I Had a Nightmare

Martin Luther King may have "had a dream," but right now I am betting for Barack Obama, our nation's first black President, he might just feel like waking up.  And the recent elections were just that, a loud and obnoxious wake-up call.  Obama's dream of creating an "America" that is a more level playing field for all people of every socio-economic strata has turned into Obama's worst nightmare.  Why?  Well, in the immortal words of Chester James Carville, Jr., "it's the economy, stupid."  Americans are demanding their piece of the cake and some would say, they want to "eat it too."  Problem is the cake is getting a little old, stale and crumbly. Also, there just ain't much icing left these days.  We have been all too eager to lick that right off in our rush to experience all the gain, but endure no pain.  Well now it hurts and the election this week, if it showed anything, demonstrated the depth of hurt being felt out there in the U.S. populace.  Who gives a crap about things like universal health care and the environment when folks don't have jobs?  After all, we were bred to consume and by gosh we want to do so with the same voracity as our forefathers.  Anyone who even hints of getting in the way of us doing that, well, they just get what they deserve at the ballott box and Obama and the rest of his followers got nothing less than that proverbial "boot."  Well, the jury is certainly out for a while at least on whether this tea-partying crowd can create the miracle of jobs in an economy where most of what we consume is produced elsewhere by folks who have learned to get by with a lot less than us.  That is a tall order, but, what the hey, they promised to do it, so let's give'em a try.  We can always "kick those bums out" another two years down the road, now can't we?  That's democracy folks.  At the same time, those non-important issues that threaten our planet and very survival can just wait on the backburner while we get that consumption engine cranking at full throttle again!