Did Obama Care?

I was there in '08. For some people the long-awaited turning point had come. Finally there would be some accountability for the decades of Republican mismanagement, malfeasance and perfidy. It appeared that the world had seen the horror and insanity of Bush and the neocons and that the American voters had owned their shit, electing a reserved, rational black man to replace him.

Republicans had trashed everything they had touched. Obama's failure to hold the criminals accountable could be understood though it disappointed anyone interested in justice. He had inherited a world economy on the brink of collapse, the immediate result of Republican deregulatory insanity. And the Middle East was in flames and hundreds of thousands were dead. He had his hands full.

In the end there was no accountability. None of the neocons suffered personally. They moved on into respected positions when they should have been in jail. And, when all was said and done the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. The forces of evil were only emboldened. Republicans sabotaged Obama's presidency from beginning to end. It should have been clear in his first midterm election.

The American voters were implicated. They couldn't own the catastrophes of the modern American imperium. They only wanted to feel safe and comfortable and righteous. God had chosen us. We were the elect. It didn't matter what we did. But it does matter. Eventually we will pay but not the instigators. Just like the neocons and Bush the ringleaders will walk away probably unscathed.

I don't know why Obama failed at this though I think there were "realists" and cynics in the mix. Rahm Emmanuel is a left-wing version of a right-wing thug. Other thugs were already in place, the bullies of the American military, forever optimistic about their mission and usually avoiding culpability. Technically civilians are responsible and in charge but Obama wasn't able to stop the ongoing lunacy.

And now we have Trump and the full blossoming of doom. Americans are addicts on many fronts and will never own it or only when it is too late. I am convinced of that now. We are living the primal drama of good against evil and we have sided with evil. Congratulations, America. We are shit. We are the bad guys. Try to "John Wayne" your way out of that. It's what got us there in the first place.