Now He Owns Our Problems
By Azher Quader
Chicago, IL
“The path that this country has taken has never been a straight line. We zig and zag and sometimes we move in ways that some people think is forward and others think is moving back, and that’s okay. The point though is that we all go forward with a presumption of good faith in our fellow citizens, because that presumption of good faith is essential to a vibrant and functioning democracy.”
__President Obama
The political games we were watching all these past several months, have now concluded. The winners are celebrating, the losers are agitating. Our exceptional democracy has once again spoken with great clarity and speed, handing the victory to a candidate whose vote count was almost 2 million short of the loser. In our brief life time we have witnessed this anomaly in our national politics twice already. Only in America could this happen. Thanks for another ‘college’, that has helped boost the fortunes of Mr Trump, he now becomes the leader of the free world.
In the aftermath of this stunning election loss the Democrats have a lot to rethink about, as they try to regroup and reorganize. The Republicans too have much to consider as they rejoice in their tainted victory on technicality and not on popularity. Clearly America is at a tipping point. Our struggle for a ‘more perfect union’ has never been in such trouble, our citizenry never seemingly so divided and torn apart. There are at play so many competing passions and so many divergent agendas, sometimes we wonder if we are one country any more.
There are many threads that are knotted together in this painful knot of rage we are witnessing across the land, not only today but has been so, throughout these past several months, which marked this election cycle.
There is the hurt of an economy where the middle class is suffering and the billionaire class is prospering. There is the agony of a broken criminal justice system. There is the constant ache of an immigration system which stubbornly resists reform, and argues to place rules over reason, preferring to tear families apart. There is the cold indifference of a healthcare system, which puts profits over people, procedures over outcomes and denies access to millions, claiming healthcare is a privilege not a right. There is the resentful arrogance of big business, which poisons the water we drink, pollutes the air we breathe, contaminates the soil we live on, and refuses to change their ways, because they have the money to buy our politicians and purchase their votes. For people of color, for Gays and Lesbians, for Muslims there is the added fear of violence in the streets, hostility on campuses, bullying in schools, even banishment from their homes.
Some have compared this election result to the tragedy of 9/11. Some made doomsday predictions to follow. That this was another watershed moment in the political history of our country. Happily, though the sun came up the next morning on November 9, bright and warm, and every morning since. The markets are booming. The Dow is hitting all-time highs. There is not a cloud in sight. So why the sadness and anger? Why the disappointments and demonstrations? Why not give the man a chance? How much can he falter? How much chaos can he create? How many of his promises can he keep? The days of locker room talk are over. Now the serious task of governing begins. Now he owns our problems, our anger and our future. As a people with hope, we must wish him success, for in his success we all may yet succeed to a better America. -
- azherquader@yahoo.com
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