Hopefully Hoping
Ya gotta have hope! Musn’t sit around and mope. Nuthin’s half as bad as it may appear, wait’ll next year and hope.
Ok, so maybe bringing up lines from old Broadway tunes like this one from “Damn Yankees” doesn’t do much to secure my image as a macho Big Frick type, but it does seem appropriate considering the recent installation of the candidate of “hope” into the presidency. Especially after his recent Super Bowl interview in which he said he “hoped” we would see signs of an improved economy within the next year. And oh my how candidate Obama loved to peddle the individually unique concept of “hope” to the huddled masses.
Time and time again we were bombarded with the notion that Barack Hussein Obama was that bright and shining star that could restore” hope” into the weary American heart. We were further told by the adoring media that surrounded him and covered his every utterance that America had lost “hope” under the evil dictatorship of the totalitarian Bush/Cheney ticket.
All was lost. The war in Iraq was lost. The war in Afghanistan was lost. Osama bin Laden was lost. The economy was lost. The ability to earn a living wage was lost. The environment was lost. The future of the polar bear or any other creature that lives on some God forsaken frozen tundra was lost. The possibility of Middle East oil independence was lost. The likelihood that gasoline would ever be under $4.00 a gallon was lost. Alternative and renewable energy was lost. The ability to cure disease was lost. Healthcare was lost. The possibility of affordable prescription drugs was lost. Our ability to garner multinational support and even more importantly approval was lost. That warm and fuzzy feeling of just being an American was lost.
But “hope” was only a voting booth away. “Hope” for a brighter tomorrow for us Americans and our posterity, as well as for the rest of the “hope” starved world was embodied in the form of a thoughtful community activist/autobiographer. A “hope” so deep and profound that his very image inspired “hope”. His picture emblazoned on millions of posters, buttons, web sites, bumper stickers, tee shirts and on and on showing his image with just one word “HOPE”.
“Hope” was all it took for this candidate to be elected as President of the United States. Not experience, not history, not a voting record, not a plan, just “hope”. So how is it possible that after only 14 days in office, that one quality that was more important than anything else, “hope”, seems to be fading already?
Wall Street doesn’t seem to be too filled with “hope” regarding the president’s stimulus package. The credit markets aren’t showing any signs of “hope” through increased lending. Our trading partners in Europe are displaying a lot less “hope” calling attention to the new found protectionism regarding buying only American goods for projects funded by the infrastructure rebuilding component of the stimulus package. Even going so far as to compare it to the protectionism that brought about the Great Depression.
The government of India is not showing any signs of “hope” regarding the presidents approach to peace between them and their Pakistani neighbors, saying that the president is “barking up the wrong tree” by trying to reinstitute the same failed policies of the Clinton administration.
Iran is not filled with “hope” for a better relationship with the U.S. having just sent their first satellite into orbit and announcing that they now have missiles capable of carrying a payload to the shores of America.
“Hope” faded for the utopian administration that promised honesty and honor when it was revealed that three of the president’s top cabinet picks had failed to pay income taxes and two of the three were forced to abdicate before they even had their first confirmation hearings.
“Hope” took another shot in ass when it was discovered that last year the presidents pick for head of the CIA, Leon Panetta, made over $700,000 giving speeches to the now defamed banking industry, including several that are now receiving TARP funds, as well as another $400,000 plus from lobbying groups and special interests.
And now it is discovered that the very image of “HOPE”, no, not Obama, I mean the very image that graced all those millions of campaign posters and clothing items, was used without permission of the copyright holder. The image of “HOPE” is stolen. The Associated Press announced that they are suing Shepard Fairey, the designer of the “HOPE” image for copyright infringement as it was taken from one of their pictures.
Apparently Mr. Fairey, who is described as a street artist which to me says graffiti, used the AP photo as the basis of the image for his now famous “HOPE” poster. As a copyrighted photograph it is illegal to reproduce the image without expressed written permission, a small detail Mr. Fairey obviously “hoped” would slip by. The AP is now looking to the courts in “hopes” of getting compensation. If Andy Warhol was alive I’m guessing he would be suing Fairey as well for copyright infringement of his Campbell Soup can collection.
All “hope” is not yet lost, but after only 14 days it has certainly traveled down a dark and dangerous path.
Will it finds its way back?
We can only “hope”.
