All Posts Tagged With: "wrong track"

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[Stepping up onto my soapbox.]

Who is to blame for the wrong track that 81 percent of Americans believe this country is on? For everything that seems to be going wrong — the endless war, the faltering economy, out-of-control federal spending, ineffectual government — who can we point our finger at?

The American electorate should look no further than the mirror. We are the enablers that have helped make this happen. Our leaders are (at least in theory) elected. They didn’t get their job by coup, by inheritance (although the Bushes and Clintons are certainly trying to make the presidency a dynastic one), or by appointment by the ruling elite (ignoring the inordinate influence of Corporate America). They are in office because we, the American electorate, put them there.

The world was astonished that after the first four years of this administration and its disastrous policies that we would put them back into office for another four years. The Daily Mirror‘s famous cover the day after Bush was re-elected captured the international reaction: “How can 59,054,087 people be so DUMB?” I couldn’t have agreed more.

To quote the president: “There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” (This quote has more impact when you watch it.)

How could nearly 60 million voters re-elect a failed president? I still shake my head to this day. But, I find myself increasingly unsympathetic when some of those who voted for the president complain about our predicament today. I confess that I voted for George W. Bush in 2000… “fool me once.” I didn’t make that mistake again. For those of us who were fooled a second time, “shame on me.” Continued