It’s raining.  It has been raining almost steadily since I woke Election Day morning.  It’s a few minutes of 3:00 P.M. Wednesday as I start writing this.  I won’t finish in one setting.  It’s scheduled to rain throughout Thursday, when I’ve a live 4-hour broadcast scheduled from a hotel balcony.  Looking out at the steady downpour it doesn’t escape me it represents how I’ve felt about recent events in this country.  The rain follows a drought, one that crossed over two summers on this peninsula.  Just weeks ago a farmer told a Salisbury, Maryland newspaper he feared his fields would catch fire.  Last week we finally had some rain.  Then Indian summer followed over the weekend.  It was 75 degrees Saturday when I went to an event called Punkin’ Chunkin.  I was there when the sun set in the west and I watched it sink across the broad and flat terrain.  Then I drove home with the sunroof open and the lovely breeze. 

It has come to an end, my people’s monopoly on the sometimes aptly named White House.  Now the fellow with the platitudes tossed to adoring crowds like so many rose petals must govern.  As one writer said, Mr. Obama can best manage American decline.  Nobody talks about the future of a vast empire.  They talk of decline and living with less.  It’s our gift for our children and grandchildren.  A United Nations report suggests we ration meat.  Two servings per week in the industrialized world and the report warns alcohol production must cease in order to divert resources to feeding billions.  Where it was once believed people best managed their own decentralized affairs we now have a President-Elect claiming he’s a citizen of the world.  It has come to pass.

What can he accomplish by fiat?  I was reading today there isn’t a constitutional basis for the Wall Street bailout.  Government makes decisions and we get whipsawed and then we wonder how it all crumbled around us.  By crumbling I’m talking about individual liberty.  Another fellow wrote if you expect government to provide you healthcare you must be aware a neighbor is picking up the tab.  I’m willing to help folks I see in need but have always considered I’m the best judge of what I can provide.  When I’ve been flush I’ve written checks to feed the homeless and to put coats on the backs of the cold.  When I’ve been cold and hungry I’ve had friends throw me a lifeline.  Decisions they made of their own free will. 

Now we’re entering a new phase of human history and I fear.  I’ve been accused of bigotry for suggesting some of you voted for Obama without considering what he really represents.  I’ll toss you one positive about this election.  Many young people living in our teaming cities have believed they’ve only a handful of options in life.  In some cases just two, pushing a broom or dealing drugs.  Obama’s election offers an alternative but beyond I can’t see how “change” and “hope” will fill any tummies or turn the ship of state around.  Now he must govern.  It isn’t an easy task and it’s made more difficult because he’s accepted the argument his work is to best manage decline.  You see the paradox, don’t you?  Hope and decline don’t really share any victory platforms. 

For all of you who get the warm feeling liberals get from bathing in rose petals I remind you it’s cold and damp and the long range forecast isn’t comforting. 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 at 3:04 pm and is filed under 2008 Presidential Race, Democrats, Health, History, National Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.