That Obama is the best president that this country has seen in a generation.
I didn't vote for him because I don't agree with the Democratic platform on many policy issues. That said, this country is in a mess and needs strong leadership to get back on track. I hope that Obama will live up to the promise that so many have seen in him. While I will undoubtedly continue to disagree with some of the policies that the Democrats will propose, I wish them success in getting the economy going again and rebuilding a sense of confidence. Frankly, we all need to be inspired and to have a sense of faith in a better future.
That's an interesting post. I hope he governs from the center rather than from the left, but I have my doubts.
I am one of the few that doesn't believe the country is a mess, but that we're no longer willing to do the hard work that made this country great. We're fatigued by war, but that's the primary weapon the terrorists have against us. Should we be surprised they're using it?
We're facing a credit crisis, but it's one of our own making--we were the beneficiary of loose credit for a long, long time. The majority of people who purchased houses in the past decade are better off than they were four years ago. By any measure, we live materially richer lives than we did a decade ago. Cell phones, the internet, video games, flat screen TVs, larger houses, more cars per capita, etc. Government has never done more for us, yet it's still not enough. I hope the lesson learned is that material wealth doesn't equal happiness, that it's ultimately unfulfilling.
Before the third quarter this year, we had 28 consecutive quarters of economic growth, yet we've whined about how bad everything is for years. The fact is that things were generally pretty good for most Americans during the Bush Administration, but we thought the road would be easy. Like generations before us, we face challenges at home and abroad.
Rather than looking to someone else to lead us from the perceived darkness, we need to look at ourselves and raise ourselves up by our own bootstraps. Rather than having government do for us, we need to do for ourselves. We don't need to be inspired by someone else, we need to inspire ourselves. This lack of confidence blows my mind. We're still the strongest country militarily, economicially and poltically on the face of the planet. Our unemployment rate is still one of the lowest in the world among developed economies. Our economic downturn, while bad, still isn't as bad as others. Enough with the self-doubt and pessimism. Stop pondering and start working. [/soapbox]
I hope Obama says The Shepard's Prayer (that's Alan Shepard, one of the Mercury 7) tonight: "Please Lord, don't let me fuck up."
