All these Republican candidates talk about how horrible everything is in America right now, and it’s time to call them on this utter horseshit. Look, I’m not saying there aren’t problems to tackle. Not by a long shot. But you wanna see horrible? Just look at the Horror that was left behind by Dubya Bush and Darth Sith Cheney as they slithered out of Washington in January ’09.
Obama showed up for Day One of his new job, and there on his desk was a flaming sack of dogpoop. A lovely little stinkheap fueled by (1) a hemorrhaging jobs market heading for 10.9 percent unemployment, (2) a mangled stock market with the Dow Jones Industrial Average cut by 50 percent in 10 months, taking the retirement accounts of millions of middle class Americans down the toilet with it, (3) an equally mangled real estate market, blown up by Wall Street insanity, where millions of houses would bottom out with an equity loss of up to 50 percent, and (4) an economy that had just posted a truly frightful number—negative 8 percent growth rate in the fourth quarter of ’08. MINUS FUCKING EIGHT PERCENT. In other words, Obama took charge of a country that was spooked out of its mind and on some kind of Brink.
Compare the smoking rubble of early ’09 to now. Unemployment at 4.9 percent. DJIA higher by 150 percent. Real estate values slowly but steadily recovering. Gas at ridiculously cheap prices. Inflation still small and manageable. The Dollar now an international standard.
Is everything great for everybody? Hell no. Is it ever? But the point here is that the country actually recovered fairly well under Obama and the Dems, and that’s not an achievement to be sneezed at, not when you consider the size of that Meltdown of ’08.
Or when you consider the reality of Republican Obstructionism. Could the Recovery have been larger? Sure it could. OK, what was the problem? Well, a large, impressive economic recovery certainly wouldn’t jive with Republican lust for the White House, would it? If a rockin’ economic recovery would make Obama/Dems look good, well then, you know, we must do all we can to make sure that doesn’t happen, even if the country stagnates as a result.
Step 1. Make sure Congress does nothing. Check. 2. Blame sluggish recovery on Obama/Democrats. Check. 3. Base campaign on non-stop bitching about country being in the dumper, even if it really isn’t, and rely on large voting bloc of dimbulbs who won’t bother to figure out that the party constantly crabbing about the lame recovery is the party that consistently worked overtime to create and perpetuate … a lame recovery!
It’s no real mystery, therefore, that the Republican Establishment finds itself smack dab in the middle of Troubletown. The problem, for all us reasonable Americans, is that the bellowing kooks leading the betorched villagers to Elephant Castle are just as fucking twisted as the crusty old pissheads who are holed up inside.