My Republican Friends

My Republican friends e-mail me almost every day with some new “old” complaint about the President. He is so different from their model, so different from what they expect an obedient, “do what we tell you” President ought to be. They just can’t understand this guy. Here is a President who actually thinks before he answers a question, who actually listens to others, who believes in the true separation of powers, and in using all three branches of government to govern. It’s just a bit much for them to get their brains around.

They do not yet see that the auto industry WILL be entirely something else in eight years; they do not see that America WILL be a whole lot less dependent on fossil fuels to drive its cars in eight years; they do not yet see that financial markets WILL have new supervision and oversight; they do not see that health care WILL be reformed and universal health care WILL be accepted, indeed, embraced even by Republicans.

I advise them to get ready for an economy that will grow at a healthy rate for at least another 25 years. This is the kind of paradigm shift that impacts all facets of our lives. (Wait until nanotechnology hits computers in your office and automobiles in your garage with its full potential. You will be witness to real growth!)

Our President is just getting started. The credit card bill – a measure we have sorely needed for 30 years – is just the beginning. I tell my Republican friends, “If you can’t understand what is happening, if you think it is too much for us to handle as Americans, if you think we can’t or shouldn’t do any of these ambitious things, you best stand back because you will be run over by people who see ‘yes’ where you see only ‘no.’”

PS Keep you Blackberry fully charged if you want even a slim chance of keeping up.

Tiptoe to the Horizon

If only we could tiptoe to the horizon and take a look over to gain at least a glimpse of what the future holds for us. None of us have that gift (or curse, depending on your point of view), but it doesn't take much imagination to see enormous potential for growth and strength in the American experience.

It seems clear that alternative fuels will soon power our automobiles, thus decreasing our dependence on foreign sources of oil.

It seems clear that alternative and renewable fuels will be used to generate our electricity, including clean coal technology (which really will be clean).

It seems clear that advances in nanotechnology will soon transform the way thousands of products are manufactured, and the products thus made will be in the millions.

It seems clear that computers will become increasingly more sophisticated, faster and more powerful, and even more integrated in our lives, not just to help us play video games or to keep us better connected to each other, but including, especially including, providing better health care.

The capitalist system is perfectly suited to take advantage of the innovation and invention that flows from American ingenuity. The problem for this country has been that, for the past eight years, there has been no leadership at the White House. The Bush-Cheney cabal was never able to address "that vision thing" -- as Bush 41 described it -- because they were not, and are not capable of it. With Obama taking the helm, at last we will have a chance to take advantage of the real potential in America that has been suppressed by this incompetent Administration.