by Mary Wakefield Buxton –
URBANNA — Am I happy with the way things are going in this country? No. Before the last election I had been concerned as to whether Joe Biden had mental and physical energy needed to lead the country. Many assured me he would do fine. But the nation has gone downhill so fast and in so many areas my head is spinning.
I’ve seen a lot of presidents come and go in my lifetime, FDR was president when I was born so that adds up to 12, and, frankly, I have been happiest when they have gone from office. (And prayed they don’t come back!)
I’ve discovered there are no perfect presidents and no matter which party is in office, mistakes are going to be made and some of them will be real “lulus.”
Presidents, however, rarely suffer the consequences of their mistakes. The people must bear the brunt. Presidents get rich no matter what. The people get poor, poorer or poorest.
They come into power with a big smile, lots of grandiose promises and a great deal of hoopla. At my age one can barely manage even a drop of enthusiasm no matter who is elected. That’s a condition called … “sadder but wiser.”
I’ve also learned presidents have at least one irritating quality. We are fortunate when a president has only one as some have numerous irritating qualities, some to the point they can actually destroy the economy creating a new generation that learns quickly definitions of recession, inflation, high interest rates and unemployment and new records set for inflation.
Unfortunately, many millions of Americans never lived through the years of the Jimmy Carter economy and may not have known what poor stewardship in the White House can mean to the economy.
The last president had some greatly irritating traits mainly that he seemed a raving egomaniac at times with unusual ability to insult people in high places. Citizens seldom retired each night without another outrageous charge ringing in our ears.
And how can we forget the names he attached to the unfortunate that were in his cross hairs? Pocahontas? The candidate with low energy? How about the classic: the Senator with small hands?
Yet in retrospect, Trump came across as someone who genuinely cared about America and he had aggressively turned the sleepy Barack Obama economy around, sealed the border, made the country self-sufficient in energy and charged up business and jobs to a roaring success.
President Biden promised a more pleasant administration. Initially it was such a relief to have the strident environment of DC politics removed from our daily lives.
Then things fell apart. Afghanistan, loss of energy independence, inflation, a border to the south with no controls and people streaming into our country causing new burdens in communities, public schools, health services, police forces, and other social services not to mention such had little or no COVID-19 testing.
Then inflation. Prices soared. One almost must sell the family jewels to fill up a gas tank these days or buy hamburger for dinner, forget eating a steak anymore, and pity anyone who needs to see a lawyer, doctor, CPA, dentist or vet because they are going to get a knockout bill.
Even the car wash has jumped from $11 to $14. But Jan at Shear Delight in Urbanna still offers shampoo and cut at last year’s prices!
Then Ukraine. What a heartbreak. I think when Biden cut off our pipeline and appeared weak in Afghanistan, Putin felt emboldened to move his troops into Ukraine. Whether we like it or not, when America appears spineless on the world scene, others inclined to gobble up neighboring territory will surely sit down to the feast.
The future is sobering. Taiwan could be next to fall to conquest and there is warning from economists of a real estate bust and recession. Inflation is at 10 percent and the stock market has seen better days.
Reality never whispers when it hits rock bottom, it screams. We need to do a better job nominating and electing leaders. Dogmatic partisanship is destroying the country. We must return to basics of good government … strong world leadership and healthy economy. The problem with President Biden, in spite of his many worthwhile goals, he has not provided us these fundamental needs.
Who’s to blame? Father had some wisdom on a similar subject. Everyone knows three teenage daughters are difficult to raise and when Mother complained, Father always reminded her of two truths, “Our daughters were created from our genes and we raised them. So, if you don’t like what we got, you don’t like what you did!”
It’s the same with democracy. We’re responsible for whom we nominate and elect. What is said about democratic government is true. We might dislike admitting it but sadly, we deserve what we get.
© 2022
