Bad To The Bone...

In the movie "Crazy Heart", the protagonist, Bad Blake, played by the Oscar deserving Jeff Bridges, bottoms out, loses his girlfriend and, in an alcoholic stupor asks his friend, played by, the always terrific, Robert Duvall, to help him get to rehab and recovery.

He is successful in sobering up and, while he doesn't get the girl back, he gets his life back and, in so doing, gets on the track to a fulfilling and satisfying comeback and the creative well that was the foundation of his nearly bankrupt career.

President Obama, in a bid to save the unemployed and maybe his presidency has done us no favors.

I sympathize with the millions who are out of work and in jeopardy of losing their homes, health insurance and way of life. I really do. It is frightening and debilitating, to say the least.

But we are addicted, in this country and culture, to denial. We refuse to accept the fact that the choices we are making are ruining this country.

We pay little, or no attention to education and, as a result, we are being overtaken by the Indians, the Chinese and the Brazilians.

We pay little, or no attention to pollution and we are being sickened by bad air, bad water and bad food.

We pay little, or no, attention to the rampant greed that has come to define Wall Street and we are being overrun by the new billionaires in their diamond studded Rolls Royces.

As with most addicts, we apparently haven't quite hit bottom yet. We still think we can have that "social" drink, that "one for the road." We see the bartender as our friend, the jovial guy quick with a joke and a free beer every fifth one. What a pal...thanks Joe!

So what could President Obama have done instead of making a deal with the Republicans?

He could have shown true leadership and selflessness and he could have stood tall and tough on the Bush tax cuts and said "hell no" to giving the wealthy even more money. (The Republicans, cowards all, would have, more than likely, caved in the face of Obama's challenge because they would have seen the negatives involved with being associated with a stance that would have put millions of Americans further into the toilet...)

Sure, plenty of people would have suffered. They would have blamed him for their misery. But he could have turned around and said that it was, in fact, the Republicans who were in the way of their futures. It was the Republicans who were advocating on behalf of the despicable "One Percenters" who are only out for themselves, apparently, and don't seem to give a damn about the country and the hardworking, ever-shrinking, so-called Middle Class.

He would have, more than likely, forfeited his, probably doomed, second term, but he would have done the right thing and, as a consequence, helped put the country on the road to its' own recovery and renewal. He would have secured a place in history not only as the first Black President but also as the one who refused to play politics and, as a result, saved The Republic from the Barbarians inside the gates.

Maybe the intense collective pain would have awakened the near-dormant American consciousness and yanked us into reality.

We can no longer sustain the idiocy that has become our legislative process allowing demogogues to hold hostage anything and everything that could right this sinking ship.

Maybe if we, as a population, actually bottomed out, maybe then we would take the painful steps needed to get back on track. Maybe then our children and theirs would get the country back that our parents and grandparents fought wars to protect.

But maybe that's as much of a pipe dream as hoping that President Obama will actually become the man we thought he was, full of intelligence, compassion and vision.

So, while we're waiting, how about another drink? But this time, make it a double and leave the bottle. It's gonna be a long night.