Woulda, coulda, shoulda

Quoting Joe Conason in Salon:

"Consider the cumulative performance of the stock market. Until this year, the best data available showed that on average, equities increased in value by more than 12 percent during Democratic administrations, and by around 8 percent when Republicans were in power. The largest gains in the past 80 years occurred under FDR, Truman, Johnson and Clinton -- and when the awful declines of the past few months are factored in, the Democratic record will look even better."

I have been listening to all of the recriminations, the self-loathing, the but-if's, the shoulda's and, above all, the laments of the so-called Republicans and Conservatives who went along with the program to (a) destroy the economy, (b) the military, and (c) the Republican Party. In the beginning, there might have been the excuse that, "We didn't realize what we were doing." But, as it got worse and worse, and started downhill, both with George W. and then the panel of GOP candidates, all flawed, I heard no outcry at how destructive it was or how it would ruin all of the three elements I mentioned above.

Denial is one part of it. Stupidly following the label of "Republican" when the truth was it had nothing to do with real Republican principles such as fiscal responsibility or honest marketplaces, is another.

But what astonishes me is the denigration of the brightest spot in the whole universe of past Presidents, the prosperity everyone enjoyed under Clinton with Rubin's guidance, which gets bad-mouthed and re-written. Bush started with an amazing surplus, left to him by Clinton. (I'm tired of people claiming the existing President has no responsibility for the state of the nation or the economy, by the way, and harkening back to the past Presidents or pretending that an economic tsnuami arises all out of mischance with no one behind it.) Under Clinton, stupid though he may have been in his personal life, we did enjoy real prosperity.

Prosperity is not the sole province of the Republicans, and if you're practical you can separate out what nutures it and see it in the things both parties do, and can do. In fact, if I look at George Bush the first (it's the economy, stupid) and George Bush, his son, I see a terrible economy that we had; and the same goes for Jimmy Carter.

But don't keep pretending that the Republicans have a lock on a good economy; the record does not prove it. I happen to believe that McCain doesn't know where he stands now; he has changed positions so often he's lost; he has no consistency and he can't even control his own campaign; so how can he control an administration? So, you can not vote (probably a vote for Obama); vote for McCain; or vote for Obama and hope he does bring some change.

I learned long ago that Life doesn't give you good choices, usual it's the lesser of two evils; and Obama today seems to be the lesser of two evils over McCain's zigs and zags and negativity and promises such as "I know how to get Osama Bin Laden," but it's a secret how he'll do it; and, I'll take care of you if you're a veteran, and voting so badly the Veteran's organizations rank him near the bottom.

Woulda, shoulda, coulda are all bad words, as far as I'm concerned.