We’re still waiting

Ted Folkert

Waiting for what, you ask?

We are waiting for the candidates for president of the United States to tell what they stand for, how are they going to fix all of the problems with the country that they are so anxious to point out, what would be their objectives as president, how they plan to administer the office of president, what would be the cost of their supposed programs that will make life better for all and correct all of the ills and evils that we have been encumbered with up until now, what should be the foreign policy, what taxation and spending is proposed, how they will improve education, how they will make education affordable for all, if they think education should be available for all, how much bigger and more expansive should our military be, how to control the galloping cost of housing, how to make health care uniform for all, if they think health care should be uniform and affordable for all, how can we correct the dangerous income and wealth inequality which is reaching an economically dangerous level and leading to an oligarchic economy and government, how we can rebuild the decaying infrastructure of our country – the roads, highways, air traffic control systems, a sustainable water supply for the nation, police and fire protection, emergency treatment centers – all of the above which are suffering from obsolescence and insufficiency – all of the above having been ignored by our elected officials who spend most of their time raising funds for reelection instead of legislating, as we hired them to do, how they plan to get the big money out of politics so that everyone has a vote that counts, so that we can have a government that Lincoln talked about – of, by, and for all of the people, how we can control the outrageous increases in the cost of pharmaceuticals so that everyone can have access to them, how they plan to placate environmental concerns, take steps to control the effects of climate change, how to protect our limited essential resources, how to face the scientifically acknowledged environmental concerns and scarce resource challenges that endanger the habitability of the planet for future generations.

This is what we are waiting for.

What we have mostly heard thus far, with the partial exception of Bernie Sanders, is that all of the other candidates are lying, cheating, stealing, misleading, telling us what they think we want to hear, pointing out the fallacies in the statements of their opponents and their misguided and devastating pronouncements. And what we hear from them is “when I was governor”, or “when I was a senator”, or “when I voted”, or “when he or she voted”, or “people are saying”, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And from the GOP candidates, mostly what we hear is how bad, dishonest, misguided, uninformed, incompetent, and so forth, and so on, that Obama is, and how much better they would be for the country. Of course, what they don’t seem to be aware of is that Obama is not running in this race. And they seem to be unaware of Obama’s high approval rating with the American people. And they seem to be unaware of the sick economy left for Obama by the Bush Cheney wrecking crew who destroyed our economy, along with the prior assistance of Bill Clinton who gave the avaricious Wall Street financiers what they wanted, the ability to take our deposits and gamble with them like drunken crap shooters. The only one who seems to realize Obama’s current approval ratings is Hillary Clinton, who has backed off of criticizing him now, after her statements regarding military policies in the Middle East, and portrays herself as having been his primary advisor for the past seven years on everything that is universally considered an accomplishment – like they are joined at the hip, best buddies who saved the world. And the candidates seem to be unaware of the growing economy, the job creation, and the improved financial condition of our financial institutions since Obama took office.

Unaware is too kind of a word. They aren’t unaware, they are playing the magician’s game, sleight of hand, look over here, not over there, listen to what I say, not what I mean. They never let the facts get in the way of personal political progress.

So, I don’t know about you, but for me, if any of them want my support or vote, they should answer all of the questions in paragraph one above. Otherwise, how would we know in whom to place our trust? A frightening thought at best.

We’re still waiting!

Think about it!