Election Year Prediction: The End Of Daze

Now days especially, we’re admonished to straighten up and get our lives in order because the end is near. According to some interpretations of the Mayan calendar, Doomsday is December 21, 2012. Of course, astronomers point out the faulty reasoning. But, it’s a lot more fun to talk about the end of time than the end of the economy. And a lot more profitable, too, if you’re Sony Pictures or John Cusack.

In case you’re wondering, the Mayans didn’t corner the end-of-us market. Hopi Indians and Edward Cayce are also credited, some say discredited, with those predictions for the 2010 – 2012 period. And there are plenty of people who predict that World War III will start this year, which might be a precursor to the Apocalypse. I guess WWIII could still happen, since it’s only late September, but probably not unless Israel lights up the new Iranian nuclear power plant.

But, there’s one 2010 prediction that can be entirely accurate: November 2 is the end of daze. You know, the date when the thick layer of hope-and-change mind fog enveloping the Country since 2008 is blown away. The big blades that rotate in the fan of voter disapproval are starting to turn even now. You can see it in the polls. But, you can also feel it in the general discontent, not just for the economy, but for the way things are going in general. It’s like an out of body experience where the body we’re gazing down upon doesn’t look much like us.

And we don’t like what we see. Our purple mountains majesty has turned into piles of debt. Our sea to shining sea is now spending as far as the eye can see. We don’t like hearing our Commander-In-Chief on his America-bashing mea culpa tours of Europe and the Middle East. Or the fact that, while he refuses to wear the American flag lapel pin, he does a big waist bow to the King of Saudi Arabia. Or slamming the insignificant Southern preacher for threatening to burn the Koran but disregarding millions of Americans upset over the mosque near Ground Zero. Worst of all, we don’t like the personal metamorphosis being forced on us from the strength of individual achievement to the weakness of mass entitlement.

Obama’s current campaign rhetoric is a series of attempts to cast his Presidential record into the mold of his 2008 pledges. Words masked his inexperience then and he’s using them again now, this time to mask his performance. For example, while bipartisanship was one of his biggest Change pledges in 2008, there’s been virtually none during his tenure. So, he blames Republicans, labeling them as obstructionists who refuse to negotiate as if making the claim is enough to erase the record. But, he’s the guy who told Republicans in his first month as President, “I won.” That was a door-slammer on negotiations as he and his Democrat majority proceeded to haggle among themselves over the stimulus, healthcare and other bills. As Pelosi vacuously stated, “Yes, we wrote the bill. Yes, we won the election.”

And then there was the whole transparency blackout. Obama booted his C-SPAN coverage promise and even his pledge to post the content of bills on the Web 5 days before passage. For once, he doesn’t blame these pledge breaches on his opponents and he does admit they’ve occurred. So, he re-pledged early this year to do better in the future. But, it’s the future now and nothing has changed, making him the only really transparent thing in his Administration. He’s so see-through Saran Wrap is envious.

His promise to cut down on earmarks was a total bust. And he claims to love business while holding its head underwater. He did make good on a promise to pass a healthcare bill. But, that was promise to himself since healthcare was not at the top of voter lists. And, folks today still don’t understand it or want it. So, he’s finding out that fulfilling promises to himself can be a road to nowhere.

At the end of the day, when you look at Obama’s record, the picture that forms is of an old-school political brawler. And there’s no hope for change in that. But, there is hope that the fan of voter change will blow it all away.

See you on the left-side.