Political Games - Where the fuck’s the reset button?

Almost 3 years later, I think it’s time to look at some of my predictions, such as they are, from before the 2004 election. These were OP/EDs published in my high school’s newspaper in September and October, respectively.

Domestically… ouch. There weren’t predictions, per se, but things are worse now than they were then. Then, the US National Debt was somewhere between $7 and $7.5 trillion, but is currently over $9 trillion, resulting in the average citizen share of $30,000, an increase of $5,000 per capita (and $20,000 per average household). The dollar has degraded even farther, actually falling below the Canadian dollar and weakening against many other national currencies. The burst of the housing bubble has thrown the stock market into rollar coaster mode, and many are foreclosing on their homes. In 2005, a Bankruptcy Bill made declaring Bankruptcy harder for individuals [but not corporations, of course]. The price of food is rising thanks to increased corn-based ethanol use [biofuels, bitches!] and skyrocketing oil prices [almost $100/barrel now!]. In an area I didn’t address, the Surveillence State continues to expand illegally, thanks to a complicit and cowardly Congress and an Administration hell-bent on creating a quasi-despot [”Let Freedom Reign”, indeed] for a President. Oh, and the corporate welfare state marches on, at the expense of science, medical research, and insurance for children. Compassionate Conservative!

Not much has changed on the foreign policy front, except the tragic numbers. Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of Iraqis dead, millions more wounded or displaced, American casualties continue to mount though thankfully less per month than earlier in the year. We know for a fact, instead of through inference, that North Korea has nuclear weapons now. Oh, and Iran hasn’t been pursuing them for years, despite Administration rhetoric to the contrary. The missile defense shield goes ahead despite the technical unreliability and the fouling relations with an increasingly-dictatorship-lite Russia. Afghanistan is falling apart, with a rising Taliban force. We’re the greatest!

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