Lame Duck, It's not just Bush

Last night the pathetic spectacle of George Bush, in my opinion the worst President of my lifetime, gave his final State of the Union speech. It is required by law, but I'm sure most of the participants would have voted to let him e mail it. As it was, the leader of the free world stood powerless, clad in failure in front of two of his likely successors, Clinton and Obama.

I need not go through the list of failed policies that Bush pursued while in office. Enough said that his constituency, the religious right and the economically privileged are not really better off than they were seven years ago when he took office with their hopes and prayers lifting him up as the next saviour. Yes they have their Supreme Court and their tax cuts, but even those will fade. Karl Rove's dream of a generational Republican dynasty was destroyed in the wake of inept leadership, the strum and drang of the War in Iraq and the total lack of dialogue with anyone who could have told them they were not in touch with the majority of American People.

We are not a nation of bigots. Nor do we believe that getting rich is worth setting aside any commitment to the common good. We do have noble intentions. Some of us do not know what to do with those feelings. We crave action on the matter. Like the physician we seek to do no harm and feel it would be nice to leave this place a little better than we found it. From time to time, a leader comes a long that inspires us Some bring out the worst of our fears and inclinations. Some inspire us to do better.

We may have such a leader in Barak Obama. Regardless of whether he becomes President, because there is a lot of work to be done in that effort, his candidacy represents the turning of the page on an ugly story in American Political History. The rejection of the social contract for individualism, the elevation of economics over citizenship and the criminalization of poverty may have felt good as long as you were on the winning team, but when the fact that the game was rigged became apparent it behoves all of us to be a little bit ashamed.

It is a time for change. This word might become a campaign cliche, but it is true nonetheless. I believe we've had enough partisan politics. Make no mistake no matter how weakened the Republican Party might be after the election, they will not go quietly in the that good night. And if you don't believe there are some Democrats that will waste their time looking for payback, you've in for a shock.

But as the will of the people becomes more apparent, it is my hope that we can coalesce under an agenda of the real issues. The issues that balance the needs of the people against those of special interests (which will not go away either). We have problems of global proportions. The mismanagement of environmental issues, the belligerent conduct of foreign policy and the neglect of infrastructure issues are bad enough, but we must be aware the policies of change need traction. Moving from one direction to another will take time, patience and most of all leadership that keep it's eye on the business at hand.