After the Deluge

In a previous blog, on the 2008 Presidential campaign, I spent way too much time chronicling the silliness of the primary and general elections. One of my contentions was that Obama had little chance against the Republicans and that Hillary Clinton would be a stronger candidate. I was wrong about this misunderestimating, as one of my favorite politicians might say, the ineptness of John McCain, the Republican's candidate, and the intense yearning for something new after the disastrous years of George W. Bush.

Given the aftermath of the election, though, I don't think I was wrong so much about the fact Obama would be cast by Republicans as a wild-eyed liberal bent on making Kumbaya our national anthem but rather I primarily got the timing wrong. Smote by the recession and Bush's dual wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the nutbags had a delayed reaction but found their stride during the health care debate and Obama's measures to stave off financial ruin after this usurper was elected to the Presidency. The "birther" controversy took on new life, so-called patriots took to conspicuously packing heat in public places, a right-wing political movement headed by a woman who has sawdust between her ears was spawned, and politicians throughout the country croaked of 2nd amendment remedies. Never mind that Obama has done more for private industry than W ever did--health insurance companies will now have a captive country paying their ridiculous premiums, and bankers, the real estate industry, the auto idustry etc., were not only put on a sound footing but basically told to return to business as usual--he's a socialist from whom the good citizens must wrest back their country.

This new blog isn't about the upcoming Presidential election, though, but more generally about politics and culture in especially the US. There is an awful lot to write about and I've been wanting to do this for some time. The madness that erupted in the aftermath of the shooting in Arizona was the final straw, I think, and I'll be writing about that soon. In the meantime, apologies to Warren Zevon for the title of this blog, or at least to his estate. It is difficult, though, to think of a more appropriate trinity for the issues of the day than this one.