I can't imagine what would have happened to this state without the federal help we have received over the past couple of years - and that help came thanks to the Democrats. You think the cuts we are making now are bad?
Man, you ain't seen nothin'.
I have these moments of darkness where I just give up. I give it all up and think, "You know what? Maybe we should have just let the auto industry fail. Maybe we should have just cut $3 billion out of a general fund budget that was taking in less than $8B. Just chop that baby right in half, and see how people like it when their schools and cities and hospitals go bankrupt. Maybe these Democrats are just enabling us with half-measures that ensure the "more tax cuts!" nonsense will continue. Maybe this state, maybe the entire country, needs to hit bottom, a REAL bottom mind you, one that is ever-so-much worse than it is now, a good old-fashioned Depression with a capital "D", with unemployment rates 10-15-20% higher and masses of people living in tents in the fields. Maybe it's the wake up call we really need, and maybe after all that pain and destruction, we will get some Democrats that will truly fight for people - because the people will demand they do so. And I'm not talking about slick ad campaigns of "change" or "reinvent" or the political scene that has all the charm and depth of professional wrestling like we have now, I'm talking actual riots in the streets that would scare the living shit out of everyone if they actually happened. I don't have kids, I don't have much family, the people I wanted to grow old with are already dead, so tear it up, America. I'll just go back to being a two-fisted drunk and watch y'all flip right the f__k out."
But then I shake those thoughts off, and I get back up again. Whether I can continue to do that or not, I don't really know. Probably. I've come too far from my days of nihilism to backslide now - but it's always a possibility.
This ad gives me hope. I see an ad like this, the strategy that I have always dreamed about and pleaded for - one that places emphasis on the importance of all those quality of life issues that are what made this state and this country great in the first place. Yes, it took a union to bring it up, but it's a start. I sure hope this meme catches on with the Democrats. I see shades of it sometimes. It's a winner. People want this stuff. People are willing to pay for this stuff - but you have to sell it first. The only question now is, will they?
Perhaps not in time for this election, but maybe in time for the next. Because if you vote for Republicans, all progress stops. You will see more cuts to your schools, cities, public safety and health care, you will see your tuition and insurance premiums continue to rise, you will see your infrastructure further crumble to the ground, you will see your environment polluted, you will see your wages and benefits fall while the rich get richer, you can forget about any advances in equal rights or justice, you will see it all start to fall apart when you hire the people that put us in this position in the first place. When you elect people who hate the government to run the government, don't be surprised when it fails. Again. And maybe that's what it will take.
Yes, the Democrats suck. We know this. But they still are a damn sight better than the failed fiscal and social policies that the "conservatives" would bring to the table. Deep down, we know that, too.
And if we don't by now, well, let's all pray we don't have to find out the hard way.