Today wasn’t just a defeat of a bill that could potentially bring about a recession or, God forbid, worse to our country and perhaps the world’s economy. It wasn’t just about massive bungling by both Republican and Democrat alike. It wasn’t just about watching John McCain continue to act like the insidious and dangerous old fool I think he is. Today was a gigantic vote of no-confidence about our government and the path we’ve blindly and blithely let them put us on for quite some time now.
No one won today. Everybody lost, and in the mud-wrestling match to pin blame and figure away out, everybody is losing more.
If, and that’s a big if, this somehow works out, the Bush administration has used up whatever small sliver of leadership currency it had left. The Democrats have proven once and for all that they can’t accomplish anything in Congress. Forget the hurt feelings brouhaha, (childish in the extreme) any leader that brings a vote this consequential to the floor without knowing the outcome deserves to be replaced.
I’m of two minds on this entire historic episode we are living through. First, I believe the government is going to have to intervene to keep the ship sailing in some shape. Second, there is a large part of me that would like to see the entire house of cards collapse. But only if we can tar and feather the greedy bastards who got us here. And I mean that. There are far too many that have reaped benefits from the con game we’ve allowed to go on for far too long. They should get more than a dent in their bank accounts.
The only thing is certain is that we don’t know what will come of this. Those who have been entrusted with the responsibility to lead us in good times and bad have betrayed that trust so far. Should they find the courage and integrity to actually fashion some semblance of a plan to begin to repair the damage they and we have let occur, they should still be held accountable for leading us there in the first place.
(the picture accompanying this is from Dave Winer)
