I am lucky enough to have a good job that pays well, as does my wife. This means I am not directly affected by the unemployment issues we are seeing now. That doesn't mean I don't see it on a regular basis... Statistically speaking 3-6 people in my apartment building are unemployed. Two of them live next door: one lost his nursing job of 15+ years when his hospital closed, the other lost his high-end retail job of 8 years... They are great people whom I hope have a LOT of savings, because I would hate to lose them from our little community...
After the 2008 election I was so hopeful. I got one of the huge Shepard Fairey 'Yes We Did' posters, and hung it proudly on a wall in our home.
I'll be taking it down later this week...
I have really tried to "keep hope alive" when it came to Obama and the Democrats. I really believed all the soaring rhetoric of the campaign and truly thought this country was bound for greatness again. Then, as the illusion of the rhetoric and the truth of reality began to diverge on so many promises I started to get cynical...
Now that Obama has completely caved on the Bush tax cuts, I am pretty much done hoping for any campaign promise to be honored. I have ceased to expect Obama to fight for anyone but the rich.
There was a time when I would have literally jumped for the opportunity to shake this President's hand. At this point, I might do it if he came and visited my office - but I wouldn't go out of my way to make it happen.
Every morning I come face to face with that "Yes We Did" poster, and as time has passed, I have become more and more apathetic towards it, and have now come to the point where I no longer want to have it hanging in my home.
I don't write a lot here, but I read dkos religiously. I read it during the Bush years when we had to keep our heads down and read about all the fucked up things our government was doing. After the election I was so looking forward to reading about all the great things our government was doing... Sadly, it just feels like the Who song "meet the new boss, same as the old boss." I still am reading about how crappy our government is...
So I am going to take down the poster and likely continue to grow ever more cynical. I'll keep reading dkos religiously, but I likely will no longer be hopeful with regards to reading about our government doing something great when I first open the page in the morning.