Past is Prologue

In 1993, the Star of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps performed a show entitled “Medea.” This show was based on the musical composition of the same name by Samuel Barber, and a piece by Bela Bartok. As a young band geek, I have to say I LOVED watching this Star of Indiana performance – I watched the video frequently. Soon, my mild obsession changed to curiosity as I began to listen to the original compositions of Barber and Bartok. Then, I read the original mythological story of Medea, which is, in my opinion, too similar to the current political debate on the USA’s debt ceiling.

Medea was the daughter of King Aeëtes and the niece of Circe (granddaughter of the sun god Helios). Medea married Jason (yes, the Jason and the Argonauts /Golden Fleece guy). Jason and Medea had 2 children. Some time goes by and then Jason dumps Medea to marry Glauce, the daughter of the king of Corinth. This leaves Medea a devastated mother with 2 children. Medea gets revenge for Jason’s unfaithfulness by killing the two children. She kills her own kids just to make Jason miserable. The statement she makes is “I hate Jason more than I love my own children.” Imagine a mother who kills her own children just to get back at her ex-husband.

You may be asking why I think about Jason and Medea when I watch the news about the debates going on in Congress about the debt ceiling. I think there are some people in the political arena that “HATE OBAMA MORE THAN THEY LOVE AMERICA.” Rush Limbaugh has already said he hopes Obama fails. When asked to clarify this point he then will give you some long, drawn out explanation about how Obama’s policies are anti-American and Limbaugh hopes those policies fail. Mitch McConnell says his primary goal is to make Obama a one-term president. He didn’t say he wants to improve the lives of the hard working people in his state, or that his state has greater economic prosperity or that the country that he grew up in is a better place for all of her citizens. His primary reason for his political life is to screw Obama.

Most economists agree with Obama that not raising the debt ceiling will be catastrophic to the economies of both the United States and the world. Some members of Congress on the right (mostly the Tea Party) have stated that they want the country to hit the debt limit even though many of them acknowledge that there will be consequences. For everyone who thinks that my “Medea” diagnosis of the GOP is incorrect, ask yourselves a series of questions: How does this make America better? How is America better if its credit rating is downgraded to that of a second class economic nation? How is it better for the American people if the government can’t pay its bills? How is it better for us as a country if old people that worked all their lives and put money into social security now over night are told that their money isn’t coming? How are we better as a country when we are fighting 3 wars and the people on the battle field don’t get paid? How are we better when widows of fallen service men don’t get the life insurance policy that the government provides? How does closing national parks help the citizens of this country? How do credit card interest rates going up to FIFTY PERCENT OVERNIGHT help the average American? How do car loans with 35% interest help our consumer economy? How does it help the average American (who already won’t get their social security payments if the GOP has their way) if the stock market tanks and everyone’s 401k is cut in half?

Some Republicans would rather see the entire United States economy collapse then to see Obama get an increase in the debt limit. When George Bush was president, the Congress voted to raise the debt ceiling SEVEN TIMES IN EIGHT YEARS (and the one time they didn’t was because Bill Clinton left him a freakin’ surplus and not a deficit). Now this same group of Republican politicians won’t raise the debt ceiling one time IN THE MIDDLE OF A RECESSION CASUED BY GEORGE FREAKIN BUSH. They would rather see unemployment go up to 40% just to screw Obama and win a political argument.

This is not the first time that this has happened. If the GOP had their way there would be no General Motors now. They would have rather seen all of Detroit be unemployed to screw Obama instead of support his package that saved the automobile industry. Now these politicians and their friends are buying stock in GM at $31 a share. Do they say Obama may have been right? HECK NO. They take every opportunity they can to stick it to him. Have they said, “I am glad we still have an auto industry?” Of course not. Rather than give Obama one small victory in this economic hell or acknowledge that America having a manufacturing sector may be a good thing, the GOP would rather continue to publicly state that Obama’s idea was a bad one and take every chance they can to screw him.

I am not suggesting that everyone who voted against Obama hates America. I am not suggesting that all Republicans hate America. I am not saying that everyone has to agree with everything Obama does. I know many people that did not vote for Obama who love America. There are many things that Obama has done that I don’t agree with. What I am saying is that it is in the political interest of the GOP for things to get worse. I am also saying that there are some politicians who hate Obama so much, who hate what he is proposing so much that they would rather things get worse just to prove a point. I am saying that there are politicians who would put their political views and their hatred of Obama and what he stands for in front of the best interest of the country. It is in NO ONE’S best interest (Democrat, Republican, progressive, conservative) if this country defaults on its obligations. It makes America less secure and less prosperous. So why would ANYONE want to see America go into the toilet over a debt ceiling that we have the power to change? I think the GOP is more interested in winning the argument than helping the country. I want America to prosper. If the conservative philosophy prevails and America is successful, I WILL BE THE HAPPIEST GUY IN THE COUNTRY. I would love to write an article 20 years from now called America has solved all of its problems and we did it with conservatism. I can’t see a time when Rush Limbaugh and Mitch McConnell would ever make that admission. The GOP needs to act like a political party and not someone’s psycho ex wife. That is what I call a Medea Complex.

Queue Samuel Barber mythologically inspired music!