Juan Williams could hardly contain himself on NPR as he speculated on how the Blago scandal could open up opportunities for Republicans to pick up Obama's old Senate seat. The rest of the media was equally feverish in detailing every dirty little detail and no doubt ecstatic at having Jesse Jackson Jr. caught in Blago's web. Never mind the "taint" on the (yet-to-be) Obama admnistration, opined Williams. While Blago certainly gave fresh currency to the term venality, never mind stupidity, this mini-scandal is a fly on a pond compared to the economic tsunami that's engulfing this nation (and the world). At the end of the day, it is still the economy that will yield or tax political currency. So wankers on the right, enjoy yourself while you can, you will still hate yourself in the morning after this little fling with Blago.
Given the torrent of dire economic news bombarding us on a daily basis, it's hard to lose sight that this perfect storm is only the grossest manifestation of policies initiated with so-called "Reagan revolution." The last 30 years have seen the most dramatic redistribution of income since, well the New Deal. Except that, unlike the New Deal, the distribution has been from the working stiffs to the least-deserving, the wealthiest members of our community. While there have been a few prophets out in the wilderness, calling for economic justice, their voices have largely gone unheeded. But those of us who live in the real world and have to struggle from paycheck to paycheck know that we have been fucked and fucked again. My poor dad, who gave years of his life to a blue collar job had to work into his 70s because he could not afford to do otherwise. And even then, he struggled. The only positive thing was that his age allowed him decent health care.
My dad's experience is not unique. In fact, he may be one of the lucky ones, on a fixed income, he might do ok in a deflationary economy. Not so, the thousands, and we are talking about thousands, who are now getting hammered not only with the loss of their job, and all that entails, but who have nothing to fall back on. If you think that some guy who just got laid off is busy lapping up the dirty details of Blago's doings, well you are probably a card-carrying member of the vast-right-wing conspiracy and secretly covet Michelle Malkin. No my friend, when all is said and done, the measure of the incoming Obama administration will have nothing to do with some dirty Chicago politician but with their ability bring about a redistribution of income to those who work for living. That is the change we worked hard to enact and that is what will matter when the sputterings of insipid reporters fade away.