Will it all blow up?
Even more jobs were lost, many to never return, as unemployment surged and on the internet there were rumors of another great depression. The stock market began to recover, though due mostly to unprecedented cash infusions by the Federal Reserve, not to mention the millions of former workers the big corporations no longer had to pay. The housing market continued to tank and survivalist websites sprung up by the dozens.
In 2010 Congress refused to put a budget on paper, scared of being called on it later, and other than golfing and vacationing our president was concerned only with getting a healthcare insurance bill passed into law. By ignoring the rules, and public opinion, Democrats in Congress finally made it happen, largely by trading taxpayer cash for votes. Then came the oil spill, devastating the economy of the Gulf Coast, probably for years.
As rough as the last few years have been, 2011 has started off possibly even worse. Around the world, a tsunami followed the historic earthquake, killing 27,000 people in Japan, then went on to overwhelm a nuclear reactor, causing damage likely not to be known for years. Unrest in predominately Muslim countries has reached levels not seen in decades. Egypt and Tunisia have already overthrown their leaders, similar efforts are underway in Syria and Yemen, and there is concern in other countries. In Libya we, after several weeks of dithering, jumped into a kinetic military action, not to be confused with war, or an overseas contingency operation, led there by Nobel Peace Prize winning President Present. For those who don't recall our last kinetic military action in Africa, please see the movie Blackhawk Down.
In England an estimated half million people showed up to protest recent efforts by the legislature there to slow the growth of debt. Unexpectedly (ha!), the protests turned violent with multiple arrests and injuries, and mindless destruction of private, and public, property. The police did their best to not inflame the protesters further. After a few years of relative peace, Iranian backed terrorists have started again showering Israel with rockets and bombs, raising the probability of further bloodshed, with Iran being the only possible winner.
Meanwhile back here at home, real unemployment shows no sign of improvement, and inflation is no longer just a fear. Ask anyone who eats or drives. Political prostitutes (pardon the redundancy) who tell us there is no inflation, bear at least part of the blame through their unconscienable support of ethanol, a major cause of the rise in food prices. But Helicopter Ben deserves most of the blame, creating money out of thin air in a vague attempt to stave off the collapse until his term is up.
In Wisconsin we saw duly elected state officials fleeing the state, refusing to do their jobs because their side lost the last election - don't they remember their leaders words? "The elections are over - we won." Meanwhile chilren stayed home because teachers skipped school to attend rallies supporting the fleebaggers.
Thankfully our courageous legislators are attempting to address all these terrible things, in one state by taxing toilet paper and in others by taxing every mile you drive. Blessed be our public servants, always looking out for our best interests.
So okay, we were promised hope and change. As noted, changes abound, but what about the hope? Are we just going to hope the Libyan madman decides to give up? That companies scared to death about uncertainty are going to start hiring anyway? That our elected leaders will, for once, do the right things? If I were a cynical, old gray redneck, I'd suggest that our most-likely-to-come-true hope is VCU winning the whole thing, regardless of the odds.