Hillary would

If we are headed into a new Depression then the end of a 50 year era is upon us. I'm glad. A society solely based on "consumption" is no society at all. The pursuit of happiness does not begin and end with a Big Screen TV.

If the era of oversized SUVs to drive to the 7-11 is over - I say good riddance. We should not sustain a society of acquisition for acquisitions sake. Slapping together hope and delusion and more debt so that we can continue to live 80 miles from work and eat tomatoes from Argentina year round for one more generation is cold blooded.

WE CONSUME THEREFORE WE ARE cannot be the final answer we send to the future. Nor should "Well, at least we finally elected a black guy."

As big a fan of Bill Clinton as I am I don't want a return to the 90s to be the goal. I want the 90s to be seen as the last hurrah of consumerism as an ideology - the moment we thought it might still work. So Barack, good on you for hiring all those Clintonites. They know more than you. Now use your much rumoured leadership skills to bring us to a new place.

The catastrophe that is George W Bush continues - vaporizing whatever wealth is left here as he exits. But Obama is showing few signs that he is willing to confront any hard truths. Though, I'll add: Obama is capable of confronting us with the harsh truths. Do it, Barry. As I see it they are simple enough:

*Getting 2/3 of our energy from people who hate us is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated any longer. He must then actually EXPLAIN what ending this addiction means. It is not pretty. But the alternative is nasty, brutish, and short.

*He must take to task every institution and every politician that allowed the financial system to collapse. That includes you and me. The era of mystical money must end. Again this is full of unpleasant side effects.

My prayer now for Obama is this: I pray he's willing to be unpopular. He WILL be unpopular, anyway. He's going to be holding the bag.

After a year of asinine chanting he must now leave it behind and tell the damn truth. We are in a real fix. He's made some good hires. Now he needs to tell us what we don't want to hear.

Hillary would.

Almost forgot the music! Should anyone else ever be allowed to sing this song after...?