I was thrilled to have watched so much of it on CSpan. I love these occasional bouts of mass hoping, and yes, once again I hope my country can wake up and shake off the robber barons and get to the tons of work we have to do to meet the challenges of the 21st century. There is a lot of exciting activity ahead and most of us want to get to it. Lots of clean up and reorienting away from wasteful consumption to more modest levels. It can be fun if we plan it well. (Or it can be an ugly smash and grab if we proceed in the Republican crisis management style.)
We need to rebalance resource use around the globe, for example. We few percent of the globe use so many of its limited resources, so we need to zoom aggressively ahead into alternative renewable energy such as solar, or we will face a lot more hostility in the global resource wars ahead. We need to de-privatize a lot of the stuff the Republicans have been bleeding dry. We need to raise the limit on payroll taxes so income above $100K is also taxed and Warren Buffet's secretary doesn't pay more than he does. There are so many positive things we'd like to do to move on to the Post Petroleum Economy, but the Big Oil Boys don't want to let go of Monopoly Capitalism.
So I hope Obama's appeal to people to forget partisanship and think of progress-- moving forward consciously and strategically to meet the challenges, rather than letting a secret Cheney cabal decide how we would be ruled to facilitate permanent, for-profit war around the globe. Well, sorry guys, wars are grotesque and we'd rather build solar panels and design better technology to save energy, and drive just a bit slower. Rather than bomb other families around the globe in search of dwindling oil supplies. We need to prepare now, because we will need petroleum to fuel the production of some of these supplies, especially as we transition.
Wasn't Obama's speech a masterpiece? He included lots of shared goals in the speech. And specific indictments of JSM III. Something for all of us. And a better sense, for me, of what he needs to do. He is seeking to arouse the sentiments of lots of heretofore non- voters, many of whom want to move forward on some key issues, so he's inviting everyone to come together around those elements. We are all patriots, so restoring the rule of law in the Executive and Judicial branches will be paramount among his tasks, I expect. Perhaps a commission could be appointed to investigate, prosecute and recommend.
Friday, August 29, 2008
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