All the while ignoring the razor thin differences between majority and minority support in the office of President, and in the Senate & House balances.
Do you have a better way to do it? If 66% instead of 50.1% were required, there would never be a candidate elected. Yes, the margins were razor-thin, but what do you expect for a country that vigorously and peacefully settles its political differences? We elect, by whatever margin, then we move on according to settled structures.
Razor-thin majorities obviously make you nervous. Why does the fact that this election had no historical precedent bother you? I suspect that the reason is that you don't care for the outcome. Don't despair--you'll have another chance in two years. That's the beauty of our sytstem--frequent federal elections whose job is not only to elect and replace but to give those who were not subject to elections a sense of where we are and what we want.
Tying in rate cuts with politics is a bit much, in my view. The Fed's mission is, first, control inflation and, secondly, control interest rates in order to promote or slow down the economy. Uncle Al has done both during his tenure. Although his appointment is not a lifetime one, the length of it is sufficient to assure a lack of political influence on what should and, in my view, has been under his tenure a non-partisan job.
Do you really think that the war on terror shouldn't be fought, that the expense of going to Afghanistan should have not been borne, and that the foray into Iraq is not justified? If so, you simply have not absorbed the lesson of 9/11 and what we know about Saddam. Sure, all of these things have been and will be surplus-killers, but unless you are willing to hand over the keys to our economy to a whack-job like Saddam, I see no alternatives.
Unfortunately, I sense that perhaps you'd rather have the surpluses than do the hard things we now have to do to ensure our children's security. I may be mis-reading you, but this is what I get out of your post.
But more than that, I care about the precious principles and freedoms that are slipping away in the name of security, that has proven to be no safer than our previous security.
Really, this is a bit much. Other than a longer wait at a airport while undergoing a security check, how have your civil liberties been affected? Whose civil liberties have been abridged? And please don't mention the poor Al Qaeda slobs in Guantanamo. Those are POWs and not subject to the protection of American laws.
We have an incredibly vigorous civil liberties lobby in the US that doesn't give the government a bit of quarter--I should know, I've been defending against a First Amendment case brought by the ACLU on grounds I consider preposterous. These are tough cookies on a silly case. I can just see them in a really justified matter--they'd be hell on wheels. If there were any real impingement of civil liberties resulting from the war on terrorism, there would be tons of people fighting against them. That there aren't speaks volumes for the way in which the effort has been handled.
Let me suggest to you a different scenario. We are in an era of dislocation caused by many different things. Let me list them for you in no particular order of importance:
1.- Iraq uncertainties.
2.- Problems with European "allies".
3.- The bursting of the stock market bubble.
4.- September 11, 2001.
5.- A gnawing sense that perhaps Bush is lucky but not necessarily competent.
6.- Corporate shenanigans.
7.- The sense that the individual is no longer in control of his own existence.
8.- The overwhelming notion that we are becoming more materialistic as we lose spiritual values.
All these factors make us uneasy, nervous, and result in a loss of confidence. What we are not recognizing is that the Golden Nineties are over. We need to accept the fact that they were a historically anomalous time in which the stars were perfectly aligned for a nice stretch of peace and prosperity. This is not the way things can remain for any substantial period of time--to think otherwise is folly. Perhaps your post is a reflection of your yearning for the peace and good times of the '90s. Fuggedaboutit, they're over. Hope you enjoyed them like I did.
The disquieting factors I've listed above are real, but the countervailing ones are just as important. Again, in no particular order of importance:
1.- The incredible strength, size and resiliency of the US economy.
2.- Our incredible military power.
3.- The unbelievably generous spirit of the American people.
4.- Our "libertarian" values.
5.- American ingenuity which has given us the Silicon Age and the attendant ongoing rise in productivity.
6.- The real and effective though not perfect Rule of Law which ensures stability and predictability in our affairs.
For some reason, probably related to the loss of immunity from terror caused by 9/11, we have entered a period of self-examination which is leading to the kind of pessimism reflected in your post which is simply not justified by objective reality. I'm not saying this self-examination is unjustified. But we do need to see the other side of the coin and beware of poisonous self-criticism. |
