sickly thing, a boisterous and unnatural vigor, which cannot support itself long, and oftentimes destroys the unhappy patient.”

1765, in response to the Stamp Act (Britain forcing taxes on the colonies) Adams expressed concern that if Americans were overburdened with taxes, their economy would collapse. “By restrictions and duties [England] is even now in danger of putting an end to [America’s] usefulness to her; whereas, by abolishing those duties and giving them indulgences, [America] would be enabled to repay her a hundredfold.”

My friends, ignorance is bliss. Sadly, I am not ignorant and this election has really got me down. In case you’re wondering, the phases of loss are: Shock, Denial, Bargaining, Guilt, Anger, Depression, Resignation, Acceptance, Hope. I am still deeply entrenched in the anger phase. I’m the only income for my family, we home school, our employer is a small company, and our national security is at stake. The Obama administration will have a direct effect on my life. Uninformed yet highly motivated voters elected a president that will increase taxes and increase government in our lives, while seeking out global opinion and approval for much of what we do going forward.

As Adams said above: allegiance should be given to laws, not leaders. America has taken a major step in the wrong direction and I will not support this president. I will fight hard to help legislators pass laws that help my family, my employer and my country. I will do everything I can to fight the will of Pelosi, Reid and Obama.

This will be a tough four years, but the pendulum will eventually swing back to the right. Until then, this is our future for the next four years: