Where Do We Go From Here?

I remember in the aftermath of the Ronald Reagan victory in 1980, I think I slept for 24 hours. I had been working on the campaign of the Citizens Party, with biologist Barry Commoner as presidential candidate. As I recall someone saying, you couldn't go wrong with a party that has "zen" and "art" in it.  Well, go wrong we did, or so it seemed at the time. And, while it may not have been a "World Gone Wrong," things had clearly changed. Yesterday's election wasn't quite that, with 1.5 out of 3 branches of government still under the control of the Democrats, but it is a clear message that there is an uncertainty and a restlessness abroad in the land. And, while there are no quick fixes, it would appear that things are at least at the phase of a "moral equivalency" of war (or invasion by Martians), with severe economic dangers and terrorism, that would encourage leaders of both parties to try to work together to come up with solutions. Politics in a democracy, after all, being the art of compromise and horse trading.

One reporter suggests that, unlike House speaker Newt Gingrich, who sorely vexed Bill Clinton during his administration, but who came up with a solid set of ideas and proposals that the GOP published in the TV Guide, the current Speaker-in-Waiting, John Boehner, who replaces Nancy Pelosi, is cut from another cloth. He may be less of an idea guy, less of a player, and more content with being a back-bencher who lobs grenades at Quarterback Obama as the QB dodges 16 shells from a thirty-ought six.  Article here

And what about the Tea Partiers. Sure, things are bad, but they are bad for all of us as Americans (well, except for the FreedomWorks-connected billionaire conservatives like the Koch brothers who secretly fund the tea parties). Why do they attack Mr. Obama so viciously when he is basically a sincere, self-made guy from modest circumstances, who put himself through school with college loans?  Even after President Bush became president in 2000, many Democrats were willing to give him a chance, until it was proven that his bipartisan overtures were so much malarky. Here, it seems that, while his administration may be weak on communicating its progress, and has made missteps, from the outset there was little agreement that 44 is our president and we all should support him. He took shots from the GOP from the very beginning. What could be behind that?  Article here

Still, President Obama, has culpability in the Current Situation. For his second chapter, What Should Barack Do? article here

As Bob Marley wrote:

Oh, it's a disgrace

To see the human-race
In a rat race, rat race!
You got the horse race;
You got the dog race;
You got the human-race;
But this is a rat race, rat race