Thursday, March 14, 2013

Teflon Executive

It must be nice to be Teflon.  You know that wonderful substance where nothing sticks to you?.  You get to operate with impunity and actually have people defend your actions.

You get to promise Hope and Change while delivering none of it.  Actually the former is supplied by the “Kool-Aid” drinkers while the latter is more a matter of style over substance.

You get to talk of looking forward and not backward, as an excuse not to investigate possible crimes of your predecessor and have most people cheer about what a wise and pragmatic decision it is.

You get to continue the very same policies of your predecessor – many of which you campaigned against, with the backing of people who are grateful that you are “keeping them safe”.

You get the virtual undying loyalty of people who look like me and whose parents suffered under the lash of Jim Crow, who never thought they or their parents would see the day when someone that looked like them would be elected to the highest office in the country.

You probably are able to chuckle inside about the irony of some groups being afraid that you might somehow promote polices that could be considered favorable to people who look like me or other minorities, when your answer to that is your belief that “a rising tide lifts all boats.”  No matter any evidence to the contrary.

You get to threaten Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid and blame it on the other party.  Actually you don’t even have to blame the other party, because many people simply refuse to believe it’s even happening.

You get to take “single payer” off the table, and pretend to offer a “public option” – negotiate it away in backroom deals, and have one of your spokespeople refer to those who take exception to this as “f’ing retards”, but not to worry, because nothing sticks.

You get to tell the “middle class” that you’re on their side and fighting for them, while extending tax cuts for the Power Elite.

You get to provide bail outs to our “too big to fail Banks”, while millions of home owners face foreclosure without aid resembling anything close to what the Banks received.

You get to assert powers that when used by others are described as tyrannical and have most of us shrug our shoulders, and say things like “well, hasn’t it always been this way?” And sadly, unless we become willing to scrape away the Teflon, and accept our responsibilities as citizens, I suppose it always will be.

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