thoughts on the inaugration

Today was a bittersweet day. On the one hand, it was certainly a sign of great progress; the only people I heard for whom the race of Obama were the media. Not one...single...person I talked to outside of the media had their intent to vote for or against him influenced in any way by his color.

That is certainly a far cry from the late 60s when kids going to school required the armed presence of the National Guard. That is far beyond the hideous immorality of lynching people for whistling at people of another color.

That is a sign of progress, of a better national spirit.

On the other hand, the long-term financial implications are devastating. Not since FDR have we had an administration with such devastating long-term plans. 

I have often discussed my reasons for listing FDR among the worst 5 Presidents we have ever had and it largely goes to the economic devastation that remains his legacy. The only redeeming feature to him was the indisputable positive impact he had on the national psyche both in the Great Depression and the Second World War.

 Now we have a President who strives to emulate his economic ideals and has a Democratic majority large enough to push his plans through. Just as we are still paying a high price for FDR's raw deal...err, New Deal, our grandchildren will struggle under the burdens about to be inflicted on us.

This is bad on so many levels. Never forget, the economy was booming so long as the Congress was Republican. When it went Democratic, the economy tanked almost immediately. Bad timing? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

What I do know is the ludicrously ill-planned required universal health care is a very real threat now. Time to start reaching deeper into our wallets. Think about how well required insurance worked out on car insurance; prices continue to rise precipitously as coverage decreases. See also home insurance, required and renters insurance, required. Also check out the way everyone who can afford to avoid it does so in countries that already have it, like our neighbors to the North.

The initial idea for the Federal government was national defense. Not much more. The inalienable rights delineated in the Bill of Rights and Constitution were those granted by God and recognized by the government.

Now the idea is the Feds will tell you what you will spend your money on, who you will associate with, and so forth. The shift, accomplished over a couple centuries of bad judges, Presidents seizing additional power for themselves, and complacent people has led to the place we are now where personal freedoms to make choices are being removed, where more and more often the rights we once had are now considered privileges.

Of course, even with all that, if I had it to do over again, I still would vote for neither major candidate. I am one of the few, the proud, the people who value their vote far too much to vote for someone who fails to represent me the way I want to be represented on issues that matter the most to me.

Funny how people who vote for sub-par candidates accuse those of us who vote FOR someone who truly represents us are throwing away our votes while people who vote for "the lesser of two evils" are somehow NOT wasting their vote. Whatever.

And to be sure, there are people who did vote for someone they wanted in this election. To you I offer sincere congratulations. 

Meanwhile, we will see what the next 8 years brings.