Same Day, My Later Look

A good cry is good for me, but in the end, I am the eternal optimist. Things have to look up, they can't go much lower than at the end of the worst administration this country has ever had. Granted, cheney seems to wish that, but old uncle dick is out of power now, thank god.

I listened to Andy Stern, union leader, on Charlie Rose's show the other night. Sensible man, and I agree with him. Why can't we do it the Japanese way and pay the CEO (who often is not doing the company any good) the way they do, by indexing pay...so that he can only make so much more percentage- wise than the employee with the least pay in the company. Of course the percentage will be in hundreds or thousands.....but not the billions it is now. Not like the more and more billions each year that the WalMart heirs make, while the people who toil in the stores are still on minimum wage. I guess I am basically a pure Socalist and believe in evening out the pay scales. As I doubt that many people will read this, I don't worry about being attacked. Remember, I said PURE, not greedy, or communist, etc., etc. Look it up...go ahead!

At any rate I, the optimist, wrote the following in December of 2008:

MY Turn?

There it was...coming fast,
The Turn of the Century. The 21st Century
Weren't we all doing well? Everyone,
Working, buying homes, living it up,
Let the good times roll --Le bon temps roulez,
As though the good times would never end.

Then came the sharp turn into 2000.
Right into the meanest and cruelest
Eight years of slowly going downhill,
Swamped in times of misery:
Technically, politically, we were being bled dry.
We suffered, wondering if this new century
Could break hearts, minds and lives.
Our once great nation was beseiged,
Broken by a needless, unholy war,
The silent, secret greed of our 'leaders,'
We were locked in a miasma of ignorance
That saw the laws of our Founding Fathers,
The wisdom of the Constitution,
Thrown aside and trampled,
While those who loved our Republic
Despaired.

Now I feel a rise of hope, the spirit of "Yes We Can."
On January 20, 2009, we shall have a new chance,
A new turn for our New Century.
Now a chance to leave the old, bad years behind
Together to revive our besiged country,
To rebuild our tired nation in a real New Century.
It will take hard work from all of us,
Our leaders and all our citizens.
I can only hope we are all as ready as I
To work, perhaps to suffer, for our country.
For now it is MY turn, Your turn...Our turn
To rebuild Our country in our New Century.

©2009 Peggy Cartwright