Well, That Sucks

I'm trying to think of something poignant to say, some cute quip people will 'like' on Facebook or maybe even re-tweet.  It seems as though that's what is called for right now, based on how my accounts are blowing up.  But I'm struggling to put into words what I'm feeling right now.  I'm not angry that President Obama won re-election, but obviously I am not happy.  I'm not sad either.... it goes beyond that.

I am profoundly disappointed.

In 1980, an incumbent president was running for re-election during similar circumstances.  High unemployment.  High gas prices.  An obviously flawed foreign policy with the Mid-East in turmoil and a dead American ambassador.  American voters summarily dismissed the incumbent in 1980.....but not tonight.  Tonight, they voted him back into office.

So what on God's green earth changed?  

I see multiple possibilities.

 - Voters are under-informed.  Perhaps Americans are not aware of the President's policies either because they don't want to be, don't know where to get the information, or are too distracted with life's other issues.

 - The media has changed.  Perhaps the death of an American ambassador would have called for more than 3 weeks coverage in 1980, especially if it was made clear the White House was playing a game of cat and mouse with the details.  If it were clear in 1980 that the White House lied about the circumstances surrounding the ambassador's death, and even denied military assistance to said ambassador, perhaps the media would have chased that story down.  Maybe the media is so in love with the President these days they are biased in the information they present to voters.

 - The cult of 'celebrity' has finally conquered America.  President Obama is suave, cool, and hip.  Perhaps his massive following can be attributed to people's desire to vote for the suave, cool and hip candidate.  Maybe his celebrity covers his ineffective foreign and domestic policies.

 - The American voter has different priorities now.  Have voter's hearts changed so drastically in the past 32 years that they vote for entirely different things?  This is possible, and if in fact true, is probably the one that concerns me most.  

We can deal with people who are under-informed.  We can fight media bias.  We can combat celebrity status, and make sure presidential elections are not based upon popularity.  But if the issue resides in the heart of the voter.............

Consider a few things with me:

This President will have added more debt than all the Presidents before him.  Think about that for a moment.  The US got through September 11th, Desert Storm, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, WWII, the Great Depression, WWI, the Civil War and the War of 1812 without incurring as much debt as this one man.  So do people not understand the ramifications of this fact, are they not aware of this fact, or do they not care?  

This President will be the first to have presided over a Congress which never passed a budget during his term.  Do we no longer recognize the failure of leadership, do voters not know this reality, or do we no longer value leadership?

This President promised to halve the debt, but instead he doubled it.  He promised to close Guantanamo, end the Iraq and Afghan Wars, pass immigration reform, get unemployment to 5%, heal the world and stop the rise of the oceans.  He did none of these things.  Do we no longer recognize when we are lied to, are we unaware of broken promises, or do we not care when we are lied to?

Tonight I see people post on Facebook about how glad they are that the President won, and I can't help but think of drunk Trojans dancing around the pretty horse the Greeks delivered.  And I wonder, were the Trojans ignorant of the danger because they let their guard down, because no one warned them of the danger, or because they no longer knew how to spot danger?  The United States has more debt per citizen than Greece or Spain, both of which are going through massive spending cuts and solvency issues, and have unemployment rates higher than 25%.  Do the people celebrating tonight have any concept that the US will be there in the near future, are they un-educated about how finances work, or do they not care?  

Or maybe people think the President shares their concerns, but for the life of him he just can't fix it because of President Bush.  In that case, they're probably unaware of the speed at which the Reagan recovery took hold after the Carter admin.  Or perhaps they are aware of those facts, but just don't care.  But that's a post for another day....

There are steps we can take to remedy the slow dissemination of information; we can help people process the information they receive; but if voters no longer care about issues like these, if they're too worried about whether their paycheck is going to be cut or their benefits curtailed, the future of the United States contains no hope, regardless of what our politicians try to sell us.

I started by saying I don't know what to say, and then rambled on far too long.  For that I apologize.  I suppose what I am really struggling with is conveying my disappointment.  My faith in Christ remains my solid foundation, and I'm eternally thankful that He has provided for me a citizenship outside of this world.  But He has also placed in me a passion for these things.  And it's that part of me I don't know what to do with.  

I do not posses the power to change men's hearts.  If voters don't believe the things above are of importance, I fear I cannot convince them otherwise, which makes me further disappointed.  But God has inflamed this passion in my heart for a reason, and I will continue to spur people on to greater understanding of the deeper impact of issues.  But I'll also be honest:  there is a part of me that wants to drink wine all day and pretend I live in a world where this stuff already matters.