When I hear the term "economic bail out," I conjure a very vivid image.
That is, I picture the numerous occasions when my sister and I had to take plastic cups and empty our 11-foot whaler of the salt water the bilge had failed to remove. I don't remember it being a terrible task, as childhood tasks hardly were. My father, then Commander in Chief calmly instructed us, and only the blazing sun made beads of sweat form on his gleaming bald head. There was no antsy sense of urgency or panic, and I never once thought that if I was not quick enough our tiny boat would sink. I cannot, however, say the same for our monstrous American ship. Impervious? Had George W. Bush also designed the Titanic with insufficient space amongst life boats for all its passengers?
Now we see the iceberg. Big business owners board the lifeboats first.
Bush had wanted to avoid getting involved; sitting on his hands: An example of lasseiz-faire, which in French means "allow to do," and in American means "Full speed ahead!" Luckily, McCain, presidential hopeful, (almost) placed his patriotic duty to serve our struggling nation ahead of debating Senator Obama. I guess he thought it optimal to have all the US's best politicians huddled in a room talking economics instead of helping the world to continue in its rotation. George Bush addressed the nation with a tone of urgency, calling forth presidential hopefuls as Americans first, leaving politics out of "what's best for our country," while they attempted to put together a band aid bill for Congress. The initial bill was rejected, a bail out package both parties marked "return to sender."
More financial distress could lead more banks to fail, the stock market to drop further, businesses to close, to job losses and home values to drop, our Commander in Chief said. "And, ultimately, our country could experience a long and painful recession," Bush said. "Fellow citizens, we must not let this happen."
While I do have an active imagination, I still cannot picture John McCain with a plastic cup working to clear the bilge. And G.W. behind the wheel while the iceberg is in plain sight? Shouldn't we fix the boat, said to be superior to all other boats that has Haitians, Cubans, and other immigrants swimming across oceans to board? Instead we are asking that Obama, McCain, Bush, and other important political advisers get down in the oval office and begin to bail.
With my family the solution was simple- we sold the boat.
Maybe a new owner would be able to fix what we couldn't. As for our country, it is even more obvious that things simply can't stay the way they are.
(Obama,) S.O.S.!
