Will It Be Different?

The first man of any other color than white will move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in January. He will inherit a real mess of an economy, two wars, and chaos beyond measure. Is he up to the challenge? Is Congress? Are we?

I would argue that no real progress will be made to turn things around for some time, and in that time will the boat actually slip beneath the churning seas? Will we see another Depression like the one that haunted my mother until her dying day? I hope not, but I believe that things are bad enough and it could happen. I'm not economist, so I have no clue how they plan on plugging all the leaks in the boat named United States of America. I hope Mr Obama finds excellent minds to figure out what needs to happen to keep this economy afloat. Will we look to the Chinese to bail us out a bit more? 

Every sector is failing. Every person I know is scared of the consequences of the actions of the current regime. 

I want to have hope, and I want to believe that this one black man will hire the right people, to hire the right people, to fix the boat instead of just plugging the holes. I want to believe that all those people who sit in the chairs in both houses of Congress actually have this country's best interest in the forefront of their minds as the lame duck session starts. I want to believe that these costly wars can end.... I want to believe in a lot of things, but my skeptical self is wide awake and watching the goings on as this monumental transition takes place. 

I wish I could be one of those folks who are naive enough to think that a regime change means things are going to be better just because we elected Barack. I am, I fear, not one of those people. I feel as if darker days are  ahead of us and I am glad that I have enough wealth to wait it out. I hope that all the players in government get themselves on the same team and get their head back in the game. We need strong leaders and strong followers and a citizenry that is willing to make more sacrifices if we hope to see better days in our economic future. 

As Jesse Jackson said, "keep hope alive", but keep your eye on the people running the country. They have yet to prove to me that they are actually capable of really great legislation that will bring the boat back from the brink.