This is my flag. I paid $60 to the man who built the flagpole and installed it. He was 85 years old. The flag is torn and tattered; etiquette dictates that I must replace it. I am reluctant to do so. The artist in me sees leaving it like this as a political statement. The flag's condition is analogous to the state of our society and republic under the current administration. I will replace my flag when we replace our president.
The man who built my flagpole is the antithesis of the poor slackers on the government dole and other chumps who support President Obama. If they showed half the initiative and industry of this man, our economy and country would be much better off. What we get instead is the socialization of health care, whining about expiring unemployment benefits, record numbers of food stamp recipients and the undoing of the Clinton era welfare-to-work policy. Then we hear disingenuous, execratory howls of "RACISM!" when anyone dares to question the status quo.
President Obama campaigned on hope. The murder rate in such places as the south side of Chicago-- the matrix of his political career--is as high as ever. This is in part attributable to the paucity of hope there. That, in turn, is attributable to the lack of opportunity in this economy. Given that President Obama had two years with a Congress controlled by Democrats, wherein he could enact practically any policy he wanted, the state of the economy at this juncture is all on him. The lack of opportunity is all on him. The lack of hope is all on him. He and his economic policies have proven to be dismal failures. The people to whom he reached out while campaigning are the ones who have fared the worst under his watch. Despite his failure, most of these people intend to vote for him again!
I find that mind-boggling. It makes no sense to me that anyone could reasonably expect four more years of this man's policies to produce any different, better result. It confounds me that anyone could hold onto the vacuous promise of hope in light of the total failure of his administration. I am nonplussed at the prospect of his winning reelection; I can't afford to move to Australia.
