America’s Prognosis: Guarded
November 5th, 2008 | by Tom Harper |The patient has been suffering from a severe uncontrollable infection for the past eight years. This particularly virulent strain of bacteria had been living in the patient’s intestines for decades, where it remained relatively harmless.
But in early 2001, the bacteria went systemic. This is often fatal. All of the organism’s natural defense mechanisms were overpowered and disabled by this devastating infection. It’s a miracle the patient even survived.
While in the throes of this debilitating sickness, the patient’s symptoms included excruciating pain, spastic movements, nausea, vomiting and explosive diarrhea. To all innocent bystanders who got shat on: Please understand and forgive. Remember, the patient was being attacked by perhaps the most resistant, putrid, pestilent bacteria ever discovered. This abortional behavior could not be controlled.
We’re not out of the woods yet. Some new medication has been prescribed, but it won’t start taking effect until two and a half months from now. We’re looking at a long slow recovery process that will take years; decades even. But I think the patient is going to make it.
2 Responses to “America’s Prognosis: Guarded”
By Liberal Jarhead on Nov 6, 2008 | Reply
I just wish that when the body politic recovered from a bout of this pathology, it conferred permanent immunity to relapse. Unfortunately, it seems to have set into a pattern, almost 150 years ago now, of striking again every 20-30 years; this last go-round was more prolonged and enervating than most, taking up 20 of the last 28 years. We need to figure out a better way to re-educate the citizenry than for us all to have to go on this ugly ride together over and over.
By Mike on Nov 7, 2008 | Reply
As somone who leans more libertarian, but who finds “spread the wealth” to be scarier than the more offensive planks in the GOP platform, I woke up the other day feeling like I didn’t get the world. Not that I am too focused on one topic to not recognize what Obama means to his supporters, and wishing I felt as inspired and excited as they (you) do, I find myself more uncertain about my personal puture and the future of the country. I am one of the many who felt that the country was not headed in the right direction, but wasn’t ready to embrace a “change” that seemed to pander to base instincts clothed in high-minded rhetoric. I thought I understood America to be the place where if you worked hard, postponed gratification, and lived frugally, you got to keep the fruit of your labors and be successful.
I admit that the last 8 years have been rough for all of us, even those of us who disagree with you all. I, too was looking forward to a positive change.
I am hoping that President-elect Obama justifies the faith that so many have in him that he will make this country a better place. I am hoping his grand plan for “redistributive change” includes ways for people to pull themselves up, not just taking from the haves to give to the have-nots.
While I cannot say that I am cautiously optimistic, I am going to pin my hopes that the change that is coming is a positive change for all of us. I am hoping that this won’t simply be the kind of screw-you payback politics that got us into this mess in the first place. Because that would not be a change. It would be more of the same.