Let me begin by saying that the picture I have posted is not good ol' Madge. I only found 1 image of her from behind and that was dancing at a state function.
I would like to give you a quote from her Conservative manifesto--she had " a feeling of helplessness. That a once great nation had fallen behind." This was immediately proceeding her election to Prime Minister. Remind you of anyone? Let's go on....she came into office in a period of precipitous national decline. England had high inflation, high unemployment and little or no growth. Anyone? She was also the first woman (minority in the scheme of things) to be elected to a head of state office in Britain. Part of one of her campaign speeches---" Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope." She ran on a platform of hope and change. Have I rung any bells yet?
I have great respect for anyone perceived as a minority, that fights through adversity in their own party, race, gender, etc. Much as someone named, Obama? I have ranted and raved for his health plan and I have tried to muddle my way through it and give you my take on what it will entail. The health plan is the first truly huge change the President has tried to undertake. I hope it will not be the last. I believe he needs a victory of some magnitude to launch an all out assault on the shambling wreck that this country has become. If the bill passes and most are satisfied as it becomes reality, I believe that President Obama will have the springboard that he needs to affect real and lasting change that he so vehemently promised.
Some of you are quite entrenched in your party-mentality or maybe you harbor some bias because of -other factors. Leave the media out of your thinking. The media leads and distorts some things for the benefit of ratings and sometimes, personal bias. Heart and emotion will get you going in the wrong direction, fast. You could always look at the past: Reagan was a strong president. He did not allow other nations to push us around. Except Libya. We did bomb the crap out of them, I guess. He was also instumental in breaking the Soviet Union. We basically threw money into the pit of mutually assured destruction until they couldnt afford it any more. I respect that, and I think I'm glad he did it, but he also gave us our first trillion dollar debt. Look it up. Well, in the wave of a popular Republican President, we elected the vomit-spewing(literally) Bush. He did give us the "Thousand Points of Light" and the former CIA head made sure that police were able to seize property and cash from criminals. I'll give him that one too, it seems right and just that criminals should lose their ill-gotten gains. He didnt do diddly for the economy though.
That brings us to President Clinton. Republicans are quick to spew about his personal life and the so-called "Whitewater" fiasco. I for one could care less what his personal life was, as long as he performed.(no, not on the saxophone) He worked and acheived a balanced budget, got people back to work and away from welfare and helped the U.S. regain status and diplomacy throughout the world. Say what you will, we elected him to a second term and I believe that if they would repeal law-he probably would have gotten elected again. He was likeable, he was young for a president and he got results.
And.....along comes Bush. His election came on the eve of so many changes in the world: an unprecedented surge of 3'd world nations toward the modern era, which resulted in ungodly consumption of oil, which led us to ???? .da da daaaa---the middle east. Terrorists changed our path with no more than a handful of men the way the Japanese changed it with a few ships worth of planes. We became focused and driven against a common enemy. We focused on a murdering butcher(dead) and an educated, ephemeral maniac(still havent found him) Mr. Bush came to us and Congress and might as well have wrapped himself in a flag, asking for and getting "as much as it takes" Our world standing has collapsed, as has our dollar. Our military is being taxed on two fronts and for the life of me, I cannot fathom why we have stayed in Iraq so long. We have rebuilt infrastructure and trained their police and military, now we should move on and focus our attention on the rabid bastard who started this: Bin Laden. (no not Bush) Our unemployment is nearing Depression-era percentages and just about every aspect of our economy looks like it is holding on by a thread with the exception of oil and porn. Maybe fast food. Mr. Bush's 1 term has led to an overwhelming desire for change. (I still dispute the second so-called "election", one has to wonder how much oil it takes to buy an election, yes. there. i had to put some personal feeling to it)
I feel we were cheated out of the new millenium, we got a year or two of it and then we have paid in blood and dollars ever since. We elected President Obama on his promises of change and hope. We should remember this as he nears his first year in office. I imagine he has been correographing his people and his policies and I pray for your sake and mine that he is right, just and intelligent in implementing them. I trusted him as did a majority of Americans and elected him to office. We need change, we crave it and I believe we WILL get it. This screaming, kicking debate over health care is but a primer for things to come. The government always gambles with our money and our future, we elect the ones we want to do the gambling and hope they arent cheats. Mr. Obama may have some issues with his past, but I feel his eyes tell the story. I have seen determination, ability and hope in those eyes. I never met a stranger, I have been told. Some may see this as a disability in judging someone who holds my future in his hands. I dont think so. I have a pretty good record with feeling people out. I usually know good from bad. President Obama wants us to be better. He wants a world without prejudice, hate and suffering. Let him work. There was an age when, if a President told the people something was good for them, the majority believed it, after all- they elected him for a reason. We saw something in him or we would never have put him in office.
In conclusion, I would like to leave you with a quote from the Great Margaret Thatcher. I believe it speaks to our plight--
"I think we have gone through a period when too many children and people have been given to understand "I have a problem, it is the Government's job to cope with it!" or "I have a problem, I will go and get a grant to cope with it!" "I am homeless, the Government must house me!" and so they are casting their problems on society and who is society? There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are families and no government can do anything except through people and people look to themselves first. It is our duty to look after ourselves and then also to help look after our neighbour and life is a reciprocal business and people have got the entitlements too much in mind without the obligations.."
You that know me, know I may not be religious, but I am spiritual. God bless us and help us. I pray every day that things will improve with the gathering change. I pray for a momentum to this change and that it will be guided with a righteous hand.
Oh, and Margaret Thatcher was fairly hot when she was young. Schwingg!
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