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Good Change. Bad Change. Who Knows
January 19, 2009
Today, the day before Barrack Obama is inaugurated as the next President of the United States, as I sit here contemplating what the future holds for our country, I can’t help but feel frightened about that future and what it will hold for our country and for our military. Many of our fellow Americans look to the future with hope, and unfortunately, I don’t share that same hope. I know that throughout his campaign, Obama proclaimed, “Change is going to come.” I have no doubt that there will be change. I’m just not convinced that it’s going to be change that is good for our country and our military. I hope for the sake of our country and the men and women serving in our military, that my sense of foreboding is wrong, but I’m not going to hold my breath.
Over the past few weeks, as Obama has announced his cabinet and talked about changes he’s going to make, my sense of dread only grows more pronounced. Many things have contributed to that feeling, over the course of the elections and since Obama won the election. I think first and foremost was his callous and disdainful comments towards the patriotism of people in this country and his refusal to salute the American flag, during his campaign. His actions speak so clearly to me about his character. So many things throughout his campaign struck me wrong on so many levels. The ‘spiritual advisor’ whom he eventually pushed out of his campaign, for instance. My thoughts on that so called spiritual advisor are that, before he begins to point the finger and call people ‘racist’ perhaps he should look in his own back yard.
Then we look at some of the proposals towards changes in the military. Take for instance, one of the proposals that he will be considering on military and veterans healthcare. A proposal that I wrote about here. A proposal that will only take more money out of the pockets of our veterans as well as our Troops. Not only does that frighten me, but it makes me damn angry. So many of these men and women have dedicated their adult life to the military and were and have been promised to be taken care of, as far as their healthcare is concerned, for the rest of their lives. This proposal doesn’t seem to be taking care of our Troops and our veterans very well, in my eyes. Not only will our Veterans be charged even more for their healthcare, even more of them won’t be elgible for that healthcare. As well, our Troops would be charged more, for healthcare for their families. For some, those increased prices, might be what forces them out of the military. Remember, not everyone in the military is paid what a senior NCO or an officer is. You can read the article I wrote about these proposals, by following this link. Obama has also vowed to repeal the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ policy in the military that was put into place during the Clinton Administration. CJ has a write up about that particular issue over at A Soldier’s Perspective and addresses it quite well. Take some time to read his article and the resulting comments.
At this point, I don’t know, anymore than anyone else does what the next 4 years will bring to this country. Yes, change is going to come, but I’m not so positive that it’s going to be a change that is going to be positive change for our country. So, I look to tomorrow with much trepidation, much cynicism and little hope for positive changes. Only time will tell what the new administration will do and how it will affect us as Americans.
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