After the collapse of WaMu last week, I decided to support the amended Wall Street bailout because like the Democrats, led by Pelosi, Reid and Obama, maintained--now is not the time to play the blame game, that can be done at the polls on November 4th.
The socialization of Wall Street, places the American taxpayer--specifically home owner--in a very tricky position. What the past two weeks of politicking has demonstrated, no one really knows how this deal will affect average Jane Doe American. So it's a gamble, and a twenty-four-sided Rubik's cube for the next POTUS to deconstruct.
Who wins/who loses? Like the war in Iraq, we cannot talk in terms of winning and losing. Who knows what all this means in the long run???
But there are two things I take from this moment in American history:
1) Although I disagree fiercely with the new generation of young House Republicans' view on most social, mostly all economic, and ALL foreign policy issues, I must give them credit for going against their central tenet of laissez faire economics and vote for the bill. However, we must be reminded that it is this ethos that got us all into this mess.
In recent weeks, Representative Cantor (R-Va) has been on my all time shit list of pricks for his empty pro-McCain Palin rhetoric; today I actually saw a man who put his country before his beliefs--and that most likely one time look of compassion on his face was refreshing.
These representatives understood the immediacy of the economic crisis and this moment, and for that they should be applauded. But I wish the bi-partisan spirit of the weekend would translate into the reality of the candidate they support--John McCain did nothing but shake things up and halt the process. This is not what should be expected from a president in such a crisis. His gamble stymied the progress that was already reached in the Senate. His imposition of politics into this serious moment was not only selfish, but an example of his ineptness and how much he wants the Presidency for himself, not for the greater good. He should be ashamed.
2) The idea that the government and the American people have to bail out greed is fundamentally repulsive. Regulation is a must in a multifaceted and global economy. The fact that we got into this mess because the Bush-Gramm-McCain approach to the economy should be a referendum on how wrong headed, stubborn and unrealistic the Republican candidate is.
He IS out of touch and this economic mess is only one example. His stance on diplomacy, out of touch. His willingness to stay in Iraq, out of touch (anyone hear about the bomb in Baghdad today where 32 people were killed and over 100 injured--anyone hear about how the surge has allowed for complicit murder/possible genocide with impunity and the dislocation of many Iraqi's from their home in Darfur-like fashion--and I'm not even a peacenik). His stubbornness to stick with a VP candidate that is completely unqualified for the job, especially because of his age and medical history, is extremely out of touch. The way his campaign is shaped, is completely out of touch. Why would you run a campaign of secrecy when the guys we are trying to boot out as quickly as possible spent 8 years under the cloud of secrecy? OUT OF TOUCH
What we need is change and faith in our civic culture. We need good, smart people to represent us and we need some sort of honesty, accessibility, transparency, accountability and trustworthiness restored in the White House.
We live in a new age; and as a historian this election has helped clear my lens on how different things are AND how some things are the same. McCain's out of touch philosophy supports the same stagnate state we are currently living. Barack Obama's message of change brings a breathe of fresh air, pointed directly into the future.
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