Jeremiah 2010!

New Years Eve. The world needs hope. We need Jeremiah 2010! Some commentators are calling the first decade of this millenium one of the worst in American history. I would add this past year has been filled with more disappointment than expected.

First the worst. 1) A stolen election in 2000 and the inappropriate intervention of the U.S. Supreme Court which should have turned the process back to the Florida Supreme Court; 2) The invasion of Iraq, based upon a blind will to war and doctored intelligence; 3) Tax refunds of surplus funds and tax cuts which benefitted the upper upper classes the most and punished the middle and lower classes; 4) The failure to capture Bin Laden and premature pull-out in Afghanistan, both which led to the present surge into this "Graveyard of Empires"; 5) Inadequate regulatory efforts leading to the recession; 6) Greedy and risky bank mortgage loan practices; 7) Abuse of the Constitution, twisting its intention to justify torture and invasion of privacy; 8) The rich getting super rich and the middle and lower classes getting poorer; 9) Lack of prosecution of those who violated the Constitution; 10) There must be more! Let us count the ways!

Disappointments. 1) In too many instances, Obama's action failing to match his soaring rhetoric, particularly relating to his backing off from the public option and making a sell-out deal with the pharmaceutical companies which will cost the taxpayer more out of pocket expense; 2) Bailing out banks without getting them to sign-on to tough loan practices and adhering to restrictions on certain high risk transactions; 3) Favoring Wall Street over Main Street. There should have been funding for both; 4) Weak response to creating jobs and funding infrastructure projects; 5) Hiring Summers and Geithner to guide the economic recovery when their past actions helped create the problems we are sinking into; 6) Inadequate legal guarantees for detainees. Each needs to be given the right to habaeus corpus rights and prompt trials; 7) Inadequate regulatory reform actions, giving the banks and Wall Street too much freedom to engage in the practices that created this economic mess in the first place; 8) No significant help for people losing their homes due to mortgage defaults; 9) Inadequate jobs creation efforts; 10) Inadequate reigning in of corporate bonuses and salaries; 11) Lack of political courage to adopt a progressive environmental policy; 12) Troop surge in Afghanistan and seeming failure to make strict expectations of the Karzai government, with a tougher exit policy; 13) Timidity in getting into the health care fray, not insisting on a more progressive bill (he needs to be more Bush and LBJ like); 14) Failure to close Gitmo; 15) Democratic majorities buckling under corporate pressures, leading to a disjointed response to solutions; 16) The unjust power of corporations buying influence which hurts the American people. The increasing rise of an oligarchy; 17) The rise of Sarah Palin as a potential "answer" to all of our problems. Scary thought!; 18) Failure to adequately address GLBT issues; 19) Could there be more?

Hopes. The disappointments are corrected.

In fairness to President Obama, he inherited a huge banquet of problems, but he is the main man responsible for the solutions. Also,he inherited a convoluted system which needs straightening. Furthermore, to his credit, he has begun to address many issues, and working with such a polarized Congress makes dramatic change difficult. I commend him for seeking to expand the scope of health care.

President Obama and the entire Washington leadership need our prayers, letters, phone calls, emails, and presence to demand righteousness for all. Especially we within the Colorado Confession, because I think we understand these issues enough to faithfully and intelligently address some aspects of the problems and posit solutions. We can take heart in Jeremiah's words in Chapter 31:7-14, when he speaks words of grace to a people in exile: "I will gather them [from exile],....I will let them walk by brooks of water,....I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow".

Hope abounds! Hopeful New Year!

Peace!
Ron