6/16/11

I'll hold my nose and vote for him

A politician I am not. An economist I am not. I can  add 1 and 1 and get 2 but I must admit, that does not make me a mathematician. Still I keep trying to add the facts as I see them in an attempt to make sense out of where we are heading.

Math can get quite complex when I try adding 4442 American lives lost during Operation Iraq Freedom to 1584 lives lost during Operation Enduring Freedom . I keep getting a figure of 14 trillion which is also equivalent to our national debt. Impossible? Not when you think about the billions of dollars we have poured into two wars. The investment was supposed to give us security and as a by product two stable nations, Iraq and Afghanistan. Our return on an investment of  billions and over 6000 lives ( not to mention the thousands of maimed soldiers) is a national debt which is crippling our country and two fragile nations which will be forever tribal societies. I for one do not feel anymore secure today than I did on 9/11/01. If anything, today's economic mess and poltical shenanigans make me feel less secure.


I wonder if Bin Laden ever gloated over not only the 3000 lives lost on 9/11 but as an aftermath the economic chaos enveloping the United States and the 6000 lives lost fighting two fruitless wars to rid the world of terrorism.

President Obama at the moment is consumed by the upcoming 2012 presidential election. He likes to do the little things like going to Puerto Rico to fulfill a 2008 campaign promise. I hope he gets the balls to fulfill the promises that really mean something, like ending the wars and getting people back to work. Time is getting short - the approval bounce he got from the hit on Bin Laden is gone. He needs to take a deep breath and once again become the Obama of 2008. I’m not optimistic that he will. It probably would not be good politics, at least as far as his advisors are concerned. If it's business as usual it presents the dilemma of who should be elected in 2012 to lead this nation. Considering the choices at the moment, Obama is it. As my son recently put it: I'll hold my nose and vote for him. I sincerely hope that will not be necessary - just in case I'm shopping for some clothes pins.

No comments: