The Clock is Ticking

Yesterday was not about Barack Obama, to beat the drum of so many other commentators and reiterate, it was about America, all of us, and about the 44th president.

Beyond the call to service, beyond the critque of the last 8 years of Bush-Cheney rule, President Obama sent a shot across the bow of all Americans ailing sense of virtue; a virtue whose shine vanished completely under a petina of greed; a 28-year era whose dogma's main principles proclaimed that the lifestyles of the rich and famous were to be rejoiced and goals to which we all should strive.

Yes, it was greed, a frowned upon human flaw mentioned in the Bible over 200 times, that led us, a God-fearing nation to the place we are today.

Harking back to my trip to the US over the recent holiday season, I was still stunned to see how many people refuse to give up their massive vehicles. Lone drivers chug along in their massive Escalades, Expeditions and so on. Massive McMansions, vast swathes of lawn being seeded and then regularly watered, being heated and then cooled and heated and cooled all for 3 and 4 people.

Yes, it was greed that permitted the likes of Madoff to do what he is accused of having done (and he still sits free at home). It was greed that permitted our nation to vote twice for a man who was so clearly not intelligent enough to have been president; yet, his promise of tax cuts for the wealthy and big business motivated the "interests" and tickled the "dumb Christians" (who seem to forget about greed and its prominent place in the Bible) into action.

Yes, it was greed that led us away from Kyoto and let the White House to completely and totally politicize the facts about global warming by censoring reports from scientists whose sole responsibility was to warn the nation, its people, its elected officials when danger is imminent.

Greed. One single time our new president mentioned that word but, in every single word before and after it, calls for action, recriminations of the last eight years, he was really screaming at the top of his lungs: greed is tearing our nation asunder.

Driven by greed, universal health care was not passed under Bill Clinton--and most Americans, thanks to millions of dollars invested in advertising against universal health care will say that Clinton's program would have been bad for people and too costly--and today, our nation's dwindling resources are filling the pockets of those who did everything they could to destroy that legislation.

Obesity is greed. Driving big cars is greed. Making and selling and living in McMansions is greed. Wal-Mart is greed. The religious right is about greed. It is greed which motivates people to be against green technologies.

Greed, hopefully, left us yesterday when W. flew off into the sunny, blue sky and Mr. Potter was driven away to suburban Virginia.

Today is D-Day and the enemy is not entrenched Germans, drinking tea and waiting, waiting for our boys to assualt the beaches; the enemy is our learned appetites for everything now. Will we win this battle? This war? The clock is ticking. The hidden mines are many but on June 6, 1944, by 11 AM, our boys had moved off of bloody Omaha.

The clock is ticking. 11 AM is not far off. Will be make it to our president and his vision of our nation?