A Citizen, Writes

that we try to right wrong when we see it, and always look towards a silver lining in those clouds if we do our parents and our God proud. I was raised on JFK who promised an ephemeral Camelot then he, and it, was gone. LBJ was loud and Texan (that’s a good thing) and unpopular but he got the civil rights legislation passed.

Nixon, well, a shame on our nation but at least he made points in China. After that it was a mess until Reagan let his staff run the government and gave great speeches, nodding to the soldier and widow in the audience. Then Bush One got involved with Iraq and Kuwait and didn’t finish the job.

Clinton came in and did some good but also initiated Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell for the military and made a mockery of the presidency for his inter-office indiscretions. Then Bush 2. He used 9/11 to give Cheney and the entire military conspiracy the right to spy on all of us.

Obama has been moribund in comparison, “winning” health care and now caving to the banks for another $850 million. So where are we today?

By government standards my husband and I are considered wealthy, even though we can’t afford a house here. We don’t have kids and the dog probably costs us $100 per month for food and an occasional nail trim. But last night I watched the entire “White Christmas” and I’ve decorated a little bit (candles and a wreath on the front door).

We want something more. We want to be hopeful for something, like Social Security not running out of money before we retire. For our representative government to take their voters’ money and give it over to bankers is just like taking it out of our bank accounts and giving it to thieves and peddlers of bombast and tomfoolery. It’s more serious than that. They’re all going to the Hamptons to emulate Martha and have some duck-feathered kaboozle on their dining table with heritage goat cheese and homemade toasts made from wheat that was massaged in the field.

Hope. We have given consistently to the food banks in our area. We have enough this year to share, and we do. But as the markets go up and down, jobs follow and we’ve always been able to land on our feet despite dot.bomb et al. Hope, that is my message this holiday. Dee