a steaming pile of ...

We have a big treat in store for us tonight and tomorrow as we watch the opposition parties in Canada talk out of two sides of their mouths at the same time. When last we visited this soap opera, you may remember that the 3 opposition parties in our parliamentary system made a desperate grab for power by threatening to outvote the governing party on a financial bill. This forced the Conservatives to backpedal from a clearly arrogant and ill-timed attempt to pull all of the government financing from each of the parties, including themselves. Nothing is so angry as a politician forced from the taxpayer's teat.
So here we are, the economy world-wide is in turmoil, the Americans are printing money faster than "you-know-what" through a goose, companies everywhere are clamouring for bailouts regardless of their ability to be successful, banks around the world who have been injected with taxpayer's money refuse to lend any of it, layoffs are reaching levels never experienced by this generation and the Canadian government is about to create a 35 billion dollar deficit in this budget (that's 1,000.00 for every man, woman and child in the country) and will be applauded by the pundits for plunging us into another round of debt.
A couple of months ago, the opposition was screaming for just this scenario but what would you like to bet that they will spend all of their time blaming the governing party for doing what they themselves would have done, only more so? It seems that in our system, the opposition wants only to oppose, regardless of their own counsel and in complete opposition to their stated beliefs of a few short weeks prior. It will be interesting to see at least two of the opposition leaders hold forth with views of how the government is completely mismanaging the economy without having read (would they understand it if they did?) the budget that is presented.
Let's hope against hope that some common sense, civility and intelligence rises from the steaming pile of stench that we call Ottawa. Not that I'm cynical......

OBAMA sama-sis-boom-ba

At first blush, it makes me sick. The U.S. media and entertainment industries are fawning over the new president like he's the second coming. Expectations have been jacked up sky high to the point that it would be impossible for any mortal to fulfill them. And I expect that we will find that out soon. It would be nice to think that it is possible for one man to change the world - and I suppose it has happened before, but my fear is that change is expected overnight. The media and Hollywood types are falling all over themselves with promises of hope and change that will magically appear today with the entry to the White House of Barack Obama. I suspect that the pain for people on the street is just beginning. The unemployed, disenfranchised, working poor, homeless and home poor will have to accept a much bigger role in changing their own lives than just cheering for a man who offers hope.
The media and entertainment attention and hyperbole is a mile wide and an inch deep as they wrestle with each other for 15 second sound bites full of promise from spectators desperate to blame the previous administration for everything from acne to war. Not that Bush doesn't deserve to carry the bag for a lot of what went wrong but greed, disinterest, myopia, naivete and downright stupidity were not the exclusive playground of the president - he had a lot of partners - about 350 million of them.
Anyway, I think that when Obama finally settles into office (150 million for inaugural festivities is obscene - imagine the media outcry if the Republicans had spent that much) and starts to take control of the levers, most people are going to find out that he will have to make a lot of very unpopular decisions. After the honeymoon is over and citizens figure out that they too have to make some decisions and take some actions, let's hope that some common sense and realistic time lines will develop to support Obama's effort to get the machine moving again.
One last thing I know for sure, we should NEVER count out the American ability to rise above challenges and truly create a brave new world. If I needed to bet on one country - I think I might bet on the U.S.