Inauguration Day

Dear Mr. President,

Today the big show, the swearing in, the parade, the inaugural balls sponsored by heavy hitters like ExxonMobil, AT&T and Microsoft, each ponying up $250,000 to $1 million. Lots of pomp and ceremony that means nothing since you were officially sworn in yesterday as required by the Constitution. Politics is nothing but entertainment nowadays, meaningless public spectacle; the real deals cut behind closed doors and only those with the entry fee admitted. Like that Amgen deal buried deep in the fiscal cliff budget, a clause inserted in the last hours before the vote so no one would notice (New York Times, January 20, p. A1). It gave Amgen another 2-year delay before reducing Medicare payments for a dialysis drug, essentially taking $500 million from Medicare and giving it to the company, the same company that on December 19 pled guilty to criminal charges of illegal marketing and paid a $762 fine. But with 74 lobbyists swarming Capitol Hill and millions in campaign contributions, no problem influencing lawmakers and getting another 2 years to rip off Medicare. The myth of government by the people, for the people and of the people, an axiom of accepted truth repeated and handed down from generation to generation long after the truth is gone and the myth is ancient history. In 2008 we voted for Hope. Hope you would lead us out of the slough of despond and into a brighter future, into the light of peace and prosperity. That did not happen. Instead, we sank ever deeper into the quicksand of war and violence, of kill lists and targeted assassinations and drone strikes. You pursue wars of terror and we accept the loss of freedoms, the rule of law, justice, equality and fair play. In contrast to the Hope of 2008, in 2012 you ran on a campaign of Fear, fear of Romney as the greater evil and fear of what the Republican crazies might do. I met someone a few nights ago who followed that pattern, who believed your lies and false promise of Hope in 2008 and fell for the lesser of two evils scare in 2012. He was shocked when I said you were not the lesser but the more effective evil, worse even than Bush. He didn’t know you made it a crime to demonstrate on federal property or that you’d gutted the constitution with the NDAA, FISA and the Patriot Act. He hated your drone wars but still has Hope, classic denial, willful ignorance. Hope is only for those who can afford it. Like Amgen and ExxonMobil and AT&T. Otherwise, Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here.

Photo: Charles Dharapak, Associated Press